Paul Jenkins (writer)

Paul Jenkins (born 6 December 1965) is a British comic book writer, screenwriter, novelist, and narrative director. He has had much success crossing over into the American comic book market. Primarily working for Marvel Comics, Jenkins had a big part shaping the characters of the company, helping via the Marvel Knights imprint to propel Marvel from Chapter 11 bankruptcy before choosing to focus on independent publications. He is also noted for his groundbreaking narrative work in the field of video games, and is recognized as one of the world's preeminent "cross-media" creators for his work across such multiple media as animation, video games, comic books, and film.

Despite his commercial success, Jenkins is a noted advocate for creators' rights thanks in part to his early days at Mirage Studios and Tundra Publishing, where he witnessed first hand the drafting of the Creators Bill of Rights. He has spoken frequently in support of mentoring, and the need for hands-on education in the entertainment industry.

Jenkins is the Founder and Chief Creative Officer of META Studios, a cross-media development and production house based in Atlanta, Georgia.^[1]

His current projects include

Paul Jenkins was raised by a single parent in the West Country of his native United Kingdom. He gained his first writing and directing experience while studying for his degree in acting.[2] Jenkins moved to the United States in 1987, where he first taught music and drama to learning-disabled children before embarking on a successful career in the entertainment industry.

Career

After moving to the US, he joined Mirage Studios in 1988, where he worked as editor/production manager. He edited Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's books, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and even negotiated their licensing deals.^[2] Seeing the TMNT were fully owned and controlled by Eastman and Laird, Jenkins gained an important understanding of the benefits of cross-media development and ancillary exploitation.

Leaving Mirage, Jenkins followed Eastman to Tundra Publishing - another Eastman publishing venture - where he became Editor-in-Chief at the age of 24. His duties also included heading the production and licensing departments. During this time, Jenkins edited such notable comics creators as Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean, and George Pratt. This was followed by stints as Editor-in-Chief at Majestic Entertainment^[3] and the short-lived Scoreboard Comics.

Tired of editing, Jenkins pitched to several companies as a writer. Despite minimal writing experience, he journeyed to San Diego Comicon where he approached DC Comics' Vertigo editor Lou Stathis and pitched for the prestigious gig as writer of Hellblazer. In 1994, with no previous mainstream credits to his name, he took over as writer of Hellblazer, and began what would go on to be a five-year-long stint.^[4] His work on this title gained him attention in the American comic industry, and as of January 2016, his complete run has been collected.

Paul's

In 2000, Jenkins and Lee followed up their collaboration with another five issue Marvel Knights limited series, this time concerning The Sentry, a series Jenkins had unsuccessfully pitched to Marvel and DC Comics for a number of years. Although the mentally tortured hero was an original creation of Jenkins', Marvel ran a marketing hoax claiming that the character was a long-lost Silver Age creation of Stan Lee himself, even pre-dating the Fantastic Four. Several years later, Brian Michael Bendis reused the Sentry by making him a member of the New Avengers : Jenkins himself was featured as a character in the storyline which reintroduced the Sentry.^[6] Also in 2000, Jenkins given writing assignments in the mainstream Marvel Universe. In March, he was made the regular writer on The Incredible Hulk. Like in much of his earlier work, Jenkins conducted a psychiatric examination of Bruce Banner, including a look at Banner's multiple Hulk personas. His 20 issue run on The Incredible Hulk ran until November 2001. During this same period, Jenkins became the regular writer of Peter Parker: Spider-Man. Taking over the title from issue 20, in August 2000, he wrote it until its end in August 2003. Marvel placed him on The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol.2, which Jenkins wrote for most of its three-year run, which paired him with artist Humberto Ramos.

In 2001 he collaborated with

In February 2013 Paul Jenkins left DC and Marvel to work with Boom! Studios. Jenkins launched Deathmatch with Carlos Magno and Fairy Quest with Humberto Ramos, and brought Revelations from Dark Horse to Boom!

In 2014, Jenkins founded his own production company, META Studios. Based in Atlanta, Georgia it works in the creation of nearly all existing forms of media from graphic novels and books to variable reality.^[1]

In 2015, Jenkins subsequently moved on to work with Aftershock Comics where he created the comic series Replica. This was followed by the ongoing series Alters, which focuses on various disadvantaged heroes with mutant powers known as "alterations."

In 2015, Jenkins was asked by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal to assemble and chair an advisory committee to educate the Georgia General Assembly on the evolution of digital and interactive technologies.

In 2016, Jenkins created the transgender superhero Chalice for the Alters comic book series.^[15]

Jenkins' current projects include

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (vol. 1) No. 43 (with pencils by A. C. Farley, Mirage Publishing, January 1992)
• "Sandy" (with Avido Khahaifa, in Negative Burn No. 26, Caliber Comics, 1995)
• Hellblazer #89–128 (with Sean Phillips, Charlie Adlard and Warren Pleece, Vertigo, 1995–1998)
• Neil Gaiman's Teknophage #7–10 (with pencils by Al Davidson, Tekno Comix, January–March 1996)
• Construct (with pencils by Leopoldo Duranona, Caliber Comics, 1996)
• Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #98–99 (with pencils by Sean Phillips, DC Comics, September–October 1997)
• Werewolf by Night (vol. 2) #1–6 (with pencils by Leonardo Manco, Marvel Comics, February–July 1998)
• Strange Tales (vol. 4) #1–2 (with pencils by Leonardo Manco, Marvel Comics, September–October 1998)
• ISBN 0-7851-0753-3
  )
• ISBN 1-58240-939-0
  )
• Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #10–12 (with pencils by Sean Phillips and J. G. Jones, Marvel Comics, October–December 1999)
• The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #12–28, 30-32 and Annual 2000 (Marvel Comics, March 2000 – November 2001) collected in:
  • The Incredible Hulk: Dogs of War (with pencils by
    ISBN 0-7851-0790-8
    )
• Peter Parker: Spider-Man (vol. 2) #20–41 and #44–50 (with pencils by Mark Buckingham, Marvel Comics, August 2000 – January 2003) collected as:
  • Volume 1: A Day in the Life (collects #20–22 and #26, June 2001,
    ISBN 0-7851-0777-0
    )
  • Volume 2: One Small Break (collects #27–28 and #30–34, July 2002,
    ISBN 0-7851-0824-6
    )
  • Volume 3: Return of the Goblin (collects #44–47, January 2003,
    ISBN 0-7851-1019-4
    )
  • Volume 4: Trials and Tribulations (collects #35–37 and #49–50, June 2003,
    ISBN 0-7851-1150-6
    )
• ISBN 0-7851-2124-2
  ) collects:
  • Sentry (vol. 1) (with Jae Lee, 5-issue limited series, 2000–2001)
  • "Sentry & the Fantastic Four" (with Phil Winslade, February 2001)
  • "Sentry & the Hulk" (with Bill Sienkiewicz, February 2001)
  • "Sentry & Spider-Man" (with pencils by Rick Leonardi and inks by Terry Austin, February 2001)
  • "Sentry & the X-Men" (with Mark Texeira, February 2001)
  • "Sentry vs. the Void" (with Jae Lee, February 2001)
• ISBN 0-7851-0866-1
  )
• Top Cow
  , June 2000 – February 2002, tpb, collected as:
  • Witchblade Compendium: Volume 1 (includes #40–50, June 2008,
    ISBN 1-58240-798-3
    )
• ISBN 1-58240-776-2
  )
• ISBN 1-58240-389-9
  )
• The Darkness
  (Top Cow, 2001, 2002–2004, 2006) collected as:
  • Resurrection (176 pages, collects The Darkness vol. 1 #40 and vol. 2 #1–6, 2004,
    ISBN 1-58240-349-X
    )
  • Demon Inside (272 pages, includes The Darkness vol. 2 #7–9, January 2007,
    ISBN 1-58240-646-4
    )
  • Levels (5-issue mini-series, computer game tie-in, 2006–2007, tpb June 2007,
    ISBN 1-58240-797-5
    )
• Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) #1–22, No. 27 (with pencils by Humberto Ramos and Mark Buckingham, Marvel Comics, 2003–2005) collected as:
  • Volume 1: The Hunger (collects #1–5, March 2004,
    ISBN 0-7851-1169-7
    )
  • Volume 2: Countdown (collects #6–10, May 2004,
    ISBN 0-7851-1313-4
    )
  • Volume 3: Here There Be Monsters (collects #11–14, October 2004,
    ISBN 0-7851-1333-9
    )
  • Volume 4: Disassembled (collects #15–20, December 2004,
    ISBN 0-7851-1626-5
    )
  • Volume 5: Sins Remembered (collects #23–26, May 2005,
    ISBN 0-7851-1628-1
    )
  • Volume 6: The Final Curtain (collects #21–22 and #27, November 2005,
    ISBN 0-7851-1950-7
    )
• ISBN 0-7851-1349-5
  )
• ISBN 1-4012-1797-4
  )
• ISBN 1-59307-239-2
  )
• Sentry (vol. 2) (with pencils by
  ISBN 0-7851-1707-5
  )
• ISBN 0-7851-1958-2
  )
• ISBN 0-7851-1597-8
  ) includes:
  • X-Men #1 (March 2006)
  • Hulk #1 (October 2006)
  • Ghost Rider #1 (March 2007)
  • Spider-Man #1 (July 2007)
  • Fantastic Four #1 (December 2007)
  • Captain America #1 (August 2008)
• Civil War: Front Line (with pencils by Ramon F. Bachs and inks by John Lucas, 11-issue limited series, Marvel comics, August 2006 – February 2007) collected as:
  • Civil War: Front Line, Book 1 (collects #1–6, May 2007, 208 pages,
    ISBN 0-7851-2312-1
    )
  • Civil War: Front Line, Book 2 (collects #7–11, June 2007, 160 pages,
    ISBN 0-7851-2469-1
    )
• Civil War: The Return (with pencils by
  ISBN 0-7851-2422-5
  )
• ISBN 0-7851-2666-X
  )
• ISBN 0-7851-2857-3
  )
• ISBN 0-7851-4035-2
  ) collects:
  • "America the Beautiful" (with pencils by Gary Erskine, one-shot, Marvel Comics, March 2009)
  • "A Brother in Arms" (with pencils by John McCrea, one-shot, Marvel Comics, June 2009)
  • "To Soldier On" (with pencils by Fernando Blanco, one-shot, Marvel Comics, October 2009)
• The Darkness/Pitt No. 1 (with pencils by Dale Keown, Top Cow, August 2009)
• ISBN 0-7851-4055-7
  )
• ISBN 978-0785155645
  )
• Thor: Heaven & Earth #1-4 (Marvel Comics, 2011)
• Spawn
  #251-254, (Image Comics April–July 2015)
• Replica #1-5, (Aftershock Comics, November 2015-April 2016)
• Alters #1-5, (Aftershock Comics, September 2016-March 2017)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "META Studios - The Executive Team". Retrieved 22 August 2020.
2. ^ ^{a b} Weiland, Jonah (2005). "Paul Jenkins Signs Exclusive to Marvel". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
3. ^ Moore, Vince (6 February 2006). "Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants, Part 1: A Conversation with Jamal Igle". CBR.com. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
4. OCLC 213309015
   .
5. ^ "1999 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
6. ^ New Avengers Vol. 1 #07-10 2005
7. ^ ^{a b} Paul Jenkins Civil Wars and Sidekicks Archived 12 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Cinescape, 26 September 2006
8. ^ "Paul Jenkins on Penance" Archived 6 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Newsarama, 19 January 2007
9. ^ Taylor, Robert (9 September 2007). "REFLECTIONS #221: Paul Jenkins, Part 2". Comic Book Resources.
10. ^ "NYCC '07: Paul Jenkins on World War Hulk: Frontline" Archived 23 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Newsarama. 23 February 2007. Archived from the original Archived 3 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
11. ^ Phegley, Kiel (24 November 2009). "Jenkins Ends "Son of Hulk"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
12. ^ Hyde, David (6 July 2011). "Paul Jenkins and Bernard Chang on DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS". DC Comics.
13. ^ Campbell, Josie (23 January 2012). "THE BAT SIGNAL: Jenkins Follows The White Rabbit In 'Dark Knight'". Comic Book Resources.
14. ^ "Paul Jenkins to pen STORMWATCH two-part story". DC Comics. 7 December 2011.
15. ^ "In a New Comic, a Transgender Superhero Hides 2 Identities (Published 2016)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Paul Jenkins.

• META Studios, official production company
• Paul Jenkins at the Grand Comics Database
• Paul Jenkins at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Paul Jenkins at
  IMDb
• Presenting at Cusp Conference 2008

Preceded by Eddie Campbell	Hellblazer writer 1994–1998	Succeeded by Garth Ennis
Preceded by Ron Garney & Jerry Ordway	Incredible Hulk writer 2000–2001 (with Sean McKeever in late 2001)	Succeeded by Bruce Jones