Mike Ploog creating another masterpiece.

Yesterday, Mike Ploog turned eighty years old. Thanks to a combination of hecticity and hellish heat here at the Homestead, Mr. Ploog’s nativity is belatedly being honored this evening. Honors are something he richly deserves, not least for his contributions to horror and sword-and-sorcery/heroic fantasy comics. In addition, Mike has worked on numerous cinematic projects of note. His detailed biography can be found here.

Michael George Ploog was born in Mankato, Minnesota in 1942.* He joined the U.S. Marines in 1958 and left the Corps in 1968. He soon went to work for the Filmation and Hanna-Barbera studios doing layouts. It was during this period that he contributed to the pilot for Scooby-Doo.

A co-worker gave Ploog a tip that comic legend, Will Eisner, was looking for an artistic assistant on the military instructional publication, PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly. Mike worked two years for Eisner. Will's dynamic and somewhat 'cartoony' style deeply influenced Ploog.

Mike left the Eisner studio to do work for Warren Publications. A life-long fan of horror, Ploog slid easily into doing stories for Eerie and Creepy. However, the lure of--possibly--better money at Marvel Comics induced him to submit his work to the House of Ideas. He created Werewolf By Night--which spawned Moon Knight--and then went on to co-create the Bronze Age version of Marvel's Ghost Rider.

Ploog would go on to illustrate an acclaimed--and faithful--run on The Monster of Frankenstein, followed by a beloved stint on Man-Thing. His non-horror output during that period included stellar runs on Kull the Destroyer, Planet of the Apes and "Weirdworld" in Marvel Premiere #38 . Mike left Marvel--as did several other Marvel greats--due to a fundamental disagreement with Jim Shooter.

Mike returned to Hollywood, working with Ralph Bakshi on Wizards and The Lord of Rings. He also contributed to The Thing and Ghostbusters. In addition, Ploog did artwork for Magic: The Gathering.

A truly great career. It's just a pity that Ploog's run on Kull the Destroyer was the only S&S work he did. His style--what I call 'Eisner meets Wrightson'--would've worked well on DC's Arak comic or the '80s Elric comic. Both were written/scripted by Roy Thomas, whom Mike always got along with. What coulda been...

Happy birthday, Mike! Thanks for your service and for all the great artwork.

Feel free to check out the Ploog art retrospective below.

*There is some dispute over Ploog's birthdate. A 1942 date appears to be the most likely.