Michael "Mike" Eury (born September 28, 1957) is an editor and writer of

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 ...

s, and of

reference work A reference work is a work, such as a paper, book or periodical (or their electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually ''referred'' to ...

s pertaining to comic books and other aspects of pop culture. He has worked for

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 ...

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

and Comico Comics, having worked on books including '' Maze Agency'' and '' The Legion of Super-Heroes'', originating practices such as the loose leaf format of DC's '' Who's Who in the DC Universe'' reference series. In 2002 he began workin for

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 ...

, and since 2003, has edited the retrospective magazine ''

Back Issue! ''Back Issue!'' is an American magazine published by TwoMorrows Publishing, based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 2003 and published eight times yearly, it features articles and art about comic books from the 1970s to the present. Edited ...

'' He is also an advisor for the ''

Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide ''The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide'' (or ''Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide'') is an annually published comic book price guide widely considered the primary authority on the subject of American comic book grading and pricing in the ...

'', and , he has written over two dozen books examining aspects of pop culture. Eury was diagnosed with

otosclerosis Otosclerosis is a condition of the middle ear where portions of the dense enchondral layer of the bony labyrinth remodel into one or more lesions of irregularly-laid spongy bone. As the lesions reach the stapes the bone is resorbed, then har ...

in 1994, and wears dual

hearing aid A hearing aid is a device designed to improve hearing by making sound audible to a person with hearing loss. Hearing aids are classified as medical devices in most countries, and regulated by the respective regulations. Small audio amplifiers s ...

s. He is an advocate for the rights of people with

hearing loss Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spoken ...

Early life

Michael Eury was born September 28, 1957. He grew up in Concord, North Carolina. Eury first became interested in comics characters at age eight, when he watched the January 12, 1966 premiere of the '' Batman'' television series. Eury related, "It was brand new and I had never seen anything like it...Batman popularized superheroes. I got sucked into it and it was camp, it was satire. That's why it was so successful for a while – because it was part of this camp movement of the '60's where stuff was supposedly knowingly bad, so bad that it's good. It was so over the top, but kids like me believed it. I see that today, some of these actors who play these characters in the movies and they'll go to children's hospitals in costume and when they're around kids, you'll see the kids' looks of wide-eyed amazement". Eury, who always enjoyed writing, described when he was inspired to become a comics industry profession in a 2019 interview, saying, "I was in the eighth grade with an Algebra book in hand and had a Superman comic inside. I was reading the indicia – I read the fine print and saw the words, Julius Schwartz, Editor, and I'm thinking, this would be a cool job. That was in the early 70's. I wanted to do that, but when I was graduating high school, there wasn't any way to learn how to do that." In college, Eury majored in Music Education, and minored in English.

Career

Writing and editing

In 1986, Eury and his wife moved from to Wilmington, Delaware, where he wrote a local newspaper. During his time there, he submitted an article to Fantagraphics' comics industry trade journal '' Amazing Heroes''. The submission was accepted, seeing print that year as Eury's first published work.Bailey (2008); 9:30 mark. The piece was a review of the ''Batman'' TV series that Eury wrote for editor Mark Waid, with whom Eury had previously worked for an amateur press association (AMA). Eury then began writing for them regularly, and interviewed various Marvel and DC editors, writers, and artists that he interviewed. Through these contacts, he was alerted to job opportunities for those publishers. He pursued one of these openings at Comico in Norristown, Pennsylvania, to which Eury and wife moved in 1988, so that Eury could joint Comico's staff. He remained with that publisher until 1989, at which point he moved to

, which he described as his "dream job." At DC, Eury began as an editor, and within eight months was Dick Giordano's assistant. In 1992, he resigned from DC due to interpersonal conflicts, which he attributes largely to his then-undiagnosed

, which he said some of his colleagues perceived as a weakness. In 1993, he began work at

as an editor, but left in 1995 for the same reasons. In 2002, Eury began work for

, writing ''Captain Action: The Original Super-Hero Action Figure'' (2002), a guidebook to the character

Captain Action Captain Action was an action figure created in 1966, equipped with a wardrobe of costumes and facial masks allowing him to become Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America, Aquaman, the Phantom, The Lone Ranger (and Tonto), Flash Gordon, Buck ...

; ''Dick Giordano: Changing Comics, One Day at a Time'' (2003); and ''The Justice League Companion'' (2005). His initial success with these books led to his founding of ''Back Issue!'' in 2003, on which she serves as editor, and other reference works for TwoMorrows, including ''The Krypton Companion'' and ''The

Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived b ...

Companion''. ''The Krypton Companion'', a 2006 exploration of the Silver Age Superman, was praised by ''

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...

'' magazine senior editor Brian Doherty, who said, "Historians of American culture owe Eury and his indefatigible publisher TwoMorrows a debt of gratitude for their relentless interviewing and documenting a part of American cultural life that's still an engine of enormous wealth-creation for our proud American megaconglomerates, and still a modern myth of great entertainment value in all its glory and absurdity, all its workmanlike repetition and fershlugginer imagination, all its Lois Lanes and Kryptos and Legion of Superheroes." Geoff Willmetts of SFcrowsnest also lauded the book, saying of the 235-page softcover, "This is a long read and you'll certainly get your money's worth." In May 2017 TwoMorrows published Eury's retrospective book ''Hero-A-Go-Go: Campy Comic Books, Crimefighters, & Culture of the Sixties.'' The book examines various elements of pop culture from the titular decade, including the popularity of the 1966 '' Batman'' television series, Hanna-Barbera's animated cartoons, and the popular music of the area by bands such as

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

and

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was con ...

, as well as the comics of the era. The book was positively reviewed by K.C. Carlson of Comics Worth Reading, who praised Eury for having "unearthed huge, heaping amounts of previously seldom-discussed details about some of the more obscure and esoteric comic books in history, as well as new interviews with many of the still-living creators/survivors." In June 2018, Eury launched the magazine ''RetroFan'', which examines various aspects of the pop culture of 1960s to the 1980s, including material similar to that spotlighted by ''Hero-A-Go-Go'', such as Saturday morning children's programming, popular music, and the spy films of the era. Eury had discussed the idea with TwoMorrows publisher John Morrow in 2012, but with his mother's health in decline at the time, Eury was unable to commit to another project. By 2017, she had died, and Eury, having refamiliarized himself with retro pop culture in researching ''Hero-A-Go-Go'', decided the time was right to launch a magazine dedicated to what he called "The Crazy Cool Culture We Grew Up With." Initial columnists on the magazine included Martin Pasko,

Andy Mangels Andy Mangels (born December 2, 1966) is an American science fiction author who has written novels, comic books, and magazine articles, and produced DVD collections, mostly focusing on media in popular culture. As an openly gay man,Scott Shaw Scott Shaw (born 23 September 1958 in Los Angeles, California) is an American author, martial artist, and filmmaker. Career Scott Shaw is an advanced martial artist. He has written a number of books on the martial arts. Shaw has written a numb ...

, and its debut issue featured articles on topics including ''

The Phantom of Hollywood ''The Phantom of Hollywood'' is a 1974 American made-for-television horror thriller film and starring Skye Aubrey, Jack Cassidy, Jackie Coogan, Broderick Crawford, Peter Haskell John Ireland and Peter Lawford. It is notable for being one of th ...

'', '' Star Trek: The Animated Series'',

Mego Corporation The Mego Corporation was an American toy company that in its original iteration was first founded in 1954. Originally known as a purveyor of dime store toys, in 1971 the company shifted direction and became famous for producing licensed dolls ...

's rare Elastic ''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...

'' toy, the North Carolina town believed to have been the basis for the fictional Mayberry in ''

The Andy Griffith Show ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American situation comedy television series that aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The ...

'', and Mr. Microphone, as well as an interview with ''Andy Griffith Show'' alumna Betty Lynn. The second issue, which was Halloween-themed, featured articles on '' Groovie Goolies'', Ben Cooper, Inc. Halloween costumes, and an interview with horror host Elvira: Mistress of the Dark.

Hearing loss advocacy

Eury has publicly discussed his struggle with adult onset

. He received his first hearing aid in 1994, and one for his other ear in 2001. In a 2019 interview, he stated "I hit rock bottom. I was depressed, angry, and got so mad at God that I threw my Bible in the trashcan. I really felt forsaken." Eury revealed that he had a profound spiritual epiphany on October 10, 2004, the day that Eury's "absolute hero", ''Superman'' actor

Christopher Reeve Christopher D'Olier Reeve (September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004) was an American actor, best known for playing the title character in the film '' Superman'' (1978) and three sequels. Born in New York City and raised in Princeton, New Jersey ...

, had died, nine years after having sustained permanent paralysis in an accident. Eury related:

"I'm absolutely convinced that I was touched by his Angel. I think God used him to send me a message because I had been broken. I was so moved by his example. He spent nine years in his wheelchair. He couldn't take a breath without a respirator, he couldn't move his arms, much less his legs, but still, he did so many things for other people as an advocate for people with spinal-cord injuries. That day I stopped bellyaching why me? and I instead asked what do I do next? It led me to the Hearing Loss Association of American, which then led me to community involvement. What a great blessing...and that's my superpower."

In 2005, Eury joined the Oregon chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America, which provided Eury with communication strategies and a sense of community that enabled him to cope with the sense of isolation that initially resulted from his hearing loss. He eventually became the chapter's program director, and subsequently its President of the Lake Oswego, Oregon chapter. In 2006, he joined the state's board of trustees and edited the Oregon HLA's chapter's newsletter. When he moved back to North Carolina in 2007, he joined that state's HLA board of directors. He became its president in 2008, continuing in that role as of 2011. Eury decided to become a public speaker on the affliction, for which he appeared on the cover of the Summer 2011 edition of ''HLAA'' magazine, which depicted him transforming into Superman. In 2010, Eury created a leadership-training program in North Carolina called Invisible No More, which helps people with hearing loss deal with the condition in a positive manner, and trains them to educate others. The program eventually sought out beneficiaries across the United States. On June 19, 2011, Eury attended the HLAA's Annual Awards Breakfast and Ceremony in Washington, D.C., where he was one of five individuals who received the Spirit of HLAA Award, for his work with the Invisible No More program. In October 2019, he was the guest speaker for the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) chapter based in New Bern, North Carolina, where he lives.

Personal life

In 1984, Eury auditioned to be a singing telegram delivery person for Monkey Business Singing Telegrams, and was hired by that business's manager, Rose Rummel. The two eventually married and in 1986, they moved from

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

to Wilmington, Delaware, where they lived until Eury got a job with Comico in Norristown, Pennsylvania. In 2007, the Eurys moved back to his childhood home of Concord, where he became the executive director of the Cabarrus County History Museum, and curated exhibits at the local Veterans Museum. In 2018, after

Hurricane Florence Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that caused catastrophic damage in the Carolinas in September 2018, primarily as a result of freshwater flooding due to torrential rain. The sixth named storm, third h ...

damaged parts of Eastern North Carolina, where Eury and Rose, now a writer, had lived, they moved to New Bern, North Carolina, where Eury's mother and uncle grew up.

Awards and nominations

Wins

* 2011 Spirit of HLAA Award * 2019 Eisner Award win for ''Back Issue''

Nominations

* 2012 Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism for ''Back Issue'' (with TwoMorrows Publishing; shared with Roy Thomas, Mike Manley, and John Morrow) * 2016 Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Journalism for ''Back Issue''

Bibliography

Arcadia Publishing

* ''Images of America: Concord'' (2011) * ''Legendary Locals of Cabarrus County'' (2015) * ''Legendary Locals of Concord'' (2013)

Archie Comics

* ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...

'' #15

Comico: The Comic Company

* ''Bloodscent'' #1 * ''Comico Christmas Special'' #1 * '' Elementals'' v.2 #1–13 * ''Elementals Special'' #2 * ''

E-Man E-Man is a comic-book character, a superhero created by writer Nicola Cuti and artist Joe Staton for the American company Charlton Comics in 1973. Although the character's original series was short-lived, the lightly humorous hero has become a c ...

'' v.3 #1 * ''Empire Lanes Special'' #1 * ''

Gumby ''Gumby'' is an American clay animation franchise, centered on the titular green clay humanoid character created and modeled by Art Clokey. Gumby stars in two television series, the feature-length '' Gumby: The Movie'', and other media. He im ...

's Winter Fun Special'' #1 * ''

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 ...

Special'' #2 * ''

Justice Machine The Justice Machine is a fictional team of superheroes originally created by Michael Gustovich and appearing in comic books from many small publishers in the 1980s and 1990s. Publication history Justice Machine debuted in Noble Comics' ''Justice ...

'' #20–29 * ''Justice Machine Annual'' #1 * ''

The Maze Agency ''The Maze Agency'' is an American mystery comic book series created by Mike W. Barr and first professionally published in 1988. It revolves around a pair of detectives (Jennifer Mays and Gabriel Webb) and their adventures solving puzzling murders. ...

'' #1–9 * ''Morningstar Special'' #1 * ''Sam & Max: Freelance Police Special'' #1 * ''Star Blazers'' #1–4 * ''Trollords'' #1–4

Dark Horse Comics

* '' Adventures of the Mask'' #1–12 * ''Adventures of the Mask/Toys R Us Special Edition'' #1 * ''Adventures of the Mask Omnibus'' * ''Agents of Law'' #1, 2 * '' Barb Wire'' #1–5 * '' Batman vs. Predator II'' #1–4 * ''Catalyst: Agents of Change'' #1–7 * ''Danger Unlimited'' #1 * '' Ghost'' #1–7 * ''Ghost Special'' #1 * ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films prod ...

vs. Hero Zero'' #1 * ''Hero Zero'' #0 * ''Into the Vortex'' #12 * ''The Machine'' #1–4 * ''The Mask Strikes Back'' #1–5 * ''The Mask: Virtual Surreality'' * ''Mecha Special'' #1 * ''Motorhead Special'' #1 * ''Revelations'' #1 * ''

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...

Comics'' #4 * ''Superman vs. Aliens'' #1–3 * '' Tex Avery’s Comics and Stories'' #2 * ''Titan Special'' #1 * ''X'' #8–13

DC Comics

* '' Ambush Bug Nothing Special'' #1 * ''

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

: What's Up, Doc?'' (contributing writer) * '' Cartoon Network Presents'' #20 * ''Cool World Movie Adaptation'' #1 * ''Daffy Duck: You're Despicable!'' (contributing writer) * '' Eclipso: The Darkness Within'' #1, 2 * ''Eclipso'' #1, 2 * ''Green Lantern Corps Quarterly'' #4, 5 (G’nort stories) * '' Hawk & Dove'' v. 2 #5–17 * ''Hawk & Dove Annual'' #1 * '' The Huntress'' #13–16, "Inside DC" (weekly column appearing in DC Comics titles, 1990–1992) * '' Legionnaires'' #1 * '' Legion of Super-Heroes'' v.4 #6–12, 26–42 * ''Legion of Super-Heroes Annual'' #2, 3 * '' Looney Tunes'' #28, 34, 39, 45–47, 49–51, 58 * ''Looney Tunes' Greatest Hits: What's Up Doc'' (contributing writer) * ''

Pinky and the Brain ''Pinky and the Brain'' is an American animated television series that was created by Tom Ruegger that premiered on Kids' WB on September 9, 1995. It was the first animated television series to be presented in Dolby Surround and the fourth col ...

'' #20 * '' New Gods'' v.3 #10–18 * '' Secret Origins'' v.3 #48–50 * ''Timber Wolf'' #1 * ''

Valor Valor, valour, or valorous may mean: * Courage, a similar meaning * Virtue ethics, roughly "courage in defense of a noble cause" Entertainment * Valor (band), a Christian gospel music group * Valor Kand, a member of the band Christian Death * ' ...

'' #1 * ''Who's Who in the DC Universe'' ’90 #1–16

Fantagraphics Books

* '' Amazing Heroes'' (random issues, 1986–1989)

Major Magazines

* ''

Cracked Cracked may refer to: Television * ''Cracked'' (British TV series), a 2008 British comedy-drama television series that aired on STV * ''Cracked'' (Canadian TV series), a 2013 Canadian crime drama series that aired on CBC * "Cracked", a Season 8 ( ...

'' #355

Marvel Comics

* ''

Marvel Age ''Marvel Age'' was a promotional comic book-sized magazine from Marvel Comics published from 1983 to 1994. Basically a comic-length edition of the Bullpen Bulletins page, ''Marvel Age'' contained previews of upcoming Marvel comics, as well as in ...

'' #28 * '' Marvel Tales'' (Spider-Ham backups) #205, 206, 211, 214, 215, 218, 219, 223 * '' Sensational She-Hulk'' #50, 52–57 * ''Sensational She-Hulk by John Byrne: The Return'' (contributing writer) * ''

What The--?! ''What The--?!'' is a Marvel Comics comic book series self-parodying the Marvel Universe, similar in vein to the 1960s series '' Not Brand Echh''. It was billed as "The Marvel mag of mirth and mayhem!" The series ran for 26 issues, from August 19 ...

'' #4

TwoMorrows Publishing

* ''Back Issue'' #1 - present (editor and contributing writer, 2003–present) * ''The

Batcave The Batcave is a subterranean location appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is the headquarters of the superhero Batman, whose secret identity is Bruce Wayne and his partners, consisting of caves beneath his personal r ...

Companion'' (Batman history, co-writer with Michael Kronenberg, 2009) * ''Captain Action: The Original Super-Hero Action Figure'' (2002) * ''Captain Action: The Original Super-Hero Action Figure Revised Second Edition'' (2009) * ''Comics Gone Ape!: The Missing Link to Primates in Comics'' (2007) * '' Dick Giordano: Changing Comics, One Day at a Time'' (2003) * ''Hero-A-Go-Go: Campy Comic Books, Crimefighters, and Culture of the Swinging Sixties'' (2017) * ''The

Companion'' (2005) * ''The Krypton Companion'' (Superman history, 2006) * ''RetroFan'' /31 - present (editor and contributing writer, 2018–present)

Visible Ink Press

* ''The Superhero Book'' (contributing writer, 2004) * ''The Supervillain Book'' (co-editor and contributing writer, 2006)

Yesterday Forever

* ''Son of a Sharecropper: How Raiford Troutman Built a Business upon Faith and Family'' (2015)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eury, Michael Living people People from Concord, North Carolina East Carolina University alumni Deaf writers Comic book editors Deaf people from the United States 1957 births