Brian Azzarello

Brian Azzarello

Azzarello at the 2011 New York Comic Con.
Born (1962-08-11) August 11, 1962
Cleveland, Ohio
Nationality American
Area(s) Writer
Notable works
 100 Bullets
Before Watchmen: Comedian
Before Watchmen: Rorschach
Hellblazer
Joker
Lex Luthor: Man of Steel
Loveless
Wonder Woman
Awards Eisner Award (2001)

Brian Azzarello (born in Cleveland, Ohio, August 11, 1962) is an American comic book writer and screenwriter. He came to prominence with the hardboiled crime series 100 Bullets, published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo. In 2011, he became the writer of DC's relaunched Wonder Woman series.

Early life

Azzarello grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where his mother managed a restaurant his father was a salesman. As a child, he read monster and war comic books, but avoided the superhero genre. He attended the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he studied painting and printmaking. After several years of working various blue-collar jobs, he moved to Chicago in 1989. After his move to Chicago, Azzarello became interested in the work of Black Lizard Press, a small publishing house which reprinted hardboiled detective and noir fiction.[1]

In Chicago, Azzarello met his future wife, artist Jill Thompson, then working for Vertigo (a comic book imprint of DC Comics). She also liked monster movies, and she was impressed by a werewolf story Azzarello had written. She introduced him to Lou Stathis, an editor at Vertigo who wanted to move away from the light fantasy Vertigo was publishing. He hired Azzarello as a writer.[1]

Career

Brian Azzarello was the line editor for Andrew Rev's incarnation of Comico.[2]

Azzarello's first published comics work was "An Undead Evolution", a text article in Cold Blooded #1 (May 1993) published by Northstar. His first story for DC Comics was "Ares" which appeared in Weird War Tales vol. 2 #1 (June 1997). He and artist Eduardo Risso launched the 100 Bullets series for Vertigo in August 1999.[3] In addition to 100 Bullets, Azzarello has written for Batman ("Broken City";[4] Batman/Deathblow: After the Fire; Joker; and Flashpoint: Batman Knight of Vengeance[5]), Hellblazer and Superman ("For Tomorrow" and Lex Luthor: Man of Steel). In 2003, upon being assigned to write both the Batman and Superman titles, Azzarello told the Chicago Tribune, "DC is giving me the keys to both cars in the garage, the Maserati and the Ferrari...Somebody told me, 'Don't drive drunk.'"[6]

Mark Waid's and Alex Ross' 1996 miniseries Kingdom Come features a character named "666", who is physically modeled after Azzarello.[7]

In 2005, Azzarello began a new creator-owned series, the western Loveless, with artist Marcelo Frusin.[8] Also at Vertigo, his Filthy Rich original graphic novel was one of the two titles that launched the Vertigo Crime line.[9] Azzarello and Risso produced a Batman serial for Wednesday Comics in 2009.[10][11]

He designed the First Wave, a new fictional universe for DC Comics, separate from the main DC Universe. It started with a Batman/Doc Savage one-shot,[12] followed by the First Wave limited series.[13]

In 2011 he began writing The New 52 relaunch of the Wonder Woman series, collaborating with artist Cliff Chiang.[14] He wrote two Before Watchmen limited series featuring the Comedian and Rorschach.[15][16] In 2014, he and Jeff Lemire, Keith Giffen, and Dan Jurgens co-wrote The New 52: Futures End.[17]

In April 2015 he was announced as the co-writer of an eight-issue second sequel to The Dark Knight Returns, titled The Dark Knight III: The Master Race, with Frank Miller. The series was released twice-monthly starting in late 2015.[18] Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson were the artists on the series.[19]

Influences

Azzarello cites Jim Thompson and David Goodis among his influences.[20][21]

Awards

Azzarello and Argentine artist Eduardo Risso, with whom Azzarello first worked on Jonny Double,[22] won the 2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story for 100 Bullets #15–18: "Hang Up on the Hang Low".[23]

Personal life

Azzarello is married to fellow comic book creator Jill Thompson.[24] The couple reside in Chicago.[6]

Bibliography

Early work

Vertigo

DC Comics

Other publishers

Screenwriter

References

  1. 1 2 Borrelli, Christopher (August 8, 2012). "Brian Azzarello: Shake-up artist". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Brian Azzarello". Wizard World. 2013. Archived from the original on September 9, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  3. ↑ Brian Azzarello at the Grand Comics Database
  4. ↑ Manning, Matthew K.; Dougall, Alastair, ed. (2014). "2000s". Batman: A Visual History. Dorling Kindersley. p. 269. ISBN 978-1465424563. Editor Bob Schreck gave two more big name creators a shot at the Batman when he hired writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso for a six-issue noir thriller.
  5. ↑ Manning "2010s" in Dougall (2014), p. 318: "In this powerful reimagining of the Batman legend, writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso joined forces for a three-issue examination of Flashpoint's Batman."
  6. 1 2 Mowatt, Raoul V. (November 14, 2003), "Chicagoan takes a flier with Superman, Batman", Chicago Tribune, archived from the original on November 13, 2011, retrieved November 13, 2011
  7. ↑ Cronin, Brian (April 17, 2008). "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #151". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on July 31, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2013. In Kingdom Come, Alex Ross DID specifically use [Jill] Thompson as the model for Joker’s Daughter (and her husband, Brian Azzarello, as the basis for another character, the villain 666).
  8. ↑ Irvine, Alex (2008). "Loveless". In Dougall, Alastair. The Vertigo Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-0756641221. OCLC 213309015.
  9. ↑ Arrant, Chris (August 15, 2008). "Karen Berger on the Vertigo Crime Line". Newsarama. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013.
  10. ↑ Cowsill, Alan; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "2000s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 338. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. [Wednesday Comics] contained fifteen continuous stories including...'Batman' with a story by Brian Azzarello and art by Eduardo Risso.
  11. ↑ Trecker, Jamie (September 3, 2009). "Wednesday Comics Thursday: Brian Azzarello On Batman". Newsarama. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  12. ↑ Renaud, Jeffrey (August 11, 2009). "Azzarello Reimagines Doc Savage". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
  13. ↑ Renaud, Jeffrey (October 12, 2009). "Azzarello Pulps Up DCU With First Wave". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2009.
  14. ↑ Melrose, Kevin (August 22, 2011). "Relaunched Wonder Woman is ‘a horror book,’ Brian Azzarello says". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  15. ↑ Rogers, Vaneta (April 16, 2012). "Brian Azzarello Talks Before Watchmen, After the Controversy". Newsarama. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  16. ↑ Behrens, Web (November 16, 2012). "Wonder Woman and Before Watchmen writer Brian Azzarello Interview outtakes". Time Out Chicago. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  17. ↑ Moore, Matt (December 11, 2013). "DC Readies Weekly Weekly Series, Futures End for Spring". Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Superstar Writer/Artist Frank Miller Return to Batman!". DC Comics. April 24, 2015. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015.
  19. ↑ Wheeler, Andrew (July 9, 2015). "Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson Join The Master Race (The Comic)". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on August 14, 2015.
  20. ↑ Waters, Tom (December 1, 2006). "Rapid Fire With Brian Azzarello". Acid Logic. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  21. ↑ Phillips, Dan (October 23, 2008). "The Joker's Wild Ride". IGN. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  22. ↑ Irvine "Jonny Double " in Dougall (2008), p. 112
  23. ↑ Irvine "100 Bullets" in Dougall (2008), pp. 11-17
  24. ↑ Rockford Register Star staff. (November 7, 2005). "Meet a couple of comic book creators". The Rockford Register Star. Pg. 1E
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