Mark D. Bright, also known professionally as MD Bright or Doc Bright, has passed away. He was 68 years old. Bright, who co-created Icon at DC’s Milestone imprint and Quantum and Woody for Acclaim comics, is perhaps best known for his work on Armor Wars, the fan-favorite Iron Man story that is set to be adapted into a movie from Disney and Marvel Studios. Bright reportedly died on March 27, according to a report at Bleeding Cool. Bright had mostly moved away from corporate comics as his profession since the end of the 1990s, working as a storyboard artist and creating the Christian webcomic Level Path, but he would occasionally return to comics, including for a 2014 Quantum & Woody miniseries that reunited him with co-creator Christopher Priest.
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Born in 1955, Bright first came into comics in 1978, drawing a story in DC’s House of Mystery. Not long after that, he started his years-long working relationship with Priest. The two collaborated on Falcon, Power Man and Iron Fist, and eventually Quantum & Woody. Bright also had notable runs on books like G.I. Joe, Action Comics, and Solo Avengers.
Bright also drew the Spider-Man vs. Wolverine one-shot, and served as the primary artist on the 1980s Green Lantern series, which started with Emerald Dawn and ended just before 1993’s Emerald Twilight. He returned to the character of Green Lantern briefly in the 1990s to draw part of the Parallax View storyline with Emerald Twilight‘s Ron Marz and Darryl Banks. Later in his career, he worked on Damaged and a story in Untold Tales of the New Universe.
Bright’s visual storytelling was always impressive, which is likely why it was relatively easy for him to transition into storyboarding. That’s a skill that also served him especially well on a book like Quantum & Woody, where so much of the title’s appeal was wrapped up in comedic timing and character moments.
The fifth of seven children, Bright attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, graduating in 1978 with a Bachelor’s in Fine Art, and almost immediately dove into comics work. He credits his grandmother, a hairdresser, with turning him on to comics because she used to have superhero stories on tap for kids to read while they waited for their mothers at the salon.
Bright is survived by three of his siblings and their families. Our condolences go out to Bright’s family, friends, collaborators, and fans.
