Bill Willingham
| Bill Willingham | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writer, Penciller, Inker |
Notable works | Elementals Fables |
Bill Willingham (born December 1956 in Fort Belvoir, Virginia) is an American writer and artist of comics.
Biography
Willingham got his start in 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, 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 Top Secret.
He first gained attention for his 1980s comic book series Elementals published by Comico, which he both wrote and drew, however the series had trouble maintaining a consistent schedule, and Willingham's position in the industry remained spotty for many years. He contributed stories to Green Lantern and started his own independent, black-and-white comic book series Coventry which lasted only 3 issues. He also produced the pornographic series Ironwood for Eros Comix.
In the late 1990s, Willingham reestablished himself as a prolific writer. He 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 writer's collective, Clockwork Storybook, of which Willingham was a founding member. In the early 2000s, he began writing extensively for DC Comics, including the limited series Proposition Player, a pair of limited series about the Greek witch Thessaly from The Sandman, and most notably the popular series Fables.[1]
Willingham worked on the Robin series from 2004 to 2006, and established Shadowpact, a title spun off his Day of Vengeance limited series. He is currently writing Jack of Fables, an ongoing spin-off of his Fables series, co-written by Matthew Sturges.[2] 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.[3][4] Unfortunately, he had to hand over the writing to Sturges after two issues because of illness.[5] He will also be working on DCU: Decisions, a four-issue mini-series that deals with Green Arrow's endorsement of a political candidate[6] and, again with Sturges, is writing the Vertigo series House of Mystery[7] and DC's Justice Society of America with issue #29.[8][9]
He currently lives in Las Vegas. He frequently interacts with fans on the Fabletown message boards
Bibliography
As writer
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 1986-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 1991-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 1997 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 |
| Fables (Currently still in publication.) |
#1-Present | July 2002-Present | 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 2004-July 2004 | DC Comics, Vertigo imprint |
| Batman | #631-633 #643-644 |
October 2004-December 2004 Early October 2005-Late October 2005 |
DC Comics |
| Day of Vengeance | #1-6 | June 2005-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 (Currently in publication.) |
#1-Present | September 2006-Present | DC Comics, Vertigo imprint |
| Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall | 2006 | DC Comics, Vertigo imprint | |
| DCU Infinite Holiday Special | #1 | February 2007 | DC Comics |
| Peter & Max: A Fables Novel | 2009 | DC Comics, Vertigo imprint |
Notes
- ^ Irvine, Alex (2008), "Fables", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The Vertigo Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 72–81, ISBN 0-7566-4122-5, OCLC 213309015
- ^ Irvine, Alex (2008), "Jack of Fables", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The Vertigo Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 100–101, ISBN 0-7566-4122-5, OCLC 213309015
- ^ SDCC '07: Bill Willingham on Salvation Run, Newsarama, July 27, 2007
- ^ Baltimore Comic Con '07 - DC Universe Panel, Newsarama, September 9, 2007
- ^ EXCLUSIVE: Willingham Explains "Salvation Run" Departure, Comic Book Resources, January 28, 2008
- ^ Dan Didio on DCU: Decisions, Newsarama, May 9, 2008
- ^ Sturges & Willingham on the New House of Mystery, Newsarama, February 20, 2008
- ^ Talking JSA With Willingham & Sturges, Comic Book Resources, January 19, 2009
- ^ Willingham and Sturges Talk Justice Society of America, Newsarama, December 26, 2008
References
- Bill Willingham at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)