Michael W. Royer (; born June 28, 1941) is an American

comics artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary a ...

and inker, best known for his work with

pencilers A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

Russ Manning Russell George Manning (January 5, 1929"United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VMMT-NZN : accessed 28 Aug 2014), Russell Manning, Dec 1981; citing U.S. Social Security Administration ...

and

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gre ...

. In later life Royer became a freelance product designer and character artist for

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

Biography

Early life and career

Mike Royer was born on June 28, 1941, in

Lebanon, Oregon Lebanon ( ) is a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States. Lebanon is located in northwest Oregon, southeast of Salem. The population was 18,447 at the 2020 census. Lebanon sits beside the South Santiam River on the eastern edge of the Will ...

. He moved to southern California in early 1965 to pursue a career in

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

art, although his first confirmed credit,

inking Inking may refer to: *Inking (attack), act of throwing ink on other person *Inking, a defensive activity of certain cephalopods and sea hares * Inking (comic book production) *Pen computing Pen computing refers to any computer user-interface using ...

penciler

Tony Strobl Anthony Joseph Strobl ( ; May 12, 1915 – December 29, 1991) was an American comics artist and animator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and attended Cleveland School of Art from 1933–37, with Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who actually g ...

on the two-page story "

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest ...

Helps Babysitting" in publisher

Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...

' ''

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'', sometimes abbreviated ''WDC&S'', is an American anthology comic book series featuring characters from The Walt Disney Company's films and shorts, including Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Mickey Mouse, Chi ...

'' #282 (March 1964), appeared a year earlier. He became an assistant to artist

on Gold Key's ''

Magnus, Robot Fighter Magnus, Robot Fighter is a fictional superhero, appearing in comic books created by writer/artist Russ Manning in 1963.Steve Holland, ''Sci-Fi Art : a graphic history''. Lewes : ILEX, 2009. (pp. 102-3) Magnus first appeared in ''Magnus Robot Fight ...

'' comic book, beginning with issue #12 (Jan. 1966), and ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

'', beginning with issue #158 (June 1966). By the following year, he was also working with artists

Warren Tufts Chester Warren Tufts (December 12, 1925 – July 6, 1982),Chester Tufts
Alberto Giolitti Alberto Giolitti (November 14, 1923 – April 15, 1993) was an Italian-American comic book artist. He was born in Rome, where his family held (and still hold) one of the most famous cafés, Giolitti, where he also worked for a while. He debuted a ...

on the company's '' Korak, Son of Tarzan'' comic. He fully drew two 10-page stories, featuring the

Three Musketeers 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

and a group called the Arabian Knights, in Gold Key children's comic ''Hi-Adventure Heroes'' #2 (Aug. 1969). He also worked, uncredited, writing and drawing the Gold Key comics ''

Speed Buggy ''Speed Buggy'' is an American animated television series, produced by Hanna-Barbera, which originally aired for one season on CBS from September 8, 1973, to December 22, 1973. With the voices of Mel Blanc, Michael Bell, Arlene Golonka, and P ...

'' and ''

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids'' is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 8, 1973, to December 1, 1973. The series title is a play on the name of the unrela ...

'', and drew cover for the publisher's

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Hanna-Barbera property ''TV Adventure Heroes''. While continuing to work primarily for Gold Key, Royer began freelancing for

Warren Publishing Warren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades. Magazines published by Warren include '' After Hours'', '' Creepy'', '' Eerie'', '' F ...

's line of black-and-white horror-comics magazines, drawing writer James Haggenmiller's eight-page "Space Age Vampire" in ''

Eerie ''Eerie'' was an American magazine of horror comics introduced in 1966 by Warren Publishing. Like '' Mad'', it was a black-and-white magazine intended for newsstand distribution and did not submit its stories to the comic book industry's volunta ...

'' #23 (Sept. 1969), and later drawing a handful of stories in ''

Creepy Creepiness is the state of being wikt:creepy, creepy, or causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or wikt:unease, unease. A person who exhibits creepy behaviour is called a creep. Certain traits or hobbies may make people seem creepy to others. The ...

'' and ''

Vampirella Vampirella () is a fictional vampire superheroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and comic book artist Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine ''Vampirella'' #1 (Sept. 1969), a sister publication of '' Cre ...

'' as well.

1970s and Jack Kirby

Royer inked the covers of writer-penciler

's ''The

Forever People Forever People are a fictional group of extraterrestrial superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They first appeared in ''Forever People'' #1 ( cover-dated February–March 1971), and were created by Jack Kirby ...

'' #2 and #5 (May and Nov. 1971), and ''The New Gods'' #5 (Nov. 1971) in Kirby's " Fourth World" epic at

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, which he began after leaving Marvel Comics. He became Kirby's primary inker at DC, working on those titles and another title connected to the Fourth World series ''

Mister Miracle Mister Miracle (Scott Free) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''Mister Miracle'' #1 (April 1971) and was created by Jack Kirby. Publication history Mister Miracle debuted in ...

'', as well as on the preexisting series, ''

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen ''Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from September–October 1954 until March 1974, spanning a total of 163 issues. Featuring the adventures of Superman supporting character Jimmy Olsen, it co ...

'' which was incorporated into the same narrative. He additionally inked Kirby's next two DC series, '' The Demon'' and '' Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth'', and, among other Kirby projects, inked the extant

war comics War comics is a genre of comic books that gained popularity in English-speaking countries following World War II. History American war comics Shortly after the birth of the modern comic book in the mid- to late 1930s, comics publishers began incl ...

feature " The Losers" in several issues of ''

Our Fighting Forces ''Our Fighting Forces'' is a war comics anthology series published by DC Comics for 181 issues from 1954–1978. Publication history ''Our Fighting Forces'' began with an October–November 1954 cover date. Writer-editor Robert Kanigher's w ...

'' in 1975. Royer also

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

and inked the last six months of

's ''

'' Sunday-newspaper comic strip and, in the late 1970s, the first four months of Manning's daily and Sunday '' Star Wars'' comic strips.

Later career

Beginning in 1979, Royer spent 14 years on staff with

, doing art and design for books, comic books and comic strips, and

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

and licensed merchandise for its Consumer Product/Licensing division. His comics work there included designing and art directing the movie tie-in '' Dick Tracy'' and '' 3-D Rocketeer'' comic books, and helping launch a

Winnie the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...

licensing program in late 1993; for the latter, he was featured in a 43-minute video, ''How To Draw Pooh'', sent to licensees. Royer left his staff position in June 1993 to freelance full-time for Disney, primarily on Winnie the Pooh projects. Since 2000, Royer has produced freelance art and design, including work on Digimon products, screen icons for the Fox Family

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

channel environment and its Fox Kids programming bloc, "floor plans" for computer game animators,

Reader Rabbit ''Reader Rabbit'' is an educational game franchise created in 1983 by The Learning Company. The series is aimed at children from infancy to the age of nine. In 1998, a spiritual successor series called '' The ClueFinders'' was released for o ...

workbooks, and

Rescue Heroes Rescue Heroes are a line of action figures targeted towards Preschool age children, released by Fisher-Price. The line was first introduced in 1997, depicting various rescue personnel, such as firefighters, police officers, and construction work ...

toy packaging. Since 2001, Royer and his wife and concept collaborator, Laurie, have lived in

Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824 and a metropolitan area population of 223,259, making the M ...

. In 2019,

TwoMorrows Publishing TwoMorrows Publishing is a publisher of magazines about comic books, founded in 1994 by John and Pam Morrow out of their small advertising agency in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Its products also include books and DVDs. List of magaz ...

released ''Jack Kirby's Dingbat Love'', a collection of previously-unpublished work which Kirby had drawn for DC Comics in the 1970s. This included a " Dingbats of Danger Street" story inked by Royer.

Awards

Royer received an

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual conv ...

in 1978. In 2018, Royer was the

Inkwell Awards The Inkwell Award, sometimes shortened to the Inkwells, is a trophy given in the field of inking in American comic books. The awards were partially named after the Yahoo group whose members include many in the inking community, and after the pe ...

Guest of Honor at the annual live ceremony. He was awarded the

Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award in May 2021 for his inking career.

Bibliography

Comico

* ''

Jonny Quest ''Jonny Quest'' is a science fiction-adventure media franchise that revolves around the titular boy named Jonny Quest, who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964–1965 television serie ...

'' #1 (1986)

DC Comics

* ''

1st Issue Special ''1st Issue Special'' was a comics anthology series from DC Comics, done in a similar style to their ''Showcase (comics), Showcase'' series. It was published from April 1975 to April 1976. The goal was to showcase a new possible first issue of an ...

'' #6–7, 12 (1975–1976) * '' Adventure Comics'' #442 (1975) * ''

The Amazing World of DC Comics ''The Amazing World of DC Comics'' was DC Comics' self-produced fan magazine of the mid-1970s. Running 17 issues, the fanzine featured DC characters and their creators, and was exclusively available through mail order. Primarily text articles, with ...

'' #1 (1974) * ''

The Best of DC ''The Best of DC'' is a digest size comics anthology published by DC Comics from September–October 1979 to April 1986. The series ran for 71 issues and while it primarily featured reprints of older comic books, it occasionally published new s ...

'' #22 (1982) * ''

Cancelled Comic Cavalcade The "DC Explosion" and "DC Implosion" were two events in 1978 – the first an official marketing campaign, the second a sardonic reference to it – in which DC Comics expanded their roster of publications, then abruptly cut it back. The DC Explo ...

'' #2 (1978) * ''

DC Graphic Novel ''DC Graphic Novel'' is a line of graphic novel trade paperbacks published from 1983 to 1986 by DC Comics. The series generally featured stand-alone stories featuring new characters and concepts with one notable exception. ''The Hunger Dogs'' w ...

'' #4 ("The Hunger Dogs") (1985) * '' Demon'' #1–16 (1972–1974) * '' Detective Comics'' #452–453 (1975) * '' Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion'' #6 (1972) * ''

'' #6–11 (1971–1972) * '' Freedom Fighters'' #1 (1976) * ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strang ...

'' #236 (1975) * '' House of Secrets'' #139 (1976) * '' Justice, Inc.'' #2–4 (1975) * '' Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth'' #1–16, 38–44 (1972–1976) * ''

'' #5–18 (1971–1974) * ''Mister Miracle Special'' #1 (1987) * '' New Gods'' #5–11 (1971–1972) * '' Omac'' #1–2, 8 (1974–1975) * ''

'' #153, 156–160 ( The Losers) (1975) * ''

Plastic Man Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brian) is a superhero first appearing in ''Police Comics'' #1, originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by cartoonist Jack Cole (artist), Jack Cole, Plastic Man was one of the fi ...

'' #14 (1976) * ''

Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The Sandman is a traditional charact ...

'' #1–3, 5 (1974–1975) * ''

'' #146–148 (1972) * ''

Weird Mystery Tales ''Weird Mystery Tales'' was a mystery horror comics anthology published by DC Comics from July–August 1972 to November 1975. Publication history 100 Page Super Spectacular The title ''Weird Mystery Tales'' was first used for '' DC 100 Page S ...

'' #1–3 (1972) * '' Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe'' #16 (1986) * ''Who's Who: Update '87'' #2 (1987)

Eclipse Comics

* ''

The DNAgents ''The DNAgents'' is a comic-book series created by writer Mark Evanier and artist Will Meugniot and published by Eclipse Comics in 1983. It was later picked up briefly by Antarctic Press. In June 2006, reprinted issues were collected into ''DNAge ...

'' #4, 15, 18 (1983–1985) * ''Surge'' #4 (1985)

Gold Key Comics

* '' Donald Duck'' #104–106, 116, 135, 215–216 (1965–1980) * '' Edgar Rice Burroughs Korak, Son of Tarzan'' #20–22, 34 (1967–1970) * ''Fantastic Voyage'' #1–2 (1969) * ''

Golden Comics Digest ''Golden Comics Digest'' was one of three digest size comics published by Gold Key Comics in the early 1970s. The other two were ''Mystery Comics Digest'' and ''Walt Disney Comics Digest''. Published from 1969 to 1976, all 48 issues were reprints, ...

'' #4, 9 (1969–1970) * ''Hanna-Barbera Hi-Adventure Heroes'' #2 (1969) * ''Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes'' #2–6 (1968–1969) * ''

'' #12–14, 24–28, 31, 45–46 (1965–1977) * '' Mickey Mouse'' #102 (1965) * ''

Mystery Comics Digest ''Mystery Comics Digest'' was one of three digest size comics published by Gold Key Comics in the early 1970s. The other two were '' Golden Comics Digest'' and '' Walt Disney Comics Digest''. ''Mystery Comics Digest'' was published for 26 issues, ...

'' #18–19 (1974) * ''

Space Family Robinson ''Space Family Robinson'' was an original science-fiction comic-book series published by Gold Key Comics. It predates the ''Lost in Space'' television series. Both are loosely based on the 1812 novel by Johann David Wyss and similarly named movi ...

, Lost in Space on Space Station One'' #58 (1982) * ''

'' #153–156, 158, 160–161, 163, 175–178, 188–203, 205 (1965–1971) * ''

Uncle Scrooge ''Uncle Scrooge'' (stylized as ''Uncle $crooge'') is a Disney comic book series starring Scrooge McDuck ("the richest duck in the world"), his nephew Donald Duck, and grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and revolving around their adventures in ...

'' #55, 88 (1965–1970) * ''Walt Disney

Chip 'n' Dale Chip and Dale (also spelled Chip 'n' Dale) is a cartoon duo of anthropomorphic chipmunks created in 1943 by The Walt Disney Company. Concept The characters were first drawn by Bill Justice and introduced in the 1943 Pluto short '' Private ...

'' #32–35 (1975) * ''

Walt Disney Comics Digest ''Walt Disney Comics Digest'' was one of three digest size comics published by Gold Key Comics in the early 1970s. The other two were '' Mystery Comics Digest'' and '' Golden Comics Digest''. It was the first digest-sized regular Disney comic publi ...

'' #11 (1969) * ''Walt Disney Presents Blackbeard's Ghost'' (1968) * ''Walt Disney Presents King Louie and Mowgli'' #1 (1968) * ''Walt Disney Scamp'' #22–25, 29 (1975–1976) * ''

'' #v24#9, #v25#12, #v26#2, #v26#3, #v26#8, #v35#7 (1964–1975)

Marvel Comics

* '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' #1–10 (1976–1977) * '' Avengers: The

Ultron Ultron () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, and initially made his debut as an unnamed character in '' The Avengers'' #54 (July ...

Imperative'' #1 (2001) * '' Black Panther'' #1–12 (1977–1978) * '' Captain America'' #210–212, 214 (1977) * ''Captain America: What Price Glory'' #1–4 (2003) * ''

Defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: *Defense (military) *Defense (sports) **Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The Defender'' (1994 f ...

'' #49–50 (1977) * ''

Devil Dinosaur Devil Dinosaur is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as resembling an enormous, crimson colored ''Tyrannosaurus''-like theropod dinosaur. Created by Jack Kirby, the chara ...

'' #1–9 (1978) * '' Eternals'' #5–19, ''Annual'' #1 (1976–1978) * '' Fantastic Four'' vol. 3 #50 (2002) * ''Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Comics Magazine'' #10 (2001) * '' Ka-Zar'' vol. 2 #1, 3–4 (1974) * '' Machine Man'' #1–9 (1978) * '' Thor: Godstorm'' #1–3 (2001–2002) * ''

Werewolf by Night The Werewolf by Night (usually referred to by other characters simply as the Werewolf) is the name applied to two fictional characters who are werewolves appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first incarnation of We ...

'' #18 (1974) * '' What If...?'' #11 (1978)

Pacific Comics

* '' Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers'' #1–2, 6 (1981–1982) * '' Silver Star'' #1–3 (1983)

Topps Comics

* ''Satan's Six'' #1 (1993)

TwoMorrows Publishing

* ''Jack Kirby's Dingbat Love'' ( Dingbats of Danger Street) (2019)

Warren Publications

* ''

'' #29–30, 32, 37–38 (1969–1971) * ''

'' #23–25, 27, 32, 34 (1969–1971) * ''

'' #1–2, 4–6 (1969–1970)

References

External links

*
Mike Royer
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators {{DEFAULTSORT:Royer, Mike 1941 births 20th-century American artists 21st-century American artists American comics artists Artists from Oregon Comic book letterers Comics inkers DC Comics people Inkpot Award winners Living people Marvel Comics people Silver Age comics creators