Jason Aaron
Jason Aaron | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 28, 1973 Jasper, Alabama, U.S. |
| Occupation | Comic book writer |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Known for | Creator-owned titles Scalped and Southern Bastards; writing for Marvel Comics (Ghost Rider, Wolverine, PunisherMAX, Thor, The Avengers); DC Comics (Absolute Superman) |
Jason Aaron (born January 28, 1973) is a prominent American comic book writer acclaimed for his creator-owned titles such as Scalped and Southern Bastards. He is also known for his contributions to Marvel, writing series like Ghost Rider, Wolverine, PunisherMAX, Thor, and The Avengers. Aaron has worked with DC Comics as well, notably on Absolute Superman. In 2019, he scripted Marvel’s central miniseries for the company-wide crossover event, The War of the Realms. Among his significant creations are the character Gorr the God Butcher and the introduction of Jane Foster as Thor within the primary Marvel Universe. The film Thor: Love and Thunder heavily draws inspiration from his Thor narratives.
Early life
Hailing from Jasper, Alabama, Aaron was inspired early on by his cousin, author Gustav Hasford, whose novel served as the basis for the film Full Metal Jacket. From a young age, Aaron aimed to become a comic book writer. Although his father was initially doubtful, his mother encouraged his passion by purchasing comics for him. He completed his education at Shelby County High School and later obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Career
Aaron embarked on his professional comics journey in 2001 after winning a talent search held by Marvel Comics. His winning entry was an eight-page script featuring Wolverine, which appeared in Wolverine #175 (June 2002). This success opened doors for further submissions. In 2006, submitting anonymously to DC Comics's Vertigo, he secured his first major project: the Vietnam War-themed miniseries The Other Side. This work garnered an Eisner Award nomination for Best Miniseries and marked a pivotal moment in his career. Following this, Vertigo commissioned him to create Scalped, a creator-owned series illustrated by R. M. Guéra, set on a fictional Native American reservation.
In 2007, Aaron penned Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Marvel editor Axel Alonso, impressed by Aaron’s work on The Other Side and Scalped, brought him onboard to write titles including Wolverine, Black Panther, and a lengthy run on Ghost Rider beginning in April 2008. In January 2008, Aaron signed an exclusive contract with Marvel that did not interfere with his ongoing work on Scalped. That same year, he contributed the Penguin story for the series Joker's Asylum.
After contributing four issues to Wolverine in 2007, Aaron launched the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, which was linked to the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This series experimented with genre variations across its story arcs. In 2010, it was relaunched under the simpler title Wolverine. Subsequently, he spearheaded new volumes of The Incredible Hulk in 2011 and Thor: God of Thunder in 2012. Collaborating with artist Mike Deodato, Aaron wrote the limited series Original Sin in 2014. In 2018, he revitalized both the Thor series with Mike del Mundo and The Avengers with Ed McGuinness. Additionally, after Marvel reacquired licensing rights in 2019, Aaron authored a year-long storyline for Conan the Barbarian.
At the 2019 San Diego Comic Con, it was revealed that Aaron’s Thor narrative featuring Jane Foster as the Thunder God would serve as a major influence for the 2022 motion picture Thor: Love and Thunder.
In 2022, Aaron introduced a new creator-owned title through Boom! Studios, titled Once Upon a Time at the End of the World. This 15-issue series utilizes three different artists sequentially to highlight the progression of time.
By March 2023, Aaron confirmed that he was no longer bound by an exclusive contract with Marvel. Later that year in August, he was announced as the writer for DC’s six-issue limited series Batman: Off-World, illustrated by Doug Mahnke and Jamie Mendoza, which explores Batman’s inaugural space adventure during his youth. In October 2023, it was disclosed that Aaron would write a three-issue arc on Action Comics focusing on Bizarro, part of DC’s "Superman Superstars" initiative featuring rotating creative teams; this storyline is scheduled from January to March 2024.
In June 2024, Marvel released a one-shot story by Aaron titled Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime, marking Disney's Uncle Scrooge character’s debut within the Marvel Multiverse.
Personal life
In 2000, Aaron made Kansas City, Kansas his home, a move that coincided with the debut of the initial X-Men movie. He is an avid supporter of the Alabama Crimson Tide football program. Although raised in the Southern Baptist tradition, Aaron has since adopted atheism but continues to maintain a profound fascination with religious subjects, which frequently inform his creative output.
Awards and nominations
- 2007: Nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Miniseries with The Other Side.
- 2015: Received a nomination for the Eisner Award for Best Writer for his work on Southern Bastards, Original Sin, Thor: God of Thunder, and Men of Wrath.
- 2015: Nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series for Southern Bastards.
- 2015: Awarded the Harvey Award for Best New Series for Southern Bastards.
- 2015: Nominated for the Harvey Award for Best Writer, also for Southern Bastards.
- 2016: Honored with the Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series recognizing Southern Bastards.
- 2016: Earned the Eisner Award for Best Writer accolade for contributions to Southern Bastards, Star Wars, Doctor Strange, Thor, and Men of Wrath.
- 2016: Recipient of the Inkpot Award.
DC Comics
- The Other Side #1–5 (art by Cameron Stewart, published by Vertigo, 2006), later compiled as The Other Side (trade paperback, 144 pages, 2007; hardcover by Image, 2017)
- Scalped (collaborating with R. M. Guéra and various artists, Vertigo, 2007–2012) collected into:
- Book One (#1–11, hardcover, 296 pages, 2015; trade paperback, 2017)
- Book Two (#12–24, hardcover, 320 pages, 2015; trade paperback, 2018)
- Book Three (#25–36, hardcover, 256 pages, 2015; trade paperback, 2018)
- Book Four (#37–49, hardcover, 352 pages, 2016; trade paperback cancelled)
- Book Five (#50–60, hardcover, 128 pages, 2016; trade paperback cancelled)
- Friday the 13th: How I Spent My Summer Vacation #1–2 (art by Adam Archer, Wildstorm, 2007), included in Friday the 13th: Book Two (trade paperback, 160 pages, 2008)
- Hellblazer #245–246: "Newcastle Calling" (with Sean Gordon Murphy, Vertigo, 2008), collected in John Constantine, Hellblazer Volume 21 (trade paperback, 352 pages, 2019)
- Joker's Asylum: Penguin one-shot (illustrated by Jason Pearson, 2008), compiled in Joker's Asylum Volume 1 (trade paperback, 128 pages, 2008)
- American Vampire Anthology #1: "Lost Colony" (art by Declan Shalvey, Vertigo, 2013), gathered in American Vampire Volume 6 and omnibus editions
- Batman: Off World #1–6 (with Doug Mahnke, ongoing from 2023 to 2024)
- Action Comics #1061–1063 "I, Bizarro" storyline (illustrated by John Timms, scheduled for release in 2024)
- Absolute Superman #1 to present (with Rafa Sandoval from 2024 onward)
Marvel Comics
- X-Men:
- Collected in Wolverine by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection Volume 1 (trade paperback, 392 pages, published in 2013) featuring:
- Wolverine vol. 2 #175: "A Good Man" (art by UDON Studios, marking Aaron's debut publication in comics, released in 2002)
- Wolverine vol. 3:
- "The Man in the Pit" (#56 with Howard Chaykin, published in 2007)
- "Get Mystique!" (#62–65 with Ron Garney, released in 2008)
- "A Mile in My Moccasins" (#73–74 with Adam Kubert, from 2009)
- Wolverine: Manifest Destiny #1–4 (illustrated by Stephen Segovia, spanning from 2008 to 2009)
- The series Wolverine: Weapon X, illustrated by Ron Garney along with Yanick Paquette (#6–9), C. P. Smith (#10), and Davide Gianfelice (#16), ran from 2009 to 2010 and is collected as:
- Volume one of Wolverine by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection, including issues #1–5 (trade paperback, 392 pages, released in 2013)
- Volume two collects issues #6–16 (trade paperback, spanning 320 pages published in 2014)
- This collection also incorporates the one-shot Dark Reign: The List—Wolverine, plus the short story "Get Mystique (Slight Return)" from Dark X-Men: The Beginning #3
- The comprehensive Wolverine by Jason Aaron Omnibus, which compiles issues #1–16 of volume three alongside Manifest Destiny, one-shots and shorts into a hardcover edition totaling 688 pages released in 2011
- For Wolverine vol.4 (with artists Renato Guedes, Jefte Palo (#5.1), Daniel Acuña (#6–9), Goran Sudžuka (#15–16), Ron Garney (#17–19), Steven Sanders and Billy Tan (#300–304), published between 2010 and 2012) collections include:
- Volume three compiling issues #1–9 plus issue #5.1 (trade paperback containing 456 pages released in 2014)
- This volume features the short story "Falling" taken from Wolverine: Road to Hell
- It also contains the six-issue limited series spin-off titled Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine, written by Aaron with art by Adam Kubert during years 2010 to 2011
- Volume four collecting issues #10–20 and issues #300–304 as a trade paperback totaling approximately 408 pages issued in 2014
- The expansive hardcover edition titled Wolverine Goes to Hell Omnibus, encompassing issues #1–20 plus issue #5.1 and issues #300–304 along with the limited series and short stories from Road to Hell across nearly a thousand pages published in hardcover form in 2018
- Volume three compiling issues #1–9 plus issue #5.1 (trade paperback containing 456 pages released in 2014)
- Contributed to X-Force Special: Ain't No Dog: "Hunters and Killers" co-feature with Werther Dell'Edera within a one-shot issue released in 2008; this story is included in the collected volume titled X-Force by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost Volume One
- Authored the storyline X-Men: Schism, spanning issues #1 through #5 with Carlos Pacheco and others during the year of release in 2011; compiled into both hardcover and trade paperback editions
- Worked on series such as Wolverine and the X-Men, collaborating with Chris Bachalo among others from years spanning roughly between late-2011 through early-2014; collected extensively into volumes and omnibus editions exceeding nine hundred pages
- Produced content for Amazing X-Men, volume two issues #1 through #6 alongside Ed McGuinness and Cameron Stewart (#6) during its run in early-to-mid-2014; these are gathered under the title Amazing X-Men: The Quest for Nightcrawler
- Co-wrote the digital series titled Wolverine: Japan's Most Wanted, consisting of thirteen chapters collected into a hardcover edition
- Collected in Wolverine by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection Volume 1 (trade paperback, 392 pages, published in 2013) featuring:
- Helmed writing duties on volume four of the series Ghost Rider, working with Roland Boschi among others from roughly late-2008 through mid-2009; this run is available as two volumes under the banner of "The War for Heaven," including an additional spin-off limited series; all material is consolidated within an omnibus edition
- Contributed to volume three of the Black Panther series covering issues #39 through #41 featuring the arc "See Wakanda and Die," which ties into Secret Invasion storylines
- Created a digital one-shot featuring American Eagle later reprinted within collected editions
- For Punisher:
- An omnibus edition compiles Jason Aaron’s entire run on Punisher MAX with artist Steve Dillon including specials alongside main series content
- His recent work on The Punisher volume thirteen is gathered into two volumes named collectively as The King of Killers
- Additional significant Marvel projects include contributions to titles such as Deadpool volume two issue #900; Immortal Weapons anthology; Captain America anthologies; Ultimate Comics Captain America; The Incredible Hulk volume three; participation in Avengers vs. X-Men event; promotional one-shot BrooklyKnight; multiple Thor series including various volumes and spin-offs; A+X anthology entries; Thanos Rising limited series; Original Sin event encompassing Thor and Loki tie-ins; Image Comics’ Men of Wrath; extensive runs on Star Wars volume four featuring numerous collected editions including crossovers co-written alongside Kieron Gillen; Secret Wars Weirdworld miniseries; Doctor Strange volume four accompanied by an omnibus collection; Marvel Legacy one-shot contributions; sustained work on Avengers volume seven from its inception in late-2018 continuing presently with numerous trade paperbacks covering major arcs including War of the Realms crossover and Avengers Assemble event; Conan the Barbarian volume four plus King Conan miniseries; War of the Realms omnibus consolidating main event stories alongside tie-ins; Valkyrie series co-written with Al Ewing and Torunn Grønbekk incorporating King in Black tie-ins; contribution to Marvel Comics #1000 anthology; participation within Amazing Spider-Man anthology one-shot; involvement in Heroes Reborn event available both as hardcover and trade editions; Miracleman co-feature work; and an upcoming Uncle Scrooge narrative scheduled for publication in June of 2024.
Image Comics
- 24Seven Volume 2: "This Mortal Coil" (collaborated with Miguel Alves, anthology graphic novel, 240 pages, 2007)
- Pilot Season: Ripclaw (with Jorge Lucas, single issue, Top Cow, 2007) later compiled in Pilot Season 2007 (trade paperback, 144 pages, 2008)
- Liberty Comics #2: "First Cens*r" (art by Moritat, anthology, 2009) included in CBLDF Presents: Liberty (hardcover, 216 pages, 2014; trade paperback, 2016)
- Southern Bastards (written alongside Jason Latour):
- Issues #12 and 18 scripted by Latour with Chris Brunner as artist (2014–2018), collected as:
- Here Was a Man (#1–4, trade paperback, 128 pages, 2014)
- Gridiron (#5–8, trade paperback, 128 pages, 2015)
- Homecoming (#9–14, trade paperback, 128 pages, 2016)
- Gut Check (#15–20, trade paperback, 160 pages, 2018)
- Included in Thought Bubble Anthology #6: "Earl Around the World" (2017)
- Issues #12 and 18 scripted by Latour with Chris Brunner as artist (2014–2018), collected as:
- The Goddamned (with R. M. Guéra):
- Issues #1–5 (2015–2016) gathered as The Goddamned: Before the Flood (trade paperback, 152 pages, 2017; hardcover, 2017)
- The Virgin Brides #1–5 (2020–2021), collected as The Goddamned: The Virgin Brides (trade paperback, 144 pages, 2021)
- Sea of Stars (co-written by Aaron and Dennis Hallum; illustrated by Stephen Green, 2019–2021), collected into:
- Lost in the Wild Heavens (#1–5, trade paperback, 136 pages, 2020)
- The People of the Broken Moon (#6–11, trade paperback, 120 pages, 2021)
- The Old Guard: Tales Through Time #5: "An Old Soul" (with Rafael Albuquerque; anthology contribution, 2021), compiled in The Old Guard: Tales Through Time (trade paperback, 176 pages, 2021)
- Bug Wars, issues #1-6 scheduled for release in 2025
Other publishers
- Country Ass-Whuppin': A Tornado Relief Anthology: "Ass Kicked in Alabama" (collaboration with Ryan Cody; one-shot from 12-Gauge Comics, 2012)
- Love is Love (untitled one-page story co-created with Jason Latour; anthology graphic novel published by IDW Publishing in 2016)
- Sound and Fury (co-written by Aaron alongside Ryan Cady; artwork by Takashi Okazaki and others; graphic novel released by Z2 Comics in 2021)
- Once Upon a Time at the End of the World (artwork by Alexandre Tefenkgi on issues #1–5; Leila del Duca on #6–10; Nick Dragotta on #11–15; published by Boom! Studios beginning in 2022), collected as:
- Love in the Wasteland (#1–5 trade paperback, 176 pages, 2023)
- The Rise and Fall of Golgonooza (#6–11 trade paperback, 176 pages, expected in 2024)
- Planned launch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Volume 2 from IDW Publishing in 2024 with Jason Aaron serving as lead writer