Gillen has won theBritish Fantasy Award twice forDie. He has been nominated for aHugo Award seven times, once forThe Wicked + The Divine, three times forOnce & Future, and three times forDie. He also has been nominated five times for aGLAAD Media Award, winning once forYoung Avengers.
In addition to his work as a reviewer, Gillen has acted as a guest speaker at numerous video game industry conferences.[6][7] In video game journalism, he created theNew Games Journalism manifesto.[8][9][10][11]
He co-founded the British video game journalism websiteRock Paper Shotgun in July 2007.[12][13] In a September 2010 post atRock Paper Shotgun, Gillen announced he was leaving full-time video game journalism to devote his time to comic book writing.[14]
Gillen's earliest work in comics was published in variousBritish small-press anthologies andWarhammer Monthly.The Guardian highlighted that Gillen and the artistJamie McKelvie "met in 2003 at a convention where Gillen was selling his first photocopied comics".[15] Between 2003 and 2007, Gillen collaborated with McKelvie on a comic strip forPlayStation Official Magazine – UK, entitled "Save Point", following up with the pop music-themedurban fantasy seriesPhonogram,[16][15][17] which was described by Gillen as his "first real comic".[18] Veteran comics writerWarren Ellis dubbed the series "one of the few truly essential comics of 2006."[19] The first issue, published byImage Comics, went on sale in August 2006, with the first series running for six issues. The sequel, a series of one-shots subtitledThe Singles Club, launched in December 2008.[20]
On 14 April 2008, it was announced Gillen would collaborate with artist Greg Scott to expand on Warren Ellis'newuniversal series with "a story about killing the future" set in 1959.[21] That year, he authoredCrown of Destruction, aWarhammer Fantasy comic.[22][23] Further Marvel assignments included aDazzler short story and aBeta Ray Bill one-shot, which was followed by a three-issue mini-series.[24]
In late 2010, Gillen launched another X-Men spin-offGeneration Hope that picked up plot threads from the end of the "Second Coming" storyline.[30][31][32][33][34] Gillen wrote the title for twelve issues before passing it toJames Asmus.[35] After co-scripting a few issues ofUncanny X-Men with outgoing writerMatt Fraction, Gillen took over the series with issue #534.1.[36] His time on the title saw the book through the 2011 "Fear Itself" storyline, a renumbering to #1 in the wake of the "Schism" storyline, and a tie-in with the "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline. After finishing his run with issue #20, Gillen penned a five-issue epilogue miniseriesAvX: Consequences that dealt with the aftermath of that event.[37]
In 2011, Gillen returned toMarvel's Asgard with a run onJourney into Mystery (the original name of theThor series, continuing its original numbering), starting with issue #622 and finishing with #645 in October 2012. As part of theMarvel NOW! relaunch, Gillen wrote two books:Iron Man (again taking over from Fraction) with art by his frequentUncanny X-Men collaborator Greg Land, andYoung Avengers with Jamie McKelvie.[37][38]
Between 2014 and 2019, Gillen and McKelvie collaborated onThe Wicked + The Divine.[39] This Image series won "Best Comic" at the 2014British Comic Awards[40] and received multiple award nominations such as the 2015Eisner Award for "Best New Series",[41] the 2018 Eisner Award for "Best Continuing Series"[42] and the 2020Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story.[43] In 2015, the duo also returned toPhonogram after a long hiatus with the third and final volume titledThe Immaterial Girl.[44][45][15]ComicsAlliance highlighted that there was a three year delay between the volume announcement and its release "as everyone involved had rightly become superstars, but it was more than worth the wait".[45] Gillen's other creator-owned work includedThree (2013), a mini-series about thehelots ofSparta,[46][47][48] andThe Ludocrats, initially announced in 2015 as a collaboration between writers Gillen andJim Rossignol and artistDavid Lafuente.[49] The series was eventually published in 2020 with art by Jeff Stokely.[50]
From 2015 to 2016, Gillen wrote the 25-issueStar Wars: Darth Vader series for Marvel.[51][52][53] This series introduced the characterDoctor Aphra; Gillen had originally planned to have Vader kill Aphra during the story, but realized a way that she could escape and still keep the integrity of both characters.[54] Between 2016 and 2018, he wroteStar Wars: Doctor Aphra #1–#13,[55][56] and then cowrote #14–#19 withSimon Spurrier.[57][58] Gillen also took over writing theStar Wars ongoing series in November 2017 with issue #38; his final issue was #67 in June 2019.[52][59]
Gillen andStephanie Hans began discussing a collaboration on a creator-owned ongoing comic following their collaboration onJourney Into Mystery. While they started with a different idea, they eventually settled on an idea which would becomeDie.[60] It premiered in December 2018 and was published by Image Comics.[61][62][63] In September 2021, the series ended its run with twenty issues total.[64]Die won the 2021British Fantasy Award for "Best Comic / Graphic Novel"[65] and it was a finalist for theHugo Award forBest Graphic Story or Comic three times.[66][67][68] In 2018, Gillen announced that he was preparing a role-playing game based onDie.[62][69] Gillen developed the game and the comic concurrently; ideas he developed for one would then crossover into the other.[70][71] The hardcover edition of theDIE: The Roleplaying Game was released by British publisher Rowan, Rook and Decard in June 2023[72] following a successfulKickstarter campaign in May 2022 where the game was fully funded within 24 hours.[70][73][74]
Between August 2019 and October 2022, Gillen wrote the 30-issue creator-owned seriesOnce & Future with artist Dan Mora.[75][76][77] This series was a finalist for the Hugo Award in "Best Graphic Story or Comic" three times.[67][68][78] In June 2020, Marvel announced that Gillen would write the limited seriesWarhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar, the first series in a line ofWarhammer comics published by the company.[79] In 2021, Gillen and McKelvie reunited withBatman: Black and White #5 forDC Comics.GamesRadar+ highlighted that they "have worked together on-and-off for the past 17 years" and that theBatman short story was their "first major project together since the conclusion ofThe Wicked + The Divine in 2019".[16] Gillen commented that he started to do more "work for hire again" due to the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic – "I didn't possibly think my brain could do creator-owned work, with everything that entailed. [...] So, I was certainly open to more work for hire (amongst other projects) and I've been enjoying it".[80]
Also in 2021, Gillen began writing theEternals ongoing series, illustrated byEsad Ribić.[81] This culminated in the 2022 crossover eventA.X.E.: Judgment Day which focused on conflict between theAvengers, the X-Men and the Eternals.[82] In March 2022, as part of theDestiny of X relaunch followingA.X.E.: Judgment Day, Gillen began writing theImmortal X-Men series with artist Lucas Werneck which focused on the Quiet Council ofKrakoa;[83][84] this series built plot points for the 2023 eventSins of Sinister.[85][86] The final part ofKrakoan Age of the X-Men, theFall of X, began in 2023 followingSins of Sinister. Gillen is writer on multiple series in this era such as the ongoingImmortal X-Men conclusion, the limited seriesRise of the Powers of X (January 2024) with artist R.B. Silva and the limited seriesX-Men: Forever (March 2024) with artist Luca Maresca.[87][88][89]
AtEmerald City Comic Con 2024, Gillen announced a new Image series titledThe Power Fantasy with artist Caspar Wijngaard andletterer Clayton Cowles; the first issue released in August 2024. It is set in analternate history from 1945 to 1999 and focuses on six super powered people who must never come into conflict.[90][91] On the creative origins, Gillen stated that "The Power Fantasy emerged in a similar way toThe Wicked + The Divine. I was doing a book at Marvel, and became aware of exactly the sort of things I could do with the reins taken off. AsThe Wicked + the Divine was toYoung Avengers, this is toImmortal X-Men".[90][92] In 2025,The Power Fantasy was nominated for Best New Series at the Eisner Awards.[93] Gillen collaborated again with artist Hans on the originalImage graphic novelWe Called Them Giants which was released in October 2024.[94][95] It was nominated for the "Best Graphic Story or Comic" Hugo Award in 2025.[96] Sean Dillon ofThe Beat opined that the "postapocalyptic genre" ofWe Called Them Giants "serves Gillen better than the Alternate History ofThe Power Fantasy. For all his interest in history, Gillen remains a writer intensely tied to the present".[97] Dillon viewed "the post-apocalypse" as benefiting "Gillen's skills as a writer"; he also noted that while "Gillen is an author known primarily for writing stories about young people fucking around and finding out, there remains no one better in this line of work at writing crotchety old women" as seen in the graphic novel's Beatrice.[97]
Each issue featured one or more short stories (named "b-sides" by Gillen and McKelvie) which are not included in the trade paperback collection:
Issue #1 featured "She Who Bleeds for Your Entertainment" (art by Laurenn McCubbin) and "The Power of Love" (art by Marc Ellerby)
Issue #2 featured "Wuthering Heights" (art byEmma Vieceli) and "The Singer" (art by Daniel Heard)
Issue #3 featured "David Kohl: Phonomancer" (art by Leigh Gallagher) and "Control" (art byLee O'Connor)
Issue #4 featured "The Roses" (art byDavid Lafuente) and "Theory and Practice" (art by Charity Larrison)
Issue #5 featured "Ska Attack Squad" (art by Dan Boultwood)
Issue #6 featured "Your Song" (art byP. J. Holden) and "Altantis to Interzone" (art byAdam Cadwell)
Issue #7 featured "The Queen is Dead" (art by Nikki Cook) + "Blood Mountain" (art byBecky Cloonan) + "30" (art by Andy Bloor) + "Once in a Lifetime" (art by Sean Azzopardi)
24 Panels: "Introduction" (with Sean Azzopardi; Gillen was also the curator of this project, anthology graphic novel, 112 pages, 2018,ISBN1-5343-1126-2)
Die #1–20 (with Stephanie Hans, 2018–2021) collected asDie (hc, 656 pages, 2022,ISBN1-5343-2344-9)
The Ludocrats #1–5 (co-written by Gillen andJim Rossignol, art by Jeff Stokely, 2020) collected asThe Ludocrats (tpb, 152 pages, 2020,ISBN1-5343-1703-1)
S.W.O.R.D. #1–5 (with Steven Sanders and Jamie McKelvie (co-feature in #1), 2010) collected asS.W.O.R.D.: No Time to Breathe (tpb, 128 pages, 2010,ISBN0-7851-4076-X)
Generation Hope (with Salvador Espin, Jamie McKelvie (#5 and 9),Tim Seeley (#10–11) and Steven Sanders (#12), 2011) collected as:
The Future is a Four-Letter Word (collects #1–5, tpb, 152 pages, 2011,ISBN0-7851-4719-5)
Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen: The Complete Collection Volume 2 (collects vol. 2 #4–20, tpb, 496 pages, 2020,ISBN1-302-92277-7)
Includes the 5-issue limited seriesAvX: Consequences (written by Gillen, art byTom Raney (#1), Steve Kurth (#2),Scot Eaton (#3),Mark Brooks (#4) and Gabriel Hernández Walta (#5), 2012–2013)
Journey into Mystery (with Doug Braithwaite, Richard Elson,Whilce Portacio (#628–629, 631), Mitch Breitweiser (#632), Carmine Di Giandomenico (#637–638, 642–644) and Stephanie Hans (#645), 2011–2012) collected as:
Journey into Mystery by Kieron Gillen: The Complete Collection Volume 1 (collects #622–636, tpb, 392 pages, 2014,ISBN0-7851-8557-7)
Journey into Mystery by Kieron Gillen: The Complete Collection Volume 2 (collects #637–645, tpb, 456 pages, 2014,ISBN0-7851-8574-7)
Includes theExiled one-shot andNew Mutants vol. 3 #42–43 (co-written by Gillen andDan Abnett withAndy Lanning, art by Carmine Di Giandomenico, 2012) as part of the "Exiled" inter-title crossover.
IncludesThe Mighty Thor #18–21 (co-written by Gillen and Matt Fraction, art byAlan Davis and Carmine Di Giandomenico (#19–20), 2012) as part of the "Everything Burns" inter-title crossover.
Star Wars: Darth Vader (with Salvador Larroca,Mike Norton (co-feature in #20) and Max Fiumara (co-feature in #25); issues #14–15 are co-written by Gillen andJason Aaron, 2015–2016) collected as:
Includes theStar Wars: Vader Down one-shot andStar Wars vol. 4 #13–14 (co-written by Gillen and Jason Aaron, art byMike Deodato, Jr., 2016) as part of the "Vader Down" inter-title crossover.
Omnibus (collects #1–25,Annual #1,Star Wars vol. 4 #13–14 and theStar Wars: Vader Down one-shot, hc, 736 pages, 2017,ISBN1-302-90821-9)
The Most Important Comic Book on Earth: "Melody" (script by Gillen based on the concept byCara Delevingne, art bySean Phillips, anthology graphic novel, 352 pages,DK, 2021,ISBN0-7440-4282-8)
^George, Richard; Schedeen, Jesse (10 August 2009)."Taking Control of S.W.O.R.D." IGN.Archived from the original on 8 October 2013. Retrieved16 August 2009.
^Richards, Dave (24 August 2009)."Kieron Gillen Talks Thor". Comic Book Resources.Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved12 October 2009.
