Scott Kress at Catskill Comics is the exclusive agent for Mike Grell commissioned art. Fans looking for comic art originals or wishing to commission a special piece for their wall can contact Scott at: www.catskillcomics.com
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NEW SHOW: Mike Grell at Huntsville Pop & Culture Expo, Huntsville, Alabama, April 25-27, 2025
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NEW SHOW: Mike Grell at 3 Alarm Comics, Biloxi, Mississippi for Free Comic Book Day (Saturday, May 3, 2025)
VIDEO MESSAGE FROM MIKE: https://x.com/GrellOfficial/status/1908584926968000911
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My art school chum Art Tyska sent this photo of his granddaughter Elsa with the caption: “Teaching my granddaughter to read the classics.”
Way to go, Art. Hard to believe it’s been 50 YEARS!
Mike
I’m sick of writing obituaries, so I decided to write about a LIVING legend in comics.
Peter David is a fellow gypsy of the convention circuit, a guy whose work I admire and whose friendship has been typical of those formed over years of sporadic meetings on the road. We first met in San Diego back somewhere in the latter half of the previous century, when the show was small enough to get to know other pros over dinner. Next time was in Fort Worth, where we had dinner at Joe T’s Mexican restaurant with Bob Wayne and Terry Austin. Terry sported a $200 pair of cowboy boots and a new Stetson he had bought for about a hundred bucks (this was in the days when a hundred bucks would buy you more than dinner at McDonalds). Peter was wearing a ten-dollar hat that probably fell apart in the first rain and reasoned that he should be able to find a pair of boots for twenty bucks. I think they were made of cardboard. Terry reached up and hung his hat on the impressive set of longhorns mounted over the archway in the restaurant—Peter had to frisbee his to get it up there. Getting it down was another problem, solved by dragging one of the picnic table benches over and hopping up (Yes, we were young enough to hop!).
As is often the case, whenever we met, we were always a bit dismayed to discover our waistlines had grown as our hairlines had receded, but Peter’s attitude never changed. He never lost his sense of humor, even when he lost his health. The challenges he’s faced over the past decade haven’t dimmed his talent.
A few years ago, when Peter was unable to travel, his wife Kathleen came up to me at a convention and said, ”Peter wanted you to have this.” It was a signed copy of Peter’s Mr. Sulu Grabbed My Ass, and Other Highlights from a Life in Comics, Novels, Television, Films and Video Games. Brilliant, funny and insightful– I’m not ashamed to say it became my favorite bathroom reading material.
Recently, Peter’s battle with health issues has suffered a major blow thanks to Medicaid cutbacks (Thank you ever so bloody much, Elon Musk!). In response, Graham Murphy has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help out. You can find it here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-peter-david
Please visit the site and do what you can to help a guy who has left an indelible mark on the comic industry.
–Mike Grell
Hi, guys-
Taking my right hand for a test drive after months of not being able to draw. I’m getting physical therapy and occupational therapy twice a week and making great progress. I still can’t make a tight fist with my right hand due to muscle and ligament atrophy but getting better every day. I have a long way to go before I’ll be able to spend long hours at the drawing board, but I’m getting there and expect to be at 100% in a few weeks.
I want to thank you all for your prayers and support and, for commission clients, your endless patience. Looking forward to this next year and some big developments. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Mike
Hi, guys –
I’m still on the green side of the sod!
After 12 days in the hospital, I was released a week ago Wednesday with an IV port that required twice daily in fusions of antibiotics. As of yesterday, I’m on oral meds that do the same thing but without Mary having to administer IVs. She is my rock and my pitbull, who has never left my side, my partner for life.
I’m getting physical therapy and feel stronger every day, able to walk without too much pain (cellulitis is a bitch).
I haven’t been able to sit down at the drawing board, but my hands are much better. I still can’t close my right fist all the way, but I can hold a pencil and draw. I hope to be posting some new commissions shortly.
Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. I can’t tell what it’s meant to me when Mary shows me your comments of support.
Bestest!
Mike
Hi, guys-
Well, this has been an interesting few months. In July I was hospitalized with bleeding ulcers. Five days later, I had lost 23 pounds and 2 chins and wound up on a walker for two months. Then, just about the time I was back on my feet, an attack of gout that usually affects my feet decided to pick another target: my right hand.
For more than a month I couldn’t hold a pencil or so much as sign a restaurant check. I still can’t close my fist, but the good news is I can draw again—not for long periods, but I can manage an hour or so at a time. The last week has improved my mobility and dexterity, and I expect to be back in top form in a couple of weeks.
For all of you who’ve been waiting for commission sketches, I appreciate your patience. For all of you who sent prayers and good wishes, my sincere thanks.
2025 promises to be interesting in so many ways, but on the positive side I can tell you big things are coming.
Stay tuned…
Mike
I am sorry to announce that I will not be able to attend CCXP 24 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
I’m very sorry to disappoint fans. Mary and I have never been south of the US border and have been looking forward to this convention for a long time, We expect to attend CCXP 25 next year and will keep you posted here.
The big WHY:
I blame the AARP. I can’t recall even visiting a doctor more than once in a decade until I joined up and received their welcome packet, which apparently contains every old age disease known to man. The latest to rear its ugly head is gout, which has attacked my right wrist and hand to the extent that I am temporarily unable to draw or even sign my name. Swell.
Good news is I’m making progress, just slower than I had hoped. Pain and swelling have decreased quite a bit and I’ve regained motion dramatically in the past few days. If this continues, I should be back at the drawing board soon, so nobody panic, okay? My doctor said my numbers indicate I have 0% chance of dying in the next year.
Anybody wanna go skydiving?
Mike
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 09132024
It’s my 77th birthday and the 5oth Anniversary of THE WARLORD. I’m pleased to announce that DC Comics will be publishing MIKE GRELL’S THE WARLORD OMNIBUS VOLUME 1 in 2025, to be followed by VOLUME 2 which will complete my full run on my very first comic creation. Over the decades THE WARLORD has proven a perennial favorite among fans around the world in many languages.
THE WARLORD tells the story of a US spy pilot whose SR-71 is damaged while on a mission over Russia and plunges through an opening at the North pole into Skartaris, the world at the center on the earth, where creatures of from mythology and Earth’s ancient past co-exist amid fantastic cities and leftovers of the civilization of Atlantis. TRAVIS MORGAN’S struggle to survive in this savage world is the heroic saga of a modern man in pursuit of his destiny in a land beyond time.
–Mike Grell
