Ed Brubaker
Here we go again, this time with one of my favorite ex-Marvel guys: Ed Brubaker.
Like Brian K. Vaughan before him, Brubaker mostly debuted at DC's Vertigo imprint, revamping Captain America co-creator Joe Simon's Prez (a teenage girl elected President) with Prez: Smells Like Teen President and later debuting his own limited series Scene of the Crime with art by Brubaker himself, along with Michael Lark and Sean Phillips (two artists we'll get to very soon), about a detective in San Fran. Soon after, he signed exclusive with DC, working on a variety of Batman titles and returning to Vertigo to work on a Neil Gaiman Sandman spinoff The Dead Boy Detectives.
Not long after, Brubaker paired with one of my former Top 5 Artists - Darwyn Cooke - on a very popular Catwoman solo mini, which later earned a GLAAD Award in 2004.
Darwyn used to work on both the Batman and Superman animated serieses, and his art is the definition of a "throwback" style to the Golden Age with thick black inks and dangerous curves (especially on the ladies).
Unfortunately, Darwyn grew up a DC guy so most of his work was for that company, including a fantastic run when DC held the license to Will Eisner's The Spirit, which he wrote and drew for 12 issues, and also worked on a pair of the 2012 Watchmen prequels, Minutemen (as writer/artist) and Silk Spectre (as co-writer with Amanda Conner, who handled the art duties and has a very similar style to Darwyn).
Simple yet elegant, it's hard not to be enamored with his figures. I am the proud owner of an Absolute edition (oversized, the pages are almost double a normal comic so you can really take in the artwork, and is filled with annotations and back-up material) of Darwyn's seminal work DC: The New Frontier, which strives to put into context the introduction of every major DC hero chronologically into its narrative. It was later adapted, with Darwyn as a guiding force, by DC Animation as a direct-to-video feature length film, which I also proudly own.
Sadly, Darwyn died last May, literally the day after I was extolling my love for his art to Cory at our cousin's graduation.
Anyway, back to Brubaker.
After both Marvel and DC quashed a pitch by he and his good friend Brian Michael Bendis (then Daredevil writer) for a Batman/Daredevil crossover, Brubaker and Greg Rucka (another writer we'll get to later) launched Gotham Central, a series set in a Gotham City police district which featured Batman in maybe all of five panels throughout it's 40 issues. Art was handled by Michael Lark (the second time he's come up).
By 2002 Jim Lee had sold his WildStorm imprint at Image to DC and became DC's co-publisher, which allowed Brubaker to eventually develop Sleeper, a neo-noir spy thriller set in the WildStorm universe and spun of from Point Blank (featuring Grifter from the WildC.A.T.S.), with art by... Sean Phillips (a second mention for him as well).
Finally in 2004 Brubaker's contract with DC expired and Bendis was able to bring Brubaker into the Marvel fold. He signed an exclusive contract with them and was immediately given the reins of Captain America. Cap used a pair of artists, Steve Epting during modern-day set sequences and Michael Lark (him, again) for WWII flashbacks, and within the first 12 issues Brubaker did what many thought was impossible.
It's been long thought that there were three (sometimes more, depending) characters that were basically untouchable, whose deaths would forever stand as those deaths were integral to the foundation and characterization of the heroes they affected. One was Jason Todd, the second Robin, who was beat to death with a crowbar by the Joker in a call-in stunt where readers were offered two different phone numbers to cast a vote; call one number and Robin would live, call the other and Robin would die. The second untouchable is Gwen Stacy (sometimes Uncle Ben is usually listed as a fourth untouchable for obvious reasons, along with Thomas and Martha Wayne). The last being James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, the teenage sidekick to one Captain America.
Brubaker touched an untouchable and transformed Bucky into the Winter Soldier. (Interestingly, at around the same time former Real World: San Francisco cast member and DC scribe Judd Winick was bringing back Jason Todd as the Red Hood, the former alias of a pre-Joker Joker, leaving only Gwen Stacy permanently dead - although not untouched by retcons, one of which I so despise I have removed that storyline from my own personal continuity.)
In 2006 Civil War broke out across the Marvel Universe and while Brubaker's run on Captain America was mostly unaffected issue #25 has the highly publicized Death of Captain America after the conclusion of Civil War.
The Winter Soldier by that time had mostly broke through his Communist brainwashing and, per Steve Roger's final request, James Barnes took on the mantle of Captain America in issue #34.
Prior to Civil War Brubaker was getting ready to take the reins of the X-Men and launched X-Men: Deadly Genesis, a 6-issue mini that revealed after the X-Men were captured by the mutant island Krakoa and Xavier formed a new team consisting of Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler, Thunderbird, Sunfire, Banshee, and Wolverine another, less experienced team comprised of the students of Dr. Moira MacTaggert had been dispatched, captured, and killed after managing to free Scott Summers, who returned to Westchester and prompted Xavier to form the All-New All-Different internationally flavored X-Men. Among these Muir Island X-Men was Darwin (featured in the film X-Men: First Class) and the fabled third Summers brother (no spoilers).
At Deadly Genesis's conclusion Brubaker took over Uncanny X-Men for a run that lasted well after the team's move from Westchester to the more open-minded and freak-friendly San Francisco, CA. The art by Billy Tan was mostly completely horrible.
At the same time Brian Michael Bendis was wrapping up his seminal run with Alex Maleev on Daredevil which featured a years-long storyline of Matt Murdock being outed in the press as the costumed vigilante, and ended with Murdock being shipped off to prison. Enter Brubaker, who had to start his run with Daredevil in fucking prison, a feat many readers and pundits thought would be nigh impossible, especially when Bendis' run was so highly regarded. Brubaker brought his longtime collaborator Michael Lark to handle art chores and scored yet another success.
A highpoint in the series, amidst the Civil War crossover during which Murdock was in jail, was the so-called Imposter Daredevil - ultimately revealed to be Danny Rand who was asked by Matt to take on the mantle so as to keep Hell's Kitchen protected.
Brubaker would eventually win three Eisner Awards, along with two Harvey (Kurtzman) Awards for writing both Daredevil and Captain America, and won a fourth Eisner for Best Single Issue for Captain America #601.
In 2007 Brubaker along with his protege Matt Fraction (not his real name, but actually a user name he had used on I think it was Bendis' forums) launched The Immortal Iron Fist, with art by David Aja (the third of my Five Favorite artists).
After these strings of success Brubaker and his other longtime collaborator Sean Phillips launched Criminal under Marvel's Icons imprint (basically an outlet for Marvel exclusive signings to publish their creator-owned work). Criminal is an Eisner-award winning series and the first of today's DJ's PullList. As of now at 26 issues, when Brubaker signed exclusive with Image the series was moved under their banner. The series mostly ended in 2011 but last year Brubaker and Phillips put out a pair of one-shot specials at Image with possibly more on the way at some point in the future. Criminal is yet another entrant into neo-noir that serves as a deconstruction of various crime genre cliches; each arc features a completely different cast of characters.
Also at Icon Brubaker and Phillips launched Incognito, a noirish take on superheroes.
In 2013 Brubaker's Image contract was amended where the publisher would put out any series brought to them sight-unseen, without Brubaker even having to make a pitch. The first series he had brought to Image was Fatale, a noirish (are you sensing a theme yet?) tale of a seemingly immortal femme fatale.
The second series published by Image, with art by former Captain America penciller Steve Epting, was Velvet. Brubaker and Epting's take on Cap was very much rooted in the 70's espionage/thriller genre, with Velvet a return to form. The series posits a U.K. based spy unit Arc-7 in the mold of MI-6's Double-Oh branch from Ian Fleming's James Bond. But where Ms. Moneypenny was just a secretary, Velvet Templeton was actually Arc-7's best agent and had requested to be pulled from the field for a desk job, a fact the reader only discovers after the death of Arc-7's Bond archetype (X-14) and Templeton is framed for the murder.
Velvet is easily of one my favorite series Brubaker has ever written and Epting's art far surpases his previous Captain America work.
The first series published under his 2013 re-worked no-look deal with Image was, again with artist Sean Phillips, The Fade Out, a (you guessed it) noir set in 40's era Hollywood. Lasting twelve issues, the series follows screenwriter Charlie Parish, and his blacklisted co-writer/best friend Gil, as he tries to solve the murder of a young starlet.
The Fade Out is a two-time Eisner Award winner (2015: Best New Series and 2016: Best Limited Series).
In 2016, Brubaker joined the writing staff of HBO's Westworld and his comic output slowed way down (a la Brian K. Vaughan when he went to Lost).
Recap - Zeus Highly Suggests
- Criminal (26 issues)
- The Fade Out (12 issues)
- Velvet (as of July 2016 - 15 issues)
Non-Marvel Honorable Mention
-Gotham Central (40 issues, with Greg Rucka)
When and if we figure out a way to get my comics-nomicons into your hands you'll be able to read all the Marvel stuff I discussed.
Like Brian K. Vaughan before him, Brubaker mostly debuted at DC's Vertigo imprint, revamping Captain America co-creator Joe Simon's Prez (a teenage girl elected President) with Prez: Smells Like Teen President and later debuting his own limited series Scene of the Crime with art by Brubaker himself, along with Michael Lark and Sean Phillips (two artists we'll get to very soon), about a detective in San Fran. Soon after, he signed exclusive with DC, working on a variety of Batman titles and returning to Vertigo to work on a Neil Gaiman Sandman spinoff The Dead Boy Detectives.
Not long after, Brubaker paired with one of my former Top 5 Artists - Darwyn Cooke - on a very popular Catwoman solo mini, which later earned a GLAAD Award in 2004.
Darwyn used to work on both the Batman and Superman animated serieses, and his art is the definition of a "throwback" style to the Golden Age with thick black inks and dangerous curves (especially on the ladies).
 |
| Diana, Clark and Bruce, Hal and Carol |
 |
| L and M: from The Spirit, R: Before Watchmen: Minutemen |
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| One of the double-page spreads from New Frontier's epilogue, featuring text excerpts from JFK's "New Frontier" speech |
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| One of the nicest guys in the industry |
After both Marvel and DC quashed a pitch by he and his good friend Brian Michael Bendis (then Daredevil writer) for a Batman/Daredevil crossover, Brubaker and Greg Rucka (another writer we'll get to later) launched Gotham Central, a series set in a Gotham City police district which featured Batman in maybe all of five panels throughout it's 40 issues. Art was handled by Michael Lark (the second time he's come up).
 |
| One of the scariest appearances by the Joker in any comic, ever, happened in GC |
Finally in 2004 Brubaker's contract with DC expired and Bendis was able to bring Brubaker into the Marvel fold. He signed an exclusive contract with them and was immediately given the reins of Captain America. Cap used a pair of artists, Steve Epting during modern-day set sequences and Michael Lark (him, again) for WWII flashbacks, and within the first 12 issues Brubaker did what many thought was impossible.
It's been long thought that there were three (sometimes more, depending) characters that were basically untouchable, whose deaths would forever stand as those deaths were integral to the foundation and characterization of the heroes they affected. One was Jason Todd, the second Robin, who was beat to death with a crowbar by the Joker in a call-in stunt where readers were offered two different phone numbers to cast a vote; call one number and Robin would live, call the other and Robin would die. The second untouchable is Gwen Stacy (sometimes Uncle Ben is usually listed as a fourth untouchable for obvious reasons, along with Thomas and Martha Wayne). The last being James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, the teenage sidekick to one Captain America.
 |
| It wasn't until Avengers #4 that Cap and Bucky disappeared during WWII, in actuality they both survived well into the 50's, appearances which were later retconned to be impersonators honoring their fallen heroes |
Brubaker touched an untouchable and transformed Bucky into the Winter Soldier. (Interestingly, at around the same time former Real World: San Francisco cast member and DC scribe Judd Winick was bringing back Jason Todd as the Red Hood, the former alias of a pre-Joker Joker, leaving only Gwen Stacy permanently dead - although not untouched by retcons, one of which I so despise I have removed that storyline from my own personal continuity.)
 |
| Brubaker's cameo in the MCU's Captain America: Winter Soldier |
The Winter Soldier by that time had mostly broke through his Communist brainwashing and, per Steve Roger's final request, James Barnes took on the mantle of Captain America in issue #34.
 |
| Art by Epting, costume design by Alex Ross |
 |
| Darwin's death at the hands, literally, of |
At the same time Brian Michael Bendis was wrapping up his seminal run with Alex Maleev on Daredevil which featured a years-long storyline of Matt Murdock being outed in the press as the costumed vigilante, and ended with Murdock being shipped off to prison. Enter Brubaker, who had to start his run with Daredevil in fucking prison, a feat many readers and pundits thought would be nigh impossible, especially when Bendis' run was so highly regarded. Brubaker brought his longtime collaborator Michael Lark to handle art chores and scored yet another success.
Brubaker would eventually win three Eisner Awards, along with two Harvey (Kurtzman) Awards for writing both Daredevil and Captain America, and won a fourth Eisner for Best Single Issue for Captain America #601.
In 2007 Brubaker along with his protege Matt Fraction (not his real name, but actually a user name he had used on I think it was Bendis' forums) launched The Immortal Iron Fist, with art by David Aja (the third of my Five Favorite artists).
 |
| In 2011 Fraction and Aja would launch a Hawkeye solo series, which many point to as the beginning of a new direction for Marvel as a publisher (along with Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's Daredevil, Samnee being my fourth Top 5 Artist), leading to the MARVEL NOW! initiative in 2012 and still ongoing |
Also at Icon Brubaker and Phillips launched Incognito, a noirish take on superheroes.
In 2013 Brubaker's Image contract was amended where the publisher would put out any series brought to them sight-unseen, without Brubaker even having to make a pitch. The first series he had brought to Image was Fatale, a noirish (are you sensing a theme yet?) tale of a seemingly immortal femme fatale.
The second series published by Image, with art by former Captain America penciller Steve Epting, was Velvet. Brubaker and Epting's take on Cap was very much rooted in the 70's espionage/thriller genre, with Velvet a return to form. The series posits a U.K. based spy unit Arc-7 in the mold of MI-6's Double-Oh branch from Ian Fleming's James Bond. But where Ms. Moneypenny was just a secretary, Velvet Templeton was actually Arc-7's best agent and had requested to be pulled from the field for a desk job, a fact the reader only discovers after the death of Arc-7's Bond archetype (X-14) and Templeton is framed for the murder.
Velvet is easily of one my favorite series Brubaker has ever written and Epting's art far surpases his previous Captain America work.
 |
| Velvet is stylish, sexy, and (GASP!) in her mid-40's |
The Fade Out is a two-time Eisner Award winner (2015: Best New Series and 2016: Best Limited Series).
In 2016, Brubaker joined the writing staff of HBO's Westworld and his comic output slowed way down (a la Brian K. Vaughan when he went to Lost).
Recap - Zeus Highly Suggests
- Criminal (26 issues)
- The Fade Out (12 issues)
- Velvet (as of July 2016 - 15 issues)
Non-Marvel Honorable Mention
-Gotham Central (40 issues, with Greg Rucka)
When and if we figure out a way to get my comics-nomicons into your hands you'll be able to read all the Marvel stuff I discussed.
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