John Michael Butterworth (10 January 1924 – 4 October 1986) was a British comic book writer, best known for his comic strip The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire in the British weeklies Ranger and Look and Learn.
His first novel, The Soundless Scream, appeared in 1967 followed over the next few years by a number of well-received crime novels which appeared under his full name, which has led to some confusion between his work and that of science fiction writer and Savoy Books publisher Michael Butterworth. Butterworth also turned his hand to Gothic romance novels under the pen-name Carola Salisbury and "bodice rippers" as Janette Seymour.