Mike Baron entered the comics industry with an illustrated text piece in Weird Trips Magazine #1 (March 1974) published by Kitchen Sink Press. In 1981, he published his first formal comics script with Nexus, the science fiction title he co-created with illustrator Steve Rude; the series garnered numerous honors, including Eisner Awards for both creators.
A prolific creator, Baron is the creator of several comic book properties. He, along with artist Jackson Guice relaunched The Flash for DC Comics back in June 1987, when Wally West (aka Kid Flash) took over the mantle at DC Comics. In that same year, Mike Baron launched and wrote the first ongoing Punisher series at Marvel Comics, remaining on the title for over 5 years and writing over sixty issues in what is considered to be a seminal run on the popular vigilante character. During that acclaimed run, he and Klaus Janson introduced the character Microchip as an ally of Frank Castle’s in The Punisher #4, published in November 1987. Another notable run for Baron at DC Comics followed in 1988, when he wrote the “Deadman” feature in Action Comics Weekly. The reception to that story led to two subsequent Deadman limited series with artist Kelly Jones. Baron has also written numerous other mainstream characters including Batman, and several Star Wars adaptations for Dark Horse Comics. In 2014, Baron began writing prose books and published Biker, his first novel, about reformed motorcycle hoodlum Josh Pratt. First in the ‘Bad Road Rising’ series.
Mike Baron also created Florida Man, a funny book for grown-ups that love comics, Thin Blue Line, a gritty police story involving a pair of cops amidst city-wide rioting, Private American, a vigilante story along the lines of The Punisher, which he created with Richard Bonk, Q-Ball, Bronze Star, a weird western with Pat Broderick, and countless other books and characters. Mike Baron has been nominated for Best Writer in the Kirby, Harvey, and Eisner Awards. He was awarded with an Inkpot Award in 1988, and has won multiple Eisners – “Best Single Issue” and “Best Writer/Artist Team” both with Steve Rude, co-creator of Nexus.
