Robinson made his writing debut in 1989 with the graphic novelLondon's Dark, illustrated byPaul Johnson and later named one of the 500 "essential" graphic novels, as it was "at the vanguard [...] of British graphic novels as a whole" despite being "a very raw work, full of experimentation".[2] He continued contributing short stories to various anthologies, including "Grendel: Devil's Whisper" which appeared inA1, before breaking into the American market with a number ofTerminator series forDark Horse. In 1993, Robinson penned the limited seriesThe Golden Age forDC Comics, which, despite being anElseworlds story, established much of the backstory he would later use in his arguably most renowned work,Starman.[3] WithStarman, Robinson took the agingGolden Age character of the same name and revitalized both him and all those who had used the name over the decades, weaving them into an interconnected whole. In 1997, Robinson's work on the title garnered him anEisner Award for "Best Serialized Story".[4] In the late 90s, Robinson worked on a follow-up series toThe Golden Age,[5] to be titledThe Silver Age and illustrated byHoward Chaykin,[6] although he ultimately decided not to pursue the project as the bulk of his ideas were presented inMark Waid andBrian Augustyn's 1998 seriesJLA: Year One.[7]
Robinson made a foray into screenwriting with a screenplay for the 1993direct-to-video short filmFirearm, based on the comic book series of the same name published byMalibu.[13] In the late 90s, Robinson and David S. Goyer wrote an unused draft for then-upcoming filmFreddy vs. Jason[14][15] and scriptedEvermere forC2 Pictures, which aimed for a 2000 release withChuck Russell attached to direct.[16] Robinson's best known work as a screenwriter is the 2003 adaptation ofThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,[17] which caused some controversy among fans ofthe original work, many of whom were disappointed that the film took many liberties and changed the tone of the source material. Early drafts had reportedly relocated much of the action from England to America, allegedly in an attempt to make it more acceptable to American audience.[18][19]
After taking a break from writing comics, Robinson returned in 2006 with an eight-issue storyline "Batman: Face the Face", which ran through bothBatman andDetective Comics as part of DC Comics' company-wide initiative "One Year Later".[20] In 2008, he took over the writing duties of the ongoingSuperman series, starting with the storyline "The Coming of Atlas".[21][22] In 2009, Robinson launchedJustice League: Cry for Justice,[23] intended to run as a second ongoingJustice League title but turned into a 7-issue mini-series instead due to poor critical reception.[24][25][26][27] Despite the controversial reception, Robinson was nominated for Best Writing in the 2010 Eisner Awards.[28][29] In October 2009, Robinson took over the regularJustice League of America ongoing title with and artistMark Bagley,[30] who was later replaced byBrett Booth.[31] In May 2010, Robinson andSterling Gates co-wroteWar of the Supermen, the limited series that acted as the culmination of theSuperman crossover storyline that started two years prior with "Superman: New Krypton".[32] Robinson concluded his run onSuperman with issue #700 (Aug. 2010).[33] In 2011, Robinson launched the 12-issue seriesThe Shade, starring the eponymous character closely associated with theStarman series.[34][35] The following year, he launched theEarth 2 ongoing series which reimagined the long-standing concept of the fictional parallel earth for new readers as part of DC Comics' company-wide relaunch "The New 52".[36][37] One of the revisions introduced by Robinson was making theGreen Lantern of Earth 2 gay, which made national news.[38] Robinson left the title after sixteen issues.[39][40]
In 2013, Robinson launchedThe Saviors withJ. Bone, his first creator-owned series since the discontinuation ofLeave It to Chance a decade earlier.[41] In 2014, Marvel published an original graphic novel titledThe Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business, co-written by Robinson and Mark Waid.[42] That same year, Robinson's launched two new ongoing series at Marvel as part of theAll-New Marvel NOW! initiative,All-New Invaders with artistSteve Pugh[43] and a new volume of theFantastic Four series with artistLeonard Kirk.[44] In 2015, Robinson and artistGreg Hinkle launched the 4-issue mini-seriesAirboy at Image, which featured the eponymous Golden Age character emerging from the world of comic books into the "real" world and interacting with the creators. The series caused controversy with itstransphobic remarks made by fictional Robinson in issue #2,[45][46] which propmpted the creators to make amendments for the eventual collected edition.[47] Also in 2015, Robinson penned the ongoing seriesScarlet Witch for Marvel,[48] which, he explained, was influenced by the work ofMatt Fraction andDavid Aja on the 2012 seriesHawkeye.[49] In 2016, Robinson launched another creator-owned series,Grand Passion, illustrated byTom Feister and published byDynamite, which he described as "a departure from what I've been doing in the last few years."[50] The following year, Robinson penned aJames Bond spin-off series starringFelix Leiter for Dynamite[51][52] and returned to DC Comics for a run on theWonder Woman series,[53] which he wrote for a year, leaving after issue #50 (Sept. 2018).[54]
Includes the 4-issue spin-off limited seriesThe Shade (written by Robinson, art byGene Ha (#1), J. H. Williams III (#2), Bret Blevins (#3) and Michael Zulli (#4), 1997)
Includes theStarman 80-Page Giant one-shot (written by Robinson, art by John Lucas, Mike Mayhew, Wade Von Grawbadger, Dusty Abell,Tim Burgard and Stephen Sadowski, 1999)
Includes the "Starman, FBI Agent" short story fromJSA: All Stars #4 (written by Robinson, art by Tony Harris, 2003)
Omnibus Volume 6 (collects #61–80, hc, 544 pages, 2011,ISBN1-4012-3044-X)
Includes the "81th issue" ofStarman (written by Robinson, art byFernando Dagnino, 2010) released as a tie-in to the "Blackest Night" crossover storyline.
"Part Six: Divided, Conquerable" (co-written by Robinson and Sterling Gates, art by Travis Moore andEduardo Pansica, inAdventure Comics vol. 2 #10, anthology, 2010)
"Part Eight: Irony in Ire" (with Bernard Chang, inSuperman #699, 2010)
"Part Nine: This is the Way the World Ends" (co-written by Robinson and Sterling Gates, art by Pete Woods, in #3, 2010)
In addition to this short run, Robinson also wrote the "World War III" storyline published throughout the last issues of the series that were part of the "Heroes Reborn" relaunch:
The Final Hex (collects #11–15, tpb, 112 pages, 2017,ISBN1-302-90266-0)
Scarlet Witch by James Robinson: The Complete Collection (collects #1–15 and the short story from theDoctor Strange: Last Days of Magic one-shot, tpb, 344 pages, 2021,ISBN1-302-92738-8)
Star Wars Special: C-3PO: "The Phantom Limb" (with Tony Harris, 2016) collected inJourney to Star Wars: The Force Awakens — Shattered Empire (hc, 144 pages, 2016,ISBN1-302-90210-5)
In 1993, Malibu released theFirearm #0 package consisting of a VHS cassette with the 35-minuteFirearm film and theFirearm #0 comic book (written by Robinson, drawn byMike Wieringo andRob Haynes) featuring the conclusion of the short film's story.
During the series' run, Robinson penned a short Firearm story and co-plotted a crossover issue, both of which were published as part ofThe Night Man ongoing series:
"Firearm Origin" (withHoward Chaykin, co-feature in #4, 1994)
^Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1990s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.).DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 267.ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.In this ongoing series by writer James Robinson and artist Tony Harris, a new Starman was unleashed on the world.
^Yarbrough, Beau (17 August 1998)."CCI GRAB BAG".Comic Book Resources. Archived fromthe original on 3 February 1999.Goodwin's death is also part of the reason the long-rumored follow-up to James Robinson's "The Golden Age" series has taken so long, although "The Silver Age" sequel is in the works, according toCarlin.
^Yarbrough, Beau (20 July 1999)."'LEAVE IT TO CHANCE' ENDS, RETURNS AS ONE SHOTS".Comic Book Resources. Archived fromthe original on 18 January 2001.Despite long-running Internet rumors and speculation to the contrary, he will not be following up his popular "Golden Age" Elseworlds DC Comics miniseries with a "Silver Age" series, as most of his ideas for the book appeared in last year's "Justice League: Year One" series written by Mark Waid.
^Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 287: "With a successfulStarman revamp and acclaimed Elseworlds limited seriesThe Golden Age already under his belt, Robinson had set the stage for his newest opus – the return of the Justice Society of America."
^Manning, Matthew K. (2008). "1990s". In Gilbert, Laura (ed.).Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 283.ISBN978-0-7566-4123-8.'Operation: Zero Tolerance' truly began in the prologue withinX-Men #65...the story sprang from there into all the other X-titles of the time and featured the work of writers James Robinson, John Francis Moore, Larry Hama, Steve Seagle, and Joe Kelly.
^Cowsill, Alan "2000s" in Dolan, p. 341: "Writer James Robinson brought his epic run to an end with a touching tale that brought Superman back to Lois Lane after his time on New Krypton."
^Richards, Dave (20 November 2013)."James Robinson Ushers in a New Era for theFantastic Four". Comic Book Resources.Archived from the original on 29 April 2014.These questions and more will be explored in an all-new volume ofFantastic Four by writer James Robinson and artist Leonard Kirk, which kicks off in February.
^Rogers, Vaneta (11 July 2018)."Wonder Woman Writer Reflects on Jason's Arc & His Run Ending at #50". Newsarama. Archived fromthe original on 12 July 2018.This week's oversizedWonder Woman #50, the saga exploring Diana's discovery of Jason and the character's subsequent story arc come to a close as James Robinson ends his 20-issue run on the title.
^Johnston, Rich (9 February 2009)."Lying In The Gutters Volume 2 Column 196". Comic Book Resources.Archived from the original on 31 July 2013.Congratulations to DC's Jann Jones and James Robinson, recently engaged!
