Ed Brubaker
Encyclopedia
Ed Brubaker is an Eisner Award
-winning comic book
writer
and cartoonist
. Brubaker first early comics work was primarily in the crime fiction
genre with works such as Lowlife
, The Fall, Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives and Scene of the Crime. He later became known for writing superhero
comics such as Batman
, Daredevil
, Captain America
, Catwoman
, Uncanny X-Men
, and The Authority.
, and the semi-autobiographical series Lowlife for Slave Labor and later Caliber Comics
. At Caliber, he briefly edited the anthology series Monkey Wrench.
In 1991, he began contributing to the Dark Horse Comics
anthology series Dark Horse Presents
, a comic he would continue to contribute to intermittently throughout the decade. Among those contributions was the three part serial "An Accidental Death" (Dark Horse Presents #65–67), a collaboration with artist Eric Shanower
, which garnered the two a 1993 Eisner Award
nomination.
In 1997, he began to publish his cartoonist work through the small press
publisher Alternative Comics
. In the one-off At the Seams, a romantic triangle is explored through three stories which each depict a different participant’s point-of-view. The comic was a 1997 Ignatz Award nominee for Outstanding Graphic Novel or Collection. His other work for Alternative Comics, the humorous and experimental Detour #1, was to be the first issue of a series, though only one issue was ever published. Detour was nevertheless nominated for the "Best New Series" Harvey Award in 1998.
The Fall, a graphic novel that was written by Brubaker and illustrated by Berlin
creator Jason Lutes
was published by Drawn and Quarterly
in 2001. This work had previously been anthologized in five parts in Dark Horse Presents in 1998. The story involved a convenience store clerk who gets involved in a ten-year-old murder mystery after he uses a stolen credit card. In 2004 IDW Publishing
announced that Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips
would collaborate on a creator owned
pirate
series titled Black Sails for them. That series has not yet materialized and The Fall is the last independent comic book work by Brubaker to date.
, Smells Like Teen President (1995) was Brubaker's first work for one of the two major American comic book publishers. Published by DC Comics
’ "mature readers" imprint Vertigo, the comic was a broad political satire
which revamped an obscure 1970s Joe Simon
creation. Brubaker worked with his "An Accidental Death" collaborator, artist Eric Shanower, again on the comic.
Brubaker's next major work for Vertigo was the four issue limited series
Scene of the Crime (1999), which marked his first collaboration with both Michael Lark
and Sean Phillips, two artists who would frequently work with the writer in later years. A slacker
detective story set in San Francisco, the series was critically acclaimed and the first to gain Brubaker attention from Hollywood producers.
In late 2000, Brubaker signed a one-year exclusive contract with DC Comics. The contract was renewed in 2001 That same year the writer began to do his first mainstream super-hero work, on the series Batman
. He would continue to work on various series starring the Batman character until late 2003.
Returning to Vertigo in 2000, Brubaker and artist Warren Pleece
produced the science fiction series Deadenders
. The series lasted 16 issues before being canceled in 2001. Staying with Vertigo in 2001, Brubaker wrote the four issue Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives
, which was drawn by artist Bryan Talbot
.
Also in 2001, Brubaker and artist Darwyn Cooke
teamed up to revamp the Catwoman
character. They started with the four issue serial "Trail of the Catwoman" which ran in Detective Comics
#759-762. In the serial, private detective Slam Bradley
attempts to investigate the death of Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman). The story led into a new Catwoman title in late 2001 by Brubaker and Cooke in which the character's costume
, supporting cast and modus operandi
were all redesigned and redeveloped. Brubaker stayed on the series, which was met with critical and fan acclaim, up until #37 (January 2004).
At the 2001 San Diego Comic Convention
Brubaker and Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis
discussed co-writing a story which would team up DC's Batman with Marvel's Daredevil
. The two writers were enthusiastic about their ideas, which included a fight between Batman and Marvel villain Bullseye
as well as another between Catwoman and Elektra
. DC editors Matt Idelson and Bob Schreck were also enthusiastic, but DC executive editor Paul Levitz
objected to the project due to a prior disagreement with Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada
. The aborted project became controversial when Bendis publicly spoke about Levitz's decision at the 2002 Wizard World Chicago comic convention. Bendis later apologized for his comments, saying that he regretted ever discussing the project in public.
In early 2003, Brubaker and writer Greg Rucka
created and co-wrote the Gotham Central
series. Focusing on the activities of the Gotham City Police Department
, the two writers either co-wrote storylines or wrote alternate arcs separately throughout the series, which featured artwork from Brubaker's Scene of the Crime collaborator Michael Lark. The title was cancelled in 2006, shortly after Brubaker's last issue.
, (another DC imprint), with the series Point Blank
which featured the artwork of New Zealand artist Colin Wilson
. The series took existing concepts from the Wildstorm universe, such as Grifter (the star of the series), John Lynch
and Tao
and used them to set up his Sleeper series which debuted later that year.
A collaboration between artist Sean Phillips
and Brubaker, Sleeper, featured a secret agent protagonist ("Holden Carver") who goes undercover in a super villain’s powerful organisation, only to have the only contact he has in law enforcement fall in to a coma. With the authorities believing him a dangerous criminal, Carver is caught between the two warring sides with unclear allegiances.
In December 2003, in a unique publicity stunt conceived to help promote the first trade paperback collection of Sleeper, Brubaker organized an "arm-wrestling competition" at San Francisco's "Isotope - the comic book lounge" comic book shop. If participants were able to beat Brubaker at arm wrestling they were awarded free signed comic books. According to Brubaker, the writer wrestled 40-50 people and won most of the time, losing only eight or nine times.
Although Sleeper was a success with critics and fans on the Internet, the series underperformed commercially, and so it was canceled after its 12th issue, only to be relaunched in 2004 with the same creators as Sleeper: Season Two. Season Two also ended with its twelfth issue, the story apparently concluded.
Brubaker's other work for Wildstorm during this period was the third volume of The Authority. Brubaker first tackled the characters with artist Jim Lee
on the one issue special Coup D’état: Sleeper which showed how a series of events led the Authority (a powerful team of super-humans) to take over the United States. Later that year and throughout 2005 Brubaker and artist Dustin Nguyen
produced the 12 issue The Authority: Revolution which explored the ramifications of the team's actions.
. His first major work for the publisher was the fifth relaunch of the Captain America
series. Paired with artist Steve Epting
, Brubaker's Captain America introduced new villains and resurrected the long dead character Bucky
as "The Winter Soldier". The series was a sales and critical success from its first issue.
In February 2005 Brubaker signed his first exclusive contract with Marvel, the deal allowing the writer to finish out his prior commitments for DC on Gotham Central
and Sleeper. In an interview with Newsarama
, Brubaker attributed his shift of employer to the publisher's good treatment of him, the quality and high profile of the work Marvel was offering him and his lack of involvement in DC's "big plans" (DC's intercompany crossover "Infinite Crisis
" was in the final planning stages at the time). Brubaker's Marvel exclusive contract was extended and expanded in April 2006.
In early 2006 Brubaker wrote two limited series for Marvel; with artist Pablo Raimondi, he wrote Books of Doom, which retold and expanded on the origin of Doctor Doom
; and with artist Trevor Hairsine
, he wrote X-Men: Deadly Genesis
, ret-conning information about the origins of the "All New, All-Different X-Men
" who first debuted in 1975.
In addition, that year Brubaker started on Daredevil
, having already planned his run with Bendis. Once again teamed with artist Michael Lark, Brubaker followed Brian Michael Bendis' acclaimed stint on the title, exploring the ramifications of the character's imprisonment, which occurred at the close of Bendis' run.
He became the regular writer of Uncanny X-Men
, working with artist Billy Tan
and Clayton Henry
, in July 2006.
A new creator-owned crime comic with Sean Phillips
, Criminal
, has been published by Marvel's Icon Comics
imprint. It has generally received positive reviews. In 2007, Criminal won the Eisner Award
for Best New Series for its first arc, "Coward." In 2008, he and Phillips began a new Icon series called Incognito
, which Brubaker says is "about a completely amoral guy with super-powers forced to pretend he's a normal law-abiding citizen, because he's in Witness Protection, and how that shapes what he becomes. It's also a brutal noir twist on the super-hero/super-villain genre that delves more into their roots in the pulps, and it's going to be pretty over-the-top and action-packed."
Brubaker, together with Matt Fraction
, co-wrote a new Iron Fist ongoing series, The Immortal Iron Fist
, which started in November 2006, and quickly became one of Marvel's most popular books.
During his run on Captain America
, Brubaker wrote issues #25 - 30, the 2007 story in which Steve Rogers was assassinated. He later wrote the 2009 miniseries Captain America: Reborn
, in which Rogers returned. He subsequently wrote an eight issue limited series titled The Marvels Project
, as well as a new title Secret Avengers
following the end of the "Siege
" storyline.
In February 2010, Brubaker caused controversy with Captain America #602, which depicted a group of anti-tax protesters, understood by some readers to be a Tea Party
, which was characterized by the Falcon
as exclusively white and racist group. Brubaker and Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada
apologized for the matter, explaining that although the group was not intended by Brubaker to represent any particular real-life group, one of the signs depicted in the scene read, "Tea Bag The Libs Before They Tea Bag YOU!", which was not written by Brubaker, but was added by the letterer, who, under deadline pressures, added messages on signs that were found to still be blank, based on signs he saw on the Internet. Quesada further assured that that error would not appear in future reprints of the issue. In an interview following the controversy Brubaker stated that "I had to shut down my public email because I started getting death threats from, y'know, peaceful protesters."
on Crackle
.
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
-winning comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
. Brubaker first early comics work was primarily in the crime fiction
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
genre with works such as Lowlife
Lowlife (comics)
Lowlife is a semi-autobiographical comic book series written and drawn by Ed Brubaker, published by Slave Labor Graphics and later Caliber Comics...
, The Fall, Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives and Scene of the Crime. He later became known for writing superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
comics such as Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
, Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
, Catwoman
Catwoman
Catwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics' Batman franchise. Historically a supervillain, the character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, partially inspired by Kane's cousin, Ruth Steel...
, Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men, first published as The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics comic book series for the X-Men franchise. It is the mainstream continuity featuring the adventures of the eponymous group of mutant superheroes...
, and The Authority.
Alternative and independent comics work
Brubaker’s first work in comics was as a cartoonist, writing and drawing Pajama Chronicles for Blackthorne Comics, Purgatory U.S.A. for Slave Labor GraphicsSlave Labor Graphics
Slave Labor Graphics is an independent American comic book publisher, well-known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat comics.-Company history:...
, and the semi-autobiographical series Lowlife for Slave Labor and later Caliber Comics
Caliber Comics
Caliber Comics or Caliber Press was an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, in the next decade Caliber published over 1300 comics and ranked as one of the America's leading independent publishers...
. At Caliber, he briefly edited the anthology series Monkey Wrench.
In 1991, he began contributing to the Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
anthology series Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010...
, a comic he would continue to contribute to intermittently throughout the decade. Among those contributions was the three part serial "An Accidental Death" (Dark Horse Presents #65–67), a collaboration with artist Eric Shanower
Eric Shanower
Eric James Shanower is an American comics artist and writer, best known for his Oz novels and comics and the on-going retelling of the Trojan War as Age of Bronze.-Biography:...
, which garnered the two a 1993 Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
nomination.
In 1997, he began to publish his cartoonist work through the small press
Small press
Small press is a term often used to describe publishers with annual sales below a certain level. Commonly, in the United States, this is set at $50 million, after returns and discounts...
publisher Alternative Comics
Alternative Comics (publisher)
Alternative Comics is a U.S. independent graphic novel and comic book publisher which operated from 1993–2007. Located in Gainesville, Florida, it is owned and operated by its founder, attorney Jeff Mason...
. In the one-off At the Seams, a romantic triangle is explored through three stories which each depict a different participant’s point-of-view. The comic was a 1997 Ignatz Award nominee for Outstanding Graphic Novel or Collection. His other work for Alternative Comics, the humorous and experimental Detour #1, was to be the first issue of a series, though only one issue was ever published. Detour was nevertheless nominated for the "Best New Series" Harvey Award in 1998.
The Fall, a graphic novel that was written by Brubaker and illustrated by Berlin
Berlin (comics)
Berlin is the title of a comic book series created by Jason Lutes and published by Black Eye Productions and then Drawn and Quarterly. Planned as a series of 24 magazines, it describes life in Berlin from 1928 to 1933, during the decline of the Weimar Republic...
creator Jason Lutes
Jason Lutes
Jason Lutes is an American comics creator. His work is mainly historical fiction, but he also works in traditional fiction...
was published by Drawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly is a Canadian comic book publishing company, headed by Chris Oliveros, and based in Montreal, Quebec. Its focus is on graphic novels and underground or alternative comics. Drawn and Quarterly was also the title of the company's flagship quarterly anthology during the 1990s...
in 2001. This work had previously been anthologized in five parts in Dark Horse Presents in 1998. The story involved a convenience store clerk who gets involved in a ten-year-old murder mystery after he uses a stolen credit card. In 2004 IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
announced that Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips is a British comic book artist.He is best known in the American comic book industry for his work on DC Comics' Sleeper, WildC.A.T.s, Batman and Hellblazer.-Career:...
would collaborate on a creator owned
Creator ownership
Creator ownership is an arrangement in which the creator or creators of a work of fiction retain full ownership of the material, regardless of whether it is self-published or by a corporate publisher. In some fields of publishing, such as fiction writing, creator ownership is a standard arrangement...
pirate
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
series titled Black Sails for them. That series has not yet materialized and The Fall is the last independent comic book work by Brubaker to date.
DC Comics
Predating Brubaker's Alternative Comics work by two years, Vertigo Visions: PrezPrez (DC Comics)
Prez: First Teen President was a four issue comic series by writer Joe Simon and artist Jerry Grandenetti, released by DC Comics in 1973 and 1974...
, Smells Like Teen President (1995) was Brubaker's first work for one of the two major American comic book publishers. Published by 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...
’ "mature readers" imprint Vertigo, the comic was a broad political satire
Political satire
Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly...
which revamped an obscure 1970s Joe Simon
Joe Simon
Joseph Henry "Joe" Simon is an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.With his...
creation. Brubaker worked with his "An Accidental Death" collaborator, artist Eric Shanower, again on the comic.
Brubaker's next major work for Vertigo was the four issue 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....
Scene of the Crime (1999), which marked his first collaboration with both Michael Lark
Michael Lark
Michael Lark is an American comics artist.Lark has provided pencils for DC Comics' Batman, Terminal City, Gotham Central and Legend of the Hawkman. His work for Marvel Comics includes The Pulse and Captain America...
and Sean Phillips, two artists who would frequently work with the writer in later years. A slacker
Slacker
The term "slacker" is used to refer to a person who habitually avoids work. Slackers may be regarded as belonging to an antimaterialistic counterculture, though in some cases their behavior may be due to other causes ....
detective story set in San Francisco, the series was critically acclaimed and the first to gain Brubaker attention from Hollywood producers.
In late 2000, Brubaker signed a one-year exclusive contract with DC Comics. The contract was renewed in 2001 That same year the writer began to do his first mainstream super-hero work, on the series Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
. He would continue to work on various series starring the Batman character until late 2003.
Returning to Vertigo in 2000, Brubaker and artist Warren Pleece
Warren Pleece
Warren Pleece is a British comics artist. He is best known for his work at the DC Comics imprint Vertigo.-Biography:With his brother Gary Pleece, he wrote and drew four issues of a self published comics magazine called Velocity between 1987 and 1989...
produced the science fiction series Deadenders
Deadenders
Deadenders is an science fiction comic book series written by Ed Brubaker and published by DC Comics. It is set in a post-apocalyptic future in New Bedlam, USA and features a heavy Mod content among the characters. The cover work is by Philip Bond...
. The series lasted 16 issues before being canceled in 2001. Staying with Vertigo in 2001, Brubaker wrote the four issue Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives
Dead Boy Detectives
The Dead Boy Detectives are fictional characters that have appeared in comic books published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. They were created by writer Neil Gaiman and artists Matt Wagner and Malcolm Jones III in The Sandman #25 ....
, which was drawn by artist Bryan Talbot
Bryan Talbot
Bryan Talbot is a British comic book artist and writer, born in Wigan, Lancashire, in 1952. He is best known as the creator of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright and its sequel Heart of Empire.-Career:...
.
Also in 2001, Brubaker and artist Darwyn Cooke
Darwyn Cooke
Darwyn Cooke is an Eisner Award-winning comic book writer, artist, cartoonist and animator, best known for his work on the comic books Catwoman, DC: The New Frontier, The Spirit and Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter.-Career:...
teamed up to revamp the Catwoman
Catwoman
Catwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics' Batman franchise. Historically a supervillain, the character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, partially inspired by Kane's cousin, Ruth Steel...
character. They started with the four issue serial "Trail of the Catwoman" which ran in Detective Comics
Detective Comics
Detective Comics is an American comic book series published monthly by DC Comics since 1937, best known for introducing the iconic superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 . It is, along with Action Comics, the book that launched with the debut of Superman, one of the medium's signature series, and...
#759-762. In the serial, private detective Slam Bradley
Slam Bradley
Samuel Emerson "Slam" Bradley is a fictional character that has appeared in various comic book series published by DC Comics. He is a private detective who exists in DC's main shared universe, known as the DC Universe...
attempts to investigate the death of Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman). The story led into a new Catwoman title in late 2001 by Brubaker and Cooke in which the character's costume
Costume
The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
, supporting cast and modus operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
were all redesigned and redeveloped. Brubaker stayed on the series, which was met with critical and fan acclaim, up until #37 (January 2004).
At the 2001 San Diego Comic Convention
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
Brubaker and Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis
Brian Michael Bendis
Brian Michael Bendis is an American comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim for his self-published, Image Comics and Marvel Comics work, and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics, with his books selling consistently highly for over a...
discussed co-writing a story which would team up DC's Batman with Marvel's Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
. The two writers were enthusiastic about their ideas, which included a fight between Batman and Marvel villain Bullseye
Bullseye (comics)
Bullseye is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe.A psychopathic assassin, Bullseye uses the opportunities afforded by his line of work to exercise his homicidal tendencies and to work out his own personal vendetta against Daredevil.Although he possesses no...
as well as another between Catwoman and Elektra
Elektra (comics)
Elektra Natchios, usually referred to only by her first name Elektra, is a fictional character in publications from Marvel Comics.Elektra is a kunoichi – female ninja assassin – of Greek descent. She wields a pair of bladed sai as her trademark weapon. She is a love interest of the superhero...
. DC editors Matt Idelson and Bob Schreck were also enthusiastic, but DC executive editor Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz
Paul Levitz is an American comic book writer, editor and executive. The president of DC Comics from 2002–2009, he has worked for the company for over 35 years in a wide variety of roles...
objected to the project due to a prior disagreement with Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada
Joe Quesada
Joseph "Joe" Quesada is an American comic book editor, writer and artist. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books, such as Ninjak and Solar, Man of the Atom...
. The aborted project became controversial when Bendis publicly spoke about Levitz's decision at the 2002 Wizard World Chicago comic convention. Bendis later apologized for his comments, saying that he regretted ever discussing the project in public.
In early 2003, Brubaker and writer Greg Rucka
Greg Rucka
Gregory "Greg" Rucka is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.-Career:Rucka's writing career...
created and co-wrote the Gotham Central
Gotham Central
Gotham Central is a police procedural comic book series that was published by DC Comics. It was written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka, with pencils initially by Michael Lark....
series. Focusing on the activities of the Gotham City Police Department
Gotham City Police Department
The Gotham City Police Department is a fictional police department servicing Gotham City, as depicted in comic books published by DC Comics, in particular those tied into the Batman books.-History of GCPD:...
, the two writers either co-wrote storylines or wrote alternate arcs separately throughout the series, which featured artwork from Brubaker's Scene of the Crime collaborator Michael Lark. The title was cancelled in 2006, shortly after Brubaker's last issue.
Wildstorm
In 2002 Brubaker did his first work for WildstormWildstorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
, (another DC imprint), with the series Point Blank
Point Blank (comics)
Point Blank was a five-issue comic book limited series written by Ed Brubaker with art by Colin Wilson. It was published by Wildstorm comics.It starred Grifter from the Wildcats investigating an attempted murder on his friend John Lynch.-Plot:...
which featured the artwork of New Zealand artist Colin Wilson
Colin Wilson (comics)
Colin Wilson is a comic book artist, born in Christchurch, New Zealand on 31 October 1949.He is known for his detailed artwork which he uses in 2000 AD stories like Rogue Trooper and Judge Dredd. According to Andy Diggle, the 2000 AD editor who got him back to the title in the late nineties and has...
. The series took existing concepts from the Wildstorm universe, such as Grifter (the star of the series), John Lynch
John Lynch (comics)
John Lynch is a fictional comic book character, published by Wildstorm. He is the head of Internal Operations. He has starred in Gen¹³, Team 7, Sleeper, and Wildcats.John Lynch is an homage to Nick Fury, the one-eyed head of Marvel Comics' S.H.I.E.L.D....
and Tao
Tao (comics)
Tao is a fictional character in the Wildstorm universe.-History:The Tactical Augmented Organism was created by Optigen, a subsidiary of the Halo Corporation, on behalf of International Operations. As a child, he grew at an amazing rate...
and used them to set up his Sleeper series which debuted later that year.
A collaboration between artist Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips is a British comic book artist.He is best known in the American comic book industry for his work on DC Comics' Sleeper, WildC.A.T.s, Batman and Hellblazer.-Career:...
and Brubaker, Sleeper, featured a secret agent protagonist ("Holden Carver") who goes undercover in a super villain’s powerful organisation, only to have the only contact he has in law enforcement fall in to a coma. With the authorities believing him a dangerous criminal, Carver is caught between the two warring sides with unclear allegiances.
In December 2003, in a unique publicity stunt conceived to help promote the first trade paperback collection of Sleeper, Brubaker organized an "arm-wrestling competition" at San Francisco's "Isotope - the comic book lounge" comic book shop. If participants were able to beat Brubaker at arm wrestling they were awarded free signed comic books. According to Brubaker, the writer wrestled 40-50 people and won most of the time, losing only eight or nine times.
Although Sleeper was a success with critics and fans on the Internet, the series underperformed commercially, and so it was canceled after its 12th issue, only to be relaunched in 2004 with the same creators as Sleeper: Season Two. Season Two also ended with its twelfth issue, the story apparently concluded.
Brubaker's other work for Wildstorm during this period was the third volume of The Authority. Brubaker first tackled the characters with artist Jim Lee
Jim Lee
Jim Lee is a Korean-American comic book artist, writer, editor and publisher. He first broke into the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel Comics, illustrating titles such as Alpha Flight and Punisher War Journal, before gaining a great deal of popularity on The Uncanny X-Men...
on the one issue special Coup D’état: Sleeper which showed how a series of events led the Authority (a powerful team of super-humans) to take over the United States. Later that year and throughout 2005 Brubaker and artist Dustin Nguyen
Dustin Nguyen (artist)
Dustin Nguyen is a comic book artist who has worked for DC Comics and WildStorm since 2000.Outside of comics, Dustin is also known as a conceptual artist for toys, games, and animation.-Career:...
produced the 12 issue The Authority: Revolution which explored the ramifications of the team's actions.
Marvel Comics
In late 2004 Brubaker, no longer exclusive to DC, began to work for their main competitor Marvel ComicsMarvel 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...
. His first major work for the publisher was the fifth relaunch of the Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
series. Paired with artist Steve Epting
Steve Epting
Stephen "Steve" Epting is an American comic book penciller.-Early life:Epting's influences include Alex Raymond, Stan Drake, Jim Holdaway, Joe Kubert, John Buscema, Al Williamson and José Luis García-López....
, Brubaker's Captain America introduced new villains and resurrected the long dead character Bucky
Bucky
Bucky is the name of several fictional characters, masked superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. The original, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby as a sidekick character in Captain America Comics #1 , published by Marvel's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics...
as "The Winter Soldier". The series was a sales and critical success from its first issue.
In February 2005 Brubaker signed his first exclusive contract with Marvel, the deal allowing the writer to finish out his prior commitments for DC on Gotham Central
Gotham Central
Gotham Central is a police procedural comic book series that was published by DC Comics. It was written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka, with pencils initially by Michael Lark....
and Sleeper. In an interview with Newsarama
Newsarama
Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews and essays about the American comic book industry.-History:Newsarama began in Summer 1995 as a series of Internet forum postings on the Prodigy comic-book message boards by fan Mike Doran. In these short messages. Doran shared...
, Brubaker attributed his shift of employer to the publisher's good treatment of him, the quality and high profile of the work Marvel was offering him and his lack of involvement in DC's "big plans" (DC's intercompany crossover "Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
" was in the final planning stages at the time). Brubaker's Marvel exclusive contract was extended and expanded in April 2006.
In early 2006 Brubaker wrote two limited series for Marvel; with artist Pablo Raimondi, he wrote Books of Doom, which retold and expanded on the origin of Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom
Victor von Doom is a fictional character who appears in Marvel Comics publications . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Fantastic Four #5 wearing his trademark metal mask and green cloak...
; and with artist Trevor Hairsine
Trevor Hairsine
Trevor Hairsine is a British comics artist, whose detailed style has been compared to that of Bryan Hitch.In August 2005 Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada named him as one of Marvel Comics's "Young Guns", a group of artists who have the qualities that make "a future superstar...
, he wrote X-Men: Deadly Genesis
X-Men: Deadly Genesis
X-Men: Deadly Genesis is a comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics in late 2005 and early 2006. The series was written by Ed Brubaker with interior art by Trevor Hairsine and covers by Marc Silvestri. Starring the X-Men, this series celebrates the 30th anniversary of Giant-Size X-Men #1...
, ret-conning information about the origins of the "All New, All-Different X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
" who first debuted in 1975.
In addition, that year Brubaker started on Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
, having already planned his run with Bendis. Once again teamed with artist Michael Lark, Brubaker followed Brian Michael Bendis' acclaimed stint on the title, exploring the ramifications of the character's imprisonment, which occurred at the close of Bendis' run.
He became the regular writer of Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men
Uncanny X-Men, first published as The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics comic book series for the X-Men franchise. It is the mainstream continuity featuring the adventures of the eponymous group of mutant superheroes...
, working with artist Billy Tan
Billy Tan
Billy Tan Mung Khoy, commonly known as Billy Tan, is a Malaysian comic book artist.-Early ife:Billy Tan grew up in Malaysia and moved to the United States in 1989 to study business at the University of Kentucky. He began working as a penciler for Image Comics in the 1990s.-Career:Tan became the...
and Clayton Henry
Clayton Henry
Clayton Henry is a comic book artist, known mostly for his work for Marvel Comics. His first known works were providing the art on Nine Rings Of Wu-Tang and Area 52, and has since worked on such series as Exiles, Alpha Flight, New X-Men: Hellions, X-Men: Apocalypse vs...
, in July 2006.
A new creator-owned crime comic with Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips is a British comic book artist.He is best known in the American comic book industry for his work on DC Comics' Sleeper, WildC.A.T.s, Batman and Hellblazer.-Career:...
, Criminal
Criminal (comics)
In 2009 the first three trades were also repackaged in a 432 page "Deluxe Edition" hardcover . Included in this edition are a number of extras, including three of the original backpages "essays" with all 13 original accompanying pieces of art, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund short story No One Rides...
, has been published by Marvel's Icon Comics
Icon Comics
Icon Comics is an imprint of Marvel Comics for creator-owned titles, designed to keep select "A-list" creators producing for Marvel rather than seeing them take creator-owned work to other publishers.-History:...
imprint. It has generally received positive reviews. In 2007, Criminal won the Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
for Best New Series for its first arc, "Coward." In 2008, he and Phillips began a new Icon series called Incognito
Incognito (comics)
Incognito is a six-issue comic book limited series written by Ed Brubaker with art by Sean Phillips, It was published by the Icon Comics imprint of Marvel Comics.A second six issue miniseries, Incognito: Bad Influences, was released in late 2010....
, which Brubaker says is "about a completely amoral guy with super-powers forced to pretend he's a normal law-abiding citizen, because he's in Witness Protection, and how that shapes what he becomes. It's also a brutal noir twist on the super-hero/super-villain genre that delves more into their roots in the pulps, and it's going to be pretty over-the-top and action-packed."
Brubaker, together with Matt Fraction
Matt Fraction
Matt Fritchman, better known by the pen name Matt Fraction, is an Eisner Award-winning American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of The Invincible Iron Man, The Immortal Iron Fist and Uncanny X-Men for Marvel Comics and Casanova for Image Comics.-Career:Fraction wrote two...
, co-wrote a new Iron Fist ongoing series, The Immortal Iron Fist
The Immortal Iron Fist
The Immortal Iron Fist was a comic book ongoing series published by Marvel Comics and starring the superhero Iron Fist.-Publication history:...
, which started in November 2006, and quickly became one of Marvel's most popular books.
During his run on Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
, Brubaker wrote issues #25 - 30, the 2007 story in which Steve Rogers was assassinated. He later wrote the 2009 miniseries Captain America: Reborn
Captain America: Reborn
Captain America: Reborn is a six-issue monthly comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics between July 2009 and January 2010...
, in which Rogers returned. He subsequently wrote an eight issue limited series titled The Marvels Project
The Marvels Project
The Marvels Project is a 2009-2010 eight-issue comic book limited series written by Ed Brubaker with art by Steve Epting and published by Marvel Comics. It details the origins of Timely Comics-era superheroes in the Marvel Universe such as Captain America, Namor, the Human Torch and the Angel....
, as well as a new title Secret Avengers
Secret Avengers
Secret Avengers is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring a fictional black ops superhero team of the same name. Written by Ed Brubaker, the series depicts a new version of Marvel's premiere super hero team, the Avengers, which operates under the guidance and leadership...
following the end of the "Siege
Siege (comics)
Siege is a fictional character, owned by Marvel Comics, who exists in the Marvel Universe.-Creative origins:John Kelly was initially created by Dwayne McDuffie and Gregory Wright as a pseudo-preview of their then-upcoming relaunch of Deathlok as well as to provide existing in-continuity backstory...
" storyline.
In February 2010, Brubaker caused controversy with Captain America #602, which depicted a group of anti-tax protesters, understood by some readers to be a Tea Party
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
, which was characterized by the Falcon
Falcon (comics)
The Falcon is a fictional comic book superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics.Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan, and introduced in Captain America #117 , the character is mainstream comics' first African-American superhero...
as exclusively white and racist group. Brubaker and Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada
Joe Quesada
Joseph "Joe" Quesada is an American comic book editor, writer and artist. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books, such as Ninjak and Solar, Man of the Atom...
apologized for the matter, explaining that although the group was not intended by Brubaker to represent any particular real-life group, one of the signs depicted in the scene read, "Tea Bag The Libs Before They Tea Bag YOU!", which was not written by Brubaker, but was added by the letterer, who, under deadline pressures, added messages on signs that were found to still be blank, based on signs he saw on the Internet. Quesada further assured that that error would not appear in future reprints of the issue. In an interview following the controversy Brubaker stated that "I had to shut down my public email because I started getting death threats from, y'know, peaceful protesters."
Angel of Death
In March 2009 Brubaker premiered his web series Angel of DeathAngel of Death (Web Series)
Angel of Death is a web series of eight to ten minute episodes created by Ed Brubaker. The series stars Zoë Bell as Eve, an assassin taking revenge on her former employers, and costars Lucy Lawless. Angel of Death was produced by White Rock Lake Production and distributed by Sony Pictures Television...
on Crackle
Crackle
Crackle is a digital network and studio, featuring commercially supported streaming video content in Flash Video format. It is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, and its content consists primarily of Sony's library of films and television shows...
.
Awards
- 2000 Prism Award ("Disguises" from Catwoman #17-19)
- 2004 GLAAD Media AwardsGLAAD Media AwardsThe GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives...
- Outstanding Comic Book (CatwomanCatwomanCatwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics' Batman franchise. Historically a supervillain, the character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, partially inspired by Kane's cousin, Ruth Steel...
by Ed Brubaker) - 2006 Harvey AwardHarvey AwardThe Harvey Awards, named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman and founded by Gary Groth, President of the publisher Fantagraphics, are given for achievement in comic books. The Harveys were created as part of a successor to the Kirby Awards which were discontinued after 1987.The Harvey Awards are...
Winner - Best Writer (Captain AmericaCaptain AmericaCaptain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
) - 2007 Eisner Award - Best Writer (DaredevilDaredevil (Marvel Comics)Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
, Captain America, Criminal), Best New Series (Criminal with Sean PhillipsSean PhillipsSean Phillips is a British comic book artist.He is best known in the American comic book industry for his work on DC Comics' Sleeper, WildC.A.T.s, Batman and Hellblazer.-Career:...
) - 2007 Harvey Award - Best Writer (Daredevil)
- 2008 Eisner Award - Best Writer (Captain America, Criminal, Daredevil and Immortal Iron Fist)
- 2010 Eisner Award - Best Writer (Captain America, Criminal, Daredevil, The Marvels Project, Incognito), Best Single Issue (Captain America #601, with artist Gene ColanGene ColanEugene Jules "Gene" Colan was an American comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics, where his signature titles include the superhero series, Daredevil, the cult-hit satiric series Howard the Duck, and The Tomb of Dracula, considered one of comics' classic horror series...
)
Nominations
- 1993 Eisner AwardEisner AwardThe Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
nominee - Best Writer-Artist Team ("An Accidental Death") - 1997 Ignatz Award nominee - Outstanding Graphic Novel or Collection (At the Seams)
- 1998 Harvey Award nominee - Best New Series (Detour)
- 1999 Eisner Award nominee - Best Writer (Scene of the Crime) and Best Mini-Series (Scene of the Crime)
- 2007 Eisner Award nominee - Best Continuing Series (DaredevilDaredevil (Marvel Comics)Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
with Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano, Captain America with Steve EptingSteve EptingStephen "Steve" Epting is an American comic book penciller.-Early life:Epting's influences include Alex Raymond, Stan Drake, Jim Holdaway, Joe Kubert, John Buscema, Al Williamson and José Luis García-López....
) - 2010 Eisner Award nominee - Best Limited Series or Story Arc (Incognito, with Sean Phillips)
DC Comics
Wildstorm
Vertigo
Marvel Comics
Other
External links
- Complete work history at ComicBookRealm.com
- Ed Brubaker presented at LambiekLambiekLambiek is a comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded in 1968 by Kees Kousemaker .It has held exhibitions of art by comic creators, including Robert Crumb, Daniel Clowes, Erik Kriek, André Franquin, Tanino Liberatore and Chris Ware...
's Comiclopedia