Dean Mullaney

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Dean Mullaney
Eisner Awards
Spouse(s)
(m. 1987; div. 1993)

Dean Mullaney (born June 18, 1954)

Eisner Awards
.

Biography

Dean Mullaney and his brother, rock musician Jan Mullaney, are the sons of early

Eclipse and the color-comic anthology Eclipse Monthly, the first of an Eclipse Comics line that eventually included such titles and creators as The Rocketeer by Dave Stevens; Zot! by Scott McCloud; two Detectives Inc. graphic novels by McGregor and artists Marshall Rogers and Gene Colan, respectively; the graphic novel Stewart the Rat by writer Steve Gerber and artists Colan and Tom Palmer; and the U.S. reprints of Miracleman by Alan Moore.[7] Eclipse also brought out graphic novels featuring opera adaptations, such as The Magic Flute by P. Craig Russell, and children's literature such as The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien.[8]

In 1980 Mullaney moonlighted as co-editor of the brand-new hobbyist publication

New Media Publishing, but left after one year to focus on Eclipse.[9]

In the early 1980s, Mullaney met writer-editor Catherine Yronwode, who was working for cartoonist and entrepreneur Will Eisner. Yronwode recalled that Eisner and his wife Ann "hosted a party for me with all these comic book men I was flirting with. All these men came up; they all wanted to meet Will. One of them was Dean Mullaney, the co-owner of Eclipse Comics, a small independent publishing house. He was the most flirtatious." At some point afterward, once Yronwode finished her work organizing Eisner's archives, she and Mullaney became engaged and moved to California, where they were married.[10]

By the late 1980s, Eclipse was selling a half-million comics a month, and was the third largest comics publisher after Marvel Comics and DC Comics.[11]

In 1986, Eclipse lost most of its back-issue stock in a flood.[12] This event, along with the repercussions of Mullaney's divorce from Yronwode, by then his partner at Eclipse, and the mid-1990s collapse of the direct market distribution system, caused the company to cease operations in 1994[13][14] and file for bankruptcy in 1995.[15] The company's intellectual property rights were later acquired by Todd McFarlane.[16] Mullaney also attributed the company's demise to a problematic contract with the book publisher HarperCollins.[17] Eclipse's last publication was its Spring 1993 catalog, which was a complete bibliography of its publications.

In the mid-2000s, Mullaney approached

Family Circus, and Bloom County.[19]

In 2014, Mullaney added another imprint at IDW, EuroComics, in order to publish new English translations of European comics, including Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese, Paracuellos by Carlos Giménez, and Alack Sinner by Muñoz and Sampaya.[citation needed]

In December, 2021 it was announced that LoAC and EuroComics would move from IDW to a new publisher, Clover Press.[20]

Awards

As creative director and editor of The Library of American Comics,[19] Mullaney has won seven Eisner awards and one Harvey Award. Eisner source unless otherwise indicated:[21]

Mullaney won a 2012

Harvey Award for Best Biographical, Historical or Journalistic Presentation for Genius, Illustrated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth.[24]

Additionally, Mullaney received the

Robert Overstreet's Overstreet Hall of Fame.[26]

References

  1. ^ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  2. ^ Dreifus, Claudia (November 22, 1991). "Despots & Crooks: Collect 'Em All". Entertainment Weekly. No. 93. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  3. .
  4. : Eclipse Enterprises. p. 1 (unnumbered).
  5. Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species
    . Eclipse Enterprises. pp. Afterword 2–3 (unnumbered).
  6. ^ Gough, Bob (2001). "Interview with Don McGregor". MileHighComics.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  7. ^ Catherine Yronwode. "Eclipse Comics Index". luckymojo.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2015. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
  8. ^ Rockwell, John (April 5, 1990). "Conan in Comics? Yes. Hulk? Sure. But Fafner? Wotan?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 28, 2015.
  9. ^ Bails, Jerry; Ware, Hames (eds.). "Dean Mullaney". Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999. Archived from the original on May 11, 2007. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  10. .
  11. ISBN 978-1603601801. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  12. ^ Yronwode, Catherine; Yronwode, Nagasiva (2002). "The Lesser Book of the Vishanti: A Companion to the Dr. Strange Comic Books". LuckyMojo.com. Archived from the original on September 13, 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
  13. ^ "Newswatch: Business News: Eclipse Copes with Divorce and Back Debt". The Comics Journal (165): 12. January 1994.
  14. ^ "Comics Publishers Suffer Tough Summer: Body Count Rises in Market Shakedown". The Comics Journal (172): 13–18. November 1994.
  15. ^ "Newswatch: Eclipse Files for Bankruptcy". The Comics Journal (174): 25. February 1995.
  16. ^ "McFarlane Buys Eclipse Assets at Auction". The Comics Journal (185): 14–15. March 1996.
  17. ^ MacDonald, Heidi (March 30, 2007). "Mullaney on Eclipse". "The Beat" (column), Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  18. Newsarama.com. Archived
    from the original on February 7, 2009.
  19. ^ a b The Library of American Comics (official site). Mullaney listed as creative director at site's "About" page
  20. ^ "Library of American Comics Teams w/ Clover Press". 7 December 2021.
  21. San Diego Comic-Con International. 2 December 2012. Archived
    from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  22. ^ "2000s Eisner Award Recipients". San Diego Comic-Con International. 2 December 2012. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  23. ^ "Saga, Lumberjanes, Little Nemo Are Top Winners at 2015 Eisner Awards". San Diego Comic-Con International. 17 December 2014. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  24. ^ Tree, Brad (September 9, 2012). "Congratulations to the Harvey Award Recipients!". Harvey Awards. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  25. ^ "Inkpot Awards". San Diego Comic-Con International. 6 December 2012. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  26. ^ "The Overstreet Hall of Fame: Dean Mullaney". Gemstone Publishing. 2014. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.

External links