Paul Jenkins (writer)

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Paul Jenkins

Paul Jenkins at a fan convention in 2006
Born December 6, 1965 (1965-12-06) (age 42)
Nationality British
Area(s) Writer
Notable works Hellblazer
The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Sentry

Paul Jenkins (born December 6, 1965) is a British comic book writer. He has had much success crossing over into the American comic book market. Primarily working for Marvel Comics, he has had a big part shaping the characters of the company over the past decade.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Paul Jenkins earned an English degree in in his native United Kingdom. After moving to the US, he joined Mirage Studios in 1988, where he worked as editor/production manager. He edited Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's books, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and even negotiated their licensing deals.[1]

Leaving Mirage, Jenkins followed Eastman to Tundra, another Eastman publishing venture. He once again took up editing duties, and also headed licensing and promotions.[2]

Tired of editing, Jenkins pitched to several companies as a writer.[2] It was during this process that he landed a gig for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. In 1994, he took over as writer of Hellblazer, and began what would go on to be a four year long stint. His work on this title gained him attention in the American comic industry.

Paul's Marvel Comics career began in 1998, when he worked on reviving some of the companies horror-themed properties. He relaunched the psychological horror title Werewolf By Night, writing six issues, until the title was canceled to start the anthology title Strange Tales. The rest of his remaining Werewolf By Night story was published in the first two issues.

Later in the year, he and artist Jae Lee were responsible launching the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Marvel Knights series Inhumans. The limited series ran twelve issues between November 1998 and October 1999, and earned Jenkins an Eisner Award.

In 2000, Jenkins and Lee followed up their collaboration with another five issue Marvel Knights limited series, this time concerning The Sentry. Although the mentally tortured Superman-like hero was an original creation of Jenkins and Lee's, Marvel ran a marketing hoax claiming that the character was a long-lost Silver Age creation of Stan Lee himself, even pre-dating the Fantastic Four. After a long period of non-use, The Sentry became a member of the New Avengers (which occurred in a storyline with a cameo by Jenkins himself).

The year 2000 also included writing assignments in the regular Marvel Universe. In March, Jenkins was made the regular writer on the The Incredible Hulk. Like in much of his earlier work, Jenkins conducted a psychiatric examination of Bruce Banner, including a look at Banner's multiple Hulk personas. His 20 issue run on the Hulk ran until November 2001, and received great acclaim.

On top of the Hulk ongoing, Jenkins became the regular writer of Peter Parker: Spider-Man. Taking over the title from issue 20, in August 2000, he wrote it until its end in August 2003. Marvel placed him on the brand new The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol.2, and Jenkins went on to write the book for most of its three year run. His artistic collaborator for most of the Spectacular run was fan-favorite Humberto Ramos.

In 2001 he collaborated with penciller Andy Kubert on the 6-issue limited series Origin which for the first time revealed Wolverine's beginnings. The title was one of the biggest sales successes of that year for Marvel, and Jenkins has written Wolverine: The End, a story dealing with loose ends from the story, although it is not a direct sequel, as Marvel's The End stories are not canon. There is to be one more sequel to Origin.

He has also written Wolverine for Marvel, and The Darkness for Top Cow.

Recently, Jenkins wrote the Dark Horse Comics limited series Revelations with comic book artist and penciller Humberto Ramos and Marvel's The Sentry with artist John Romita Jr.. He has also written his own independent comic, Sidekick, published by Image Comics.

Jenkins is also a prolific creator in the video game medium, having worked on several top-tier titles including the Legacy of Kain, Twisted Metal Black and God of War series. Most recently, Paul is credited as writer on Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, created with Radical Entertainment and The Darkness, created by Starbreeze Studios.

[edit] Bibliography

  • The Darkness (Top Cow, 2001, 2002-2004, 2006):
    • Resurrection (176 pages, collects The Darkness volume 1 #40 and volume 2 #1-6, 2004, ISBN 158240349X)
    • Demon Inside (272 pages, includes The Darkness #7-9, January 2007, ISBN 1582406464)
    • Levels (5-issue mini-series, computer game tie-in, 2006-2007, tpb June 2007, ISBN 1582407975)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jonah Weiland (2005). Paul Jenkins Signs Exclusive to Marvel (html). CBR News. Comic Book Resources. Retrieved on 2008-02-28.
  2. ^ a b Comic Book DB - Paul Jenkins (html). ComicBookDB.com (2005). Retrieved on 2008-02-28.

[edit] External links


Preceded by
Eddie Campbell		 Hellblazer writer
1994–1998		 Succeeded by
Garth Ennis
Preceded by
Ron Garney & Jerry Ordway		 Incredible Hulk writer
2000–2001
(with Sean McKeever in late 2001)		 Succeeded by
Bruce Jones
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