Michael Reaves obit

 

Michael Reaves, Emmy-Winning Batman, Gargoyles and Spider-Man Writer Dies

He was not on the list.

Michael Reaves, an acclaimed prose writer who became one of the most accomplished animated screenwriters of the 1980s and 90s, including developing Spider-Man Unlimited (with Will Meugniot) and being a Story Editor and writer for both Gargoyles and Batman: The Animated Series (where he won am Emmy Award for his work on the classic episode, "Heart of Ice"), has died at 72.

Reaves was a burgeoning science fiction and fantasy short story writer in the early 1970s when he was accepted into the Clarion Science Fiction Writers’ Workshop in Michigan in 1972. He developed his skills as a writer at the workshop and soon became a prolific short story author for a number of magazines. In 1974, he moved to Hollywood to try to break into TV. His first sold script was "Bigfoot," in the first season of The Secrets of Isis, in 1975. The Secrets of Isis, and its sister show, Shazam!, were both live action series produced by Filmation, which was better known for its animated series. Reaves soon transitioned to the animated side of things with 1977's The New Archie/Sabrina Hour from Filmation.

Around that same time, Reaves released his first novel, I, Alien (a young adult novel) and his first adult novel, Dragonworld (with Byron Preiss).

Reaves soon became one of the most respected animated screenwriters of the era, writing for pretty much every one of the top cartoon series of the time, including The Smurfs (which he wrote over 60 episodes for), Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, The Real Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He also wrote for some lesser-known series, as well, of course. During the 1980s, he did his first comic book work, as well.

When Batman: The Animated Series launched in 1992, Reaves was one of the main writers at the start, and won a Daytime Emmy for co-writing the episode "Heart of Ice" with Paul Dini, Martin Pasko and Sean Catherine Derek), the episode that forever redefined Mister Freeze as a villain, taking him from an also-ran to a villain notable enough to be the lead villain in a Batman movie. Reaves also co-wrote the classic episode, "Perchance to Dream," the late Kevin Conroy's favorite episode of the series.He was also one of the four screenwriters of the Batman: Mask of the Phantasm film.

Reaves was then a story editor and writer for Gargoyles from 1994-96, where he co-wrote the first six episodes of the series, and wrote the acclaimed anti-gun violence episode, “Deadly Force.”

He developed Spider-Man Unlimited with Will Meugniot and wrote a number of episodes of that series, including co-writing the show's first episode.

Reaves had worked on Star Wars cartoons in the 1980s (Droids and Ewoks), and during the 2000s, he became an acclaimed Star Wars novelist, with his book, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, being a New York Times bestseller. He also wrote a number of novels with his longtime collaborator, Steve Perry.

Reaves had Parkinson's Disease, and for a time, he would chronicle his struggle with the illness at a blog, Parkinson's Monster, with the help of his daughter, Mallory.

His last major work was the InterWorld novel trilogy that he co-wrote with Mallory and Neil Gaiman. That series ended in 2015.

 

Books

Novels

Year     Title     Co-author(s)    Series   Notes

1978    I, Alien                                    Young adult novel

1979    Dragonworld   Byron Preiss               

1984    Hellstar            Steve Perry                 

1984    Sword of the Samurai Steve Perry      Time Machine Book 3 of the multi-author young adult series

1984    The Shattered World               The Shattered World  

1987    Dome  Steve Perry                 

1988    The Burning Realm                 The Shattered World  

1989    The Omega Cage        Steve Perry                 

1991    Street Magic                           

1995    Night Hunter                          

1998    Thong the Barbarian Meets the Cycle Sluts Of Saturn          Steve Perry                 

1998    Voodoo Child                         

2001    Hell On Earth              The Trine        

2001    Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter               Star Wars        

2004    MedStar I: Battle Surgeons     Steve Perry      Star Wars        

2004    MedStar II: Jedi Healer           Steve Perry      Star Wars        

2006    Mr. Twilight    Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff       The Trine        

2007    Batman: Fear Itself      Steven-Elliot Altman             

2007    Death Star       Steve Perry      Star Wars        

2007    InterWorld       Neil Gaiman    InterWorld       Young adult novel

2008    Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight                   Star Wars        

2008    Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows                     Star Wars        

2009    Coruscant Nights III: Patterns of Force          Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff       Star Wars         Initial copies show only Reaves as author; this was later corrected.

2011    Shadow Games           Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff       Star Wars        

2013    The Silver Dream        Neil Gaiman and Mallory Reaves      InterWorld       Young adult novel

2013    The Last Jedi   Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff       Star Wars        

2015    Eternity's Wheel          Neil Gaiman and Mallory Reaves      InterWorld       Young adult novel

Anthologies and collections

Darkworld Detective (1981)

The Night People (2005)

Co-editor

Shadows Over Baker Street (2003) (co-editor and contributor)

Screenwriting

Animated television

Series head writer credits are denoted in bold

 

The New Archie and Sabrina Hour (1977)

Space Sentinels (1977)

Web Woman (1978)

The New Shmoo (1979)

Blackstar (1981)

The Smurfs (1981)

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983)

The Biskitts (1983)

Pole Position (1984)

Mighty Orbots (1984)

Dungeons & Dragons (1984–1985)

Challenge of the GoBots (1985)

Star Wars: Droids (1985)

Ewoks (1986)

Potato Head Kids (1986)

Teen Wolf (1986)

The Centurions (1986)

The Transformers (1986)

My Little Pony (1986–1987)

The Real Ghostbusters (1986–1987, 1990)

Bionic Six (1987)

Jem (1987)

Spiral Zone (1987)

Starcom: The U.S. Space Force (1987)

Superman (1988)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1988–1990)

The New Adventures of He-Man (1990)

Tiny Toon Adventures (1990)

Fox's Peter Pan & the Pirates (1990–1991)

Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995)

Bobby's World (1992)

Conan and the Young Warriors (1994)

Phantom 2040 (1994–1995)

Gargoyles (1994–1996)

Invasion America (1998)

Beast Machines: Transformers (1999–2000)

Spider-Man Unlimited (1999–2001)

Godzilla: The Series (2000)

Max Steel (2000)

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002–2003)

Live-action television

The Secrets of Isis – one episode (1975)

Shazam! – one episode (1976)

Benji, Zax & the Alien Prince – one episode (1983)

The Twilight Zone – two episodes produced, and two stories (1986–89)

Star Trek: The Next Generation – one episode (1987)

Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future – two episodes produced, three episodes, and one story (1987–1988)

Monsters – four episodes (1988–1990)

Swamp Thing – one episode (1990)

The Flash – one episode (1990)

Father Dowling Mysteries – three episodes (1990–1991)

Young Hercules – one episode (1999)

Sliders – one episode (1999)

Star Trek: New Voyages – one episode (2007)

Film

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

Full Eclipse (1993)

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003)