Michael Zulli lives in a spooky Victorian gabled house in a small town with his wife and his bull terriers. He is very mysterious.
Mike’s career in comics started in 1986 with PUMA BLUES, a series with a strong ecological message, written by Stephen Murphy. It was during this period that he drew the infamous never-published issue of SWAMP THING in which the Thing met Jesus Christ. He also drew stories for the horror anthology TABOO, published by Steve Bissette. Zulli’s style has always been heavily influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites, but his rendering is executed with far more reckless abandon than his 19 century forbearers.
Back in the early 90's, when he was known in comics for his work on SANDMAN, his neighbors were perplexed by Zulli's activities. This was before on-line publishing, when comic book artists fedex-ed artwork hither and yon. He rarely left his house, but was constantly handing packages and receiving them from couriers. When he did leave, he did so carrying an over-sized suitcase. The neighbors speculated that he was dealing drugs.
When asked what he did to redeem his reputation, he responded, “I let them continue to believe that I was a drug dealer...a far nobler profession than comic book artist.”
Zulli revolutionized the comics industry during his stint on the SANDMAN with “The Wake” storyline. He was the first penciller to have his work go straight to color without benefit of an inker, starting a trend much to the chagrin of all practitioners of the inking craft. He also collaborated with Neil Gaiman on an unfinished adaptation of the SWEENEY TODD saga and a miniseries starring rock singer, Alice Cooper entitled “The Last Temptation.”
With other writers, Mike has drawn a couple of SANDMAN spin-offs, WITCHCRAFT and THE DREAMING. He also illustrated the J. Michael Straczynski's novella DELICATE CREATURES.
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