MARK WAID

'Mark Waid' (born March 21 1962 in Hueytown, Alabama) is an American comic book writer.

Contents

Career

Awards

Selected bibliography

Regular Writer

Fill-in Writer

Editor

Associate Editor

External links

Career

Entering the field during the mid-1980s as an editor and writer with Fantagraphics Books' comic book fan magazine, ''Amazing Heroes'', Waid was soon hired to serve as an editor for DC Comics where he worked on titles such as ''Secret Origins'' and ''Legion of Super-Heroes''. He has stated that his comics work was heavily influenced by ''Adventure Comics'' #369-370 (1968), a Legion story by Jim Shooter & Mort Weisinger: "It's a blueprint for everything I write." [1]
In 1990 Waid left editorial work for freelance writing assignments. He worked for DC's short-lived Impact Comics line where he wrote ''The Comet'' and co-wrote ''Legend of the Shield''.
In 1992 Waid began the assignment which would bring him to wider recognition in the comics industry, when he was hired to write ''The Flash'' by then editor Brian Augustyn. The comic starred one of DCs flagship characters, and in an acclaimed eight-year run, Waid and a number of artists, most notably Greg LaRocque and Mike Wieringo and in the final year with Augustyn as co-writer, brought the modern Flash out from the shadow of his predecessors and increased his powers dramatically.
Waid's initial success on Flash was acknowledged by DCs competitor Marvel Comics when Marvel editors Matt Idelson and Mark Gruenwald hired him as Gruenwald's successor as writer on ''Captain America''. Waid's first run on the title, with artist Ron Garney, met with great critical and fan positive reaction, which grew stronger when the stint was ended prematurely after less than a year by Marvel executives to make way for ''Heroes Reborn'', a reinvention of the character by Rob Liefeld.
Although his second run on the character was not as universally praised as his first, Waid's prestige had been boosted by the whole affair and he went on to be one of the most prolific comic writers of the late 1990s.
In 1996, Waid, with artist Alex Ross, released his best-known work, ''Kingdom Come''. This story, set in the future of the DC Universe, depicted the fate of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other heroes as the world around them changed. It was written in reaction to the "grim and gritty" comics of the 1980s and 1990s, and while many of the events in the story were intense, a steady optimism filled the series. Many of the ideas introduced here have been integrated into the present-day DC universe, and Waid himself wrote a less successful follow-up to the series, ''The Kingdom''.
Waid also had acclaimed runs on DC's ''JLA'', the Flash spinoff series ''Impulse'' and Crossgen's ''Ruse''.
Among the projects he served as editor for was Grant Morrison's critically acclaimed run on Doom Patrol. Waid and Morrison later tag-teamed on a number of projects that would successfully reestablish DC's JLA to prominence. Waid's contributions included , as well as work on the ongoing series. The two writers also helped develop the concept of Hypertime to help explain problems with continuity in the DC Universe.
In 2003, Waid re-released a series named ''Empire'' (with Barry Kitson), whose protagonist was a Doctor Doom-like supervillain named Golgoth who had ''successfully'' defeated all superheroes and conquered the world. The series was originally published by Gorilla Comics, a company formed by Waid, Kurt Busiek and several others, but the company folded after only two issues were produced. ''Empire'' was completed under the DC Comics label but is in its own distinct universe.
Waid began an acclaimed run as writer of ''Fantastic Four'' in 2002 and by the next year, Waid's fan favorite run on the Fantastic Four was threatened when Marvel executives sought to reinvent aspects of the series. When Waid and artist Mike Wieringo were replaced on the title after refusing to acquiesce to the editiorial changes, the resulting fan backlash led to Waid and Wieringo's reinstatement on the title within weeks. The FF backlash was also a contributing factor to then Marvel Publisher Bill Jemas leaving his position. Waid and Wieringo have since completed their run on Fantastic Four.
In 2003 Waid wrote the origin of the "modern" Superman with "Superman: Birthright", a 12 part limited series, which is considered as the new official origin story of The Man Of Steel. "Birthright" contains lots of characters and elements from Silver- and Modern Age Superman-comics and nice homages to "Superman: The Movie" (1978) and The CWs "Smallville" T.V. show (2001 - current).
Waid returned to writing ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' in December 2004, teaming again with Barry Kitson. He wrapped up his run on the book in mid 2007, with issue 30.
Waid, along with past collaborator Grant Morrison, and other prominent DC Universe writers (Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, and Keith Giffen) plays an editorial role in guiding the DC Universe after the events of the company's Infinite Crisis event. Among other projects, the writers contributed to a weekly series named ''52'' that lasted for one year and covered the events that take place between the last issue of the Infinite Crisis mini-series and the issues of all DC Universe titles the following month that will now be set one year later. He has signed an exclusive contract with DC.
Waid is currently writing a re-imagined version of DC Comics ''The Brave and the Bold'', a team-up book featuring two different heroes each month. This book, with George Perez as penciller, was originally set to debut sometime in 2006 but was delayed to February 2007 because of the writer's work on the limited series 52.
On May 15, 2007, DC Comics announced that Waid will be returning to ''The Flash''. This Flash will be Wally West due to Bart Allen's death and Wally West's return.
On July 27, 2007, at the San Diego Comic Con, Boom! Studios announced that effective Aug. 1, Mark Waid will join Boom! as Editor-in-Chief. He will continue writing ''Flash'' and ''The Brave and the Bold'', but all his future creator-owned work will be with Boom!.^[1]

Awards

His work in comics has won him several awards, including the ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' Award for Favorite Writer in 1997.

Selected bibliography

Regular Writer

★ ''The Comet'' #1-10 (DC Comics [Impact], July 1991-April 1992) - (co-writer #1-6)

★ ''The Comet'' #12-18 (DC Comics [Impact], June 1992-December 1992)

★ ''The Comet Annual'' #1 (DC Comics [Impact], January 1992)

★ ''The Legend of the Shield'' #1-12 (DC Comics [Impact], July 1991-June 1992) - (co-writer)

★ ''Impact Christmas Special'' #1 (DC Comics [Impact], 1991) - (one-shot)

★ ''Justice League Quarterly'' #5-6 (DC Comics, Winter 1991-Spring 1992)

★ ''Justice League Quarterly'' #8-10 (DC Comics, Summer 1992-Spring 1993)

★ ''Justice League Quarterly'' #12 (DC Comics, Autumn 1993) - (The Conglomerate story)

★ ''Flash'' #62-129 (DC Comics, Early May 1992-September 1997) - (co-writer #118-129); #142-159 (DC Comics, October 1998-April 2000)

★ ''Flash Annual'' #5-6 (DC Comics, 1992-1993)

★ ''Flash Annual'' #8 (DC Comics, 1995)

★ ''The Crusaders'' #1-4 (DC Comics [Impact], May 1992-August 1992) - (co-writer)

★ ''Crucible'' #1-6 (DC Comics [Impact], February 1993-July 1993) - (co-writer)

★ ''L.E.G.I.O.N. '93'' #49-50 (DC Comics, February 1993-March 1993) - (co-writer)

★ ''L.E.G.I.O.N. '93'' #52-60 (DC Comics, May 1993-November 1993) - (co-writer)

★ ''L.E.G.I.O.N. '93 Annual'' #4 (DC Comics, 1993)

★ ''Valor'' #9 (DC Comics, July 1993)

★ ''Valor'' #11-19 (DC Comics, October 1993-June 1994)

★ ''DC Universe: Trinity'' #1-2 (DC Comics, August 1993-September 1993) - (co-writer; mini-series)

★ ''Metamorpho'' #1-4 (DC Comics, August 1993-November 1993) - (mini-series)

★ ''Justice League Task Force'' #13-15 (DC Comics, June 1994-August 1994)

★ ''Justice League Task Force'' #0-20 (DC Comics, October 1994-February 1995)

★ ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' #59-71 (DC Comics, July 1994-August 1995) - (co-writer)

★ ''Legionnaires'' #16-19 (DC Comics, July 1994-November 1994) - (co-writer #18-19)

★ ''Legionnaires Annual'' #1-2 (DC Comics, 1994-1995) - (co-writer)

★ ''X-Men: Alpha'' (Marvel Comics, 1994) - (one-shot)

★ ''|Deadpool (vol. 2)'' #1-4 (Marvel Comics, August 1994-November 1994) - (limited series)

★ ''Impulse'' #1-6 (DC Comics, April 1995-September 1995)

★ ''Impulse'' #8-17 (DC Comics, November 1995-September 1996)

★ ''Impulse'' #19-27 (DC Comics, November 1996-July 1997)

★ ''X-Men Omega'' (Marvel Comics, June 1995) - (one-shot)

★ ''Captain America'' #444-454 (Marvel Comics, October 1995-August 1996)

★ ''Underworld Unleashed'' #1-3 (DC Comics, November 1995-Late December 1995) - (mini-series)

★ ''X-Men (vol. 2)'' #49 (Marvel Comics, February 1996) - (co-writer)

★ ''X-Men (vol. 2)'' #51-56 (Marvel Comics, April 1996-September 1996)

★ ''JLX'' #1 (DC Comics/Marvel Comics [Amalgam], April 1996) - (one-shot)

★ ''Super Soldier'' #1 (DC Comics/Marvel Comics [Amalgam], April 1996) - (co-writer; one-shot)

★ ''Kingdom Come'' #1-4 (DC Comics, May 1996-August 1996) - (mini-series)

★ ''The Avengers'' #400-402 (Marvel Comics, July 1996-September 1996)

★ ''Onslaught: X-Men'' #1 (Marvel Comics, August 1996) - (co-writer; one-shot)

★ ''Justice League: A Midsummer's Nightmare'' #1-3 (DC Comics, September 1996-November 1996) - (mini-series)

★ ''Onslaught: Marvel'' #1 (Marvel Comics, October 1996) - (co-writer; one-shot)

★ ''Flash Plus'' #1 (DC Comics, December 1996) - (with Nightwing; one-shot)

★ ''Robin Plus'' #1 (DC Comics, December 1996) - (with Impulse; co-writer; one-shot)

★ ''X-O Manowar (vol. 2)'' #1-13 (Acclaim Comics [Valiant], February 1997-February 1998) - (co-writer)

★ ''Ash'' #½ (Event Comics/Wizard, April 1997) - (one-shot)

★ ''Ka-Zar'' #1-14 (Marvel Comics, May 1997-June 1998)

★ ''Ka-Zar: Sibling Rivalry'' #-1 (Marvel Comics, July 1997) - (co-writer; one-shot)

★ ''Painkiller Jane'' #1-5 (Event Comics, June 1997-November 1997) - (co-writer)

★ ''Super Soldier: Man of War'' #1 (DC Comics, June 1997) - (co-writer; one-shot)

★ ''The Life Story of the Flash'' (DC Comics, 1997) - (co-writer; one-shot)

★ ''Green Lantern/Flash: Faster Friends'' #2 (DC Comics, 1997) - (mini-series)

★ ''The Flash Secret Files'' #1 (DC Comics, November 1997)

★ ''Speed Force'' #1 (DC Comics, November 1997) - (one-shot)

★ ''Captain America (vol. 3)'' #1-23 (Marvel Comics, January 1998-November 1999)

★ ''JLA: Year One'' #1-12 (DC Comics, January 1998-December 1998) - (limited series)

★ ''Gog (Villains)'' #1 (DC Comics, February 1998) - (one-shot)

★ ''JLA'' #18-21 (DC Comics, May 1998-August 1998)

★ ''Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty'' #1-6 (Marvel Comics, September 1998-February 1999)

★ ''Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty'' #8-9 (Marvel Comics, April 1999-May 1999)

★ ''Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty'' #11-12 (Marvel Comics, July 1999-August 1999)

★ ''Flash'' #142-159 (DC Comics, October 1998-April 2000) - (co-writer)

★ ''Iron Man/Captain America '98'' (Marvel Comics, December 1998) - (one-shot)

★ ''The Kingdom'' #1-2 (DC Comics, February 1999-February 1999) - (mini-series)

★ ''The Kingdom: Kid Flash'' #1 (DC Comics, February 1999) - (one-shot)

★ ''The Kingdom: Nightstar'' #1 (DC Comics, February 1999) - (one-shot)

★ ''The Kingdom: Offspring'' #1 (DC Comics, February 1999) - (one-shot)

★ ''The Kingdom: Planet Krypton'' #1 (DC Comics, February 1999) - (one-shot)

★ ''The Kingdom: Son of the Bat'' #1 (DC Comics, February 1999) - (one-shot)

★ ''National Comics'' #1 (DC Comics, May 1999) - (one-shot)

★ ''Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold'' #1-6 (DC Comics, October 1999-March 2000) - (mini-series)

★ ''Gatecrasher: Ring of Fire'' #1-4 (Black Bull Comics, March 2000-June 2000) - (co-writer; limited series)

★ ''Empire'' #1-2 (Image Comics [Gorilla], May 2000-September 2000) - (limited series)

★ ''JLA'' #43-58 (DC Comics, July 2000-November 2001)

★ ''JLA'' #60 (DC Comics, January 2002)

★ ''Silver Age'' #1 (DC Comics, July 2000) - (Justice League of America story; one-shot)

★ ''Silver Age 80-Page Giant'' #1 (DC Comics, July 2000) - (Justice League of America story; one-shot)

★ Silver Age: Dial H for Hero'' #1 (DC Comics, July 2000) - (one-shot)

★ ''Gatecrasher'' #1-6 (Black Bull Comics, August 2000-January 2001) - (co-writer; limited series)

★ ''JLA: Heaven's Ladder'' #1 (DC Comics, October 2000) - (one-shot)

★ ''Crux'' #1-12 (CrossGen Comics, May 2001-April 2002)

★ ''Sigil'' #15-19 (CrossGen Comics, September 2001-January 2002)

★ ''Ruse'' #1-12 (CrossGen Comics, November 2001-October 2002)

★ ''Negation'' #Prequel-2 (CrossGen Comics, December 2001-February 2002) - (co-writer)

★ '' #1-2 (CrossGen Comics, February 2002-March 2002) - (limited series; co-writer)

★ ''Fantastic Four (vol. 3)'' #60-70 (Marvel Comics, October 2002-August 2003)

★ ''Fantastic Four'' #500-524 (Marvel Comics, September 2003-May 2005)

★
★ ''Vol 1: Imaginauts'' (reprints #56, 60-66)

★
★ ''Vol 2: Unthinkable'' (reprints #67-70, 500-502)

★
★ ''Vol 3: Authoritative Action'' (reprints #503-508)

★
★ ''Vol 4: Hereafter'' (reprints #509-514)

★
★ ''Vol 5: Fourtitude'' (reprints #515-519)

★
★ ''Vol 6: Rising Storm'' (reprints #520-524)

★ '' #1-12 (DC Comics, September 2003-September 2004) - (limited series)

★ ''Teen Titans/Legion Special'' #1 (DC Comics, November 2004) - (co-writer; one-shot)

★ ''The Legion of Super-Heroes'' #1-15 (DC Comics, February 2005-April 2006)

★ ''Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes'' #16-30 (DC Comics, May 2006-present)

★ ''City of Heroes'' #1-3 (Image Comics [Top Cow], June 2005-August 2005)

★ ''52'' #1-52 (DC Comics, May 2006-May 2007)

Fill-in Writer

★ "The Puzzle of the Purloined Fortress." ''Action Comics'' #572 (DC Comics, October 1985)

★ "The Monumental Menace of Metropolis." ''Action Comics'' #576 (DC Comics, February 1986)

★ "The Pow! Zap! Wham! Contract." ''Action Comics Weekly'' #641 (DC Comics, March 7, 1989) - (Human Target story)

★ ''Detective Comics Annual'' #2 (DC Comics, 1989) - (co-writer)

★ ''Superboy'' #7 (DC Comics, August 1990)

★ "Generations Finale." ''Flash Special'' #1 (DC Comics, 1990) - (one-shot)

★ ''Batman'' #464 (DC Comics, Early July 1991) - (Legend of the Shield promo; co-writer)

★ ''Flash Annual'' #4 (DC Comics, 1991)

★ "Meet Kid Flash." ''The Flash TV Special'' #1 (DC Comics, 1991) - (one-shot)

★ "High Stakes." ''The Web Annual'' #1 (DC Comics [Impact], 1992) - (Shield story)

★ "Two Minute Warning." ''Green Lantern Corps Quarterly'' #2 (DC Comics, Fall 1992)

★ ''The Crusaders'' #8 (DC Comics [Impact], December 1992) - (co-writer)

★ ''Justice League America'' #90 (DC Comics, July 1994) - (co-writer)

★ '' #4 (DC Comics, 1994) - (Elseworlds story; co-writer)

★ ''The Ray'' #8 (DC Comics, January 1995) - (co-writer)

★ ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #320-321 (Marvel Comics, January 1995-February 1995) - (co-writer)

★ "Eye Spy." ''Spider-Man 2099 Special'' #1 (Marvel Comics, November 1995) - (one-shot)

★ ''Spider-Man Team-Up'' #1 (Marvel Comics, December 1995) - (co-writer)

★ ''X-Men Unlimited'' #10 (Marvel Comics, March 1996)

★ ''Adventures of Superman'' #536 (DC Comics, July 1996) - (co-writer)

★ ''Action Comics'' #723 (DC Comics, July 1996) - (co-writer)

★ '' #58 (DC Comics, July 1996) - (co-writer)

★ ''Superman'' #114 (DC Comics, August 1996) - (co-writer)

★ "Not a Creature Was Stirring." ''Marvel Holiday Special '96'' (Marvel Comics, 1996) - (Spider-Man story; one-shot)

★ ''Tales of the Marvel Universe'' #1 (Marvel Comics, February 1997) - (Ka-Zar story; one-shot)

★ "Overrun." ''Showcase '96'' #12 (DC Comics, Winter 1997) - (Jesse Quick story; co-writer)

★ '' #73 (DC Comics, November 1997) - (co-writer)

★ "Present Tense." ''DC Universe Holiday Bash'' #1 (DC Comics, 1997) - (Flash story; one-shot)

★ ''Solar, Man of the Atom: Hell on Earth'' #2 (Acclaim Comics [Valiant], February 1998) - (co-writer)

★ "The Speed of Life." ''Flash 80 Page Giant'' #1 (DC Comics, August 1998) - (one-shot)

★ "Actual Reality." ''Secret Origins 80-Page Giant'' #1 (DC Comics, December 1998) - (Impulse story; one-shot)

★ "The Lantern's Apprentice." ''Green Lantern 80 Page Giant'' #2 (DC Comics, June 1999)

★ "Silver Age Elseworlds." ''Elseworlds 80-Page Giant'' #1 (DC Comics, August 1999)

★ ''JLA'' #32-33 (DC Comics, August 1999-September 1999) - (co-writer #32)

★ "Steam Engine." ''All-Star Comics 80-Page Giant'' #1 (DC Comics, September 1999) - (one-shot)

★ "No, Bart, There is No Santa Claus." ''DC Universe Holiday Bash III'' #1 (DC Comics, 1999) - (Impulse story; one-shot)

★ ''Shockrockets'' #1 (Image Comics, April 2000) - (Empire promo)

★ ''Flash'' #162 (DC Comics, July 2000) - (co-writer)

★ "The Secret of the H-Dial." ''Silver Age Secret Files'' #1 (DC Comics, July 2000) - (Dial H for Hero story; one-shot)

★ "Lost Pages." ''JLA Secret Files'' #3 (DC Comics, December 2000)

★ ''CrossGen Chronicles'' #4 (CrossGen Comics, September 2001)

★ ''CrossGen Chronicles'' #8 (CrossGen Comics, July 2002)

★ "The Dig, Part 1 of 2." ''Crux'' #16 (CrossGen Comics, August 2002) - (co-writer)

★ "Young Luthor in Smallville." ''Superman/Batman Secret Files 2003'' (DC Comics, November 2003) - (Lex Luthor story)

★ "Preview." ''Wanted'' #6 (DC Comics, February 2004) - (Hunter-Killer promo)

★ "Ride A Deadly Grenade!" ''DC Comics Presents: The Atom'' #1 (DC Comics, October 2004) - (one-shot)

Editor

★ ''Secret Origins Annual'' #2-3 (DC Comics, 1988-1989)

★ ''Secret Origins'' #31-49 (DC Comics, October 1988-June 1990)

★ ''Secret Origins Special'' #1 (DC Comics, 1989)

★ ''Who's Who Update '88'' #1-4 (DC Comics, August 1988-November 1988) - (limited series)

★ ''Christmas with the Super-Heroes'' #1-2 (DC Comics, 1988-1989)

★ ''Action Comics Weekly'' #636-641 (DC Comics, January 24, 1989-March 7, 1989) - (Phantom Lady story)

★ ''Action Comics Weekly'' #642 (DC Comics, March 14, 1989)

★ ''Doom Patrol'' #26-32 (DC Comics, September 1989-May 1990)

★ ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' #1-6 (DC Comics, November 1989-April 1990)

Associate Editor

★ ''Secret Origins'' #24-30 (DC Comics, March 1988-September 1988)

★ ''Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes'' #1-7 (DC Comics, April 1988-November 1988) - (limited series)

★ ''Infinity, Inc.'' #50-53 (DC Comics, May 1988-August 1988)

★ ''Infinity, Inc. Annual'' #2 (DC Comics, 1988)

★ ''Crimson Avenger'' #1-4 (DC Comics, June 1988-September 1988) - (limited series)

★ ''Wonder Woman'' #36-40 (DC Comics, November 1989-March 1990)

External links

★ The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators

★ Crimson Lightning, an online index to the comic book adventures of the Flash.