Garth Ennis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Garth Ennis |
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Ennis at a book signing at Midtown Comics in Manhattan in 2019
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| Born | 16 January 1970 Northern Ireland |
| Area(s) | Writer |
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Notable works
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Preacher The Boys Hellblazer Punisher Hitman |
| Awards | National Comics Award for Best Writer, 1997 UK Comic Art Award for Best Writer, 1997 Eisner Award for Best Writer, 1998 |
Garth Ennis (born 16 January 1970) is a famous comic book writer from Northern Ireland and the United States. He is well-known for creating popular series like Preacher and The Boys. He also wrote for long-running series such as Hellblazer and Punisher.
Ennis has worked with many talented artists, including Steve Dillon, Glenn Fabry, John McCrea, and Darick Robertson. His work has earned him several awards and nominations in the comic book world.
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Early Life and Inspiration
Garth Ennis grew up in Northern Ireland. He was not raised with any particular religion. He once described how the idea of God seemed strange and a bit scary to him as a young child. This early experience later influenced some of his comic stories.
In 1987, Ennis met artist John McCrea at a comic book shop in Belfast. McCrea later illustrated Ennis's first professional comic project. Ennis also met comic writer Alan Moore there, who advised him to create his own stories. This way, he would own his ideas instead of comic companies.
Career in Comics
Garth Ennis started his career as a comic writer on his 19th birthday in 1989.
Early UK Work
His first series was Troubled Souls, published in the British comic anthology Crisis. This series was drawn by his friend John McCrea. It told the story of a young man caught up in the violence of the Irish Troubles. This series was set in Belfast, which Ennis knew well.
He also wrote a religious satire called True Faith, which was inspired by his school days. This comic caused some complaints and was briefly taken off sale. Soon after, Ennis began writing for the popular UK comic series 2000 AD. He wrote stories for the main character, Judge Dredd, for several years. His Dredd stories included "Muzak Killer" and "Emerald Isle."
Working with DC Comics
In 1991, Ennis started writing for the horror series Hellblazer for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. Steve Dillon became the regular artist for this series. Ennis and Dillon worked together often after that.
Their most famous collaboration was the 66-issue Vertigo series Preacher, which ran from 1995 to 2000. Many consider Preacher to be Ennis's most important work. The story is about a preacher with special powers who searches for God, who has left Earth. The series mixes elements of Westerns and horror with dark humor. It became very popular, and an AMC television series based on Preacher started in 2016.
From 1993 to 1995, Ennis also worked on another DC title, The Demon, with artist John McCrea. They introduced a character named Tommy Monaghan, a superpowered contract killer. Ennis and McCrea later gave Tommy his own comic series, Hitman, which ran for 60 issues. In Hitman, Ennis often showed superheroes in a funny or silly way, except for Superman, whom he wrote about respectfully.
Ennis also wrote other comics for DC, including The Authority and Midnighter.
Writing for Marvel Comics
Ennis's first work for Marvel was Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe in 1995. After Hitman ended, Ennis was asked to write The Punisher again for Marvel. He had a long run on the Punisher series, often working with Steve Dillon.
Later, Ennis relaunched The Punisher under Marvel's MAX imprint. This allowed for darker and more serious stories. His work on The Punisher MAX was a big influence on the film Punisher: War Zone.
In 2008, Ennis finished his Punisher run to write War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle. This series featured Phantom Eagle, a World War I pilot. Ennis also wrote stories for other Marvel characters like Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, and Hulk. He also wrote several Nick Fury stories for the MAX imprint, focusing on military and spy situations.
Independent and Creator-Owned Work
Ennis has also created many original comics for independent publishers. He wrote a Dan Dare miniseries for Virgin Comics and origin stories for The Darkness and Shadow Man.
Some of his own creations include Seven Brothers, a superhero satire called The Pro, and the post-apocalyptic Just a Pilgrim. He also wrote War Stories, which later moved to Avatar Press.
Avatar Press has published many of Ennis's creator-owned works. These include 303, a Western called Streets of Glory, and Chronicles of Wormwood, which explores the friendship between an African-American Jesus Christ and a benign Antichrist. In 2011, Ennis wrote and directed a short horror film called Stitched, and also wrote the comic book tie-in.
Ennis has also worked with Dynamite Entertainment. His most notable work there is The Boys, mainly illustrated by Darick Robertson. This series ran for 72 issues and is a superhero satire that shows superheroes as sometimes bad or selfish. The Boys was first published by DC's Wildstorm imprint but was later moved to Dynamite because DC was uncomfortable with its anti-superhero tone. The series was very successful and was adapted into a TV series by Amazon in 2019.
Other projects for Dynamite include the crime comic Red Team and a series of war comics called Battlefields. In 2018, Ennis wrote Sara for TKO Studios, a war story about female Russian snipers in World War II. In 2020, he wrote Stringbags for the U. S. Naval Institute, a graphic novel about Allied airmen during World War II.
Influences and Views on Comics
Garth Ennis grew up reading British war comics. He didn't read superhero comics much until he was a teenager. He found them a bit silly, but he was influenced by some superhero comics from the mid-1980s. For example, he really liked The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. Miller's work inspired Ennis to become a comic writer.
Even though he has written many superhero stories, Ennis often likes to make fun of or change the usual superhero ideas in his work. He finds characters like Captain America a bit strange because he prefers stories about real, human soldiers in wars like World War II. However, he has said he likes the idea behind Wonder Woman and even truly likes Superman, whom he wrote about respectfully in Hitman.
Ennis prefers Marvel and DC characters who are more "grounded" or realistic, like the Punisher, John Constantine, and Nick Fury. He feels that the Punisher is more like the British comic characters he enjoyed as a child. While his Constantine stories are well-known, Ennis later said he grew to dislike the character because he felt Constantine often got his friends into trouble.
Personal Life
Garth Ennis became a citizen of the United States by July 2016. He is married. He has a strong interest in military history, which he developed from reading war comics when he was young.
Awards and Recognition
Garth Ennis has received many awards for his writing:
- 1997 National Comics Award for Best Writer
- 1997 UK Comic Art Award for Best Writer (for Hitman, Preacher, and Saint of Killers)
- 1997 UK Comic Art Award for Best Collection (for Preacher: Gone to Texas)
- 1998 Eisner Award for Best Writer (for Hitman, Preacher, Unknown Soldier and Blood Mary: Lady Liberty)
- 1998 Eisner Award for Best Single Issue (for Hitman #34: "Of Thee I Sing")
- 1999 Eagle Award for Favorite Color Comic Book (for Preacher)
- 2001 National Comics Award for Best Supporting Character (for Natt The Hat, from Hitman)
- 2021 Irish Comics News Award for Best Irish Writer (for "Hellmann at the Twilight of the Reich" in Action 2020)
He has also been nominated for many other awards, including the Eisner Award for Best Writer multiple times and the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Writer.
Images for kids
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Ennis at a book signing at Midtown Comics in Manhattan in 2019
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Ennis signing copies of Hitman and Preacher at Midtown Comics Downtown in Manhattan
See also
In Spanish: Garth Ennis para niños
