Don McGregor

About me:

McGregor's first appearances in print were in the letters-to-the-editor columns of various Marvel comic books. After breaking in as a professional at Warren Publishing in 1971 with anthological science-fiction/horror stories for that company's black-and-white comics magazines, McGregor became a writer-editor at Marvel Comics. He was among the 1970s wave of creators such as Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber and Doug Moench who took often minor characters and helped create a writerly Renaissance.[1] McGregor established himself with two series that remain among comics' most acclaimed:[2] "Killraven, Warrior of the Worlds", in Amazing Adventures #21-39 (Nov. 1973 - Nov. 1976, except for fill-in issues #33 and 38); and "Black Panther", in Jungle Action #6-24 (Sept. 1973 - Nov. 1976, except for #23, a reprint). Unusually for mainstream comics, the Panther stories were set mostly in Africa, in the Panther's fictional homeland Wakanda, rather than in Marvel's usual urban settings. As with the futuristic stories of Killraven, McGregor's settings were enough outside the Marvel mainstream that he was able to explore mature themes and adult relationships in a way rare for comics at the time. Like Jim Steranko, a direct influence who had pushed similar boundaries in the late 1960s, McGregor often found himself at the limits of acceptability with both Marvel and the Comics Code Authority. He and artist P. Craig Russell engineered color comic books' first known interracial kiss, between the "Killraven" characters M'Shulla and Carmilla Frost, in Amazing Adventures #31 (July 1975). Three years previously, McGregor and artist Luis Garcia had already crafted the first known interracial kiss in mainstream comics (as opposed to underground comix) in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror-comics magazine, Creepy #43 (Jan. 1972), in the story "The Men Who Called Him Monster". McGregor also wrote stories for the Marvel characters Luke Cage, Morbius the Living Vampire, and Spider-Man,THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT A GUN, and created the detective feature "Hodiah Twist", THE PRAYING MANTIS PRINCIPLE seen in the black-and-white magazines Marvel Preview #16: Masters of Terror (1973) and Vampire Tales #2 (1975). [edit] Graphic-novel pioneer SABRE (1978), one of the first graphic novels. Cover art by Paul Gulacy. With artist Paul Gulacy, McGregor created one the first modern graphic novels, Eclipse Books' SABRE: SLOW FADE OF AN ENDANGERED SPECIES. Published in August 1978 — two months before Will Eisner's more famous, graphic short-story collection A Contract with God — it led to a 14-issue spin-off series for Eclipse Comics. McGregor went on to write two additional early graphic novels for Eclipse, each set in contemporary New York City and starring interracial-buddy private eyes Ted Denning and Bob Rainier: DETECTIVES INC: A REMEMBRANCE OF THREATENING GREEN (1979), with artist Marshall Rogers,which is listed in the http://www.gayleague.com/gay/timeline/timeline3.php.(Eclipse, July 1980), as featuring the first lesbian characters in mass-market comics. The second DETECTIVES INC.: A TERROR OF DYING DREAMS, with artist Gene Colan, who would become a frequent collaborator, dealt with domestic violence. He created RAGAMUFFINS, about little kids growing up in America in the 1950s, the first three stories of which were collected into the first color comic with penciled art. He waited for years for Gene Colan to become available to do this non-genre series. He has also written two prose books: DRAGONFLAME AND OTHER BEDTIME NIGHTMARES (Fictioneer, 1978) and THE VARIABLE SYNDROME (Fictioneer, 1981). This book also had a detailed history of the creation of DETECTIVES INC., and has been noted as being a candid revelation for creators working in comics. In the mid-1980s he wrote and directed the 2 Hrs. 10 Mins. DETECTIVES INC movie and filmed on location in all the boroughs of New York except Staten Island. The regular SABRE comics series broke many pop culture taboos and features gay supporting cast members DEUCES WILD and SUMMER ICE beginning with #3 (Eclipse, December 1982) and the first gay kiss in mass-produced comics in #7 (December 1983). SABRE #7 also showcased babies being born, which caused debate before the book even saw publication. Later comics Other notable work includes the DC Comics' miniseries NATHANIEL DUSK: LOVERS DIE AT DUSK (1984) and Nathaniel Dusk II (1985-1986): APPLE PEDDLERS DIE AT NOON, both with Colan; and, for New Media Publishing's Fantasy Illustrated (1982), THE HOUNDS OF HELL THEORY",starring the husband-and-wife detective team ALEXANDER and PENELOPE RISK, with artist Tom Sutton. McGregor revisited the Black Panther with Colan in "Panther's Quest", published as 25 eight-page installments within the bi-weekly omnibus series Marvel Comics Presents (issues #13-37, Feb.-Dec. 1989); and, later, with artist Dwayne Turner in the squarebound miniseries Panther's Prey (Sept. 1990 - March 1991). Later in the decade, McGregor became one of the primary writers of the Zorro canon, with Topps Comics' Zorro and Lady Rawhide comic books; Image Comics' adaptation of the movie The Mask of Zorro; two years of the Zorro newspaper comic strip (with artists Todd Smith and Thomas Yeates, premiering April 12, 1999); and Papercutz's 2005 "American manga"-style Zorro series, which was collected as a graphic novel the same year. [edit] Quotes Artist Rich Buckler: "Doug Moench and Don McGregor, two of my absolutely favourite writers. They had the same drive and enthusiasm, and just huge amounts of talent and energy".[3] Artist Dwayne McDuffie on the 1970s "Black Panther" series: "This overlooked and underrated classic is arguably the most tightly written multi-part superhero epic ever. If you can get your hands on it (and where's that trade paperback collection, Marvel?), sit down and read the whole thing. It's damn-near flawless, every issue, every scene, a functional, necessary part of the whole. Okay, now go back and read any individual issue. You'll find seamlessly integrated words and pictures; clearly introduced characters and situations; a concise (sometimes even transparent) recap; beautifully developed character relationships; at least one cool new villain; a stunning action set piece to test our hero's skills and resolve; and a story that is always moving forward towards a definite and satisfying conclusion. That's what we should all be delivering, every single month. Don [McGregor] and company did it in only 17 story pages per issue".[4] ..