A sad story, yet filled with hope. Thanks, Bill, for all you’ve given us. TVWriter™ is rooting for you:
by Mike Mantlo
For those new to the story, my brother, Bill Mantlo, was one of the most prolific writers in the history of Marvel Comics. During a span just shy of 20 years, he penned tales for nearly every title in the Marvel Universe. His was an unbridled imagination fired by all the “marvels” he absorbed from his voracious reading appetite in his 1950s-’60s childhood.
Starting in the “paste-up” department at Marvel’s New York City “House of Ideas,” Bill was literally chomping at the bit awaiting any opportunity to put his fantastical ideas into print. In almost Hollywood-like fashion, one day editor Tony Isabella frantically scoured the bullpen for someone that could provide him a story to fill in for a writer that had missed his deadline, and Bill jumped at the chance. Whipping up a tale on his lunch break, Isabella was pleased with the result, and Bill earned his first writer’s credit. The floodgates were opened, and would not soon be closed again. The writing assignments grew steadily, and Bill became known as the “fill-in king” at Marvel. His imagination and creativity flourished, and within a few short years he was churning out upwards of eight different titles every month.