Mike S. Miller

Mike S. Miller (born 1971[1]) is a Native Hawaiian-American comic book illustrator and writer, who has done work for Malibu Comics, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Image Comics, as well as self-published work under the imprint Alias Enterprises and online. Some of his better known work is on DC's Injustice: Gods Among Us series.[2]

Mike S. Miller
Born1971
Hawaii
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, artist
mikesmillerart.com

Career

Miller's early comics work includes inking issues of Freak Force for Malibu Comics in the early 1990s, and penciling issues of Wolverine and other X-Men titles for Marvel in the late 1990s. His DC work includes penciling several issues of Adventures of Superman, JLA in 2000 and 2001, and his longest running series, Injustice: Gods Among Us.

He did pencil and ink work for the comics adaptation of George R. R. Martin's Hedge Knight series (2003–2004, 2007) and for Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time: New Spring (2005–2010).

Miller created and co-wrote The Imaginaries, which was published in 2005 by Image Comics,[3] followed by a brief run in 2008 from Bluewater Productions.[4]

His 2005 comic book series Deal with the Devil was optioned in 2008 by Lionsgate Films,[5] but not produced.

Miller drew two webcomics on his own website, Comicstripclub: the slice-of-life video game webcomic Electronic Tigers, and RLC (Right Left Center), a political series with a conservative viewpoint.[4][6] As of 2014, the latest comic on the site was from 2009;[7] by 2017, the website was defunct.[8]

In the late 2010s he began producing his creator-owned Blacklist Universe, and solicited sales of Lonestar, the first book from it, through Indiegogo.[9]

In 2020 he launched a comic through Indiegogo called The MAGAnificent 7. The comic features superhero characters such as "El Rushbo" and "Shap-Hero" fighting the leftist "Sorosian" to save President Trump.

Controversies

Use of Mike Wieringo's art and name

In January 2019, Miller announced that he owned an old Spider-Man cover rough draft (a "breakdown") that had been done by Mike Wieringo, who had died in 2007, and that he proposed finishing it but making it into a cover for his Lonestar series. He tweeted, "Hahaha... I own it. I can throw it in the trash if I want to. If it stirs up controversy, all the better." After inking the breakdown and posting it, calling the work "The last Mike Wieringo original cover that may ever see print!", other creators criticized him for using the name of a renowned, deceased artist to promote his work. They also accused him of forging Wieringo's signature, inking it into the art and writing Weiringo's name in the artist credit space along his own. Mike Wieringo's executor, his brother Matt, insisted Miller had to remove the signature.[10]

Miller initially agreed not to use it, and posted a video of him burning the paper.[10] A few days later, Miller declared that he had burnt a fake copy to troll people.[11]

Rejection by Kickstarter

In late 2019, Kickstarter refused to allow a campaign by Miller for publication of further Lonestar books. In an email to Miller, Kickstarter said that "As a Public Benefit Corporation committed to fighting inequality and creating a more equitable world, Kickstarter does not allow discrimination, subjugation, or intolerance towards marginalized groups." Miller claimed in a tweet that the reason for the refusal was his portrayal of MS-13 as a criminal gang.[12]

Religious messages in comics

Comic book writer Joe Harris said that after Miller drew the comic book "X-Factor #147", Harris had to "try and artfully place caption narration to cover all the unscripted 'Jesus Saves!' and 'Evolution: A Theory In Crisis' type messages he'd scribbled and hidden throughout the damn thing." Harris recalls covering up messages with captions and word balloons.[13]

In another comic drawn by Miller, "Wolverine #144", Miller successfully included a URL to a conservative Christian website and a reference to Jesus's final words in pieces of signage, a "choose life" bumper sticker, and a scene of Wolverine on a crucifix. In response to the articles, Miller tweeted that the story was not newsworthy and its reporter was "a hack".[14]

Cancelled contract with a convention

In 2018, Grand Rapids Comic Con announced that he would not be attending the convention, even though he had previously been on the schedule. In a letter from the convention to Miller, event director Mark Hodges said that it followed "very disparaging remarks you have made in regards to minorities and women over the past few weeks", describing "stereotyping and incredibly inappropriate" comments of a Nigerian guest on Miller's podcast, and "several comments over the last couple months directed at women that I found to downright rude." Hodges said that he decided "to pull you from appearing at our event due to these xenophobic comments." Hodges said that the convention would not be publicly stating the reason for the removal, but Miller read the letter in full on his YouTube channel.[15]

Personal life

Miller lives in San Diego, California.

Bibliography

Artist
  • Batman: Arkham Unhinged
  • Injustice 2
  • Injustice: Gods Among Us

Inker
  • DC Universe Online Legends
  • End of Nations
  • Starcraft #6, 7
  • Wildcats #29, 30

Penciler
  • DC Universe Online Legends
  • End of Nations
  • Starcraft #6, 7
  • Wildcats #29, 30

Colorist
  • DC Universe Online Legends

References
  1. Younis, Steven (September 24, 2000). "Exclusive Mike S. Miller Interview". Superman Homepage. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  2. Jasper, Gavin (May 17, 2017). "The 40 Best Moments From the Injustice Comic Series". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  3. "Comic Book DB - The Comic Book Database". Comic Book DB. Archived from the original on 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  4. Brady, Matt (October 29, 2008). "Bringing The Imaginaries Back - Talking to Mike Miller". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  5. Lionsgate Signs Deal with the Devil- ShockTillYouDrop.com
  6. Miller, Mike S. (October 2008). "Archive for October, 2008". ComicStripClub. Archived from the original on 2012-08-26. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  7. "ComicStripClub.com". web.archive.org. 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  8. "ERRP | Expired Registration Recovery Policy". web.archive.org. 2017-06-26. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  9. "LONESTAR: Heart of the Hero 2nd Print". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  10. Johnston, Rich (February 3, 2019). "The Mike Wieringo Cover That Wasn't, But Went Up In Flames – With Mike S. Miller and Cully Hamner". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  11. Johnston, Rich (February 5, 2019). "Joe Quesada Tells a Story About the Late, Great Mike Wieringo". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  12. Trent, John F. (2019-10-02). "Kickstarter Rejects Injustice Artist Mike S. Miller's Lonestar For "Discrimination, Subjugation, or Intolerance Towards Marginalized Groups"". Bounding Into Comics. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  13. Johnston, Rich (February 9, 2019). "When Mike S Miller Tried to Slip Religious Messages Into X-Men Comics". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  14. Johnston, Rich (February 10, 2019). "When Mike S Miller Successfully Slipped Religious Messages Into Wolverine". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  15. Trent, John F. (2018-09-19). "Mike S. Miller Kicked Out of Grand Rapids Comic-Con". Bounding Into Comics. Retrieved 2020-11-03.

Further reading

Mike S. Miller at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)

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