Michael Jay "Mike" Harris (born 1962) is an American

People of the United States

The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...

 comic book artist

Comic Book Artist

Comic Book Artist was an American magazine founded by Jon B. Cooke devoted to anecdotal histories of American comic books, with emphasis on comics published since the 1960s...

 who was active in the industry from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.

Harris was able to use his personal interests in weapons and martial arts

Martial arts

Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

 to establish himself as an illustrator for characters like The Punisher and G.I. Joe

G.I. Joe

G.I. Joe is a line of action figures produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier , Action Sailor , Action Pilot , Action Marine and later on, the Action Nurse...

, and titles like Cops: The Job, and No Escape.

Biography

Harris attended New York City's School of Visual Arts

School of Visual Arts

The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...

, where he studied under Will Eisner

Will Eisner

William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...

, Harvey Kurtzman

Harvey Kurtzman

Harvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic books and magazines. Kurtzman often signed his name H. Kurtz, followed by a stick figure Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic...

, Marshall Arisman, and Gil Stone; Harris's influences included J. C. Leyendecker

J. C. Leyendecker

Joseph Christian Leyendecker was one of the pre-eminent American illustrators of the early 20th century. He is best known for his poster, book and advertising illustrations, the trade character known as The Arrow Collar Man, and his numerous covers for The Saturday Evening Post. Between 1896 and...

, Heinrich Kley

Heinrich Kley

Heinrich Kley in Munich was a German caricaturist, editorial cartoonist and painter.Kley studied "practical arts" at the Karlsruhe Akademie and finished his studies in Munich. His early works were conventional portraits, landscapes, still lifes, city scenes and historical paintings...

, and Neal Adams

Neal Adams

Neal Adams is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who...

.

Breaking into the industry in 1985, Harris worked as a fill-in artist on several Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

 titles, such as Web of Spider-Man, The 'Nam, Nomad, and Nova: Deathstorm. Harris (with writer David Michelinie

David Michelinie

-Biography:Some of his earliest work is for DC Comics's House of Secrets and a run on Swamp Thing , following Len Wein and preceding Gerry Conway, illustrated by Nestor Redondo. Michelinie did a run on Aquaman in Adventure Comics which led to the revival of the Sea King's own title in 1977...

) co-created the Spider-Man

Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...

 enemies Chance

Chance (comics)

Chance is the name of two unrelated fictional characters in the Marvel Universe. The first is a mercenary and enemy of Spider-Man, the second a mutant who originally appeared in Fallen Angels vol. 1 #1.-Chance :...

 and Foreigner

Foreigner (comics)

The Foreigner is a fictional comic book supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by writer Peter David, and first appeared in Web of Spider-Man #15 The Foreigner is a mercenary and assassin...

, both in Web of Spider-Man #15 (June 1986). Later, Harris contributed to Punisher War Zone, and Punisher War Journal, and illustrated the Marvel limited series

Limited series

A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....

 Cops: The Job, No Escape

No Escape

No Escape, released in some territories as Escape from Absolom is a 1994 action/science fiction film shot in Queensland starring Ray Liotta, Lance Henriksen, Stuart Wilson and Kevin Dillon....

, and Dragon Strike

DragonStrike (board game)

DragonStrike was a 1993 adventure board game from TSR, Inc. based on the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Details:The DragonStrike Entertainment product, which included a 30-minute video explaining the concept of role-playing, was intended as an approach to gain new players, serving as...

.

During the 1980s, before becoming a Marvel Comics regular, Harris also freelanced for DC Comics

DC Comics

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 (where he illustrated, among others, All-Star Squadron), Comico

Comicó

Comicó is a village and municipality in Río Negro Province in Argentina....

, Deluxe Comics

Deluxe Comics

Deluxe Comics was a short-lived comic book publishing company which published one title, Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.- History :Deluxe Comics was a division of Singer Publishing, founded by David M. Singer. It lasted from 1984 to 1986....

, Eclipse Comics

Eclipse Comics

Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...

, Fantagraphics, First Comics

First Comics

First Comics was an American comic-book publisher that was active from 1983–1991, known for titles like American Flagg!, Grimjack, Nexus, Badger, Dreadstar, and Jon Sable...

, and Harris Publications

Harris Publications

Harris Publications Inc. is an American consumer-magazine publisher in New York City, New York, that publishes over 75 titles, including Juicy, XXL, King, Dog News, 0-60, Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement, Small Business Opportunities, Men's Workout, Exercise & Health, Celebrity Hairstyles, and...

. In the mid-1990s, Harris worked for Tekno Comix

Tekno Comix

Tekno Comix was an American publishing company that produced comic books from 1995 to 1997.-History:The company was founded by Laurie Silvers and Mitchell Rubenstein as a division of their publicly traded company, Big Entertainment...

/Big Entertainment on such titles as Lost Universe and Lady Justice

Lady Justice (comics)

Lady Justice is a comic book published by Tekno Comix, starting in 1995. It was created by Neil Gaiman and written by C. J. Henderson, with art by Michael Netzer/Steve Lieber in the first series and Fred Harper/Mike Harris in the second....

.

During this period Harris also did some G.I. Joe

G.I. Joe

G.I. Joe is a line of action figures produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier , Action Sailor , Action Pilot , Action Marine and later on, the Action Nurse...

 mini-comics, which were packaged with the toys; and illustrated a Magnus, Robot Fighter

Magnus, Robot Fighter

Magnus, Robot Fighter is a fictional comic book superhero created by writer/artist Russ Manning in 1963, based primarily on Tarzan. Magnus first appeared in Magnus Robot Fighter 4000 A.D. #1, published by Gold Key Comics in February 1963...

 trading card

Trading card

A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...

 for Valiant Comics

Valiant Comics

Valiant Comics is a comic book imprint published by various publishers since its inception with Voyager Communications, Inc. in 1989, later Acclaim Comics, Inc. Its assets were purchased from the bankruptcy of the Acclaim Entertaintment by Valiant Entertainment, Inc. in 2007.-Voyager...

.

Leaving comic books in 1997

1997 in comics

-January:*Avengers #3 - Marvel Comics*Captain America #3 - Marvel Comics*Fantastic Four #3 - Marvel Comics*Iron Man #3 - Marvel Comics-February:...

, Harris moved on to the computer game and animation

Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

 industries. He has had no significant credits since 1999.

Harris was commissioned as an armored cavalry officer in 1988, and is proficient with a variety of small arms

Small arms

Small arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, battle rifles, multiple barrel firearms, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light...

, armor weapons and demolitions. He is also a martial arts

Martial arts

Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

 student, having studied judo

Judo

is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...

, aikido

Aikido

is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to...

, Taekwondo

Taekwondo

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...

, and T'ang Soo Do. He has served in a variety of positions with the Army Reserve and National Guard, and was assessed to the Active Guard Reserve

Active Guard Reserve

Active Guard Reserve , also known as "Active Guard and Reserve," refers to a United States Army and United States Air Force federal military program which places Army National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers and Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve airmen on federal active duty status under...

 program in 2004. Lieutenant Colonel

Lieutenant colonel

Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

 Harris is currently on active duty with the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 at Fort Hood, Texas.