Howard Mackie (born January 22, 1958)[1] is an American comic book editor and writer. He has worked almost exclusively for Marvel Comics and is best known as the co-creator of the Danny Ketch version of the Ghost Rider character.

Howard Mackie
Mackie at the 2022 Phoenix Fan Fusion
Born (1958-01-22) January 22, 1958 (age 66)
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, Editor
Notable works
Ghost Rider, Spider-Man

Early life

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Mackie grew up in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, mostly raised by his mother, as his father died when he was seven.[2]

Career

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Editor

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Mackie started his career in comics in 1984 as an assistant editor for Mark Gruenwald.[3][4] Early in Mackie's career, a running gag in Gruenwald's columns was that Mackie was a mysterious figure whose face no one at Marvel had ever seen.[5] Promoted in early 1987 to Managing Editor of Special Projects,[3] Mackie then oversaw Marvel's "New Universe" line.

Writer

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Mackie at a signing for Ravagers #1 at Midtown Comics in Manhattan.

Mackie first gained attention as a writer in 1990, when he and artist Javier Saltares launched a new Ghost Rider series for Marvel, revamping the character and introducing a new host, Danny Ketch.[6] Mackie wrote Ghost Rider until issue #69 (Jan. 1996). He authored two Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher team-up one-shots, Hearts of Darkness (1991) and its sequel The Dark Design (1994).

In 1992, Mackie became the regular writer of Web of Spider-Man with #85. He would remain on various Spider-Man titles through the Clone Saga.[7] In January 1999, Mackie became the writer of both The Amazing Spider-Man[8] and the Peter Parker: Spider-Man series[9] when those two titles were relaunched with new first issues. Mackie left the Spider-Man franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2, #29 (May 2001).

Mackie's work on the X-Men line included writing the spin-off title X-Factor from #115–149 (1995–1998) as well as its successor title Mutant X (1998–2001).[10] He wrote several mini-series featuring Gambit,[11] Wolverine, and Rogue.[12]

In late 2009, Mackie teamed with Tom DeFalco to write the six issue miniseries Spider-Man: Clone Saga, whose story was based on Mackie's original notes for the 1990s crossover. It was later collected in the trade paperback Spider-Man: The Real Clone Saga.

Mackie wrote The Ravagers series for DC Comics in 2012 as part of the "Second Wave" of The New 52.[13]

Bibliography

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DC Comics

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Marvel Comics

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References

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  1. ^ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Iola, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011.
  2. ^ Adler, Matt. "It's Ghost Rider, but with a Ketch!" Marvel Spotlight: Ghost Rider (2006).
  3. ^ a b Gruenwald, Mark. "Mark's Remarks," Avengers #276; West Coast Avengers #17; Iron Man #215 (February 1987).
  4. ^ Howard Mackie (editor) at the Grand Comics Database
  5. ^ Gruenwald, Mark. "Mark's Remarks," Avengers #277; West Coast Avengers #18; Iron Man #216 (March 1987).
  6. ^ Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "1990s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 249. ISBN 978-0756641238. Popular writer Howard Mackie and penciller Javier Saltares had a sensation on their hands when they created Daniel Ketch, the second man to wear the mantle of the supernatural Ghost Rider. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Manning "1990s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 281: "The Clone Saga finally came to a dramatic close [in Spider-Man #75] thanks to the team of writer Howard Mackie and artist John Romita, Jr."
  8. ^ Manning "1990s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 292: "This new first issue was written by Howard Mackie with art by John Byrne."
  9. ^ Manning "1990s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 293
  10. ^ Manning "1990s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 290: "Written by Howard Mackie and artist Tom Raney, Alex Summers, the mutant known as Havok, awoke in a world not his own."
  11. ^ Manning "1990s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 265: "Everyone's favorite smooth-talking Cajun, Gambit, made his way into his first miniseries by writer Howard Mackie and artist Lee Weeks."
  12. ^ Manning "1990s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 272: "Rogue finally starred in her own four-issue miniseries, beginning in January [1995]. Written by Howard Mackie with art by Mike Wieringo." Mackie also wrote The Brotherhood under the guise of Writer X. The series ran for 9 issues from 2001-2002.
  13. ^ Kushins, Josh (January 12, 2012). "DC Comics in 2012–-Introducing the "Second Wave" of DC Comics The New 52". The Source. DC Comics. Archived from "second-wave"-of-dc-comics-the-new-52/ the original on January 15, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
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Preceded by
n/a
Ghost Rider vol. 2 writer
1990–1996
Succeeded by
Preceded by Spider-Man/Peter Parker: Spider-Man writer
1994–1998
Succeeded by
n/a
Preceded by X-Factor writer
1995–1998
Succeeded by
n/a
Preceded by
n/a
The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 writer
1999–2001
Succeeded by
Preceded by
n/a
Peter Parker: Spider-Man vol. 2 writer
1999–2000
Succeeded by