Garth Ennis

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Garth Ennis
Eisner Award
for Best Writer, 1998

Garth Ennis (born 16 January 1970)

The Darkness, and Carlos Ezquerra on both Preacher and Hitman. His work has won him recognition in the comics industry, including nominations for the Comics Buyer's Guide
Award for Favorite Writer in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000.

Early life

Ennis is originally from Northern Ireland.[2]

Raised with no religion, Ennis's first exposure to the idea of God was as a six-year-old in primary school. Ennis's teacher told the class that God was a being who could see inside their hearts, was always around them, and would ultimately reward or punish them. Ennis described the idea as bewildering, strange and terrifying. He later used this experience in his comic book series, Preacher, whose protagonist is slapped after telling his grandmother that he finds the concept of God "scary". Although the fictional violence in that story was not reflected in Ennis's real-life upbringing, his classmates later reassured each other that they all loved God, though Ennis said, "I think I hate him." Ennis later asked his mother about God, and when she asked him what he thought about the idea, Ennis responded, "It sounds kind of stupid," a statement the adult Ennis clarified was meant to mask his fear. His mother's response was, "Well, there you are, then."[3]

In 1987, Ennis befriended artist John McCrea while shopping at the first comic book specialty shop in Belfast, which had been opened by McCrea and another friend. Ennis would later ask McCrea to illustrate his first professional comics project.[3] It was here that Ennis first met comics writer Alan Moore, who advised him to focus on creator-owned work rather than letting comic companies take ownership of his intellectual property.[4]

Career

UK work

Ennis began his comic-writing career on his nineteenth birthday in 1989, with the series

Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish Troubles. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor. In 1997, American publisher Caliber released Dicks, serving as another Dougie and Ivor adventure. Several follow-ups featuring these characters were subsequently published by Avatar Press
.

In explaining why he chose to write Troubled Souls as his debut comics work, Ennis explained, "It was the kind of thing that was doing well at the time. I ought to be completely clear and say that, with hindsight, what Troubled Souls really represented was naked ambition. It was a direct attempt to get published. And that was the road that seemed most likely to lead me to success."[6]

Another series for Crisis was

Judgment Day". Ennis also contributed the story "Time Flies", with artist Philip Bond
, dealing with time-travel paradoxes and Nazis.

In 2001, following much work in the United States, Ennis briefly returned to UK comics to write the Judge Dredd story "Helter Skelter". Ennis said afterward there was "not a hope" to his returning 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".[9]

DC Comics

Ennis signing copies of Hitman and Preacher at a 19 April 2012 appearance at Midtown Comics Downtown in Manhattan

In 1991, Ennis took over the horror series Hellblazer, from DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. He wrote the series through 1994, with Steve Dillon becoming the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run; Ennis and Dillon would later become regular collaborators on other comics, including the one-shot Heartland, exploring one of Hellblazer's secondary characters. Years afterward, Ennis briefly returned to Hellblazer for the five-part "Son of Man" story with artist John Higgins.

Ennis and Dillon went on to create the 66-issue Vertigo series

The Demon, during which the duo introduced superpowered contract killer Tommy Monaghan, a character Ennis and McCrea would go on to use in the character's own title, Hitman. With the exception of a reverent depiction of Superman, Ennis's writing on Hitman was known for portraying superheroes as ridiculous, a characteristic commonly found in Ennis' material involving such characters. Hitman ran 60 issues from 1996 to 2001. Ennis also penned several Hitman specials and spinoffs. Following the main title's cancellation, Ennis and McCrea returned to the world of Hitman for a Justice League crossover, and later a comedic miniseries
following the supporting characters from Hitman, entitled Section Eight.

Other DC comics projects Ennis wrote include

Unknown Soldier and the original creations Goddess and Pride & Joy, all for the Vertigo
imprint.

Marvel Comics

Ennis's first work for Marvel was

MAX imprint, allowing for darker stories. His 60-issue run was released concurrently with several Ennis-penned Punisher miniseries such as Born and Barracuda, and the one-shots The End, The Cell, and The Tyger. The creators of Punisher: War Zone have declared Ennis's The Punisher MAX run to have been one of the major influences on the film, and Ennis and Dillon reunited for a Punisher: War Zone miniseries to tie-in with the film.[9][12]

In 2008, Ennis ended his five-year run on the MAX imprint's Punisher series to write the Marvel miniseries War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle. Illustrated by Howard Chaykin, it featured the little-used character Phantom Eagle, a World War I pilot.[13][14] Other series Ennis wrote for Marvel include Where Monsters Dwell, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Hulk, Thor, and a series of Goran Parlov-illustrated Nick Fury stories under the MAX imprint. These stories stripped superspy Fury of his science-fiction trappings in favor of military and CIA situations, including a focus on the First Indochina War in one storyline.[15]

Independent publishers and creator-owned work

Ennis has written a 2008

post-apocalyptic Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and War Stories for DC and later Avatar Press
.

Avatar has published the bulk of Ennis's creator-owned material, which includes the post-9/11 war story

Jesus Christ and a benign Antichrist. In 2011, Avatar commissioned Ennis to write and direct an original short film, Stitched
, produced to drum up support for a possible feature. Ennis was also the initial writer for the Stitched comic book tie-in, also published by Avatar.

Ennis has also done both creator-owned and commissioned work for

Punisher: Born, The Boys ran for 72 issues before concluding in 2012. This creator-owned extended series was a superhero satire, bringing the genre to places far darker than Ennis had before, by not only portraying superheroes as ridiculous, but also amoral, malevolent, and deviant. Announced in 2006 and originally published by DC's Wildstorm imprint, The Boys was initially cancelled after six issues. Ennis later explained that this was because DC Comics were uneasy with the anti-superhero tone of the work. The series was subsequently picked up by Dynamite.[22] The series was successful and spawned spinoffs, including a mini-series focused on the villain Billy Butcher.[23] In 2019, The Boys was adapted into a TV series by Amazon
.

Other original projects for Dynamite include the

metaseries of war comics called Battlefields,[25][26] made up of mini-series including Night Witches,[27][28] Dear Billy,[29][30] and Tankies.[31][32] Among his commissioned material, Ennis wrote the pulp character The Shadow for Dynamite.[33] In a surprise move, Ennis attempted to crowdfund a children's book through the Kickstarter platform. Unable to secure a children's book publisher due to its violent ending, Erf as the book became known, was ultimately published by Dynamite.[34]

Ennis wrote Sara in October 2018 for TKO Studios, a war story following a team of female Russian snipers as they beat back the Nazi invaders during a brutal winter campaign on the WWII Eastern Front.[35][36]

Ennis wrote Stringbags in 2020 for the

airmen who crewed a Swordfish airplane during World War II.[37]

Influences and views on comics

Ennis has explained that as an avid reader of British war comics during his formative years, he did not read superhero comics until his late teens, at which point he found them ridiculous, although he frequently cites mid-eighties superhero material among his influences.[6][3] For instance, Ennis noted that the first American comic book he read in its entirety and appreciated was The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller,[38] an author who would prove influential on Ennis's subsequent work, with Ennis citing Miller's portrayal of Nick Fury in Elektra: Assassin as his model for writing the character.[39] Ennis said he was "blown away" by Miller, as The Dark Knight Returns was the first time he encountered a comic writer who approached his work like a novelist. While Ennis was already interested in a creative profession, Frank Miller's material and other mid-eighties mature readers comics like Swamp Thing and Love and Rockets inspired him to look into specifically writing comics as a career.[40]

Despite being influenced by superhero material and having written a number of superhero stories both for and outside Marvel and DC, Ennis is noted for subverting the genre and mocking the characters in this work. For example, in the 1995 one-shot special

Watchmen and Supergod. But so long as the industry is geared towards fulfilling audience demand – ie, for the same brightly coloured characters doing the same thing forever – you're never going to see any real growth. The stories can't end, so they'll never mean anything."[42]

Ennis has remarked that in terms of Marvel and DC characters, he prefers the ones he describes as more grounded, such as the Punisher, John Constantine, and Nick Fury. In particular, Ennis describes the Punisher as resembling the British comics characters he loved as a child more than Marvel and DC superheroes, which provided him with a way to the character.[3][43] Though his Constantine stories, such as "Dangerous Habits" (1991), are widely acclaimed, Ennis grew to dislike the character. He told Vulture in 2014 that he had come to find Constantine morally repulsive and had "no desire to write a character who essentially gets his pals killed and then explains that they were doomed anyway, so why not just spend their lives and use them up."[44]

Personal life

Ennis had become a citizen of the United States by July 2016.[2]

Ennis is an

Troubles for influencing this attitude. While he was not directly involved in the conflict as a child, Ennis would hear about it each morning on the radio. Ennis has related that having been raised secular, religiously motivated violence made no sense as to him, characterizing such conflict as a disagreement among participants over "how to worship their imaginary friend. That more than anything gave me my distrust of religion."[3]

Ennis has maintained an interest in military history since childhood, inspired by the war comics from his youth.[46]

Awards

Nominations

  • 1993 Eisner Award for the Best Writer (for Hellblazer)
  • 1994 Eisner Award for the Best Writer (for Hellblazer)
  • 1996 Eisner Award for the Best Writer (for Preacher and Goddess)
  • 1997
    Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Writer[49]
  • 1997
    UK Comic Art Awards
    for Best Original Graphic Novel (for Preacher Special)
  • 1998 Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Writer[50]
  • 1999 Eagle Award for Favourite Comics Writer[51]
  • 1999 Eagle Award for Favourite Comics Character (for Jesse Custer)
  • 1999 Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer[52]
  • 2000 Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer[53]
  • 2001 Eisner Award for Best Writer (for Preacher)[54]
  • 2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story (for Preacher #59–66)[54]
  • 2001 Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer[55]
  • 2002 Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer[56]
  • 2002
    National Comics Award
    for Best Writer in Comics Today
  • 2003 Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer[57]

Bibliography

Fleetway work by Garth Ennis

Titles published by

Fleetway
include:

DC Comics work by Garth Ennis

Titles published by DC Comics and its various imprints include:

Vertigo work by Garth Ennis

Wildstorm work by Garth Ennis

Marvel Comics work by Garth Ennis

Titles published by Marvel include:

Avatar Press work by Garth Ennis

Titles published by Avatar include:

Dynamite Entertainment work by Garth Ennis

Titles published by Dynamite include:

Works by Garth Ennis for other publishers

Titles published by various British and American publishers include:

References

  1. ^ Parker, John R. (15 January 2016). "Filthy Genius: A Birthday Tribute To Garth Ennis". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 17 January 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b c O'Shea, Janna. "MTV Geek Interview: Garth Ennis at the Barcelona International Comicon!". MTV News. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2016. ...his recently attained American citizenship. Originally from Northern Ireland...
  3. ^ a b c d e "Comics can do anything.' The GARTH ENNIS Story Part 1". Previews. Diamond Comic Distributors. 21 March 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ a b "Garth Ennis Story Part 2: 1Alan Moore Told Me 'Own What You Create". Previews. Diamond Comic Distributors. 4 April 2020. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2020 – via YouTube.
  5. .
  6. ^ a b c "Preacher to the Converted". The Irish Times. Dublin, Ireland. 27 August 2011. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020.
  7. ^ "Mature Comics Struggle to Survive in Britain", The Comics Journal issue 141, April 1991, p. 21
  8. .
  9. ^ a b Cooling, Will (16 August 2004). "Caught in the Nexus: Garth Ennis". Inside Pulse. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012.
  10. ^ Mancuso, Vinnie (1 June 2016). "'Preacher' Scribe Garth Ennis Talks Faith, Blasphemy and Getting Your Story On-Screen". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  11. ^ Squires, John (20 March 2015). "AMC's Preacher Pilot Finds Its Arseface". Dread Central. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Ma's Home! Ennis talks Punisher: War Zone". Comic Book Resources. 9 September 2008.
  13. ^ Nick Lowe on Marvel Max's War is Hell series Archived 8 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Newsarama, 7 January 2008
  14. ^ Laura Hudson, Ennis Moves from Punisher to Phantom Eagle, Publishers Weekly, 19 February 2008
  15. ^ "Ennis And Parlov's 'Fury MAX' Presents A Soldier And Country That Can't Live Without War [Review]". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014.
  16. ^ Garth Ennis on Seven Brothers, interview with Newsarama
  17. ^ Interview with Ennis about Streets of Glory Archived 13 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Comics Bulletin
  18. ^ Double-Crossed: Ennis & Burrows talk "Crossed", Comic Book Resources. 12 June 2008
  19. ^ "Ww Philly: The Garth Ennis Panel – Newsarama". Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Newsarama, 1 June 2008
  20. ^ Ennis & Palmiotti Go "Back to Brooklyn". Comic Book Resources. 15 July 2008
  21. ^ Fedotov, Svetlana (1 April 2014). "Q&A: Garthen Ennis Previews New Sci-fi Comic, 'CALIBAN'". Fangoria. Archived from the original on 6 April 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  22. ^ Pepose, David (11 November 2010). "Garth Ennis' THE BOYS – 50 Issues of Superhuman Corruption". Newsarama. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  23. ^ "WW PHILLY: THE GARTH ENNIS PANEL". Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
  24. ^ "Garth Ennis And Craig Cermak's 'Red Team' Comic Book Review". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014.
  25. ^ WW Philly: Ennis Tells Dynamite Stories of "Battlefields". Comic Book Resources. 1 June 2008. Retrieved February 26, 2022
  26. ^ WW Philly: Garth Ennis Brings War Stories to Dynamite Archived 12 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Newsarama, 1 June 2008
  27. ^ Garth Ennis on Battlefields: Night Witches, Newsarama, 15 August 2008
  28. ^ Garth Ennis Takes to the "Battlefields". Comic Book Resources. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2022
  29. ^ Garth Ennis Writes To "Dear Billy". Comic Book Resources. 25 November 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2022
  30. ^ Ennis & His Editor – Talking Battlefields and War Comics, Newsarama, 28 November 2008
  31. ^ Garth Ennis on Battlefields: The Tankies, Newsarama, 20 February 2009
  32. ^ Garth Ennis Talks "Battlefields: The Tankies". Comic Book Resources. 27 February 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2022
  33. ^ Webb, Charles (19 January 2012). "Interview: Garth Ennis and Aaron Campbell On Bringing 'The Shadow' To Dynamite" Archived 13 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. MTV. Retrieved February 26, 2022
  34. ^ "'Erf' Is The Garth Ennis Kids' Book You Never Expected (And Sort Of The One You Did)". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014.
  35. .
  36. ^ read, ComicsDaily·2 min (5 May 2020). "Sara: A Solid World War II Thriller Comics With A Female Lead".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  37. ^ "The Stringbags". U.S. Naval Institute.
  38. ^ "Garth Ennis on Batman, Punisher and his new comic Sara!". ComicPop. 21 July 2020. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2020 – via YouTube.
  39. ^ Ching, Albert (1 May 2012). "Ennis Returns to FURY MAX for 'Cold War Greatest Hits'". COMICS. Newsarama. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  40. ^ "Garth Ennis Interview Part 3: 'Yeah, you can do good stuff in comics". Previews. Diamond Comic Distributors. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020 – via YouTube.
  41. ^ Drinking With the Boys: An Evening with Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, sequentialtart.com, 27 September 27, 1998
  42. ^ Why Garth Ennis hates superheroes and loves war, scifinow.co.uk, 24 July 2012
  43. SyFy Wire. 23 May 2019. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2020 – via YouTube
    .
  44. ^ Reisman, Abraham (23 October 2014). "The Secret History and Uncertain Future of Comics Character John Constantine". Vulture. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  45. ^ Mancuso, Vinnie (1 June 2016). "'Preacher' Scribe Garth Ennis Talks Faith, Blasphemy and Getting Your Story On-Screen". The New York Observer. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  46. ^ "Garth Ennis Talks BATTLE CLASSICS, War Comics and More — Nerdist". archive.nerdist.com. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  47. ^ "UK Comic Art Awards Announced," The Comics Journal #195 (Apr. 1997), p. 25.
  48. ^ ICN Awards results, 2021 (retrieved February 21, 2021)
  49. ^ Hahn, Joel (ed.). "1997 Comics Buyers Guide Fan Awards". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  50. ^ Hahn, Joel (ed.). "16th Annual Comic Buyers Guide Fan Awards (1998)". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  51. ^ Hahn, Joel (ed.). "17th Annual Comics Buyers Guide Fan Awards (1999)". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  52. ^ Hahn, Joel (ed.). "18th Annual Comics Buyers Guide Fan Awards (2000)". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  53. ^ Hahn, Joel (ed.). "19th Annual Comics Buyers Guide Fan Awards (2001)". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  54. ^ a b Hahn, Joel (ed.). "2001 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees Winners". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  55. ^ Hahn, Joel (ed.). "20th Annual Comics Buyers Guide Fan Awards (2001)". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  56. ^ Hahn, Joel (ed.). "20th Annual Comics Buyers Guide Fan Awards (2002)". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  57. ^ Hahn, Joel (ed.). "21st Annual Comics Buyers Guide Fan Awards (2003)". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  58. ^ Free movie tie-in, packaged with the first DVD release of The Punisher.
  59. ^ "AfterShock Book Market (Collections)". AfterShock Comics. 8 April 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2018.

External links

Preceded by Hellblazer writer
1991–1992
Succeeded by
Preceded by Hellblazer writer
1992–1994
Succeeded by
Preceded by Hellblazer writer
1998–1999
Succeeded by
Preceded by The Punisher writer
2000–2008
Succeeded by