Mark Waid
Mark Waid (born March 21, 1962 in Hueytown , Alabama ) is an American comic book writer .
Life and work
Born in the US state of Alabama, Waid began working as a full-time comic book writer and publishing editor in the early 1980s . After submitting his first work for the specialist magazine Amazing Heroes , Waid was hired as a full-time editor at DC Comics , one of the two leading US comic publishers alongside Marvel Comics .
As editor at DC, Waid initially oversaw titles such as Secret Origins and Legion of Super-Heroes . At the same time, he wrote fill-in issues for series such as Action Comics (# 572, 576, 641) as a guest author . At the end of the 1980s, Waid finally largely gave up his work as an editor in order to work as a freelance writer instead. As a result, he initially wrote the series The Comet (# 1-10, 12-18, Annual) and Legends of the Shield (# 1-12), which appeared in DC's short-lived Impact -Imprint, before taking the job of regular author for the 1992 The Flash series (# 62-129, 142-159, Annual 4-6, 8; Secret Files # 1, 80-Page Giant # 1; Life Story of the Flash; Speed Force), which marked his artistic breakthrough.
Waids Run on the Flash title was not only one of the longest - eight years to 2000 - in the history of the series, but is also considered one of the most popular and commercially successful in the character's over sixty-year history. Waid's artistic partners at Flash included illustrators such as Greg LaRoque and Mike Wieringo , as well as Brian Augustyn , the title's chief editor, who also served as Waid's co-author from 1999 to 2000. Waid's work on Flash also gave rise to the spin-off series Impulse , which Waid wrote for a time from 1995 to 1997 (# 1-6, 8-17, 19-27).
There were also further engagements for DC, for example for the fantasy title Valor , for the superhero series JLA (# 18-21, 32-33, 43-58, 60), the maxi series JLA: Year One and the miniseries Underworld Unleashed ( # 1-3), The Flash / Green Lantern : The Brave and the Bold (# 1-6) and Metamorpho (# 1-4). With the four-part miniseries Kingdom Come from 1996, which was later reprinted in its entirety as a graphic novel, Waid was able to record his greatest artistic success to date: the epic about the final fate of the characters Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman, set in a dystopian future after a future "great devastation" consistently broke through the traditional boundaries of the superhero genre in order to vary the old topic from new angles. Despite the apocalyptic theme of the series, which Waid wrote as a reaction to the "dark and cynical" comics of the 1980s and early 1990s, Kingdom Come is permeated by an overwhelming optimism, which is not least reflected in the realistic painting drawings of Waids artistic Partner who reflects painter and draftsman Alex Ross . Kingdom Come was followed by a sequel, the miniseries The Kingdom , as well as a novel version by the science fiction writer Elliot S! Maggin , one of Waid's main role models, to whom the original comic version of the story was dedicated.
For DC's competitor Marvel, Waid presented an almost one-year first run and a little later a longer run on the traditional superhero title Captain America . He was supported as a draftsman among others by Ron Garney . Stories for the Fantastic Four series (2002-2003) followed.
In 2003, Waid was commissioned with the design of the twelve-part Maxiserie Superman: Birthright , which carried out a reinterpretation or general overhaul of the Superman material and told a so-called origin story of the Superman character. In the previous and following years, Waid also wrote a few more Superman stories ( Superman # 114, Superman: Man of Steel # 58, 73, Action Comics # 723, Adventures of Superman # 536, Superman / Batman ).
From 2004 to 2007, Waid supervised DC series such as Legion of Super-Heroes , The Brave and the Bold , 52 (# 1-52) and the miniseries Infinite Crisis . Artists such as George Pérez assisted him as draftsmen .
Web links
- Literature by and about Mark Waid in the catalog of the German National Library
- Official website
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Woad, Mark |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American comic book writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 21, 1962 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hueytown , Alabama |