William Messner-Loebs

William Messner-Loebs
William Messner-Loebs at the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo in Columbus, Ohio in 2007. Photograph by Margaret Liss.
Born	William Francis Loebs, Jr. (1949-02-19) February 19, 1949 (age 68) Ferndale, Michigan
Area(s)	Cartoonist, Writer, Penciller, Artist, Inker
Pseudonym(s)	Bill Loebs, Bill Messner-Loebs
Notable works	The Flash Journey: The Adventures of Wolverine MacAlistaire Thor Wonder Woman
Awards	Inkpot Award 1987

William Messner-Loebs (born William Francis Loebs, Jr.; February 19, 1949) is an American comic book writer and artist from Michigan, also known as Bill Loebs and Bill Messner-Loebs. His hyphenated surname is a combination of his and his wife Nadine's unmarried surnames.

Since the 1980s he has written substantial runs of series published by DC Comics, Image Comics, Comico, and other smaller comics publishers, including both high-profile publisher-owned superheroes and original creator-owned works which he has also illustrated.

Loebs' right arm was amputated above the shoulder in infancy because of a cancerous tumor; he writes and draws with his left hand.

Loebs was a friend of Kevin Siembieda, and one of the players in Siembieda's role-playing group in Detroit; in 1981, his mother Frances (Schepeler) Loebs loaned Siembieda the money to print the first roleplaying book for his company Palladium Games.

His first comics work was for Power Comics Company and on Noble Comics' Justice Machine with Mike Gustovich. His first ongoing series was Journey: The Adventures of Wolverine MacAlistaire, about 19th-century Michigan frontier life, which he both wrote and illustrated. It was published from 1983 to 1986 by Aardvark-Vanaheim and Fantagraphics, followed by a limited series Journey: Wardrums. He wrote the 31-issue Jonny Quest series published by Comico from 1986 to 1988.

In 1988, he began writing The Flash with issue #15 and continued through #61. He and artist Greg LaRocque introduced Linda Park as a supporting character in the series in The Flash vol. 2 #28 (July 1989). Meanwhile he wrote Dr. Fate #25-41, and the Jaguar series for DC's Impact Comics imprint. He wrote Epicurus the Sage which was illustrated by Sam Kieth, and scripted The Maxx which was illustrated and co-written by Kieth. In 1990, Messner-Loebs became the writer of the Batman newspaper comic strip and wrote the strip until its cancellation the following year.