Mark Waid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mark Waid |
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Waid at the East Coast Comicon in Secaucus, New Jersey
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| Born | March 21, 1962 (age 63) Hueytown, Alabama, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writer, Editor |
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Notable works
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The Flash Captain America< Kingdom Come JLA: Year One JLA: Tower of Babel Fantastic Four Superman: Birthright 52 Irredeemable Daredevil Batman/Superman: World's Finest |
| Awards | Inkpot Award (2012) |
Mark Waid (born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer. He is well-known for his work on many popular superhero comics. These include The Flash, Kingdom Come, and Superman: Birthright for DC Comics. He also wrote Captain America, Fantastic Four, and Daredevil for Marvel.
Besides DC and Marvel, Waid has worked for other comic publishers. These include Fantagraphics, Event, Top Cow, Dynamite, and Archie Comics. From 2007 to 2010, Waid was an editor and creative officer at Boom! Studios. There, he also created his own comic series like Irredeemable. In 2018, he joined Humanoids Publishing and became a publisher in 2020.
Contents
Early Life and Comic Influences
Mark Waid was born in Hueytown, Alabama. He has shared that his love for comics began early. A specific story from Adventure Comics #369–370 (1968) greatly influenced his writing. This story featured the "Legion of Super-Heroes" and the villain Mordru. Waid calls this story "a blueprint for everything I write."
Mark Waid's Comic Career
Starting Out in the 1980s and 1990s
Waid started in the comic world in the mid-1980s. He worked as an editor and writer for Amazing Heroes, a comic fan magazine. His very first comic book story was an eight-page Superman adventure. It appeared in Action Comics #572 in October 1985.
In 1987, Waid became an editor at DC Comics. He worked on titles like Action Comics and Wonder Woman. He also helped create the Elseworlds imprint with writer Brian Augustyn. Elseworlds stories show popular DC characters in different timelines or realities. For example, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight showed Batman in Victorian London.
Waid left editing in 1989 to focus on writing. He wrote for DC's Impact Comics line. He worked on The Comet and Legend of the Shield.
Becoming Famous with The Flash
In 1992, Waid began writing The Flash. This job made him widely known in the comic industry. He wrote the series for eight years. During this time, he created the character Impulse. Impulse first appeared in The Flash (vol. 2) #92 in July 1994. Impulse later got his own comic series in 1995.
Waid also worked on big crossover events. In 1995, he and artist Howard Porter created Underworld Unleashed. This was a major storyline that involved many DC characters.
Working on Marvel's Big Heroes
Waid's first big project for Marvel Comics was "Age of Apocalypse". This was a large crossover story involving the X-Men. He also helped create the powerful villain Onslaught.
He then became the writer for Captain America. He worked with artist Ron Garney. Their stories were very popular. They left the series when it was relaunched as "Heroes Reborn". However, they returned to write more Captain America comics later.
Creating Kingdom Come
In 1996, Waid and artist Alex Ross created the famous graphic novel Kingdom Come. This story is set in the future of the DC Universe. It shows what happens to heroes like Superman and Batman as the world changes. The story was a response to the darker comics of the 1980s and 1990s. Many ideas from Kingdom Come later became part of the main DC Universe. Waid also wrote a follow-up story called The Kingdom.
Waid also worked with writer Grant Morrison to make DC's Justice League popular again. They developed the idea of Hypertime. This concept helped explain different timelines in the DC Universe.
2000s: New Challenges and Successes
In the early 2000s, Waid worked on JLA and JLA: Heaven's Ladder. He also co-wrote Empire with Barry Kitson. This series was about a supervillain named Golgoth who had conquered the world.
Waid started a popular run on Marvel's Fantastic Four in 2002. He worked with his former Flash artist Mike Wieringo. Their work was highly praised by fans.
In 2003, Waid wrote Superman: Birthright. This twelve-part series told the new official origin story of Superman. It included elements from different eras of Superman comics.
Waid returned to writing Legion of Super-Heroes in 2004. In 2005, he signed a special contract with DC Comics. He co-wrote the 52 limited series. This year-long series covered events in the DC Universe after Infinite Crisis.
In 2007, Waid joined Boom! Studios as Editor-in-Chief. He later became Chief Creative Officer. He announced he would leave this role in 2010 to return to freelance writing. He continued to write for Boom! Studios, including his own series Irredeemable.
Waid also worked on The Amazing Spider-Man in the late 2000s. He even wrote a story where Spider-Man met Stephen Colbert.
2010s: Awards and New Series
In 2011, Marvel launched a new Daredevil series with Waid as the writer. Waid and artist Paolo Rivera received many awards for their work. These included multiple Eisner Awards in 2012, like Best Continuing Series and Best Writer. Waid also won a Harvey Award for his Daredevil work.
In 2011, Waid started Thrillbent, a free digital comics website. He launched the site with his comic Insufferable. In 2013, Waid wrote an important essay called "An Open Letter To Young Freelancers." It discussed changes in the comic book business.
In 2014, Waid launched new series for Daredevil and The Hulk. He also wrote S.H.I.E.L.D., which brought characters from the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show into the comics. He later wrote All-New, All-Different Avengers and Black Widow.
In 2016, Waid and artist Humberto Ramos created The Champions for Marvel. Waid returned to Captain America in 2017. He also launched new Doctor Strange and Ant-Man and the Wasp series.
In 2018, Humanoids Publishing announced a new imprint called H1, with Waid as a contributing creator. In 2019, Marvel announced Waid would write the first solo series for the Invisible Woman.
2020s: Current Projects
In 2021, it was announced that Waid would write a new ongoing DC series called Batman/Superman: World's Finest. This series began in March 2022 and set up other DC events like Batman vs Robin.
In 2022, Waid contributed to Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds. This book helped raise money for Ukrainian refugees. In 2022, Waid also started a new Shazam! series for DC.
In 2023, Waid announced two more DC projects. One is Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor, a follow-up to Birthright. The other is World's Finest: Teen Titans. In 2024, Waid was announced as the writer for Absolute Power, a major DC event series. He will also write Batman and Robin: Year One, starting in October 2024.
Personal Life
As of 2019, Mark Waid lives in California.
Images for kids
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A robot for kids.
