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Mike Gustovich
Mike Gustovich
Born	November 15, 1953 (age 70); Warren, Ohio, U.S.
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Writer, Artist, Inker, Publisher
Notable works	Noble Comics; Cobalt Blue; Justice Machine; Icon
Spouse(s)	Valerie Gustovich

Michael Gustovich (born November 15, 1953) 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.^[4] 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 joined a consortium of fans and would-be professionals" — including Stu Fillmore^[5] — in Detroit "who adopted the company name" Noble Comics,^[6] and published The Lands of Prester John, a 64-page one-shot of Gustovich's superhero, science fiction, and horror stories.^[7]^[8]

Gustovich then moved to fellow Michigan-based independent publisher Power Comics Company,^[9] becoming the company's art director^[2] as well as creating the superhero feature Cobalt Blue,^[10] which appeared in Power Comics anthology and then also in a self-titled single-issue comic.^[11] Power Comics Company dissolved in 1978.^[9]

In 1981, Gustovich returned to Noble Comics,^[12]^[7] creating the superhero team Justice Machine, publishing five issues of the title over two years. Issues #4-5 of Justice Machine were flip books with new Cobalt Blue stories.

Noble Comics shut down in 1983, but Gustovich licensed Justice Machine to the brand-new publisher Texas Comics, which published a single comic before itself shutting down^[13] — Justice Machine Annual #1, a crossover with the then-defunct Tower Comics' superhero team T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.^[14] (By happenstance, Bill Willingham's The Elementals also debuted in Justice Machine Annual #1, an association which became important later on in both feature's histories.)

From 1983 to 1985, Gustovich focused on other projects, as he inked the majority of First Comics' Warp! series.^[15]

In 1986, Justice Machine — and Willingham's Elementals — were acquired by Comico: The Comic Company, which rebooted the Justice Machine's continuity. First Comico published four issues of Justice Machine Featuring The Elementals, with Gustovich providing the art and 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.^[16] The ongoing book became one of Comico's best-selling series, selling upwards of 70,000 copies of each issue at its peak.^[17]

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.)^[18] 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. In 1989, Innovation also published a trade paperback of Gustovich's Cobalt Blue, done in collaboration with Keith Pollard.

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,^[4] later teaching at the Virginia Marti College of Art and Design (now known as North Coast College)^[19] in Lakewood, Ohio.^[20]

References

^ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bails, Jerry. "Who's Who bio - Mike Gustovich". Who's Who of American Comic Books. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
^ "Mike Gustovich (b. 1953)," Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Jan. 17, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Michael 'Mike' Gustovich". Comic Book Database. Archived from the original on 2013-10-16. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
^ Fillmore entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books: 1928–1999. Retrieved Jan. 18, 2023.
^ Brevoort, Tom. "Brand Echh: Justice Machine #1," The Mighty Tom Brevoort (July 3, 2021).
^ ^a ^b Gustovich entry, G-Man Comics. Retrieved Jan. 17, 2023.
^ "The Lands of Prester John #1: (1976): Noble Comics, 1976 Series," Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Jan. 17, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Power Comics Company entry, Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Jan. 17, 2023.
^ Brevoort, Tom. "Brand Echh: Cobalt Blue #1," The Mighty Tom Brevoort (July 9, 2022).
^ "Cobalt Blue #1: (January 1978): Power Comics Company, 1978 Series," Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Jan. 17, 2023.
^ Sangiacomo, Michael. "Akron comic convention was a super good time," The Plain Dealer (Nov. 12, 2013).
^ "Texas Comics Goes Under: Justice Machine Now Homeless," The Comics Journal #88 (Jan. 1984), p. 13.
^ Sodaro, Robert J. "The Resplendent Sound of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.!" Comics Value Annual (1999). Archived on ThunderAgents.com,^{[dead link]} which is archived on the Wayback Machine. Accessed Jan. 15, 2023.
^ Warp (1983 series) at the Grand Comics Database
^ "Justice Machine: Comico, 1987 Series," Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Jan. 17, 2023.
^ Martin, Brian (February 2017). "The Twisted History Mystery or...Welcome to the Machine". Back Issue! (94). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 28–31.
^ "Cobalt Blue: Innovation, 1989 Series," Grand Comics Database. Retrieved Jan. 17, 2023.
^ Farkas, Karen. "Virginia Marti College of Art and Design to be renamed North Coast College," The Plain Dealer (May 07, 2018).
^ Sangiacomo, Michael (3 September 2010). "Mike Gustovich to teach comic-book class at Virginia Marti College of Art and Design in Lakewood". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved 6 February 2016.