| Peter Milligan | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | (1961-06-24)24 June 1961 (age 64) London, England |
| Area | Writer |
Notable works | Bad Company Shade, the Changing Man Enigma Human Target X-Force /X-Statix Hellblazer |
| Awards | UK Comic Art Award for Best Writer, 1991, 1994 |
| petermilligan | |
Peter Milligan (born 24 June 1961[1]) is a Britishcomic book writer who has written extensively for both British and American comic book industries. In the UK, Milligan has contributed to numerous anthology titles including2000 AD,Revolver,Eagle andA1, and helped launch the magazineDeadline. In the US, he is best known for his frequent contributions toDC Comics'Vertigo imprint, which include the revamped DC propertiesShade, the Changing Man andHuman Target, a four-year run on the imprint's premier titleHellblazer, and original seriesEnigma,The Extremist,Egypt andGreek Street, as well as theMarvel seriesX-Statix, co-created by Milligan and artistMike Allred.
Milligan started his comic career withSounds music paper'scomic stripThe Electric Hoax, withBrendan McCarthy, with whom he went to art school.[2] Milligan later moved to write short stories for2000 AD in the early 1980s. By 1986, Milligan had his first ongoing strip in2000AD called "Bad Company", with artistsBrett Ewins andJim McCarthy. "Bad Company" was a popular future war story and helped Milligan become better known.
Concurrently, Milligan, Ewins and Brendan McCarthy had been working on theanthology title,Strange Days forEclipse Comics.Strange Days featured three strips, "Paradax", "Freakwave", and "Johnny Nemo". Milligan, McCarthy and Ewins produced three issues of thispsychedelic comic, it was not a great seller but it picked up a small, loyal readership. The most conventional strip, "Johnny Nemo", had its own series, while the more quirky "Paradax" had a two-issue series published byVortex Comics in 1987.[3]
By 1989, Milligan was swapping between strips such as "Bad Company", while still writing material in2000AD, such as "Hewligan's Haircut" with artistJamie Hewlett. Milligan and artist Jim McCarthy created the Steve Ditko-inspired "Bix Barton". This was first run as a black and white strip for its first outing, "Barton's Beasts"; the second strip was called "Carry On Barton" (originally "Carry On Snuffing"). The strip was very popular and was a precursor of "Devlin Waugh" and others.
In 1989, he had his first work published byDC Comics.[3]Skreemer was a six-issue mini-series (May 1989 – October 1989) drawn by Brett Ewins that was somewhat lost in the midst of the so-called "British Invasion" of American comics of the time. A darkpost-apocalypticgangster story, the series received critical acclaim, but did not sell well. Milligan was soon to become a regular writer for DC while still working on his more personal comics in the United Kingdom in comics such as2000 AD, and its spin-off titlesCrisis andRevolver.
The 1990s saw Milligan revampSteve Ditko's characterShade, the Changing Man forDC Comics.[4] This proved his most successful American comic, and came at the end of the first wave of the "British Invasion". With issue No. 33 (March 1993), it became part of theVertigo imprint.[5] It was cancelled with issue No. 70 (April 1996). A one-off story marking Vertigo's tenth anniversary was published in 2003.[3]
Milligan succeededGrant Morrison onAnimal Man for a six-issue run in 1990–1991,[6] and became the regular writer ofBatman inDetective Comics in the same year. During an editorial meeting, Milligan presented the idea that led to the creation ofAzrael, who became Batman during the "Knightfall" crossover.[7]
Skin (art by Brendan McCarthy) was the story of a youngthalidomideskinhead in 1970s London, and his attempts to deal with his disability and the world in general.[2] The strip was due to feature inCrisis in 1990 but the publishersFleetway were worried by the controversial subject matter, plus they were concerned with the use of explicit language in the story. The printers refused to print it, blaming the graphic language and controversial subject matter as a reason.[8] The story remained in limbo until eventually being published as agraphic novel byTundra Press to little controversy.
Milligan and artistDuncan Fegredo createdEnigma forDisney Comics' planned Touchmark imprint. When the Touchmark line was cancelled, the project moved to DC's newly launched Vertigo line in 1993.[9][10] Milligan quickly followed this up withThe Extremist with artistTed McKeever.[11] Both titles dealt with taboo subjects for a mainstream publisher, but were applauded for their handling of these subjects.[12][13]
Milligan and artistMike Deodato launched theElektra series forMarvel Comics in November 1996.[14] Milligan spent the remainder of the decade writing one-off specials such asFace andThe Eaters, or miniseries likeEgypt andTank Girl The Odyssey (with its co-creatorJamie Hewlett providing art), as well as acting as advisory editor toPaul Honeyford'sFighting Figurines. Milligan and Brendan McCarthy's psychedelic comicRogan Gosh was reprinted in a collected edition by Vertigo in 1996,[3] after being first serialised six years earlier inRevolver.
Milligan rounded out the decade by writing aThe Human Target four-issue miniseries (April 1999 – July 1999).[15]
Milligan's film work includes the screenplay forPilgrim (2000, also known asInferno), starringRay Liotta. He scripted the 2002 adaptation of theMelvin Burgess novelAn Angel for May.[16]
In 2001, Marvel Comics' new editor-in-chiefJoe Quesada began revamping theX-Men family of titles. Milligan and artistMike Allred took overX-Force with issue No. 116 (July 2001),[17] and immediately replaced the book'sRob Liefeld-styled team with a more satirical one: theOrphan, theAnarchist,U-Go Girl,Phat,Vivisector,Venus Dee Milo,Dead Girl andDoop.X-Force was cancelled with issue No. 129 (August 2002), and replaced by a new title,X-Statix, with Milligan and Allred continuing as the creative force.[18] Milligan proposed a character based on a resurrectedPrincess Diana. News spread to the Britishtabloid newspaperThe Daily Mail, which strongly objected. Eventually the character was altered, as were the references to theBritish royal family.[19]X-Statix was cancelled with issue No. 26 (Oct. 2004).[3]
Milligan wrote issues #166–187 ofX-Men, teamed with artistSalvador Larroca, in 2005.[3] He returned toThe Human Target with the graphic novelFinal Cut, followed by all 21 issues of the subsequent series for Vertigo.[15] In 2006, he wrote theX-Statix Presents: Dead Girl five-issue miniseries for Marvel collaborating with artist Nick Dragotta and co-creator Mike Allred. The following year he wrote anInfinity, Inc. limited series for DC[20] andThe Programme forWildstorm, starring a Soviet Cold War superhero.[21] Milligan was involved in 2007'sBatman crossover, "The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul", by writing the lead-inBatman Annual No. 26, as well as the parts of the storyline in theRobin monthly title.[3]
Milligan scripted for the BBC interactive animated seriesMeta4orce[22] and theSub-Mariner: The Depths limited series for Marvel'sMarvel Knights imprint.
In late 2008, Milligan was named writer for the long-running Vertigo seriesHellblazer,[23] and wrote that imprint'sGreek Street,[24][25] Additionally, for Marvel, he wrote the 2008 one-shotMoon Knight: Silent Knight, with artistLaurence Campbell.[26]
In 2010, Milligan was announced as the writer forBatman #703, a prelude to the "Bruce Wayne: The Road Home" crossover storyline,[27] although he later clarified that he was not involved in the production of the issue.[28]
FollowingDC's 2011 relaunch, Milligan became the writer ofRed Lanterns, anongoing series which debuted in September 2011.[3][29][30] He wroteJustice League Dark, a spin-off of theJustice League franchise, starringJohn Constantine andShade, the Changing Man.[31] up to issue No. 8 (June 2012), following which he moved toStormwatch from issue No. 9 (July 2012).[32] In 2017 and 2018, he penned the revivals of two classic British properties forTitan Comics,Dan Dare[33] andThe Prisoner.[34]
Writer Peter Milligan, alongside artist Chris Bachalo and psychedelic cover artist Brendan McCarthy breathed new life into the bizarre world of Shade, the Changing Man, reimagining the obscure Steve Ditko character for a brave new world.
{{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Finally given her own ongoing series by writer Peter Milligan and artist Mike Deodato, Elektra found a new use for her grace and skill after defeating a group of ninjas.
{{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| Preceded by | Batman writer 1990 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Marv Wolfman | Detective Comics writer 1991–1992 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Animal Man writer 1990–1991 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by n/a | Elektra writer 1996–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | X-Force writer 2001–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | X-Men writer 2005–2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Hellblazer writer 2009–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by n/a | Justice League Dark writer 2011–2012 | Succeeded by Jeff Lemire |
| Preceded by n/a | Red Lanterns writer 2011–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Stormwatch writer 2012–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadowman writer 2013–2014 | Succeeded by Andy Diggle |
| Preceded by Greg Pak (Eternal Warrior vol. 2) | Eternal Warrior writer 2014–2015 | Succeeded by Robert Venditti (Wrath of the Eternal Warrior) |
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