Roger McKenzie (comics)

Roger McKenzie (born November 8,[1] 1950)[2] is an American comic book writer best known for his work on Daredevil with Frank Miller. McKenzie has also written for a variety of independent comics publishers, such as Pacific Comics, Comico Comics, Sirius Comics, Pied Piper Comics, and Eclipse Comics.[3]

Roger McKenzie
Born (1950-11-08) November 8, 1950 (age 74)
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Writer, Publisher
Notable works
Daredevil

Biography

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Roger McKenzie's first comics work was a seven-page short story titled "Ground Round" in Vampirella #50 (April 1976) published by Warren Publishing.[3] He wrote stories for Warren's black and white magazine titles Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella from 1976–1982. He worked for DC Comics as well, creating the western character Cinnamon and several stories for the company's horror titles.[3]

McKenzie and Frank Miller's first collaboration was on a two-page story entitled "Slowly, painfully, you dig your way from the cold, choking debris..." published in DC Comics' Weird War Tales #68 (Oct. 1978).[3] McKenzie became the writer on Marvel Comics' Daredevil with issue #151 (March 1978), and gave the series a dark tone reminiscent of his horror writings. Miller joined McKenzie on the series starting with #158 (May 1979).[4]

In 1979, he collaborated with artist Ernie Colón on an adaptation of Battlestar Galactica for Marvel.[5] McKenzie wrote Captain America (1978–1980) as well.[3] McKenzie and artist Don Perlin developed the idea of Captain America running for the office of President of the United States.[6] Marvel originally rejected the idea but it would be used later by Roger Stern and John Byrne[7] in Captain America #250 (October 1980).[8] McKenzie and Perlin received credit for the idea on the letters page at Stern's insistence.[9] McKenzie and Perlin would also receive credit in the follow-up story in What If? #26 (April 1981).[3] McKenzie wrote several stories for the Marvel Fanfare anthology series[10] including a two-part Iron Man vs. Doctor Octopus tale drawn by Ken Steacy.[11]

He wrote the Star Hawks newspaper comic strip for United Feature Syndicate in 1981.[12]

From 1984 to 1987, McKenzie wrote Sun Runners (working with artist Pat Broderick and then Glen Johnson) comics for publishers Pacific Comics, Eclipse Comics, Sirius Comics, and Amazing Comics.[13]

From 1986 to 1988, McKenzie was involved with the independent publisher Pied Piper Comics.[14] Along with Mark L. Hamlin, McKenzie was co-founder and co-publisher of Pied Piper, while also acting as the company's managing editor.[15]

After a long hiatus from comics, McKenzie returned in 2015 to serve as Executive Editor of the Charlton Neo line of comics, where he wrote for The Charlton Arrow[16] and Charlton Wild Frontier.[17]

Since February 2015, he has been writing the Spookman weekly comic strip with Sandy Carruthers for the webcomic site Pix-C.[18]

Bibliography

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Amazing Comics

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  • Amazing Comics Premieres #1 – Ninja Bots (Feb. 1987)
  • The Sun Runners Christmas Special #1 (Mar. 1987) – stories "Rocky Horror" and "Voices"
  • Tales of the Sun Runners #3 (Feb. 1987) – continued from Sirius Comics title

Charlton Neo

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Comico: The Comic Company

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  • Next Man #1–5 (1985)

DC Comics

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Deluxe Comics

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Eclipse Comics

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  • Sun Runners #4–7 (1984–1985) – continuing Pacific Comics series

Gold Key Comics

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Image Comics

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  • Savage Dragon #195, 200, 204 (Knight Watchman backup stories) (2014–2015)

Marvel Comics

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Collections

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  • Daredevil/Punisher: Child's Play includes Daredevil #183, 70 pages, February 1988, ISBN 978-0871353511
  • Daredevil: Marked for Death collects Daredevil #159–161, 163–164, 96 pages, March 1991, ISBN 978-0871356345
  • Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Omnibus collects Daredevil #158–161, 163–166, and 183, 840 pages, March 2007, ISBN 978-0785123439

New Comics Group

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  • Young Master #6 (1988)

Pacific Comics

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  • Sun Runners #1–3 (1984) – continued by Eclipse Comics

Pied Piper Comics

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Sirius Comics

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  • Tales of the Sun Runners #1–2 (1986) – later continued by Amazing Comics

Warren Publishing

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  • Creepy #81, 84–87, 89–90, 92–95, 99, 104–105, 114–115, 120, 122, 124–125, 127, 129, 132, 134, 140 (1976–1982)
  • Eerie #81, 83, 85, 87, 90, 92, 96, 102 (1977–1979)
  • U.F.O. and Alien Comix #1 (1977)
  • Vampirella #50, 53, 57–59, 63, 65–67, 82, 91, 94 (1976–1981)
  • Warren Presents #1, 6 (1979)

References

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  1. ^ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011.
  2. ^ "Comics creator: Roger McKenzie". Grand Comics Database. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Roger McKenzie at the Grand Comics Database
  4. ^ Sanderson, Peter (2008). "1970s". In Gilbert, Laura (ed.). Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 189. ISBN 978-0756641238. Initially, Miller collaborated on Daredevil with writer Roger McKenzie.
  5. ^ Brown, Jonathan Rikard (July 2016). "Battlestar Galactica". Back Issue! (89). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 52–54.
  6. ^ Brady, Matt (November 28, 2002). "Looking Back:Stern & Byrne's Captain America". Newsarama. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2012. The story, according to Stern, actually began a year previous, when Roger McKenzie and Don Perlin were the creative team on Captain America, and Stern was an editor at Marvel. McKenzie and Perlin wanted Cap to run for office and win, setting up four years' worth of stories in and around Washington, D.C. and the duties of the president. While it could've made for a great pop-culture civics lesson, Stern 86'd the idea.
  7. ^ Cronin, Brian (May 10, 2010). "The Greatest Roger Stern Stories Ever Told!". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 26, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  8. ^ Captain America #250 at the Grand Comics Database
  9. ^ Khoury, George. "The Roger Stern Interview: The Triumphs and Trials of the Writer". Marvel Masterworks Resource Page. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2012. I made sure that 1) Roger McK. and Don knew about it, and 2) they were credited with the idea on the letters page.
  10. ^ Kelly, Douglas R. (June 2017). "Kid in a Candy Store: Roger McKenzie Had a Ball With Marvel Fanfare". Back Issue! (96). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 26–29.
  11. ^ DeAngelo, Daniel (June 2017). "Ken Steacy: No Assembly Required". Back Issue! (96). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 38–42.
  12. ^ Bails, Jerry (n.d.). "McKenzie, Roger". Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999. Archived from the original on May 11, 2007.
  13. ^ McKenzie, Roger (Mar 1986). "Me and Rod: Sun-Running in the Twilight Zone". The Comics Journal. No. 106. pp. 47–49.
  14. ^ "Distributor Finances Five Publishers". The Comics Journal. No. 115. April 1987. pp. 12–13. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  15. ^ David Lawrence (w). "An Explanation" Lawrence & Lim's THE NEW HUMANS, vol. 1, no. 1 (July 1987). Pied Piper Comics.
  16. ^ "The Charlton Arrow". Charlton Neo. n.d. Archived from the original on April 7, 2015.
  17. ^ "Charlton Wild Frontier". Charlton Neo. n.d. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015.
  18. ^ "Pix-C Web Comics". Charlton Neo. n.d. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015.
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Preceded by Captain America writer
1978–1980
Succeeded by
Preceded by Ghost Rider writer
1978–1979
Succeeded by
Preceded by
n/a
Battlestar Galactica writer
1979–1980
Succeeded by
Preceded by Captain America writer
1980
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Jim Shooter
Daredevil writer
1978–1980
(with Frank Miller in late 1980)
Succeeded by