Authors: Ed Brubaker

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Ed Brubaker
17 November 1966
Bethesda, Maryland










Self confessed Ex-Army Brat Ed Brubaker has been bringing back the noir into comics in a way not seen since the heyday of Frank Miller. With series full of disreputable shady types up to all sorts of no good - his most well-known series is called Criminal which should tell you everything you need to know. The type of writer who's never met an anti-hero that he didn't want to make you fall in love with - the stories he writes luxuriates in the seedy, down-trodden and randomly violent: with lots of chunks of moral ambiguity to make them stick in your teeth. No surprise then that he's the one responsible for killing Captain America (well - at least for a little while).

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Links: AV Club Interview

Selected works: Catwoman, Daredevil, Point Blank, Gotham Central, Sleeper, Books of Doom, Incognito, Captain America, Criminal, The Marvels Project, Fatale.

All comments welcome.

Authors/Artists: Brian Michael Bendis

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Brian Michael Bendis
August 18, 1967
Cleveland, Ohio









"Prolific" doesn't quite sum it up. This guy writes a lot. And (damn him) he's very, very good - especially in his dialogue writings which far surpasses pretty much everyone else out there (the only people I can think of who has such an attuned ear to modern speech cadences is Joss Whedon and Andrew Sorkin). Although he dabbled in being an artist at the start of his career (check out Goldfish) he soon graduated to being a full time writer steadily working his way up the graphic novel food-chain until reaching the highest heights working as Marvel's head writer and over-seeing all of the big tent-pole summer events including: House of M, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign and Siege. But if the thought of bright-coloured spandex comics leaves you cold - then I'd recommend you try his earlier stuff - like the dark and moody Goldfish. Or (even better) - there's the amazingly excellent Powers (which straddles the line between the two extremes)with it's melding of police procedural and superheros constantly shifting into fresh and exciting new shapes.

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Links: Comics Journal Article, Comics Journal Interview, AV Club Interview.

Selected works: Goldfish, Powers, Daredevil (2001 - 2006), Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Spider-Man, Road to Civil War, The Avengers: The New Avengers (2005 - 2010), House of M, Spider-Woman: Origin, The Avengers: The New Avengers: Illuminati, Secret Invasion, Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D., Dark Reign, Siege, Takio, Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man (2010 - 2011), Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man: Death of Spider-Man, The Avengers: The Avengers (2011 - 2012), Ultimate Comics: Doomsday, Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man (2012).

All comments welcome.

Authors: Neil Gaiman

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Neil Gaiman
Born: 10 November 1960
Portchester, Hampshire, England









Neil "Scary Trousers" Gaiman is a writer who likes to mix up epic myths, legendary gods and old folklores with the everyday preoccupations of glum teens and frazzled outcasts: resulting in a blend that is distinctive and compulsively readable. He's best known in comic circles for his epic Sandman series which stretched over eight years and 75 issues (not counting all the various spin-offs) and raised the bar considerably for the quality, depth and reach that comics could aspire to (without having to go down the "grim+gritty" route). He's also done some cool stuff with Dave McKean (including Violent Cases and The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch), took Marvel superheroes back to the Elizabethan era (Marvel 1602) and penned the last ever Batman story (Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?). Of course since then he's branched out into the wider world with novels, children's books, screenplays, journalism and writing Doctor Who - but there's a corner in the heart of every Sandman fan who that will always belong to him.

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Links: Official website.

Selected works: Violent Cases, The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch, Signal to Noise, The Sandman, The Sandman: Death: The High Cost of Living, The Sandman: Death: The Time of Your Life, The Sandman: The Dream Hunters, Stardust, The Sandman: Endless Nights, Murder Mysteries, Neil Gaiman's Midnight Days, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, Coraline, Marvel 1602, Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?.

All comments welcome.

Authors: Warren Ellis

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Warren Ellis
Born: 16 February 1968
Essex, England









Best well known perhaps for his vitriolic creator-owned hit series Transmetropolitan (starring outlaw journalist from the future Spider Jerusalem: "If you loved me, you'd all kill yourselves today.") Warren Ellis is a craggy, hyper, often-amusing beardy guy obsessed with the future and everything in it (transhumans, extropianism, etc). Big on the web ("I am, in fact, Internet Jesus. Hurrah.") and prone to writing comics that sound like they belong in New Scientist - his work doesn't tend to push the form of comics so much as the subjects and ideas that they can hold. On the one hand responsible - with The Authority - for the development of "widescreen" comics (comics that feel like big-budget blockbuster movies) and on the other hand making small twisted freaky things like Desolation Jones, FreakAngels and Aetheric Mechanics. He's cerebral but at the same time maintains a healthy interest in sex, swearing and superheroes.

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Links: Official website, Wikiquotes, PopImage Interview, GraphiContent Article: Top 25 Warren Ellis Comics.

Selected works: Transmetropolitan, The Authority, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Gravel, Ministry of Space, Thunderbolts: Faith in Monsters / Caged Angels, Global Frequency, Fell, Iron Man: Extremis, Desolation Jones, Ultimate Galactus Trilogy, FreakAngels, Crécy, Aetheric Mechanics, Red, Black Summer, Anna Mercury, Planetary, Planetary: Crossing Worlds, Doktor Sleepless, Ultimate Comics: Iron Man: Armor Wars, No Hero, X-Men: Astonishing X-Men, Supergod, The Avengers: Secret Avengers: Run the Mission, Don't Get Seen, Save the World.

All comments welcome.

Authors: Mark Millar

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Mark Millar
Born: 24 December 1969
Coatbridge, Scotland









A brash, take-no-prisoners Scotsman - Mark Millar is currently one of the most high-profile and controversial writers working today. Never one to provide a lukewarm reaction: he's more divisive than Marmite with some people thinking that he provides a much needed breath of fresh-air with his extreme over-the-top storytelling and no punches pulled action whilst others loath everything about him and think he's puerile, crass and dumb. His first big break was with Warren's Ellis' The Authority which was big, explosive and fun. Then came Superman: Red Son - which is the only book even his haters seem to like. And from there he moved on to the Ultimate X-Men for Marvel and The Ultimates (a rebooted Avengers) which were both enormous succeess. Since then he started creator-owned line called Millarworld which has so far featured titles such as Wanted, Chosen and Kick-Ass all sharing a teenage-boy mentality and brutal bone-crunching, ball-bursting violence. While you might not like him - there are lots of people who do and provided he's to your taste: he's probably the best superhero writer currently working - stretching it into strange, new outlandish shapes.

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Links: AV Club Interview.

Selected works: The Authority, Superman: Red Son, Wolverine: Enemy of the State, The Ultimates, The Ultimates 2, Chosen, Spider-Man: Down Among The Dead Men / Venomous / The Last Stand, Ultimate X-Men, Wanted, Kick-Ass, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Civil War, Marvel 1985, Wolverine: Old Man Logan, Fantastic Four: World's Greatest / The Masters of Doom, Nemesis, Ultimate Comics: Avengers, Ultimate Comics: Avengers vs New Ultimates: Death of Spider-Man, Kick-Ass 2, Superior.

All comments welcome.

Authors: Garth Ennis

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Garth Ennis
Born: 16 January 1970
Holywood, Northern Ireland









The mischievous scamp with the sick school-boyish sense of humour Garth Ennis is one of the most known comic writers out there. Juvenile in his subject matter but sophisticated in the ways he pulls it off: he'll call a character "Arseface" and then make you care about what happens to him. Best known for his ultra-violent epic Preacher created with artist Steve Dillon he also had a very successful runs with Hellblazer and The Punisher. Recently he's grown up with the series Battlefields, and gone into hardcore horror with Crossed. Those with deliate sensibilities beware. Things he likes: Tough old school heroes, rugged and sweaty male friendship, Ireland, gratuitous violence, war (espeically WWII and Vietnam) and bad things happening to bad people. Things he doesn't like: superheroes and organised religion.

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Links: Irish Times Interview, Chuckpalahniuk.net Interview, The Hurting Article: I'm Done With You, Comics Alliance Article: I'm David: Garth Ennis, Heroes, & Assumptions.

Selected works: Hellblazer, Hitman, Preacher, Bloody Mary, War Stories, The Punisher MAX, 303, Fury: Peacemaker, Just a Pilgrim, Battlefields, The Boys, Back to Brooklyn, Crossed, The Shadow.

All comments welcome.

Authors: Grant Morrison

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Grant Morrison
Born: 31 January 1960
Glasgow, Scotland









Abducted by aliens in Kathmandu. Met Jesus Christ while terribly ill. Spends evenings chatting with starstruck strippers about Quantum Mechanics. Throughly modern and best buds with Barry Sonnefeld, Robbie Williams and My Chemical Romace and living the dream of comic nerds worldwide. You ready? Brace yourself. Grant Morrison is a bald, self-styled scottish shaman known for being a bit off kilter and writing comic books that are nonlinear, self-reflecting and will almost definitely make your head hurt. With a brain that seemingly never stops spilling out ideas and a drive to keep pushing things in stranger, psychedelic directions: he's several parallel universes beyond the dreams of the nearest future (or something). Equally at home writing mainstream superhero comics for DC and creating more esoteric fare for people that like to chew big metaphysical ideas: he's half man / half brand with a flavor all of his own. Starting out as a countercultural legend and producing such crazy weirdness with the Doom Patrol and the animal rights trumpeting Animal Man he then moved upwards to create the epoch making (in comics terms at least) The Invisibles that managed to combine all the preoccupations of a generation (conspiracy theories, drugs and UFOs) all in the same place and then he succesfully managed to raid the mainstream (or if you prefer: "sell-out" - but that's up to you) with his run on JLA and The New X-Men and has since managed to affix his special strangeness into the DNA of Superman (see: All Star Superman with Frank Quitely) and Batman (with his long-running Batman run which now comes to - what? - about a dozen different books). And - if you prefer your books without pictures - well he's also written Supergods which not only sets out the tell the history of the superhero but also (and this is probably just a cosmic coincidence right?) tells his own (pretty bizzare it must be said) life story too. Of course - thanks to the sheer density of the stuff he writes (probably more information content per square inch than any other comic writer: not with words but just with how much stuff tends to being going on - and how much stuff ends up refering to other stuff) - the internet adores him (all those links below are just a minute fraction of the stuff that's out there): seeing how much stuff he can give you to unpack and how many things he can give you to say (I only exaggerate slighly when I say he doesn't have fans - he has scholars). Love him or hate him (and some people do both depending on which period of his life you're talking about) he bestrides the comics landscape like a colossus and at this point can do whatever the hell he wants (see: Dinosaurs vs. Aliens - his next project).  

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Links: Warren Ellis Comic Book Resources Interview with Grant Morrison, Grant Morrison talk, My Top Ten Grant Morrison Comics Can Beat Up Your Top Ten Grant Morrison Comics, LinkMachineGo, Super Amazing Blogo Culture 7000 Article: The Tragedy of Mind Grabber Man or Grant Morrison's Evolution as a Writer, Hooded Utilitarian Article: Grant Morrison, Transcendence, and Shitty Art, GraphiContent: Parataxis, Grant Morrison & Why People Hate His Endings - A Snippet, The Gold In Us Will Survive In You.

Selected works: Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Batman: Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, Flex Mentallo, The Invisibles, Marvel Boy, JLA: Earth Two, Fantastic Four: 1234, X-Men: New X-Men, The Filth, We3, Sebastian O, Seaguy, Vimanarama, Seven Soldiers of Victory, Superman: All Star Superman, Batman: Batman and Son, Batman: The Black Glove, Batman: Batman R.I.P., Final Crisis, Grant Morrison's 18 Days, Batman: Batman and Robin, Supergods, Joe The Barbarian, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, Batman: Time and the Batman, Batman: Batman Incorporated.

All comments welcome.

Authors: Alan Moore

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Alan Moore
Born: 18 November 1953
Northampton, England, UK









Alan Moore is the guy sitting at the back of the pub with a big bushy beard, wearing a black T-shirt with the arms cut off and silver rings on all of his fingers. He talks in a thick Northamptonshire brogue about "magic, puppet snake gods, the evil of corporate comic book publishers and how someday soon our culture will turn to steam." He seems like someone you should avoid. But. If you sat down to talk to him - and passed muster - you'd soon find that he's pretty funny, extremely well-read and knows how to write comic books real good. Also prone to saying cool things like: "If you live in a place you think is a shithole, eventually you'll think of yourself as a shit. If you find the stories in the place, the fables, eventually you'll feel pretty fabulous." And: "I’ve always seen my art in whatever form, in some degree, as propaganda, not for a nation state but propaganda for a state of mind." And also: "Art shouldn’t be a sedative. It shouldn’t be too make us feel better about the dismal circumstances in which we’re being forced to live. Art should be a stimulant, it should be a psychedelic, it should be something that generally opens the mind, which gives you information that you hadn’t had before, and gives you different possibilities for how to interact with the world. And so I’d say, that is probably my agenda."

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Links: The Art of Dismantling Interview, The comedian Stewart Lee interviews Alan Moore, The Mindscape of Alan Moore: A 2003 feature documentary, Annotations for Alan Moore Comic Books, A Trout In The Milk: Interview With A Figment, Part V, Comic Book Grrrl Interview, Alan Moore LiveJounal.

Selected works: The Complete Future Shocks, Skizz, D.R. and Quinch, The Ballad of Halo Jones, V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing, DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore, Watchmen, A Small Killing, From Hell, Supreme, Tom Strong, Top 10, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Promethea, Top 10: The Forty-Niners, Smax, Alan Moore's The Courtyard, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century, Neonomicon.

All comments welcome.