Garth Ennis: Difference between revisions
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Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic ''[[Preacher (comic)|Preacher]]'', which he co-created with artist [[Steve Dillon]]. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a disillusioned [[preacher]] with [[supernatural]] powers, searching (literally) for a [[God]] who has abandoned His creation. Mixing influences from [[western movie|western movies]] and religious themes, it drew plaudits for Ennis from all sections of the media; the ''[[The Guardian|Guardian]]'' newspaper voted one of the ''Preacher'' collections its ''book of the week'', and [[film director]] [[Kevin Smith]] described it as "More fun than going to the movies." |
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic ''[[Preacher (comic)|Preacher]]'', which he co-created with artist [[Steve Dillon]]. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a disillusioned [[preacher]] with [[supernatural]] powers, searching (literally) for a [[God]] who has abandoned His creation. Mixing influences from [[western movie|western movies]] and religious themes, it drew plaudits for Ennis from all sections of the media; the ''[[The Guardian|Guardian]]'' newspaper voted one of the ''Preacher'' collections its ''book of the week'', and [[film director]] [[Kevin Smith]] described it as "More fun than going to the movies." |
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While ''[[Preacher (comic)|Preacher]]'' was running, Ennis began a series set in the [[DC Comics|DC]] universe called [[Hitman (comics)|Hitman]]. Despite being lesser profile than ''[[Preacher (comic)|Preacher]]'', [[Hitman (comics)|Hitman]] ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to goofy humour to a surprisingly tender examination of male friendship under fire. |
While ''[[Preacher (comic)|Preacher]]'' was running, Ennis began a series set in the [[DC Comics|DC]] universe called ''[[Hitman (comics)|Hitman]]''. Despite being lesser profile than ''[[Preacher (comic)|Preacher]]'', [[Hitman (comics)|Hitman]] ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to goofy humour to a surprisingly tender examination of male friendship under fire. |
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In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic ''Helter Skelter'' for [[Judge Dredd]] - this series cannot be considered a success, garnering an average 5/10 vote from visitors to the [http://www.2000adonline.com/ 2000AD Online] official site. Ennis himself has said there is "not a hope" to return to writing Dredd as he was generally not happy with his run. "I’m too close to Dredd, I like him too much. I can’t tamper with the formula; nor can I take the piss the way I do with superheroes," he said.[http://insidepulse.com/article.php?contentid=20202] |
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic ''Helter Skelter'' for [[Judge Dredd]] - this series cannot be considered a success, garnering an average 5/10 vote from visitors to the [http://www.2000adonline.com/ 2000AD Online] official site. Ennis himself has said there is "not a hope" to return to writing Dredd as he was generally not happy with his run. "I’m too close to Dredd, I like him too much. I can’t tamper with the formula; nor can I take the piss the way I do with superheroes," he said.[http://insidepulse.com/article.php?contentid=20202] |
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Revision as of 04:30, 21 April 2006
Garth Ennis (born January 16, 1970 in Holywood, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish comics writer, best known for the DC/Vertigo series Preacher, co-created with artist Steve Dillon. His work is characterised by extreme violence, black humour and profanity (similar to Quentin Tarantino), but also by an interest in male friendship and an amused disdain for organised religion. Frequent artistic collaborators include Steve Dillon, Glenn Fabry and John McCrea.
Ennis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997.
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Like the two Troubles stories it was collected as a graphic novel in 1990, but religious protests led to it being quickly withdrawn from sale, apparently on the orders of publisher Robert Maxwell. It was later republished in 1997 by Vertigo.
Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years. Ennis's most notable Dredd stories include Muzak Killer (a pastiche of mainstream pop music), Emerald Isle (a tongue-in-cheek story set in Ennis's native Ireland), and the multi-part epic Judgment Day. Ennis also contributed the surreal Time Flies (with artist Philip Bond), dealing with time travel paradoxes and Nazis.
His first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run. The creative partnership established went on to create Preacher. From 1993 to 1995 Ennis and John McCrea worked on another DC title, The Demon, during which they introduced super-powered contract killer Tommy Monaghan, aka Hitman, whose own series would allow their creative partnership to continue when The Demon ended.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a disillusioned preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for a God who has abandoned His creation. Mixing influences from western movies and religious themes, it drew plaudits for Ennis from all sections of the media; the Guardian newspaper voted one of the Preacher collections its book of the week, and film director Kevin Smith described it as "More fun than going to the movies."
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lesser profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to goofy humour to a surprisingly tender examination of male friendship under fire.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd - this series cannot be considered a success, garnering an average 5/10 vote from visitors to the 2000AD Online official site. Ennis himself has said there is "not a hope" to return to writing Dredd as he was generally not happy with his run. "I’m too close to Dredd, I like him too much. I can’t tamper with the formula; nor can I take the piss the way I do with superheroes," he said.[1]
Other comics Ennis has worked on include Goddess (with Phil Winslade), Bloody Mary (with Carlos Ezquerra), Unknown Soldier (with Killian Plunkett), Pride and Joy (with John Higgins), Heartland (with Steve Dillon) and War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Darkness (with Marc Silvestri), and The Pro (2002, with Amanda Conner) for Image Comics; The Punisher (with Dillon) and Thor: Vikings (with Glenn Fabry) for Marvel Comics; The Authority (with Fabry) for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim (with Ezquerra) and 303 (with Jacen Burrows) for Avatar Press.
His work has won him a good deal of recognition in the comics industry, including nominations for the Comics' Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000.
Ennis currently works on the Punisher: Max series and the newly-relaunched Ghost Rider mini-series under Marvel's Marvel Knights line. In March 2006 he announced a new series with Darick Robertson titled The Boys, which he claims will "out-Preacher Preacher." [2]
Bibliography
Comics work includes
- 303 (Avatar Press, 6 issues)
- The Authority: Kev (Wildstorm)
- The Authority: More Kev (4 issues, Wildstorm)
- The Authority: The Magnificent Kevin (5 issues, DC/Wildstorm, 2005)
- Goddess (Vertigo)
- Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (#91-93, DC, 1997)
- Bloody Mary (4 issues, DC/Helix, 1996)
- Bloody Mary: Lady Liberty (4 issues, DC/Helix, 1998)
- Fury(6 issues,for Marvel MAX, 2002}
- Ghost Rider (Marvel, 6 issue mini-series)
- Heartland (DC/Vertigo)
- Hulk Smash (2 issues, for Marvel, 2001)
- Hellblazer (#41-50, #52-83, #129-133, Special #1 DC/Vertigo, 1992-94)
- Hitman (60 issues, DC, 1996-2001)
- Judge Dredd (in 2000 AD)
- Judge Dredd: Helter Skelter (in 2000 AD)
- Just a Pilgrim (5 issues, 2001)
- Just a Pilgrim: Garden of Eden (4 issues, 2002)
- Shadowman (Vol.2) (#1-4 Acclaim, 1997)
- Strontium Dogs (in 2000 AD # 750-761, 1991)
- Strontium Dogs (in 1993 2000 AD Yearbook, 1992)
- Strontium Dogs (in 2000 AD #817-824, 1993)
- Sleeze 'n' Ryder (in Judge Dredd Megazine vol.2 #19-26, 1993)
- Strontium Dogs (in 2000 AD #850-851 & 855-866, 1993)
- Time Flies (in 2000 AD #700-711, 1990)
- Time Flies (in 2000 AD #1015-1023, 1996)
- Troubled Souls (in Crisis)
- True Faith (Vertigo)
- Preacher (66 issues, DC Comics, 1995-2000)
- The Coming of The Thousand, (Spider-Man's Tangled Web #1-3, Oct 2001).
- The Pro (Image, 2002)
- The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe (1995)
- The Punisher:Welcome Back Frank (Marvel, 12 issue mini-series, 1999)
- The Punisher (Marvel series 2001-2003)
- The Punisher: Born (4 issues, for Marvel, 2003)
- The Punisher: The End
- The Punisher: The Cell
- The Punisher Marvel MAX Series(2004-present)
- Thor: Vikings (Marvel)
- War Stories (DC Comics Vertigo)
External links
- 2000 AD Profile
- A study of works by Garth Ennis at The Continuity Pages
- Preacher's Divinity a Preacher fan site
- Garth Ennis Chronology
- [3] Comic Book Awards Almanac
- article on Garth Ennis as Irish writer