Mary Jo Duffy (born February 9, 1954)[1] is an American comic book editor and writer, known for her work for Marvel Comics in the 1980s and DC Comics and Image Comics in the 1990s.

Jo Duffy
Comic-Con 1982
BornMary Jo Duffy
(1954-02-09) February 9, 1954 (age 70)
New York City, U.S.
Area(s)Writer, Editor
Pseudonym(s)Jo Duffy
Notable works
Power Man & Iron Fist
Star Wars comics
Glory

Biography

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A native of the New York City area, Duffy attended Wellesley College. As a young woman, she had letters published in Marvel Comics letter columns in the mid-1970s.[2][3] She made an in-comic appearance as an autograph seeker in Iron Man #103 (Oct. 1977). Her first credit as editor appeared in The Defenders #61 cover dated July 1978.[4]

Her writing work for Marvel, which began as an assistant to Archie Goodwin,[5] included Conan the Barbarian, Fallen Angels, Power Man and Iron Fist, Star Wars, Wolverine,[6] and a St. Francis of Assisi biography Francis, Brother of the Universe.[7] Her run on Power Man and Iron Fist was the longest and most successful of the series, and was noted for using a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek approach at a time when Marvel was pushing darker and more serious stories.[8]

In the 1990s, she worked for other publishers, including DC Comics, where she wrote the first 14 issues of Catwoman. For Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios imprint of Image Comics, she wrote every issue of the first Glory series, between March 1995 and April 1997,[6] the last six of which were released by Liefeld's Maximum Press after his departure from Image. She also worked on the screenplays for the horror films Puppet Master 4 (1993) and Puppet Master 5 (1994) for Full Moon Features.

In the early 2000s, she co-wrote the last issue of Marvel's Defenders vol. 2 and the six issues of the follow-up series The Order with Kurt Busiek,[6] while working at a financial services company in Lower Manhattan. Her work at that company included meeting planning, editing, proofreading, and packaging for a comic book published by the company.[9] From 2003 to 2006, she also wrote the English script adaptations of Naruto for Viz Media.

She now works as a receptionist at the U.S. Immigration Office in New York and has been largely absent from the publishing scene. She made multiple announcements on her Facebook page that she created a new company to self-publish her work and incorporated Armin Armadillo Publishers in 2008. As of 2013, the company is listed as inactive.[10]

Bibliography

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Aria Press

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Beyond

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  • Writer's Block 2003 (2003)

Blue Sky Blue (self-published)

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  • Nestrobber #1–2 (1992–1994)

Claypool Comics

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Dark Horse Comics

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DC Comics

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Eclipse Comics

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Image Comics

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  • Bloodpool #2, Special #1 (1995–1996)
  • Glory #1–15, #0 (1995–1996)
  • Glory/Celestine: Dark Angel #1 (1996)

Marvel Comics

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Maximum Press

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  • Glory #17–22 (1996–1997)
  • Glory/Celestine: Dark Angel #3 (1996)

Viz Media

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  • Naruto #1–10 (English adaptation) (2003–2006)

WaRP Graphics

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References

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  1. ^ Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Iola, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  2. ^ Thompson, Jason (n.d.). "Interview: Jo Duffy (part 1)". Viz Media. Archived from the original on December 13, 2004. My name started appearing on comics on a series of gushy but extremely sincere fan letters around '72 or '73.…That was before e-mail so if you got a letter printed you were like 'Oh cool!' and you'd exponentially send many more letters.
  3. ^ "From Fanboys to Pros: Mary Jo Duffy". Josh Neufeld Comix & Stories. n.d. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2009.
  4. ^ Jo Duffy (editor) at the Grand Comics Database
  5. ^ Vintage Interview: Mary Jo Duffy; by Mark Newbold
  6. ^ a b c Jo Duffy at the Grand Comics Database
  7. ^ DeFalco, Tom; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "1980s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 198. ISBN 978-0756641238. With the aid of Father Roy Gasnick, writer Mary Jo Duffy and artists John Buscema and Marie Severin produced this biography of St. Francis of Assisi. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Callahan, Timothy (December 2010). "Power Man and Iron Fist". Back Issue! (45). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 3–11.
  9. ^ Thompson, Maggie; Duffy, Jo (October 19, 2001). "Jo Duffy". Comics Buyer's Guide (1457). Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications: 14, 16, and 18.
  10. ^ "Armin Armadillo Incorporated". Incomus.com. n.d. Archived from the original on April 6, 2016.
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Preceded by Power Man and Iron Fist writer
1979–1982
Succeeded by
Preceded by Star Wars writer
1983–1986
Succeeded by
n/a
Preceded by Wolverine vol. 2 writer
1990
Succeeded by
Preceded by
n/a
Catwoman vol. 2 writer
1993–1994
Succeeded by