Jason Aaron

Jason Aaron is an American comic book writer, known for his work on titles such as Thor, The Other Side, Scalped, Ghost Rider, Wolverine and PunisherMAX.

Early life

Jason Aaron was born in Jasper, Alabama.^[1][2][3] His cousin, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, on which the feature film Full Metal Jacket was based, was a large influence on Aaron. Aaron decided he wanted to write comics as a child, and though his father was skeptical when Aaron informed him of this aspiration, his mother took Aaron to drug stores, where he would purchase comic books from spinner racks, some of which he still owns today.^[4] Aaron graduated from Shelby County High School. He then attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English.^[5]

Career

Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.^[4]

In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side,^[4] which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries,^[6] and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.^[4][7] Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation drawn by R. M. Guéra.^[4][7][8]

In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions.^[9] Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide "Secret Invasion" crossover with David Lapham in 2009.^[10]

In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped.^[10][11] Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.^[12][13]

After a four-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre,"^[14] In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine.^[15] He followed this with the relaunch of The Incredible Hulk in 2011^[16] and Thor: God of Thunder in 2012.^[17] Aaron and artist Mike Deodato collaborated on the Original Sin limited series in 2014.^[18]

Personal life

Aaron moved to Kansas City, Kansas in 2000, the day after the first X-Men feature film was released.^[4]

Commenting on the religious themes that run through his work, Aaron says he was raised Southern Baptist, but has since renounced religion: "I’ve been an atheist for many years, but I’ve remained fascinated by religion. If anything, I’ve become more fascinated by religion and faith after I lost mine."^[19]

Awards and nominations

Nominated: 2007 Eisner Award for Best Miniseries for The Other Side.^[6]

Bibliography

DC Comics/Vertigo

• The Other Side #1-5 (with Cameron Stewart, 2006) collected as The Other Side (tpb, 144 pages, 2007, ISBN 1-4012-1350-2)
• Scalped:
  • Indian Country (tpb, 128 pages, 2007, ISBN 1-4012-1317-0) collects:
    • "Indian Country" (with R. M. Guéra, in #1-3, 2007)
    • "Hoka Hey" (with R. M. Guéra, in #4-5, 2007)
  • Casino Boogie (tpb, 144 pages, 2008, ISBN 1-4012-1654-4) collects:
    • "Casino Boogie" (with R. M. Guéra, in #6-11, 2007-2008)
  • Dead Mothers (tpb, 168 pages, 2008, ISBN 1-4012-1919-5) collects:
    • "Dreaming Himself into the Real World" (with John Paul Leon, in #12, 2008)
    • "Dead Mothers" (with R. M. Guéra, in #13-17, 2008)
    • "Falls Down" (with Davide Furnò, in #18, 2008)
  • The Gravel in Your Gut (tpb, 144 pages, 2009, ISBN 1-4012-2179-3) collects:
    • "The Boudoir Stomp" (with Davide Furnò, in #19-20, 2008)
    • "The Gravel in Your Guts" (with R. M. Guéra, in #21-24, 2008-2009)
  • High Lonesome (tpb, 128 pages, 2009, ISBN 1-4012-2487-3) collects:
    • "High Lonesome" (with R. M. Guéra and Francesco Francavilla, in #25-29, 2009)
  • The Gnawing (tpb, 128 pages, 2010, ISBN 1-4012-2717-1) collects:
    • "The Gnawing" (with R. M. Guéra, in #30-34, 2009-2010)
  • Rez Blues (tpb, 192 pages, 2011, ISBN 1-4012-3019-9) collects:
    • "Listening to the Earth Turn" (with Danijel Žeželj, in #35, 2010)
    • "A Fine Action of an Honorable and Catholic Spaniard" (with Davide Furnò, in #36-37, 2010)
    • "Family Tradition" (with R. M. Guéra, in #38, 2010)
    • "Unwanted" (with R. M. Guéra, in #39-42, 2010)
  • You Gotta Sin to Get Saved (tpb, 120 pages, 2011, ISBN 1-4012-3288-4) collects:
    • "A Come-to-Jesus" (with Jason Latour, in #43, 2011)
    • "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (with Davide Furnò, in #44, 2011)
    • "You Gotta Sin to Get Saved" (with R. M. Guéra, in #45-49, 2011)
  • Knuckle Up (tpb, 144 pages, 2012, ISBN 1-4012-3505-0) collects:
    • "The Art of Surviving" (with R. M. Guéra and various artists, in #50, 2011)
    • "Knuckle Up" (with R. M. Guéra, in #51-55, 2011-2012)
  • Trail's End (tpb, 128 pages, 2012, ISBN 1-4012-3734-7) collects:
    • "Trail's End" (with R. M. Guéra, in #56-60, 2012)
• Hellblazer #245-246: "Newcastle Calling" (with Sean Murphy, 2008)
• Joker's Asylum: Penguin (with Jason Pearson, one-shot, 2008) collected in Joker's Asylum Volume 1 (tpb, 128 pages, 2008, ISBN 1-4012-1955-1)

Marvel Comics

• X-Men:
  • Wolverine:
    • Wolverine by Jason Aaron Omnibus (hc, 688 pages, 2011, ISBN 0-7851-5639-9) collects:
      • "A Good Man" (with UDON, in v2 #175, 2002)
      • "The Man in the Pit" (with Howard Chaykin, in v3 #56, 2007)
      • "Get Mystique!" (with Ron Garney, in v3 #62-65, 2008)
      • Wolverine: Manifest Destiny #1-4 (with Stephen Segovia, 2008-2009)
      • Dark X-Men: The Beginning #3: "Get Mystique (Slight Return)" (with Jock, 2009)
      • "A Day in the Life" (with Adam Kubert, in v3 #73-74, 2009)
      • Wolverine: Weapon X:
        • "The Adamantium Men" (with Ron Garney, in #1-5, 2009)
        • "All We Want is the World and Everything in It" (with Esad Ribić, in Dark Reign: The List – Wolverine, one-shot, 2009)
        • "Insane in the Brain" (with Yanick Paquette, in #6-9, 2009-2010)
        • "Love and the Wolverine" (with C. P. Smith, in #10, 2010)
        • "Tomorrow Dies Today" (with Ron Garney, in #11-15, 2010)
        • "The End of the Beginning" (with Davide Gianfelice, in #16, 2010)
    • Wolverine Goes to Hell (hc, 184, pages, 2011, ISBN 0-7851-4784-5; tpb, 2011, ISBN 0-7851-4785-3) collects:
      • "Wolverine Goes to Hell" (with Renato Guedes, in v4 #1-5, 2010-2011)
      • "Scorched Earth" (with Jason Latour, Steve Sanders, Michael Gaydos and Jamie McKelvie, in v4 #1-5, 2010-2011)
    • Wolverine vs. the X-Men (hc, 120 pages, 2011, ISBN 0-7851-4786-1; tpb, 2011, ISBN 0-7851-4787-X) collects:
      • "Happy" (with Jefte Palo, in v4 #5.1, 2011)
      • "Wolverine vs. the X-Men" (with Daniel Acuña, in v4 #6-8, 2011)
      • "Get Mystique: Final Repose" (with Daniel Acuña, in v4 #9, 2011)
    • Wolverine's Revenge (hc, 168 pages, 2011, ISBN 0-7851-5279-2; tpb, 2012, ISBN 0-7851-5280-6) collects:
      • "Wolverine's Revenge!" (with Renato Guedes, in v4 #10-14, 2011)
      • "Wolverine No More" (with Goran Sudžuka, in v4 #15-16, 2011)
    • Goodbye, Chinatown (hc, 112 pages, 2012, ISBN 0-7851-6141-4; tpb, 2012, ISBN 0-7851-6142-2) collects:
      • "Goodbye, Chinatown" (with Ron Garney, in v4 #17-19, 2011-2012)
      • "And Then There Was War" (with Renato Guedes, in v4 #20, 2011)
    • Back in Japan (hc, 128 pages, 2012, ISBN 0-7851-6143-0) collects:
      • "Back in Japan" (with Ron Garney, Adam Kubert, Steve Sanders and Billy Tan, in v1 #300-303, 2012)
      • "One More Round" (with various artists, in v1 #304, 2012)
  • X-Force Special: Ain't No Dog: "Hunters & Killers" (with Werther Dell'Edera, one-shot, 2008)
  • Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #1-6: "Another Fine Mess" (with Adam Kubert, 2010-2011) collected as Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine (hc, 168 pages, 2011, ISBN 0-7851-4890-6; tpb, 2012, ISBN 0-7851-4080-8)
  • X-Men: Schism #1-5 (with Carlos Pacheco, Frank Cho, Daniel Acuña, Alan Davis and Adam Kubert, 2011) collected as X-Men: Schism (hc, 168 pages, 2012, ISBN 0-7851-5668-2; tpb, 2012, ISBN 1-84653-502-6)
  • Wolverine and the X-Men (October 2011-February 2014)
    • Volume 1 (hc, 112 pages, 2012, ISBN 0-7851-5679-8) collects:
      • "Welcome to the X-Men! Now Die!" (with Chris Bachalo, in #1-3, 2011)
      • "Just Another Day in Westchester County" (with Nick Bradshaw, in #4, 2012)
    • Volume 2 (hc, 112 pages, 2012, ISBN 0-7851-5681-X) collects:
      • "Mutatis Mutandis" (with Nick Bradshaw, in #5-7, 2012)
      • "A Little Impossible" (with Chris Bachalo, in #8, 2012)
    • Volume 3 (hc, 112 pages, 2013, ISBN 0-7851-5999-1) collects:
      • "Day of the Phoenix, Dark Night of the Soul" (with Chris Bachalo, in #9, 2012)
      • "Avengers vs. X-Men... vs. X-Men" (with Chris Bachalo, in #10, 2012)
      • "Got Hope?" (with Nick Bradshaw, in #11, 2012)
      • "Hounded" (with Chris Bachalo, in #12, 2012)
      • "Born Warbird" (with Nick Bradshaw, in #13, 2012)
    • Volume 4 (hc, 128 pages, 2013, ISBN 0-7851-6542-8) collects:
      • "My Dinner with the Phoenix" (with Jorge Molina, in #14, 2012)
      • "On the Eve of Battle" (with Jorge Molina, in #15, 2012)
      • "The Fires of Hell A-Glowing" (with Chris Bachalo, in #16, 2012)
      • "Wolverine's Secret Weapon" (with Mike Allred, in #17, 2012)
      • "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow!" (with Jorge Molina, in #18, 2012)
    • Volume 5 (tpb, 136 pages, 2013, ISBN 0-7851-6577-0) collects:
      • "More Pencils, More Books, More Teachers' Dirty Looks" (with Nick Bradshaw, in #19, 2012)
      • "The Search for Something New" (with Steven Sanders, in #20, 2012)
      • "The Greatest Freakshow on Earth" (with Nick Bradshaw, in #21, 2012)
      • "Big Top Hell" (with Nick Bradshaw, in #22, 2012)
      • "The Last Frankenstein" (with Nick Bradshaw, in #23, 2013)
      • "Ain't No Sin To Be Glad You're Alive" (with David Lopez, in #24, 2013)
    • Volume 6 (tpb, 112 pages, 2013, ISBN 0-7851-6599-1) collects:
      • "Savage Learning" (with Ramon Perez, in #25-28, 2013)
      • "Key to the Future" (with Ramon Perez, in 29, 2013)
    • Volume 7 (tpb, 136 pages, 2014, ISBN 0-7851-6600-9) collects:
      • "The Hellfire Saga Prologue" (with Pascual Ferry, Pepe Larraz and Salva Espin in #30, 2013)
      • "The Hellfire Saga" (with Nick Bradshaw, in #31-35, 2013)
    • "Battle of the Atom, Chapter 5" (with Giuseppe Camuncoli, in #36, 2013)
    • "Battle of the Atom, Chapter 9" (with Giuseppe Camuncoli, in #37, 2013)
    • Volume 8 (tpb, 152 pages, 2014, ISBN 0-7851-6601-7) collects:
      • "Untitled" (with Pepe Larraz, Todd Nauck, Nick Bradshaw, Ramon Perez, Shaw Crystal, Steven Sanders, Nuno Alves and Chris Bachalo, in #38-42, 2013-2014)
  • Avengers vs. X-Men:
    • Avengers vs. X-Men #0 (with Brian Michael Bendis and Frank Cho, 2012)
    • Avengers vs. X-Men #2 (with John Romita, Jr., 2012)
    • AvX: VS #1: "The Invincible Iron Man vs. Magneto" (with Adam Kubert, 2012)
    • Avengers vs. X-Men #9 (with Adam Kubert, 2012)
    • AvX: VS #5: "Angel vs. Hawkeye" (with John Romita, Jr., 2012)
    • AvX: VS #6: "Iron Fist Vs. Iceman" (with Ramon Perez, 2012)
  • A+X #3 "Black Panther + Storm" (with Pascual Ferry, December 2012) collected in Volume 1: =Awesome (tpb, 144 pages, 2013, ISBN 0-7851-6674-2)
  • Amazing X-Men vol. 2 (November 2013-April 2014):
    • Volume 1: The Quest for Nightcrawler (tpb, 136 pages, 2014, ISBN 0-7851-8821-5) collects:
      • "The Quest for Nightcrawler" (with Ed McGuinness, in #1-5, 2013-2014)
      • "All in the Family" (with Cameron Stewart, in #6, 2014)
• Criminal #2: "My Favorite TV Cops and Movie Tough Guys, Flaws and All" (with Sean Phillips, 2008)
• Ghost Rider by Jason Aaron Omnibus (hc, 536 pages, 2010, ISBN 0-7851-4367-X) collects:
  • "Hell-Bent & Heaven-Bound" (with Roland Boschi, in v4 #20-23, 2008)
  • "God Don't Live on Cell Block D" (with Tan Eng Huat, in v4 #24-25, 2008)
  • "The Former Things" (with Tan Eng Huat, in v4 #26-27, 2008)
  • "Last Stand of the Spirits of Vengeance" (with Tan Eng Huat, in v4 #30-34, 2008-2009)
  • "Trials & Tribulations" (with Tony Moore, in v4 #33-35, 2009)
  • Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #1-6 (with Roland Boschi, 2009-2010)
• Black Panther #39-41: "See Wakanda and Die" (with Jefte Palo, 2008) collected as Secret Invasion: BP (tpb, 96 pages, 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3397-6)
• Punisher:
  • The Punisher MAX: X-Mas Special: "And on Earth Peace, Good Will Toward Men" (with Roland Boschi, one-shot, 2009)
  • PunisherMAX (with Steve Dillon, 2009-2012) collected as:
    • Kingpin (collects #1-5, hc, 120, pages, 2010, ISBN 0-7851-4596-6; tpb, 2010, ISBN 0-7851-4071-9)
    • Bullseye (collects #6-11, hc, 144 pages, 2011, ISBN 0-7851-4755-1; tpb, 2011, ISBN 0-7851-4756-X)
    • Frank (collects #12-16, hc, 144 pages, 2011, ISBN 0-7851-5208-3; tpb, 2012, ISBN 0-7851-5209-1)
    • Homeless (collects #17-22, hc, 120 pages, 2012, ISBN 0-7851-5210-5; tpb, 2012, ISBN 0-7851-5211-3)
• Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular #1: "Just a Little Old Fashioned Justice" (with Richard Isanove, 2009)
• Deadpool #900: "Close Encounters of the @*#$ed-Up Kind" (with Chris Staggs, 2009)
• Immortal Weapons #1: "The Book of the Cobra" (with various artists, 2009) collected in Immortal Weapons (tpb, 184 pages, 2010, ISBN 078513848X)
• Avengers vs. Atlas #4: "My Dinner with Gorilla Man" (with Giancarlo Caracuzzo, 2010) collected in Gorilla Man (tpb, 144 pages, 2010, ISBN 0785149112)
• Captain America: Who Won't Wield the Shield?: "Forbush Man: Forbush Kills!" (with Mirco Pierfederici, one-shot, 2010)
• Ultimate Comics: Captain America #1-4 (with Ron Garney, 2011) collected as UC-CA (hc, 112 pages, 2011, ISBN 078515194X; tpb, ISBN 0785151958)
• The Incredible Hulk vol. 3 (October, 2011-October, 2012)
  • Volume 1 (hc, 176 pages, 2012 ISBN 0-7851-3328-3) collects:
    • "Epilogue 2: Saturday" (with Mike Choi, in Fear Itself #7, 2011)
    • "Hulk: Asunder" (with Marc Silvestri, in #1-3, 2011)
    • "Hulk vs. Banner! (with Whilce Portacio, in #4-7, 2012)
  • Volume 2 (hc, 200 pages, 2013, ISBN 0-7851-6112-0) collects:
    • "Alone" (with Jefte Palo, in #7.1, 2012)
    • "Stay Angry!" (with Steve Dillon, Pascual Ferry, Tom Raney, Dalibor Talajic and Carlos Pacheco in #8-12, 2012)
    • "Hulk: United" (with Jefte Palo, in #13-15, 2012)
• Thor: God of Thunder (November 2012-September 2014)
  • Volume 1: The God Butcher (tpb, 136 pages, 2013, ISBN 0-7851-6697-1) collects:
    • "The God Butcher" (with Esad Ribic, in #1-5, 2012-2013)
  • Volume 2: Godbomb (tpb, 136 pages, 2013, ISBN 0-7851-6698-X) collects:
    • "What the Gods Have Wrought" (with Butch Guice, in #6, 2013)
    • "Godbomb" (with Esad Ribic, in #7-11, 2013)
  • Volume 3: The Accursed (hc, 160 pages, 2014, ISBN 0-7851-8555-0) collects:
    • "Untitled" (with Nick Klein, in #12, 2013)
    • "The Accursed" (with Ron Garney and Emanuela Lupacchino, in #13-17, 2013-2014)
    • "Days of Wine and Dragons" (with Das Pastoras, in #18, 2014)
  • Volume 4: The Last Days of Midgard (hc, 168 pages, 2014, ISBN 0-7851-5488-4) collects:
    • "The Last Days of Midgard" (with Esad Ribic, in #19-23, 2014)
    • "The Last Days of Midgard, Epilogue: Adieu, Midgard, Adieu" (with Agustin Alessio and Esad Ribic, in #24, 2014)
    • "Tales of Thunder" (with Esad Ribic, RM Guerra and Simon Bisley, in #25, 2014)
• Thanos Rising (5-issue limited series, with Simine Bianchi, April-August 2013, collected in, Thanos Rising, hc, 136 pages, 2013, ISBN 0-7851-9047-3)
• Original Sin:
  • Original Sin (hc, 392 pages, 2014, ISBN 0-7851-9069-4) collects:
    • "No One Is Watching" (with Mike Deodato, in #1, 2014)
    • "Bomb Full of Secrets" (with Mike Deodato, in #2, 2014)
    • "Trust No One, Not Even Yourself" (with Mike Deodato, in #3, 2014)
    • "Secret Warriors" (with Mike Deodato, in #4, 2014)
    • "The Secret History of Colonel Nicholas J. Fury" (with Mike Deodato, in #5, 2014)
    • "Open Your Eye" (with Mike Deodato, in #6, 2014)
    • "Nick Fury Vs. The World" (with Mike Deodato, in #7, 2014)
    • "The One Who Watches" (with Mike Deodato, in #8, 2014)
  • Original Sin: Thor & Loki: The Tenth Realm (tpb, 112 pages, 2014, ISBN 0-7851-9169-0) collects:
    • "Thor & Loki: The Tenth Realm" (with Al Ewing, Lee Garbett and Simone Bianchi, in Original Sin #5.1-5.5, 2014)
• Thor vol. 4 (October 2014-May 2015)
  • Volume 1: Goddess of Thunder (hc, 136 pages, 2015, ISBN 0-7851-9238-7) collects:
    • "If He Be Worthy" (with Russell Dauterman, in #1, 2014)
    • "The Goddess of Thunder" (with Russell Dauterman, in #2, 2014)
    • "When The Ice Lords Make War" (with Russell Dauterman, in #3, 2014)
    • "Thor vs. Thor" (with Russell Dauterman, in #4, 2015)
    • "Behold, A New Age of Thunder" (with Jorge Molina, in #5, 2015)
• Star Wars (2015): #1-?? (ongoing series)
• Thors #1-?? (with Chris Sprouse, June 2015-??)
• Weirdworld #1-?? (with Mike Del Mundo, June 2015-??)

Other US publishers

• 24Seven Volume 2: "This Mortal Coil" (with Miguel Alves, anthology graphic novel, tpb, 240 pages, Image, 2007, ISBN 1-5824-0846-7)
• Pilot Season: Ripclaw (with Jorge Lucas, one-shot, Top Cow, 2007)^[9] collected in Pilot Season 2007 (tpb, 144 pages, 2008, ISBN 1-58240-900-5)
• Friday the 13th: How I Spent My Summer Vacation #1-2 (with Adam Archer, Wildstorm, 2007) collected in Friday the 13th: Book 2 (tpb, 160 pages, 2008, ISBN 1-4012-2003-7)
• Southern Bastards, (with Jason Latour), ongoing series, Image, 2014

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jason Aaron.

• Jason Aaron's blog
• Jason Aaron at the Grand Comics Database
• Jason Aaron at the Comic Book DB

Interviews

• Comic Geek Speak podcast interview with Aaron from June 2009 and December 2007
• January 5, 2007 Jason Aaron interview by Jon Niccum