Vaughan was a writer, story editor and producer of the television seriesLost during seasons three through five. He was nominated for aWriters Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at theFebruary 2009 ceremony for his work on the fourth season.[1] The writing staff was nominated for the award again at theFebruary 2010 ceremony for their work on the fifth season.[2] He was formerly theshowrunner and executive producer of the TV seriesUnder the Dome.[3]
Wired describes Vaughan's comics work as "quirky, acclaimed stories that don't pander and still pound pulses". His creator-owned comics work is also characterized by "finite, meticulous, years-long story arcs", on which Vaughan comments, "That's storytelling, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Something like Spider-Man, a book that never has a third act, that seems crazy."[4] In 2007, Erik Malinowski, also ofWired, called Vaughan "the greatest comic book visionary of the last five years", comparing him toFrank Miller,Alan Moore,Paul Pope, andSteve Niles, and praised his addition to the TV seriesLost as redeeming that series' third season.[5]
Brian K. Vaughan was born July 17, 1976[6][7] inCleveland, Ohio, to Geoffrey and Catherine Vaughan. He grew up inRocky River andWestlake.[8] Vaughan and his older brother are both fans of writerPeter David, and according to Vaughan, their adolescent comics reading was largely defined by a shared love of David's 12-year run onThe Incredible Hulk.[9] Vaughan also citesJoss Whedon as the reason he wanted to become a writer,[10] a decision he made while attendingSt. Ignatius High School, from which he graduated in 1994.[8]
Vaughan signing a poster for his creator-owned series,Saga
From 2002 to 2008, Vaughan, who came to prefer writing his own characters,[12] wrote the creator-owned monthly seriesY: The Last Man, a post-apocalyptic science fiction series about the only man to survive the apparent simultaneous death of every male mammal on Earth. The series was published in sixty issues byVertigo and collected in a series of ten paperback volumes (and later a series of five hardcover "Deluxe" volumes). The series receivedEisner Awards in 2005 and 2008, and numerous other nominations.[13][14] The film rights to the series were acquired byNew Line Cinema.[15] Vaughan wrote his own screenplay for the project,[4] though it was reported in March 2012 that Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia were in final negotiations to write their own version.[16]
In 2006, Vaughan published the graphic novelPride of Baghdad, which centers on a group of lions who escape from an Iraqi zoo after the start of theIraq War.[4] The book was praised byIGN,[17] who named it the Best Original Graphic Novel of 2006, calling it a "modern classic", lauding it for combining a tale of survival and family with a powerful analogy of war, and praising Vaughan for representing various viewpoints through the different lion characters.[18]
From 2004 to 2010 Vaughan wrote another creator-owned series,Ex Machina, a political thriller that depicts the life of Mitchell Hundred, a former superhero known as the Great Machine who, in the wake of his heroism during theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks, is electedMayor of New York City.[19] The story is set during Hundred's term in office, and interwoven with flashbacks to his past as the Great Machine. Through this, the series explores both the political situations Hundred finds himself in, and the mysteries surrounding his superpowers. New Line Cinema purchased the film rights to the series in July 2005, and commissioned Vaughan to write one of the two commissioned scripts,[20] which he was reported to be working on in 2007.[4] Following the conclusion ofEx Machina in 2010, Vaughan reiterated his previous statement that he would concentrate on creator-owned work, saying, "I realized when I turned in this finalEx Machina script that it would be the first time I wasn't under some kind of deadline at Marvel or DC since 1996. That's a huge chunk of my life to spend with those characters. I love them, and I still read Marvel and DC's superhero books. I just think I'm better when I'm working on my own creations. When there are so many talented creators out there who are better at that stuff than me, I should leave those characters to them. I should do what I'm fortunate enough to be in the position to do, which is to create more new stuff."[21]
Vaughan was a writer, executive story editor and producer for seasons 3 to 5 on theABC TV seriesLost, a job he earned on the basis of his work onY: The Last Man,[4] of whichLost co-creator and executive producerDamon Lindelof was an ardent fan. Lindelof showed that book to seriesshowrunner and executive producerCarlton Cuse. Lindelof relates, "And I told him, 'We need a guy like this on the show, but I don't think he'd ever do it. I don't think he even works in L.A.' And the next thing we knew, he was on the show." He began his stint on the series as executive story editor with the episode "The Man from Tallahassee", which premiered in March 2007. Vaughan continued as story editor on several episodes until he began writing episodes, beginning with the episode "Catch-22", which Vaughan co-wrote withJeff Pinkner, and premiered in April that year.[8] That episode was praised byWired writer Erik Malinowski, who stated that the themes that Vaughan carried over toLost from his comics work, including intricately crafted storylines typified by pathos and hope, as well as pop culture references, redeemed that series' third season.[5]
Vaughan would write a total of 7 episodes, the last of which was the April 2009 episode "Dead Is Dead". He was first credited as a producer with the fourth-season premiere "The Beginning of the End", eventually acting as producer on a total of 29 episodes. He was also a co-producer onLost: Missing Pieces, a spinoff Internet short film series produced during the hiatus between the show's third and fourth seasons.
In November 2011Steven Spielberg selected Vaughan to adapt theStephen King novelUnder the Dome into a television series forShowtime, which is Vaughan's first television work sinceLost.[22] Vaughan was the showrunner and executive producer of the series.[3] He exited the show before the second season premiered in 2014.[23]
On March 14, 2012,Image Comics published the first issue of Vaughan andFiona Staples' epicspace opera/fantasy seriesSaga, which he conceived to be a concept strictly relegated to comics, and not adapted to other media. Although Vaughan was a child when he first conceived of the ideas for the book – which owes its inspiration toStar Wars – it was not until his wife became pregnant with his second child that he began to write the series, which harbors parenthood as an underlying theme.[24][25] The series depicts two aliens from warring races trying to survive with their newborn daughter.[25] The book is Vaughan's first publication for Image Comics,[26] and represents the first time he has employedfirst-person narration in his comics writing.[24] The first issue sold out of its first printing ahead of its March 14 release date, with a second printing ordered for April 11, the same release date for issue #2.[27] The series has received positive reviews[28] fromMTV,[29]Ain't it Cool News,[30]Comic Book Resources,[31]IGN,[32]Publishers Weekly[33] andTime magazine.[3] It has also appeared on theNew York Times Graphic Books Best Seller List,[34] won three 2013Eisner Awards,[35] won aHugo Award and was nominated for sevenHarvey Awards.[36][37]
In March 2013, Vaughan published the first issue ofThe Private Eye with artistMarcos Martín onPanel Syndicate, a pay-what-you-want host for their creative efforts.[38] Panel Syndicate offersDRM-free comics available for purchase/download for whatever price readers wish to pay. Through Panel Syndicate, Vaughan and Martin published 10 issues ofThe Private Eye and released the first issue ofBarrier in late 2015.[39]
Vaughan and his wife, a native ofOttawa, Ontario, Canada[41] and playwright, live in Los Angeles.[12] They have two children[25] and a petDachshund named Hamburger that has been repeatedly referenced as Vaughan's aide in selecting letters for theSaga letter column.[42] Hamburger has also appeared in an illustration of Vaughan and Fiona Staples that was included in a 2013Time magazine story onSaga.[3]
Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona Omnibus (collects vol. 1 #1–18, vol. 2 #1–24 and theX-Men/Runaways special, hc, 1,072 pages, 2018,ISBN1-302-91218-6)
Superman/Batman #26 (withTim Sale, two-page sequence among other writers and artists, 2006) collected inSuperman/Batman Volume 2 (tpb, 336 pages, 2014,ISBN1-4012-5079-3)
Swamp Thing by Brian K. Vaughan Volume 2 (collects #10–20 and profile pages from theSecret Files & Origins one-shot, tpb, 264 pages, 2014,ISBN1-4012-4598-6)
Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist (anthology):
"To Reign in Hell" (with Roger Petersen, in #3, 2004) collected inThe Amazing Adventures of the Escapist Volume 2 (tpb, 160 pages, 2004,ISBN1-59307-172-8)
The Private Eye #1–10 (with Marcos Martín, 2013–2015) collected in print asThe Private Eye (hc, 300 pages, Image, 2015,ISBN1-63215-572-9)
Barrier #1–5 (with Marcos Martín, 2015–2017) published in print as a 5-issue limited series (Image, May 2018; slipcased edition in March 2019,ISBN1-5343-1300-1)
