| Bill Willingham | |
|---|---|
 Willingham at the 2012 New York Comic Con | |
| Born | William Willingham 1956 (age 67–68) Fort Belvoir, Virginia, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writer, Penciller, Inker |
Notable works | Elementals Fables |
William Willingham (born 1956) is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series Elementals and Fables .
William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. [1] During his father's military career the family also lived in Alaska, California, and finally three years in Germany. [2] Willingham got his start from the late 1970s to early 1980s as a staff artist for TSR, Inc., where he illustrated a number of their role-playing game products. He was the cover artist for the AD&D Player Character Record Sheets, Against the Giants , Secret of Bone Hill , the Gamma World book Legion of Gold , and provided the back cover for In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords . He was an interior artist on White Plume Mountain , Slave Pits of the Undercity , Ghost Tower of Inverness , Secret of the Slavers Stockade, Secret of Bone Hill, Palace of the Silver Princess , Isle of Dread , The Mansion of Mad Professor Ludlow , [3] Food Fight, [4] In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords , the original Fiend Folio , Descent into the Depths of the Earth , Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords , Against the Giants, Queen of the Spiders , Realms of Horror , and the second and third editions of the Top Secret role-playing game. He also wrote and illustrated a couple of 1982 adventures for the game Villains & Vigilantes for Fantasy Games Unlimited, Death Duel with the Destroyers and The Island of Doctor Apocalypse . [5] Willingham also produced the alien race design artwork for the original Master of Orion video game. [6]
He first gained attention for his 1980s comic book series Elementals published by Comico, which he both wrote and illustrated; this series featured the Destroyers characters from his Villains & Vigilantes adventures as guest-stars. [5] He contributed stories to Green Lantern and started his own independent, black-and-white comic book series Coventry which lasted only 3 issues. [7] He also produced the pornographic series Ironwood for Eros Comix.
In the late 1990s, Willingham produced the 13-issue Pantheon for Lone Star Press and wrote a pair of short novels about the modern adventures of the hero Beowulf, and a fantasy novel Down the Mysterly River published by the Austin, Texas writer's collective, Clockwork Storybook, of which Willingham was a founding member. In the early 2000s, he began writing for DC Comics, including the limited series Proposition Player , a pair of limited series about the Greek witch Thessaly from The Sandman , and the series Fables . [8] In 2003, Fables won the Will Eisner Comic Industry awards for best serialized story and best new series. [9]
He describes himself as "rabidly pro-Israel" and says that Fables "was intended from the beginning" as a metaphor for the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, although he argues that Fables is not "a political tract. It never will be, but at the same time, it's not going to shy away from the fact that there are characters who have real moral and ethical centers, and we're not going to apologize for it." [10]
Willingham worked on the Robin series from 2004 to 2006, and established Shadowpact , a title spun off his Day of Vengeance limited series. He also wrote Jack of Fables , an ongoing spin-off of his Fables series, co-written by Lilah Sturges. [11] At the 2007 Comic Con International, he announced that he would be writing Salvation Run , a mini-series about supervillains who are banished to an inhospitable prison planet. [12] [13] He handed over the writing to Sturges after two issues because of illness. [14] He worked on DCU: Decisions , a four-issue mini-series that deals with Green Arrow's endorsement of a political candidate. [15] Again with Sturges, he began writing the Vertigo series House of Mystery , [16] and DC's Justice Society of America with issue #29. [17] [18]
In 2009, Willingham agreed to write for Angel by IDW Publishing, initiated a new storyline titled "Immortality for Dummies". [19]
In late 2010 (with cover dates January–April 2011), Willingham wrote the four-issue mini-series Warriors Three for Marvel Comics, illustrated by Neil Edwards. [20]
At 2013 New York Comic Con it was announced that Willingham would be writing a seven-part mini series for Dynamite Entertainment (with art by Sergio Fernandez Davila). [21] The series is Legenderry: A Steampunk Adventure and includes some of Dynamite's licensed and public domain characters in a steampunk setting. The series was released in January 2014, and a collected edition was published in January 2015. [22]
In September 2023, Willingham put his Fables series into the public domain after becoming exhausted with dealing with DC Comics. [23] DC has since responded that it will not allow this to happen. [24]
The issues listed include those where writing credits are for at least one story included in the issue.
| Title | Issue(s) | Cover Dates | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Justice Machine Annual | #1 | 1983 | Texas Comics |
| Elementals | #1–23 | 1984 – March 1988 | Comico |
| Justice Machine Featuring The Elementals | #1–4 | May–August 1986 | Comico |
| Elementals Special | #2 | January 1989 | Comico |
| Elementals vol. 2 | #1–16 #18–22 | March 1989 – May 1991 June 1991 – March 1992 | Comico |
| Morningstar Special | #1 | 1990 | Comico |
| Time Wankers | #4–5 | April–August 1991 | Fantagraphics |
| Ironwood | #1–11 | 1991 | Fantagraphics, Eros Comix imprint |
| Elementals: Sex Special | #1 | 1991 | Comico |
| Elementals: Ghost of a Chance | #1 | December 1995 | Comico |
| Elementals: The Vampire's Revenge | #2 | August 1996 | Comico |
| Coventry | #1–3 | November 1996 – July 1997 | Fantagraphics |
| Mythography | #2, #4 | February, June 1997 | Bardic Press |
| Pantheon | #1–13 | May 1998 – August/September 1999 | Lone Star Press |
| Pantheon: Ancient History | #1 | August/September 1999 | Lone Star Press |
| Flinch | #7 | December 1999 | DC Comics, Vertigo imprint |
| Proposition Player | #1–6 | December 1999 May 2000 | DC Comics, Vertigo imprint |
| The Dreaming | #55 | December 2000 | DC Comics, Vertigo imprint |
| The Sandman Presents: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Dreams... But Were Afraid To Ask | #1 | July 2001 | DC Comics, Vertigo imprint |
| The Sandman Presents: The Thessaliad | #1–4 | March–June 2002 | DC Comics, Vertigo imprint |
| Fables | #1–162 | July 2002 – Ongoing | DC Comics, Vertigo imprint |
| X-Men Unlimited | #49 | August 2003 | Marvel Comics |
| Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight | #168 | August 2003 | DC Comics |
| Robin vol. 2 | #121–147 | February 2004 – April 2006 | DC Comics |
| The Sandman Presents: Thessaly: Witch for Hire | #1–4 | April–July 2004 | DC Comics, Vertigo imprint |
| Batman Vol. 1 | #631–633, #643–644 | October–December 2004, Early–Late October 2005 | DC Comics |
| Day of Vengeance | #1–6 | June–November 2005 | DC Comics |
| Day of Vengeance: Infinite Crisis Special | #1 | March 2006 | DC Comics |
| Shadowpact | #1–16 | July 2006 – 2007 | DC Comics |
| Jack of Fables | #1–50 | September 2006 – March 2011 | DC Comics, Vertigo imprint |
| Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall | 2006 | DC Comics, Vertigo imprint | |
| DCU Infinite Holiday Special | #1 | February 2007 | DC Comics |
| Peter and Max: A Fables Novel | 2009 | DC Comics, Vertigo imprint | |
| Justice Society of America (vol. 3) | #29–40 | 2009–2010 | DC Comics |
| Angel: Immortality for Dummies | #28–32 | 2010 | IDW Publishing |
| Warriors Three | #1–4 | January–April 2011 | Marvel Comics |
| Legenderry: A Steampunk Adventure | #1–7 | 2014 | Dynamite Entertainment |
| Lark's Killer | #1–10 | 2017–2018 | 1First Comics |
Vertigo Comics was an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics started by editor Karen Berger in 1993. Vertigo's purpose was to publish comics with adult content, such as nudity, drug use, profanity, and graphic violence, that did not fit the restrictions of DC's main line, thus allowing more creative freedom. Its titles consisted of company-owned comics set in the DC Universe, such as The Sandman and Hellblazer, and creator-owned works, such as Preacher, Y: The Last Man and Fables.
Bryan Talbot is a British comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright and its sequel Heart of Empire, as well as the Grandville series of books. He collaborated with his wife, Mary M. Talbot to produce Dotter of Her Father's Eyes, which won the 2012 Costa biography award.
Grant Morrison MBE is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, humanist philosophy and countercultural leanings. Morrison has written extensively for the American comic book publisher DC Comics, penning lengthy runs on Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, Action Comics, and Green Lantern as well as the graphic novels Arkham Asylum, JLA: Earth 2, and Wonder Woman: Earth One, the meta-series Seven Soldiers and The Multiversity, the mini-series DC One Million and Final Crisis, both of which served as centrepieces for the eponymous company-wide crossover storylines, and the maxi-series All-Star Superman. Morrison's best known DC work is the seven-year Batman storyline which started in the Batman ongoing series and continued through Final Crisis, Batman and Robin, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne and two volumes of Batman Incorporated. They also co-created the DC character Damian Wayne.
Mark Buckingham is a British comic book artist. He is best known for his work on Marvelman and Fables.
Fables is an American comic book series created and written by Bill Willingham, published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. Willingham served as sole writer for its entirety, with Mark Buckingham penciling more than 110 issues. The series featured various other pencillers over the years, most notably Lan Medina and Steve Leialoha. Fables was launched in July 2002 and concluded in July 2015. It was revived in 2022 with a 12-issue continuation to the main series, as well as a 6-issue spin-off miniseries Batman vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham, both published under DC Black Label.
Jamie Delano is an English comic book writer. He was part of the first post-Alan Moore "British Invasion" of writers which started to feature in American comics in the 1980s. He is best known as the first writer of the comic book series Hellblazer, featuring John Constantine.
Andrew Diggle is a British comic book writer and former editor of the weekly anthology series 2000 AD. He is best known for his work on Adam Strange and Green Arrow for DC Comics as well as his creator-owned series The Losers and a run on Hellblazer for DC's Vertigo imprint, and for his stints on Thunderbolts and Daredevil at Marvel. Other credits include Gamekeeper for Virgin Comics, written by Diggle on the basis of a concept created by Guy Ritchie, a three-year run on Robert Kirkman's Thief of Thieves at Image, several short arcs written for IDW Publishing's Doctor Who series and two James Bond mini-series for Dynamite.
Gary Erskine is a Scottish comic book artist.
Jack of Fables is a spin-off comic book series of Fables written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main series, that takes place after his exile from Fabletown in the story-arc Jack Be Nimble. The idea for the spin-off comic came after editor Shelly Bond suggested to put Jack in a separate comic when Willingham planned to write him out of the series.
Tomm Coker, also known as Thomas L. Coker, is an American comic book artist and film director/writer.
Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and he continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables. The character is based on various nursery rhymes and fables with characters named Jack, including Little Jack Horner, Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and Jill, Jack Be Nimble, Jack Frost, Jack O'Lantern, and Jack the Giant Killer, and among others.
Steve Leialoha is an American comics artist whose work first came to prominence in the 1970s. He has worked primarily as an inker, though occasionally as a penciller, for several publishers, including Marvel Comics and later DC Comics.
David Hahn is a western Montana-based comic book artist born in 1967. He is best known for his work illustrating the comic book mini-series Bite Club and its sequel Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit for DC Comics, where he also illustrated stories for Robin, Fables, Batman: The Ultimate Training Guide, and Lucifer.
John Christian Roberson, known professionally as Chris Roberson, is an American science fiction author and publisher who is best known for alternate history novels and short stories.
Lilah Sturges is an American writer of comics and fantasy novels. She is best known for co-writing with Bill Willingham the Eisner-award-nominated Jack of Fables, and other comics published by Vertigo Comics / DC Comics.
Clockwork Storybook (CWSB) was a writer's collective and independent book publisher based in Austin, Texas. It specialized in the fantasy, horror and adventure genres.
House of Mystery is an American occult and horror-themed comic book anthology series, based on the series The House of Mystery that ran from 1951 to 1983. The writers, Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges, debuted the series in July 2008 under the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics.
Tony Akins is an artist, penciling and inking for DC/Vertigo who has contributed to the titles Jack of Fables, Fables, Hellblazer, House of Mystery and alternate issues of Wonder Woman for The New 52 relaunch.
Fairest is an American monthly comic series created by Bill Willingham, published by DC's Vertigo. A spin-off of Fables, Fairest detailed the adventures and stories of Fabletown's female citizens and heroines. Fairest was described by Willingham as a series of miniseries, with each arc telling self-contained stories.
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