Mike Gustovich

Michael Gustovich (born November 15, 1953 in Warren, Ohio) is an American artist, known for his comic book art and inking in the 1980s and early 1990s for such publishers as Marvel Comics, DC Comics, First Comics, Comico, and Eclipse Comics. He is the creator of the superhero team Justice Machine, which throughout the 1980s and early 1990s was featured in comics from several publishers.

Biography

In 1976, Gustovich self-published through his company Noble Comics ''The Lands of Prester John'', a 64-page one-shot of his own superhero, science fiction, and horror stories.Gustovich entry
G-Man Comics. Retrieved Jan. 17, 2023. Gustovich then became the art director for the Michigan-based independent publisher Power Comics Company,Power Comics Company entry
Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Jan. 17, 2023. for whom he wrote and drew the superhero comic ''Cobalt Blue''. Power Comics Company dissolved in 1978.

In 1981, Gustovich returned to self-publishing and revived Noble Comics. In addition to continuing the ''Cobalt Blue'' series with Noble, Gustovich created the superhero team Justice Machine, publishing five issues of the title over two years. Gustovich shut down Noble Comics in 1983, licensing Justice Machine to Texas Comics, which published a single Justice Machine story, a crossover with the then-defunct Tower Comics' superhero team T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.

From 1983 to 1985, Gustovich focused on other projects, as he inked the majority of First Comics' ''Warp!'' series.

In 1986, Justice Machine was acquired by Comico: The Comic Company, which rebooted the team's continuity. First Comico published four issues of ''Justice Machine Featuring The Elementals'', with Gustovich providing the art and Bill Willingham the scripts. Comico subsequently published an ongoing ''Justice Machine'' series (vol. 2) that lasted 29 issues plus a 1989 annual. Tony Isabella was the first writer for this series; Gustovich co-plotted and penciled the vast majority of issues, and provided inks for the issues he didn't draw. The ongoing book became one of Comico's best-selling series, selling upwards of 70,000 copies of each issue at its peak.

From 1989 to 1990, Innovation Publishing published a three-issue limited series, ''The New Justice Machine'', by Mark Ellis with pencils by Darryl Banks and others, and inks by Gustovich. (Innovation also published a few new issues of Gustovich's ''Cobalt Blue'' title.) In 1990, Innovation launched ''Justice Machine'' vol. 3, which ran seven issues, as well as a one-shot, with Gustovich serving as inker on all the books. ''Justice Machine'' vol. 3 was originally produced by Ellis and Banks, but Gustovich came on as both penciler and inker for issues #4-6, with Isabella rejoining as writer for the final three issues.

Those last few issues of ''Justice Machine'' turned out to be Gustovich's final work on his creation, as he embarked on a full-time career as an inker-for-hire, working for dozens of series put out by all the major publishers. For instance, Gustovich inked most of the 1990s Milestone Media series ''Icon'' (written by Dwayne McDuffie and penciled by M.D. Bright).

He retired from the comics industry in the late 1990s, later teaching at the Virginia Marti College of Art and Design (now known as North Coast College) in Lakewood, Ohio.

References

1953 births
American artists
American comics creators
Artists from Ohio
Living people
People from Warren, Ohio

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