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Nick Spencer

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Nick Spencer
Spencer at a signing at
Midtown Comics in Manhattan
Area(s)Writer
Notable works
Morning Glories
Secret Avengers
Superior Foes of Spider-Man
The Astonishing Ant-Man
Captain America: Steve Rogers
Secret Empire
The Amazing Spider-Man

Nick Spencer is an American comic book writer and former politician best known for his Image series Morning Glories, his collaborations with artist Steve Lieber on the comedic series Superior Foes of Spider-Man and The Fix, a three-year run on Marvel's The Amazing Spider-Man, as well as his controversial[1][2][3] Captain America storyline that began with Captain America: Sam Wilson, continued with Captain America: Steve Rogers, and culminated in the 2017 company-wide crossover "Secret Empire".

Career

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While in college, Spencer wrote three pitches to Marvel soon after the launch of the Marvel Knights imprint in 1998. According to Spencer, "Joe [Quesada] didn’t like the first two but the third one was a Black Cat pitch that was a Jackie Brown kind of Tarantino-esque thing. He said he liked that one but they weren’t going to do anything with anybody new at the time." After another pitch was rejected, this time by Oni Press, Spencer went on to work in politics, running twice for the Cincinnati City Council as a candidate of the progressive Charter Party and working for a Democratic politician.[4]

After Spencer moved to New York City, he successfully pitched a series to Jim Valentino at Image Comics. The first issue of Existence 2.0 was released in July 2009 under Valentino's Shadowline imprint,[5][6] while its follow-up, titled Existence 3.0, launched in November.[7] In January 2010, Newsarama named Spencer one of ten creators to watch for the coming year.[8] Two months later, Paramount Pictures acquired the rights to Existence 2.0, to be developed through Platinum Dunes with Miles Millar and Alfred Gough as executive producers.[9][10] Meanwhile, Spencer followed up on the Existence duology with three new titles launched in 2010: Forgetless,[11][12] Shuddertown[13] and his first ongoing series Morning Glories.[14]

In September 2010, Spencer made his Big Two debut with a Jimmy Olsen serial that ran in Action Comics[15] and featured the comic book debut of the character Chloe Sullivan from the TV series Smallville.[16] In 2011, he wrote the modern revamp of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents[17] and was announced as the new writer of the Supergirl ongoing series,[18] although he was taken off the title shortly thereafter.[19] At the 2011 Emerald City Comic Con, it was announced that Spencer had signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, one that would allow him to continue writing his existing titles at both DC and Image.[20]

Spencer's first work for Marvel was the Iron Man 2.0 ongoing series which debuted in February 2011.[21] That same year, he wrote a short arc tying the Secret Avengers series into the company-wide crossover storyline "Fear Itself"[22] and was one of three writers that worked on the relaunch of the Ultimate Marvel line, along with Jonathan Hickman and Brian Michael Bendis, writing Ultimate Comics: X-Men.[23] In 2016, Spencer became the writer of the Captain America: Steve Rogers ongoing series, in which Captain America was replaced by a version of himself loyal to the villainous organization Hydra. The storyline culminated in the company-wide crossover "Secret Empire", with Spencer writing the eponymous mini-series that acted as the centerpiece.[24][25][26]

In March 2018, it was announced that Spencer would be writing a relaunch of The Amazing Spider-Man series set to debut that year, replacing long-time writer Dan Slott, as part of the Fresh Start relaunch that July.[27] Spencer's run concluded in 2021, with issue #74.

In June 2021, it was announced that Spencer was working in an undisclosed leading capacity for Substack's new comics publishing initiative.[28][29] The following month, it was reported that Spencer led a group of creators, which included Scott Snyder, Jonathan Hickman, Saladin Ahmed, Molly Ostertag, James Tynion IV, that formed a deal with Substack to publish creator-owned comics stories, essays, and instructional guides on that platform.[30]

Bibliography

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Image Comics

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  • Shadowline:
    • Existence 2.0 #1–3 and Existence 3.0 #1–4 (with Ron Salas, 2009–2010) collected as Existence 2.0/3.0 (tpb, 144 pages, 2010, ISBN 1-60706-299-2)
    • Forgetless #1–5 (with W. Scott Forbes, Jorge Coelho and Marley Zarcone, 2009–2010) collected as Forgetless (tpb, 128 pages, 2010, ISBN 1-60706-361-1)
    • Fractured Fables: "Cinderella" (with Rodin Esquejo, anthology graphic novel, hc, 160 pages, 2010, ISBN 1-60706-269-0; sc, 2012, ISBN 1-60706-496-0)
    • Shuddertown #1–4 (with Adam Geen, 2010) collected as Shuddertown (hc, 128 pages, 2010, ISBN 1-60706-943-1)
      • Issue #5 was solicited for October 2010 but never released.[31]
    • Morning Glories (with Joe Eisma, 2010–2016) collected as:
    • The Infinite Vacation #1–5 (with Christian Ward and Kendall Bruns, 2011–2013) collected as The Infinite Vacation (hc, 192 pages, 2013, ISBN 1-60706-721-8)
  • Thief of Thieves #1–7 (co-written by Spencer and Robert Kirkman, art by Shawn Martinbrough, Skybound, 2012) collected as Thief of Thieves: I Quit (tpb, 152 pages, 2012, ISBN 1-60706-592-4)
  • Bedlam (with Riley Rossmo and Ryan Browne, 2012–2014) collected as:
  • Paradigms (with Butch Guice, unreleased ongoing series, announced for 2014)[32][33]
  • Cerulean (with Frazer Irving, unreleased ongoing series, announced for 2014)[32][34]
  • The Great Beyond (with Morgan Jeske, unreleased limited series, announced for 2014)[32][35]
  • The Fix (with Steve Lieber, 2016–2018) collected as:

Marvel Comics

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Other publishers

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References

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  1. ^ Leon, Melissa (May 26, 2016). "'Captain America' Writer Nick Spencer: Why I Turned Steve Rogers into a Supervillain". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016.
  2. ^ McMillan, Graeme (May 2, 2017). "Marvel Asks for Patience as Controversial Captain America Story Nears End". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 2, 2017.
  3. ^ Riesman, Abraham (June 27, 2017). "First Captain America Became Evil, Then the Comics World Erupted". Vulture. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017.
  4. ^ Johnston, Rich (October 13, 2010). "Nick Spencer – Politics, Business… Oh, And Comics Too". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  5. ^ Callan, Jonathan (June 15, 2009). "Image's New "Existence"". CBR.com. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  6. ^ Arrant, Chris (June 23, 2009). "Existential Comics: Talking to the Creators of Existence 2.0". Newsarama. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  7. ^ Wigler, Josh (October 29, 2009). "Nick Spencer's 'Existence 3.0'". CBR.com. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  8. ^ Arrant, Chris (January 4, 2010). "Ten for '10: Things to Watch in the New Year - Creators". Newsarama. Archived from the original on September 30, 2015.
  9. ^ Nemiroff, Perri (March 16, 2010). "Paramount To Adapt The Comic Existence 2.0". Cinema Blend. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
  10. ^ Wigler, Josh (April 12, 2010). "Nick Spencer's Thriving Existence". CBR.com. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  11. ^ Wigler, Josh (September 29, 2009). "Nick Spencer Wants You To Remember Forgetless". CBR.com. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  12. ^ Arrant, Chris (December 23, 2009). "Creator Nick Spencer Hopes You Remember Image's Forgetless". Newsarama. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  13. ^ Wigler, Josh (January 22, 2010). "Visiting Spencer's Shuddertown". CBR.com. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  14. ^ Ching, Albert (August 3, 2010). "Nick Spencer Takes Readers to School with 'Morning Glories'". Newsarama. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  15. ^ Mahadeo, Kevin (July 20, 2010). "Spencer Takes "Action" with Jimmy Olsen". CBR.com. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  16. ^ Ching, Albert (September 22, 2010). "Jimmy Olsen, Chloe Sullivan, Nick Spencer and Action Comics". Newsarama. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  17. ^ Renaud, Jeffrey (July 19, 2010). "Spencer Reloads T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents". CBR.com. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  18. ^ DCE Editorial (October 8, 2010). "NYCC 2010: Meet your new SUPERGIRL creative team | DC Comics". DC Comics. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  19. ^ DCE Editorial (December 15, 2010). "A few teases for the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents fans | DC Comics". DC Comics. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  20. ^ Montgomery, Paul (March 6, 2011). "ECCC 2011: NICK SPENCER GOES EXCLUSIVE WITH MARVEL COMICS". iFanboy. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  21. ^ Ching, Albert (October 20, 2010). "War Machine Gets an IRON MAN 2.0 Upgrade From Nick Spencer". Newsarama.com. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  22. ^ West, Josh (February 10, 2011). "NICK SPENCER TO TAKE ON THE SECRET AVENGERS". Archived from the original on August 23, 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  23. ^ "Kaare Andrews Covers Marvel's Ultimate Relaunch". CBR.com. May 17, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
  24. ^ Mueller, Matthew (5 May 2017). "Controversy Creates Cash: Marvel's Secret Empire #0 Tops April's Sales Charts". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  25. ^ MacDonald, Heidi (May 5, 2017). "April Sales: Secret Empire #0 Lifts Marvel; GNs fall". Comics Beat. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  26. ^ Yehl, Joshua (May 9, 2017). "Secret Empire or Batman: Deciding The Real Best-Selling Comic of April 2017". IGN. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  27. ^ Adams, Tim (March 1, 2018). "Amazing Spider-Man Being Relaunched By Spencer & Ottley". CBR.com. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  28. ^ Perlberg, Steve (June 9, 2021). "Substack just made a major new hire as it goes after comic-book writers and expands its fiction efforts". Business Insider. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  29. ^ MacDonald, Heidi (June 10, 2021). "Report: Substack is getting into comics with Nick Spencer at the helm". ComicsBeat. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  30. ^ Gustines, George Gene (August 9, 2021). "Comic Book Writers and Artists Follow Other Creators to Substack". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 9, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  31. ^ Allstetter, Rob (July 21, 2010). "IMAGE COMICS FOR OCTOBER". Comics Continuum. Archived from the original on July 24, 2010.
  32. ^ a b c "Nick Spencer Brings Three All-New Series to Image". Image Comics. January 9, 2014. Archived from the original on January 18, 2014.
  33. ^ Meylikhov, Matthew (January 22, 2014). "The Year of Nick Spencer, Part 1: Image Expo, Boats and Paradigms [Interview]". Multiversity Comics. Archived from the original on January 24, 2014.
  34. ^ Meylikhov, Matthew (January 23, 2014). "The Year of Nick Spencer, Part 2: Cerulean and the Next Big Mystery [Interview]". Multiversity Comics. Archived from the original on January 25, 2014.
  35. ^ Meylikhov, Matthew (January 24, 2014). "The Year of Nick Spencer, Part 3: The Great Beyond and Looking to the Future [Interview]". Multiversity Comics. Archived from the original on February 8, 2014.
  36. ^ Richards, Dave (August 11, 2011). "Spencer & Cloonan Go to Hell in "Victor Von Doom"". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015.
  37. ^ Melrose, Kevin (November 4, 2011). "Marvel cancels Victor Von Doom miniseries before its debut". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on November 6, 2011.
  38. ^ Allstetter, Rob (August 22, 2011). "MARVEL COMICS FOR NOVEMBER". Comics Continuum. Archived from the original on September 17, 2011.
  39. ^ Allstetter, Rob (September 27, 2011). "MARVEL COMICS FOR DECEMBER". Comics Continuum. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011.
  40. ^ Allstetter, Rob (October 21, 2011). "MARVEL COMICS FOR JANUARY". Comics Continuum. Archived from the original on October 23, 2011.
  41. ^ Melrose, Kevin (October 9, 2010). "DiDio addresses fate of Jimmy Olsen, other DC co-features". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 11, 2010.
  42. ^ Phegley, Kiel (November 5, 2010). "Spencer Soars On "Supergirl"". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on November 5, 2010.
  43. ^ Phegley, Kiel (December 16, 2010). "Spencer Shifts Off "Supergirl"". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on December 19, 2010.
  44. ^ Johnston, Rich (March 22, 201). "When Nick Spencer Left Supergirl". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nick Spencer.
Preceded by Secret Avengers writer
2011 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Ultimate Comics: X-Men writer
2011–2012 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secret Avengers writer
2013–2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Rick Remender
 Captain America writer
2015–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by The Amazing Spider-Man writer
2018–2021 		Succeeded by
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