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Keith Pollard made his professional comics debut in 1974 with stints on such titles
as Master of Kung Fu, Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, Astonishing Tales, and Black Goliath.
He was the regular penciller of The Amazing Spider-Man from issue #186 (Nov. 1978) t
hrough issue #205 (June 1980) and pencilled the backup feature in The Amazing Spider-Man
Annual #15 (1981). With writer Marv Wolfman, Pollard introduced the Black Cat in The
Amazing Spider-Man #194 (July 1979). Wolfman and Pollard were the creative team for both
Fantastic Four #200 (Nov. 1978) and The Amazing Spider-Man #200 (Jan. 1980).
Pollards Cover to Thor #300
Pollard was also the regular penciler of Thor issues #286-320.
In 1982, Pollard moved to DC Comics where he drew part of Wonder Woman #300 (Feb. 1983)
and launched the Vigilante series with Marv Wolfman. He and Elliot S. Maggin co-created
the Kristin Wells version of Superwoman in DC Comics Presents Annual #2 (1983).
Pollard and Stan Lee produced the Silver Surfer: The Enslavers graphic novel in 1990.
In the early 1990s he drew all the character profiles for the Official Handbook of the
Marvel Universe Master Edition. Pollard left comics in 1994, though he occasionally makes
appearances at comic book conventions.
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Drawn to Southern California, spring 1965, by the lure of a career in Comic Art, Mike spent his first
14 years in comic books, comic strips, and TV animation. Beginning as RUSS Manning’s assistant on
MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER and TARZAN comic books (at the end of their working relationship Mike lettered
and inked the last 6 months of Russ’s TARZAN syndicated Sunday strip and the first 4 months of the daily
and Sunday syndicated STAR WARS, late 1970s) and then inking and pencilling for Western Publishing (Gold Key).
Mike inked such West Coast talents as Sparky Moore, Mike Arens, Paul Norris, and Doug Wildley.
His drawing asignments were on TARZAN, SPACE GHOST, coloring books, puzzles, etc. for Western and doing
layout on network animation series like SPIDERMAN. At Gold Key he wrote/adapted and drew SPEED BUGGY,
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KIDS, TARZAN, MAGNUS, and designed and executed covers for Hanna-Barbera
TV ADVENTURE HEROES, etc. Mike contributed to James Warren’s CREEPY, EERIE, and VAMPERELLA magazines and
began drawing the comic panel CRUSIN’ record album covers(over 2 dozen to date),many of which he’s scripted.
For East coast firms, Mike inked artists Don Heck, Steve Ditko, Ramona Fraden and others, but during this period
he is best known to comic fans for his decade as letterer/inker for legendary Jack Kirby at National and then Marvel.
From late Spring 1979, Mike spent the next 14 years on staff with the Walt Disney Company in the creative department
of their Consumer Product/Licensing division, addressing the areas of book publishing, comic books and strips, and
all forms of themepark and licensed merchandise as a character artist/product designer, performing as idea man,
concept and final line artist, and sometime inker.
At Disney, Mike designed and art directed the DICK trACY and 3-D ROCKETEER comic book Music Company read-alongs.
He created the “new look” that launched the massive WINNIE THE POOH licensing program in late 1993. Featured in
a 43 minute video “How To Draw Pooh” sent to over 40 licensees, Mike takes no small amount of pride in the fact
that POOH soon (and still) outsold Mickey Mouse worldwide.
June 1993 Mike left his staff position to spend the next 7 years full time free lancing for The Disney Store’s
creative group, becoming their “Main POOH Man” and creating 3-D products utilizing Disney characters.
Since Spring 2000 Mike has functioned as an Art service doing pencil work on a wide variety of projects,
including creating character Orthographic Turns and environment “floor plans” for computer game animators,
DIGIMON products, on screen icons for FOX FAMILY CHANNEL and FOX KIDS NETWORK, READER RABBIT work books,
RESCUE HEROES toy packaging, etc.
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