Writer Michael Reaves has passed away according to longtime collaborator Steve Perry. Reaves died on March 20th at the age of seventy-two following a battle with Parkinson's Disease. He is survived by his ex-wife Brynne Chandler and their three children.
He was born James Michael Reaves on September 14th, 1950 in San Bernardino, California. While he did poorly in school, he enjoyed writing short stories. In 1972, he was accepted by the Clarion Science Fiction Writers' Workshop. He moved to Los Angeles in 1974 where he worked various jobs before breaking into Hollywood. The following year, he had his first by selling a script for an episode of The Secrets of Isis.
This allowed him to become a full-time writer. He published a novel called I, Adult in 1978 with another titled Dragonworld in 1979. In the 1980s, he moved into writing for television animation working on a number of classic series including The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Dungeons & Dragons, The Real Ghostbusters, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He also worked on live-action series The Twilight Zone, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and The Flash.
Reaves also served as story editor on My Little Pony, Peter Pan and the Pirates, Batman: The Animated Series, Gargoyles, and Spider-Man Unlimited. He won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program for Batman while also being nominated for an Annie for Writing in the Field of Animation for the famous Gargoyles episode "Deadly Force". He wrote several entries for the Star Wars franchise, including episodes of Droids and Ewoks and a number of novels. Other notable works include Shazam!, The New Shmoo, Super Friends, Flash Gordon, The Smurfs, The Biskitts, The Mighty Orbots, Challenge of the GoBots, Jem, Spiral Zone, Superman, Swamp Thing, Tiny Toon Adventures, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Conan and the Young Warriors, Young Hercules, Sliders, Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles, and Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II.
