Brian Wood (comics)
Brian Wood (born January 29, 1972) is an American writer, illustrator, and graphic designer, known for his work in comic books, television and video games. His noted comic book work includes the series DMZ, Demo, Northlanders, The Massive, Marvel Comics' The X-Men, and Star Wars. His web series work includes adaptations of his own short stories from the comics series The Massive and Conan the Barbarian for Geek & Sundry and YouTube, and his video game work includes three years on staff at Rockstar Games, co-writing 1979 Revolution: Black Friday and story contributions to Aliens: Fireteam Elite. His television work includes pilot scripts for AMC, Amazon Studios, and Sonar Entertainment. He is a contributing writer on HBO Max's DMZ adaptation of his own work.[1]
Brian Wood
January 29, 1972
Graphic design, graphic novelist, screenwriter, producer
Wood's work is well known for sociopolitical commentary, particularly on the topics of media and conflicts,[2][3] climate change, and identity.[4][5][6] Much of his work is about or takes place in New York City.[7][8][9] He's contributed the character of Zula Hendricks to the Aliens franchise,[10] created the character of Shogo Lee, Jubilee's adopted son, to the X-Men/Marvel Universe,[11] and created Nomi Blume for the Ultimate Marvel universe.[12]
Early life[edit]
Brian Wood was born January 29, 1972, and grew up in the village of Essex Junction, Vermont,[13][14] where he attended Hiawatha Elementary School[14] and Essex High School.[15] He has described his upbringing as "outdoorsy and active, with regular incidents involving neighborhood bullies and trauma at home." He describes a period of heavy drinking before moving to New York City to attend college, stating, "I was ejected into the adult world too early, orphaned and lacking a plan, support, or sound judgement."[16] He is a lifelong stutterer,[17][18] has spoken publicly about seeking therapy to deal with childhood trauma[19] and the loss of his mother to cancer.[20]
He moved to New York City in 1991,[21] describing it as "something of a big leap of faith on my part... it was one of those situations where I had hardly any money, and a single backpack full of clothes. I bought a one-way bus ticket from Burlington, Vermont and kind of burned bridges as I left. I was all-in. Stupid, but committed." He describes working below minimum wage at a skate shop while applying to colleges. "After I hit 21, I got a little bit of money from an inheritance, which paid for my first year of school and a grimy $325/month bedroom on East 3rd Street for a few months," he recounts. He also worked as a bike messenger, which instilled in him a love and a knowledge for New York City that would inform many of his future projects.[22]
After graduating in 1997 from Parsons School of Design with a BFA in illustration, Wood worked a series of design jobs at internet startups, including iVillage, Bigfoot, and Nerve.[23]
Unrealized projects[edit]
In 2001, Wood and artist David Choe were commissioned by Marvel to develop the concept of an X-Men series for the publisher's then-upcoming MAX imprint.[120][121] Although the project was shelved at the time, it was later released with a different creative team, while Wood used his ideas to develop the creator-owned series Demo with artist Becky Cloonan.[122]
A catalog entry for Dogs Day End appeared in 2008 from the publisher Top Shelf.[123] Created by Wood with art by Nikki Cook, it never appeared. The catalog described it thusly: "Following up on the time-honored adage "you can't go home again", Dogs Day End details the personal journey of 30-year-old Andrew Maguire, pulled back to the small upstate hometown of his childhood by his mother as she enters the final stages of cancer." Chris Arrant of CBR asked Wood about it in 2010, and he explained, "A bunch of shit went wrong, ranging from schedule problems to my own writing problems, and after a few years I shelved it for a bit, reworked the story, found a new artist, and tried again. And it was at that point I realized that really the only problem was with me, and my inability to write that goddamn story. I think time's just passed it by, to be honest. I love the idea of it, but I just cannot make it work."[124]
In 2012, Bleeding Cool and MTV reported a list of comic book projects Wood described as never making it off the ground.[125][126] There were several DC Comics properties on the list - Green Arrow, Supergirl, Superman Beyond, Rima The Jungle Girl, "Gotham: Neighborhood Rebellion aka Catwoman Year 100", and what he termed "The Re-Imagined Wildstorm Universe." Three creator-owned titles are mentioned: QC, Anthem, and Starve. Starve was published by Image Comics in 2015.[127] That same year, Wood was named as the new writer of Todd McFarlane's "resurrected" Spawn for the #251 relaunch.[128] Shortly after appearing with MacFarlane at New York Comic Con,[129] Wood announced he was no longer employed on the book, issuing this statement: "For the sake of readers and retailers who read the current Image solicits (March 2015), I just want to sent out a little PSA and say that I am not the writer of Spawn #251. I'm actually not the writer of the Spawn title after all. I delivered, to spec, the script for February's Spawn Resurrection #1 special but raised objections to the considerable extent to which my script and the larger plot was being rewritten during production. I was then removed from the job. I'm not trying to complain or spark drama, but I do think that the audience and the retailers laying down money for the book should be aware when there is a creative team change, especially this close to the book's release. I'm sorry to anyone who was looking forward to my work on Spawn – its a bummer for me too."[130] Paul Jenkins replaced Wood.[131]