View source for Bill DuBay

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{About|the comic book editor|the priest and author|William DuBay}}
{{Infobox comics creator
| image         =
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| birth_name    = William Bryan Dubay
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1948|01|11}}
| birth_place   =
| death_date    = {{death date and age|2010|4|15|1948|1|11}}
| death_place   = [[Portland, Oregon]], U.S.
| nationality   = American
| area          =
| cartoonist    =
| write         = y
| art           = y
| pencil        =
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| edit          = y
| publish       =
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| color         =
| alias         = Will Richardson, Dube
| signature     = <!-- very optional -->
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| notable works =
| awards        =
| website       =
| children      = 5
| spouse        = Peggy Buckler<br>Vanessa Hart
}}
'''William Bryan Dubay'''<ref name=ssdi /> (January 11, 1948 – April 15, 2010<ref name=ssdi>[https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JGRB-XQ3 William Bryan Dubay], [[Social Security Number]] 550-66-3060, at the United States [[Social Security Death Index]] via FamilySearch.org. Retrieved August 4, 2015.</ref><ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://www.anewtradition.com/obituaries/2010/04/william-bryan-dubay/ |title=William Bryan DuBay|publisher=Crown Memorial Centers obituary|date=April 15, 2010| url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707143104/http://www.anewtradition.com/obituaries/2010/04/william-bryan-dubay/ | archive-date=July 7, 2011}}. Parents' last name spelled "DuBay" here; original spelling "Dubay" per Bill DuBay Social Security Death Index and California Birth Index records cited here.</ref>), also known by the pseudonyms '''Will Richardson''', and '''Dube''',<ref name=bails>{{cite web |url=http://www.bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=DUBAY%2c+BILL |title=DuBay, Bill |authorlink=Jerry Bails |first1=Jerry |last1=Bails |first2=Hames |last2=Ware |publisher=Who's Who of American Comic Books 1929–1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727185320/http://www.bailsprojects.com/(S(tywmnwnlh5yrhdrxlddiicrj))/bio.aspx?Name=DUBAY,+BILL |archive-date=July 27, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> was an American [[comic-book]] editor, writer and artist best known as editor and writer for [[Warren Publishing]], including that company's [[horror fiction|horror]]-comics magazines ''[[Creepy (magazine)|Creepy]]'', ''[[Eerie (magazine)|Eerie]]'' and ''[[Vampirella]]''.

==Biography==

===Early career===
DuBay was the first of seven children born to Richard and Dorothy (née Lucas)<ref>[https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VLG6-QYT William Bryan Dubay] at the California Birth Index via FamilySearch.org. Retrieved August 5, 2015.</ref> DuBay,<ref name=obit /> the latest in a multigenerational family line of Lucases, Searses, and Spreckles in San Francisco, California,<ref name=mania>DuBay in {{cite web |last=Janson |first=Tim |url=http://www.mania.com/rook-classic-returns_article_112132.html |title='The Rook': A Classic Returns |publisher=Mania.com |date=January 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420075500/http://www.mania.com/rook-classic-returns_article_112132.html |archive-date=April 20, 2012 |url-status=dead }} Archive requires blocking text to make visible.</ref> became interested in comics after an uncle presented him with a gift of comic albums starring the [[Hergé]] character [[Tintin (character)|Tintin]].<ref name=mania /> DuBay began in the [[comic book]] field as a fan artist whose work included writing and drawing a backup feature in the [[fanzine]] ''Komix Illustrated'' in 1964, variously writing and drawing features in the fanzines ''Fantasy Heroes' Hangout'' and ''The Voice of Comicdom'' that same year,<ref name=bails /> and drawing the preexisting [[superhero]] character Powerman in the [[fanzine]] ''Star-Studded Comics'' No. 9 (July 1966), a black-and-white, newsprint magazine published by Texas Trio. That latter story, "The Crimes of the Transmuter", by writer Dave Bibby, was reprinted in the 1997 [[Hamster Press]] book ''Fandom's Finest Comics''.

DuBay's earliest credited comic-book works are two [[satire|satiric]] humor stories: the four-page Blooperman story "Bound in the Badcave", written by [[Gary Friedrich]] and appearing in [[Charlton Comics]]' ''Go-Go'' No. 4 (Dec. 1966),<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/170366/ ''Go-Go'' #4] at the [[Grand Comics Database]]</ref> and the four-page "Adult Super-Hero Daydreams", [[penciler|penciled]] by DuBay and written by himself and [[Roy Thomas]] in ''[[Not Brand Echh]]'' No. 13 (May 1969).<ref name=gcd>[http://www.comics.org/credit/name/bill%20dubay/sort/chrono/ Bill DuBay credits] at the Grand Comics Database</ref> In between, he published a piece of science fiction fan art in the "Creepy Fan Club" section of [[Warren Publishing]]'s ''[[Creepy (magazine)|Creepy]]'' No. 12 (Dec. 1966).

DuBay returned to Warren as a professional with the story "Movie Dissector", written by [[R. Michael Rosen]], in ''Creepy'' No. 32 (April 1970).<ref>[http://www.comics.org/issue/23414/ ''Creepy'' #32] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref> Publisher [[James Warren (publisher)|James Warren]] recalled in a 1999 interview, "The first time I saw him. I said, 'You are too young to work for this company, too young to work for anybody. You are a callow youth. You don't even shave yet. Let me see your work.' I took one look and said, 'You're hired.'"<ref name=cba4>{{cite news |url=http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/04warren.html |title=Wrightson's Warren Days: The James Warren Interview |work=[[Comic Book Artist]] |issue=4 |date=Winter 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105094740/http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/04warren.html |archive-date=January 5, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In short order, he began writing stories as well as drawing them, beginning with the four-page "Life Species" in ''[[Eerie (magazine)|Eerie]] No. 30
(Nov. 1970), and then segued from art to become primarily a writer.<ref name=gcd /> He became editor of the Warren line with ''Creepy'' No. 49 and ''Eerie'' No. 43 (both Nov. 1972) and ''Vampirella'' No. 21 (Dec. 1972).<ref name=gcd-editor>[http://www.comics.org/editor/name/bill%20Dubay/sort/chrono/ Bill DuBay as editor] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref>

===Warren Publishing===
{{refimprove section|date=January 2015}}
DuBay, listed as managing editor until being formally credited as editor with the issues cover-dated September 1973, revamped the line by giving the magazines a graphic redesign, dropping fan-participation pages, instituting new features, and creating a unified look and feel. He also presided over the introduction of a stable of freelance artists from Spain, whose illustrative style provided an alternative to that of American comics artists. For a short time in mid-1974, former Warren editor [[Archie Goodwin (comics)|Archie Goodin]] returned, a hire that had DuBay reassigned to senior editor. When Goodwin departed to work for [[Marvel Comics]], DuBay, beginning with issues cover-dated September 1974, was once more named Warren Publishing's editor.

He continued in that post until being succeeded by writer [[Louise Simonson|Louise Jones]], initially credited as senior editor beginning with the May 1976 issues; DuBay remained as a freelance contributing editor.  After four years, Jones, too, decamped for Marvel. DuBay, who had adopted the pseudonym Will Richardson in the Warren science-fiction anthology ''1984'' No. 11 (Feb. 1980), became editor for a third time, under that pen name, beginning with ''Creepy'' No. 117 and ''[[Vampirella]]'' No. 87 (both May 1980) and ''[[Eerie (magazine)|Eerie]]'' No. 111 (June 1980).

He was succeeded a year later by Chris Adames, who left after six months to work at [[Archie Comics]]. DuBay returned for his fourth run as editor, with [[Timothy Moriarty]] as managing editor. Moriarty in turn succeeded DuBay after four months, becoming Warren's final editor upon the company's demise in 1983.

Other Warren magazines DuBay edited included ''[[Comix International]]'', ''1984'' (renamed ''1994'' with issue #11), ''The Rook'', ''The Goblin'', and ''[[Spirit (comics)|The Spirit]]''. The final Warren editor, Timothy Moriarty, in 2005 described DuBay as "a volatile guy.  Very funny and creative, both on the writing and art ends. Sort of like [[Bruce Willis]], physically and from the way he carried himself. I learned a ton from him, about comic storytelling, writing cover blurbs, composition. We got on well. But toward the end, he was writing, what, 60% of the stories in the comics, and [with] that one style dominating, I felt the comics were getting stale".<ref name=arndt>Moriarty in {{cite web |url=http://www.enjolrasworld.com/Richard%20Arndt/The%20Warren%20Magazines%20Interviews.htm |title=A 2005 Interview With Timothy Moriarty! |publisher=The Warren Magazines: Interviews |first=Richard |last=Arndt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090911055314/http://www.enjolrasworld.com/Richard%20Arndt/The%20Warren%20Magazines%20Interviews.htm |archive-date=September 11, 2009 |url-status=dead }} Scroll down for Moriarty interview.</ref>

===Later career===
DuBay wrote and drew a story for a 1983 issue of the anthological comics magazine ''[[Heavy Metal (magazine)|Heavy Metal]]'', and then became editor of [[Archie Comics]]' short-lived 1980s superhero line, in which he helped revive the company's 1940s characters, including the [[Black Hood Comics|Black Hood]] and the [[Comet (Archie Comics)|Comet]]. He then edited the three-issue [[Pacific Comics]] superhero anthology ''Bold Adventure'' (Nov. 1983 – June 1984), and wrote the features "Anaconda" and "The Weirdling".

As he described his 1980s career in a mid-2000s interview,
{{quote|I was editing several titles for [[Western Publishing|Western <nowiki>[Publishing]</nowiki>]] (''[[Popeye]]'', ''[[Turok]]'', ''[[Yosemite Sam]]'' and others), working on a title for Pacific Comics that would keep a few of my old Warren artists busy (''Bold Adventure'') and had teamed with two partners to open a new magazine company ([[Ion International]]) with the intent of producing ''Videogaming Illustrated'' and ''Chocolatier'' magazines, a couple of monthly newsstand titles. [[Carmine Infantino]] and I were also collaborating on several new ideas for [[DC Comics|DC <nowiki>[Comics]</nowiki>]], as well – one a title that company later used without us, ''[[Preacher (comics)|Preacher]]''. ... All this while still running my art studio, The Cartoon Factory.<ref name="mlj">DuBay in {{cite web |url=http://www.mightycrusaders.net/dubay.html |title=Bill DuBay Interview |first=Rik |last=Offenberger |authorlink=Rik Offenberger |publisher=n.d.; website created September 18, 2003 MightyCrusaders.net |access-date=September 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610084127/http://www.mightycrusaders.net/dubay.html |archive-date=June 10, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

In 1984, DuBay began a career in animation. That year, he was hired by [[Stan Lee]] to help build the animation studio [[Marvel Productions]].<ref name=aboutus /> Later, he and Rook co-creator [[Budd Lewis]] formed Time Castle Books to publish collections and planned graphic novels starring their character.<ref name=aboutus>{{cite web |url=http://timecastlebooks.com/about_us |publisher=Time Castle Books |title=About Us |access-date=September 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100204013650/http://timecastlebooks.com/about_us |archive-date=February 4, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Other==
In the letters section of ''Fantastic Four'' No. 25 (April 1964), Dubay was awarded the first Marvel "No-Prize", for having the largest reported comic-book collection among Marvel Comics readers.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cronin|first1=Brian|title=Knowledge Waits: The History of Marvel's No-Prize|url=http://www.cbr.com/knowledge-waits-the-history-of-marvels-no-prize/|publisher=CBR.com|date=February 11, 2016|access-date=July 18, 2017|archive-date=July 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719135732/http://www.cbr.com/knowledge-waits-the-history-of-marvels-no-prize/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2003, DuBay was among 58 former Warren freelancers and editors who protested to Robert Fisher, the court-appointed trustee overseeing Warren Communications' involuntary [[Chapter 7, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 7]] bankruptcy, that original artwork purchased by [[Harris Comics]] was not Warren's to sell.<ref>Dean, Michael. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822061154/http://www.tcj.com/253/n_warren.html |date=August 22, 2008 |title=The Vampirella Wars: The Untold Story of James Warren's Custody Battle with Harris Comics }} (excerpt), ''The Comics Journal'' #253, June 2003. Archive of original. [http://web.archive.org/web/20080822061154/www.tcj.com/253/n_warren.html WebCitation archive].</ref>

==Personal life==
DuBay was married to Peggy Buckler, sister of comic-book artist [[Rich Buckler]].<ref name="mlj" /> He had five children: Crystal, Lisa, Bill, Daniel, and Leina.<ref name=obit /> Two months before his April 15, 2010, death in [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], Oregon, DuBay married Venessa <!--spelled OK--> Hart.<ref name=obit />

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{cite web | last = Arndt | first = Richard J. | url = http://www.enjolrasworld.com/Richard%20Arndt/The%20Warren%20Magazines%20Index%20Only.htm | title = The Warren Magazines | date = September 22, 2008 | access-date = January 27, 2013 | archive-date = March 14, 2012 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120314204512/http://www.enjolrasworld.com/Richard%20Arndt/The%20Warren%20Magazines%20Index%20Only.htm }} Additional [https://web.archive.org/web/20110717230137/http://www.vogworld.com/Richard%20Arndt/The%20Warren%20Magazines.htm Webcitation archive].
* {{cite web | last = Arndt | first = Richard J. | url = http://www.enjolrasworld.com/Richard%20Arndt/The%20Warren%20Magazines%20Interviews.htm | title = The Warren Magazines: Interviews | date = February 3, 2010 | access-date = September 22, 2010 | archive-date = March 13, 2012 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120313073508/http://www.enjolrasworld.com/Richard%20Arndt/The%20Warren%20Magazines%20Interviews.htm }} Additional .
*[http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/04eisner.html "A Spirited Relationship: Will Eisner discusses his experiences with Warren"], ''[[Comic Book Artist]]'' No. 4 (Winter 1999). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110309011526/http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/04eisner.html WebCitation archive].
*[http://lambiek.net/artists/d/dubay_bill.htm Bill DuBay (Will Richardson, Dube)] at the [[Lambiek Comiclopedia]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20111021214048/http://lambiek.net/artists/d/dubay_bill.htm Archived] October 18, 2011

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[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:American comics creators]]