Dennis Hopeless

Dennis Hallum
Born	Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Area(s)	Writer
Pseudonym(s)	Dennis Hopeless
Notable works	Cable and X-Force Avengers Arena Spider-Woman All-New X-Men Marvel's Spider-Man comics

Dennis Hallum,

Dennis Hallum worked in a comic store in the mid-2000s while trying to break into the comics industry.^[7] In 2007, using the pen name " Dennis Hopeless", he created GearHead (with penciller Kevin Mellon), a four-issue comic about a female auto mechanic searching for her lost brother. The series was published by Arcana Studio.^[8] His next notable work didn't hit shelves until 2011 when Hallum reunited with artist Kevin Mellon to create LoveSTRUCK, a supernatural graphic novel inspired in part by Frank Herbert's Dune and Garth Ennis's Preacher that was published by Image Comics.^[9][10] That same year, Hallum began working with Marvel Comics, writing the second volume of Legion of Monsters (with penciler Juan Doe). The series starred the titular Legion and monster-hunter Elsa Bloodstone.^[11]

While Legion of Monsters was still being published, Marvel hired Hallum (along with pencillers Jamie McKelvie and Mike Norton) to create a graphic novel called X-Men: Season One as part of a series of four graphic novels focusing on the origins of some of the company's biggest characters.^[12] While some publications were hesitant to embrace the Season One concept, Hallum's novel garnered generally positive reviews,^[13][14] with Comic Book Resources calling it, "easy to understand, fun to read and still pretty wide in scope."^[15]

Hallum's next work for Marvel was 2013's

In January 2019, after having used the "Dennis Hopeless" pen name for many years, Hallum announced in a Twitter thread that he would begin using his given surname, Hallum, in his published works.[1] To avoid audience confusion, however, he was credited as Dennis "Hopeless" Hallum.^[37][38] He later deleted the tweet.^[1]

In April 2019, Hallum wrote an issue of Darth Vader: Dark Visions that portrayed Darth Vader from the perspective of an unnamed female nurse obsessed with him. Her portrayal evoked strong criticism from fans. io9 commented that "Dark Visions’ view of the nurse's desires takes established feminine power fantasies and treats them as delusional jokes, right up until the moment it leaves its female protagonist a crumbled heap on the floor."^[39]

Personal

Hallum is a Kansas State University alumnus. He lives in Kansas City, MO with his two sons.^[40]

Awards

• 2013 -
  Harvey Award—Most Promising New Talent (for Avengers Arena)^[41]
• 2016 - GLAAD Media Award—Outstanding Comic Book (Nominee) (for All-New X-Men)^[42]

Bibliography

Early work

• ISBN 0-97630-959-9
  )
• Action DoubleFeature #1: "The Answer" (co-written by Hopeless and Mike Norton, art by Norton, digital anthology, Four Star Studios, 2011)
  • The story was eventually continued in print as The Answer! #1–4 (co-written by Hopeless and Mike Norton, art by Norton, Dark Horse, 2013)
  • The series, along with the short story from Action DoubleFeature, was collected as The Answer! (tpb, 120 pages, 2013,
    ISBN 1-61655-197-6
    )