MINDY NEWELL: Group Dynamics

Mindy Newell

These days Mindy Newell knows that if she could do it all over again she’d have gone to college for screenwriting and film editing. Instead she became a nurse to please her parents and pleasing your parents was what it was all about for nice Jewish girls who graduated from high school in 1971. But the creative larva was in her soul, and when the cocoon broke and the butterfly emerged, it flew to DC’s New Talent Showcase program. Under the auspices of legendary editors Karen Berger, Len Wein, Julius Schwartz, Paul Levitz, and ComicMix’s own Robert Greenberger, Mindy learned the craft and art of writing comics, including Tales Of The Legion, V, Legionnaires 3, Amethyst, Lois Lane: When It Rains God Is Crying, and numerous other comics, including a Superman story based on a dream Mindy had as a child. She also worked on Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg! and other independent comics. All this time Mindy continued to work as a nurse while being a single mom to her daughter Alixandra, until the late and dear Mark Gruenwald hired her as an assistant editor at Marvel, while writing stories of the Black Widow and Daredevil. She edited NFL Pro Action, a licensed kid’s magazine about football with the NFL until Marvel imploded in 1996. Returning to full-time nursing, she she also co-wrote a story for 2000 A.D. with her then-husband, British artist John Higgins. A few years ago Mike Gold called and asked her to join the team of columnists here at ComicMix, where her topics freely range from comics to pop culture to politics; she even wrote a piece about the great American thoroughbred Secretariat, which caused editor Mike to tell her that she had won the prize for the most off-topic column ever written ComicMix.

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4 Responses

  1. Jess Willey says:

    Really– when it comes to character dynamics and the Justice League there is only one run that really focused on that- Giffen/DeMatteis run. Which in my opinion is the best.

    As far as The Avengers- I’ve liked a lot of runs. Steve Englehart, Kurt Busiek and Walter Simonson in particular.

    • Matt Young says:

      Seconded on Giffen/DeMatteis. Byrne’s Superman relaunch got me in the door with DC Comics, but the characters and storytelling of Giffen and DeMatteis got me invested in the DC Universe as a whole for the long term. When I discovered their work with JLI #7, that’s when I hit critical mass as a comics collector.

      Though I did also follow West Coast Avengers; they were cool. I liked Hawkeye and Wonder Man.

      • Jess Willey says:

        In terms of character dynamics though- Fantastic Four was usually good for it. Legion of Super Heroes on occasion. Another great title for team dynamics- was a series DC did in the 90s called Young Heroes in Love. A title that was fun, twisted and a joy to read. Which means of course- within hours after cancellation DC tried to deny ever published it.

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