John Marc DeMatteis (;"J.M. DeMatteis Returns – Dollar Bin Bandits" born December 15, 1953) is an American writer of comic books, television, film, and novels. He is known for psychologically and spiritually driven stories that dive deep into the human heart and mind.
Biography
Early career J.M. DeMatteis was born in Brooklyn, New York City. His father was Italian-Catholic, his mother of Jewish heritage, and DeMatteis has been a longtime follower of the Indian spiritual master Avatar Meher Baba. DeMatteis's earliest aspirations were to be a rock musician and comic book artist. He began playing in bands starting in the sixth grade, generally in the role of lead singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist, and also wrote music reviews for a number of publications. He began drawing at a young age, and was accepted into the School of the Visual Arts, but had to decline for financial reasons. He graduated from Midwood High School in Brooklyn in 197116 Jan 2014 — American writers are fascinating. The truth, of course, is that you can't pigeonhole anyone, let alone writers whose lives are all about ...The American Dream – Out in the Open Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore https://www.rsns.org › Shaliyah Messages This is a quote from this year's annual Marvel Comics Pride issue, in an interview with legendary Jewish comic book author, J.M. DeMatteis. But why does it ...from Patreon: my review of Moonshadow: The Definitive ... WordPress.com https://decandido.wordpress.com › 2022/10/22 › from-... 22 Oct 2022 — DeMatteis is Jewish, and Judaism plays a much bigger role in his work than it does in most mainstream comics work. (One of his other 1980s ... and received a BA in English from SUNY Empire.
DeMatteis then turned from drawing to writing. He got his start in comic books at DC Comics in the late 1970s. After a number of rejected submissions, his first accepted story was "The Lady-Killer Craves Blood", but it would not be published until years later in House of Mystery #282 (July 1980). His first published story for the company was "The Blood Boat!" in Weird War Tales #70 (Dec. 1978). He contributed to the company's line of horror comics notably with the creation of the Creature Commandos in Weird War Tales #93 (Nov. 1980) and I…Vampire in House of Mystery #290 (March 1981).Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 193 "Writer J. M. DeMatteis unveiled vampire/vampire hunter Andrew Bennett with the help of artist Tom Sutton in The House of Mystery #290." He briefly wrote the Aquaman feature in Adventure Comics as well.Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 187: "With issue #475, fan favorite Aquaman was added to the [Adventure Comics] lineup, and his first installment was written by J. M. DeMatteis and illustrated by Dick Giordano." DeMatteis and artist Brian Bolland produced a backup story titled "Falling Down to Heaven" in Madame Xanadu, DC's first attempt at marketing comics specifically to the "direct market" of fans and collectors. DeMatteis had long been eager to work for Marvel Comics, and following roughly a year in which editor-in-chief Jim Shooter kept him busy with odd jobs and fill-ins, in 1980 he was made the lead writer for Marvel on The Defenders, and had lengthy runs on Marvel Team-Up and Captain America, paired with penciler Mike Zeck, with whom in 1982 he created the character Arnie Roth, a Jewish childhood friend and protector to Steve Rogers and the first openly gay character to appear in a mainstream superhero comic.
1980s After writing a negative review of the Grateful Dead's 1980 album Go to Heaven which was published in Rolling Stone, DeMatteis ended his career as a music critic. He explained, "Grateful Dead fans are like hardcore comic book fans, you know... and I know that when I sit down to write a review that I'm just some shmuck sitting down at a typewriter with an opinion—but then it's in print in something like Rolling Stone. I got all these letters, which I saved, from all these hardcore Grateful Dead fans—wounded. ... I said if I'm going to review at all I'm not going to write negative reviews anymore..." Around this time he also surrendered his professional career as a rock musician, after years of playing in New York City–based bands.
In 1984, DeMatteis and artist Bob Budiansky produced a Prince Namor limited series. He saw the series as an opportunity to both delve more into the psychology of the title character than he had been able to in The Defenders and to continue his collaboration with Budiansky from the recently canceled Ghost Rider, later recalling, "We'd get on the phone, start talking, and the stories would come so easily. We had a fantastic rapport, personally and professionally." DeMatteis had mixed feelings about the series itself, and said the one part of which he was unreservedly proud was the look into Namor's years as an amnesiac homeless man. DeMatteis and illustrator Jon J. Muth created the graphic novel Moonshadow, for Marvel's Epic line: the groundbreaking story was the first fully painted series in American comics. DeMatteis followed this with the 1986 Doctor Strange graphic novel Into Shamballa drawn by Dan Green and Blood: A Tale, a hallucinatory vampire story drawn by Kent Williams. In 1987, DeMatteis and Zeck re-teamed for the "Kraven's Last Hunt" arc that ran throughout Marvel's then-three Spider-Man titles. The arc has been collected in multiple editions and remains one of the most popular, and respected, stories in Spider-Man's history.DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 231: "The six-issue story arc...ran through all the Spider-Man titles for two months."
Moving back to DC, DeMatteis had a memorable run writing Doctor Fate, first in a mini-series illustrated by Keith Giffen, then in an ongoing series illustrated by Shawn McManus. He succeeded Gerry Conway as writer of the superhero-team title Justice League of America, using the pen name Michael Ellis on his first issue of the series. When that title was cancelledManning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 226: "Alongside artist Luke McDonnell, DeMatteis crafted a dramatic four-part finale to the first series of DC's premier team of superheroes." in the wake of the company-wide crossover Legends, DeMatteis stayed through its relaunch as Justice League International,Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 228: "It was clear that the [Justice League] needed a major overhaul. But no one quite expected how drastic the transformation would truly be in the hands of writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis and artist Kevin Maguire." scripting over the plots of Keith Giffen.
JLI took such lesser-known DC characters as Martian Manhunter, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Mister Miracle, Captain Atom, and Power Girl and turned the then-current preoccupation with "grim 'n' gritty" superheroes on its head. The lighthearted series emphasized the absurd aspects of people with strange powers, wearing colorful costumes, volunteering to fight evildoers. Although the League had its serious side and often faced world-threatening villains, the stories included such characters as the lovably inept G'nort, the worst Green Lantern in the Green Lantern Corps, Mr. Nebula, the interplanetary decorator, the Injustice League, a bunch of bumbling losers and a flock of homicidal penguins who had been hybridized with piranhas. The success of Justice League International led to a spin-off in 1989 titled Justice League Europe also co-written with Giffen and featuring art by Bart Sears.Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 239: "Spinning out of the pages of Justice League International, an offshoot of the Justice League set up camp in Paris. Written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis with art by Bart Sears."
1990s The Giffen/DeMatteis team worked on Justice League for five years and closed out their run with the "Breakdowns" storyline in 1991 and 1992.Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 251: "The lauded Giffen/DeMatteis era of the Justice League came to a dramatic close with "Breakdowns", a sixteen-part storyline that crossed through the pages of both Justice League America and Justice League Europe." DeMatteis scripted Justice League spin-offs such as solo series for Mister Miracle and Doctor Fate.
Back at Marvel, DeMatteis again succeeded Conway, this time as writer of The Spectacular Spider-Man in 1991, taking the series in a grimmer, more psychologically oriented direction. In collaboration with regular artist Sal Buscema, DeMatteis' story arc "The Child Within" (#178–184) featured the return of the Harry Osborn Green Goblin.Cowsill, Alan "1990s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 193: Starting this issue [#178] was 'The Child Within' story arc, another classic tale from writer J. M. DeMatteis exploring the psychology of Spidey, Vermin, and the Green Goblin. Spider-Man's battle with the Goblin continued in "The Osborn Legacy" in #189Cowsill "1990s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 198: "Writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Sal Buscema spun a tale in which Harry Osborne again succumbed to the madness of his Green Goblin identity and launched an all-out attack on Spidey." and came to an end when Harry died in "The Best Of Enemies!" (#200).Cowsill "1990s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 203: "This giant-size issue by writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Sal Buscema brought Spidey's relationship with the Green Goblin to a dramatic conclusion."
In 1994, DeMatteis took over from David Michelinie as writer of The Amazing Spider-Man #389–406 for a run that included the apparent death of Peter Parker's Aunt MayCowsill "1990s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 218: "May's death was temporary; November 1998's The Spectacular Spider-Man #263 revealed that the woman who died was a genetically modified actress." and the beginnings of the "Clone Saga" arc. DeMatteis as well worked on such characters as Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Man-Thing, and the Silver Surfer.
DeMatteis helped launch DC's mature-audience Vertigo imprint, writing the graphic novels Mercy and Farewell, Moonshadow (a sequel to the Epic Comics series), the miniseries The Last One, and the 15-issue series Seekers Into The Mystery, the story of a Hollywood screenwriter on a journey of self-discovery and the search for universal truths.
DeMatteis wrote an autobiographical, digest-sized miniseries Brooklyn Dreams, published by DC's Paradox Press imprint. DeMatteis' most personal work, it was later collected in one volume under the Vertigo imprint. The book was later collected by IDW and in a 2025 deluxe edition from Dark Horse.
21st century In the 2000s, DeMatteis redefined the Spectre, through the character of Hal Jordan, as a spirit of redemption rather than of vengeance. DeMatteis co-scripted the "Gods of Gotham" storyline in Wonder Woman #164–166 (January to March 2001) with Phil Jimenez.Cowsill, Alan "2000s" in Dolan, p. 298 "The 'Gods of Gotham' storyline marked the start of Phil Jimenez's run on the series as artist and writer (with J. M. DeMatteis on board as co-scripter for the first arc)." In 2003, with Giffen, he revived the Justice League International for the mini-series Formerly Known as the Justice League.Cowsill "2000s" in Dolan, p. 311: "In 2003, writers J. M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen and original artist Kevin Maguire worked on a six-part series reuniting [their version of] the team." The series won Giffen, DeMatteis and artist Kevin Maguire an Eisner Award. The team followed this with "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League" arc in JLA Classified and, at Marvel, a five-issue run of The Defenders. In 2006, DeMatteis and Giffen began work on two original superhero comedy series, Hero Squared and Planetary Brigade for Boom! Studios. DeMatteis teamed with veteran artist Mike Ploog to create the CrossGen fantasy comic Abadazad (May 2004). The following year, Ploog and DeMatteis announced they were collaborating on a five-issue miniseries, Stardust Kid, from the Image Comics imprint Desperado Publishing. The series moved to Boom! Studios in 2006.