James Robinson (writer)
James Dale Robinson is a British writer of American comic books and screenplays who is known for his interest in vintage collectibles and memorabilia. Some of his best known comics are series focusing on the Justice Society of America, in particular the Starman character he co-created with Tony Harris.
Career
Comics
James Robinson has been writing for three decades, with an early comics work, "Grendel: The Devil's Whisper", appearing in the 1989 series of the British anthology A1. The series for which he is arguably most renowned is the DC Comics series Starman, where he took the aging Golden Age character of the same name and revitalized both the character and all those who had used the name over the decades, weaving them into an interconnected whole. In 1997, Robinson's work on the title garnered him an Eisner Award for "Best Serialized Story".He is also known for his The Golden Age limited series, which, despite being an Elseworlds story, established much of the backstory he would later use in Starman. He has written the ' series, and served as a consultant and co-writer in the first year of JSA and its subsequent spin-off Hawkman. Other work for DC includes a Vigilante miniseries and the Sandman spin-off Witchcraft for Vertigo. Robinson wrote a brief run of Wildcats, teamed with artist Travis Charest, that further developed the book's mythology, along with a spinoff mini-series called Team One.
Similarly, he served as a transitional writer on the Marvel Comics titles, Cable and Generation X in 1997–1998 including the "" crossover event. He wrote several issues of the "Heroes Reborn" version of Captain America
Leave It to Chance, created by Robinson with penciller Paul Smith, won Robinson two more Eisner Awards in 1997, for "Best New Series" and "Best Title for Younger Readers".
His other work includes Ectokid, one of the series created by horror/fantasy novelist Clive Barker for Marvel Comics' Razorline imprint, and Firearm for Malibu Comics' Ultraverse line.
In 2006, Robinson wrote Batman and Detective Comics, penning the eight-issue "" storyline, as part of the "One Year Later" project. In 2008–2010, Robinson was the writer of Superman. This run included the storyline "The Coming of Atlas". He wrote the 2009–2010 mini-series ' and began writing Justice League of America in October 2009 with art by Mark Bagley. Robinson was joined by artist Brett Booth on Justice League of America in February 2011. In May 2010, Robinson and Sterling Gates co-wrote, with artist Eddy Barrows, War of the Supermen, a Superman-based event that was the culmination of two years of story starting from . He concluded his work on Superman with issue #700.
Robinson later wrote a twelve-issue series starring The Shade, a character closely identified with his Starman series and recreated Earth 2 in an eponymous ongoing series for DC's The New 52 initiative in 2011 and 2012. One of the revisions which Robinson introduced was making the Earth Two Green Lantern gay.
In May 2013, Robinson ended his long relationship with DC Comics. His last issue of Earth 2 was #16. Many observers found the departure abrupt, since Robinson had teased of long term plans for Earth 2. Despite the abrupt nature of Robinson's departure from DC, Robinson's relationship with the company remains amicable. Robinson took new assignments from Marvel Comics after then. His first announced project for Marvel was a collaboration with co-writer Mark Waid and illustrator Gabriele Dell'Otto on an original graphic novel titled Spider-Man: Family Business. A second announced project for Marvel was All-New Invaders, an ongoing monthly comic series with artist Steve Pugh. He and Leonard Kirk launched a new Fantastic Four series in February 2014.
The Saviors was released in December 2013 by Image Comics. This story described what happens when Tomas Ramirez, a man working at a gas station stumbles upon an extraterrestrial plot that could mean the end of the Earth.
Dynamite Entertainment will publish Grand Passion, a monthly series by Robinson. His description of the series is "Grand Passion is definitely a departure from what I've been doing in the last few years. This series is about two wayward characters Doc and Mabel – one a cop, the other a crook – who are fated to fall in love at first sight even as Mabel swears she'll kill Doc if it's the last thing she does. It marries elements of a Harlequin romance with hard-boiled crime and takes it off in a direction that's surprising, funny, violent, and sexy. I'm very excited to roll up my sleeves and immerse myself in writing this tale."
He wrote an ongoing Scarlet Witch series for Marvel which began in late 2015. Robinson explained that he has been influenced by the work of Matt Fraction and David Aja on the Hawkeye title stating "How they managed to stay true to the character in the Avengers while also taking it in a fresh direction, so it wasn't just that same Avengers character doing solo things, which I don't think ever really works for any sustained period of time for any of those second-tier characters."
Robinson returned to DC Comics in late 2017 to write Wonder Woman. He completed his run on the series as of issue #50.
Screenwriting
In addition to his work in comics, Robinson wrote the screenplay for the 1993 direct-to-video film Firearm, and wrote and directed the 2002 feature Comic Book Villains, starring Cary Elwes and Michael Rapaport, as well as producing the screenplay for the 1995 film Cyber Bandits with Martin Kemp, Alexandra Paul, Grace Jones and singer Adam Ant. His best known screenplay was for the 2003 movie version of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.This last script caused some controversy among fans of the original work, many of whom were disappointed an established comics writer's take on Alan Moore's and Kevin O'Neill's series took so many liberties with and considerably changed the tone of the source material. Early drafts had reportedly relocated much of the action from England to America, allegedly in an attempt to make it more acceptable to an American audience.
In 2020 he was credited as the writer for episode #10 of the Stargirl TV series, based on the Geoff Johns and Lee Moder co-created character that spun out of Robinson's own co-creation, Jack Knight aka "Starman", son of Ted Knight aka "Starman" created by Gardner Fox and Jack Burnley.
Critical reception
Robinson's book London's Dark: A tale of love & war, life, death has been named one of the 500 "essential" graphic novels, as it was "at the vanguard of British graphic novels as a whole" although it was "a very raw work, full of experimentation".Personal life
Robinson lived in Los Angeles, where he was good friends with fellow writers and collaborators Geoff Johns and Sterling Gates.In 2009, he and Jann Jones, co-ordinating editor of the Johnny DC comics imprint, announced their engagement. They have since relocated to San Francisco and married.
Awards
James Robinson received an Inkpot Award in 2012.Early work
Titles published by various British and American publishers include:- London's Dark
- Shriek #2: "Trial & Error"
- A1 :
- * "Devil's Whisper"
- * "The Day the General Came"
- Crisis #40: "Murky Waters"
- Miracleman: Apocrypha #1: "The Rascal Prince" collected in Miracleman: Apocrypha
Dark Horse Comics
- The Terminator:
- *One Shot
- *Secondary Objectives #1–4 collected as T:SO
- *Endgame #1–3 collected as T:E
- Grendel Tales: Four Devils, One Hell #1–6 collected as GT: 4 Devils, 1 Hell
- Illegal Alien
DC Comics/Vertigo
- Batman:
- *':
- ** "Blades" collected in The Collected Legends of the Dark Knight
- ** "Werewolf" collected in Batman: Monsters
- ** "Citadel"
- ** "I am a Gun"
- ** "A Great Day for Everyone" collected in Robin: The Teen Wonder
- ** "Spook"
- ** "Playground"
- ** "Siege"
- *Batman/Deadman: Death and Glory
- *' collects:
- **Detective Comics #817–820
- **Batman #651–654
- *Detective Comics #988-993
- The Golden Age #1–4 collected as The Golden Age
- Showcase '93 #9: "Shining Knight"
- Green Lantern:
- *Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #7: "Green Hell!"
- *Green Lantern 80-Page Giant #1: "Alan Scott in a 1940s Tale"
- *Tangent Comics: Green Lantern collected in Tangent Comics vol.1
- *Tangent Comics: Tales of the Green Lantern collected in Tangent Comics vol.3
- Showcase '94 #1–2: "King Joker"
- Witchcraft:
- *Witchcraft #1–3 collected as Witchcraft
- *Witchcraft: La Terreur #1–3
- Starman:
- *Starman Omnibus Volume 1 collects:
- ** "Sins of the Father"
- ** "A Day in the Opal"
- ** "Talking with David '95"
- ** "Times Past: 1882, Back Stage, Back Then"
- ** "A night at the Circus"
- ** "Shards"
- ** "The Day Before the Day to Come"
- ** "Times Past: 13 Years Ago, Five Friends"
- ** "Sins of the Child"
- *Starman Omnibus Volume 2 collects:
- ** "Incident in an Old Haunt"
- ** "Encounters"
- ** "Times Past: First Joust"
- ** "Day & Night, Dark & Bright"
- ** "Legends of the Dead Earth"
- ** "Talking with David '96"
- ** "Sand and Stars"
- ** "Hell and Back"
- ** "Christmas Knight"
- ** "Times Past: 1976, Super Freaks and Backstabbers"
- ** "The Return of Bobo"
- *Starman Omnibus Volume 3 collects:
- ** The Shade #1–4
- ** "Infernal Devices"
- ** "With Some Help from His Friends"
- ** "Mr. Pip and Mr. Black"
- ** "Times Past: 1990, A Hero Once...Despite Himself"
- ** "Stars in My Eyes"
- ** "Talking with David '97"
- ** "...La Fraternite De Justice Et Libere!"
- ** "Talking with Ted, Talking with Jack"
- *Starman Omnibus Volume 4 collects:
- ** "Lightning and Stars"
- ** "Villain's Redemption"
- ** "Times Past: 1944, Science and Sorcery"
- ** "Knight's Past"
- ** "Times Past: 1943, Things That Go Bump in the Night"
- ** "Destiny"
- ** "Times Past: 1952, Good Men and Bad"
- ** Starman: The Mist: "Good Girls and Bad"
- ** Starman 80-Page Giant
- ** Batman/Hellboy/Starman #1–2
- *Starman Omnibus Volume 5 collects:
- ** "All the Starlight Shining"
- ** "City without Light "
- ** "Stars My Destination"
- ** "Times Past: 1899, The Scalphunter Years: A Rich Man's Folly"
- ** "The Ropes"
- ** "A Chilly Day in Opal"
- ** "A Star is Born"
- *Starman Omnibus Volume 6 collects:
- ** "In Tranquility and Fire"
- ** "Grand Guignol"
- ** "Times Past: 1899, The Scalphunter Years: His Death and the Dying of It"
- ** "Sons and their Fathers"
- ** "Talking with David "
- ** "1951"
- ** "Arrivederci, Bon Voyage, Goodbye"
- ** "Blackest Night"
- *The Shade #1–12
- Vigilante: City Lights, Prairie Justice #1–4 collected as V:CLPJ
- Superman:
- *Legends of the DC Universe #1–3: "U.L.T.R.A. Humanite"
- *Superman:
- **The Coming of Atlas collects:
- *** "The World on His Shoulders"
- *** "Time Lost"
- *** "All That's Red and Blue Falls Down"
- *** "The Dog of Steel"
- ** New Krypton, vol.1 includes:
- *** Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen Special #1
- *** Special
- *** "New Krypton, Part Two"
- *** Adventure Comics Special featuring The Guardian: "New Krypton, Part Three"
- ** New Krypton, vol.2 includes:
- *** "New Krypton, Part Six"
- *** "New Krypton, Part Nine"
- **Mon-El, vol.1 collects:
- *** "The Mind of Rudy Jones"
- *** "The Long Goodbye"
- *** "Suspicion!"
- *** "Yesterday and Tomorrow"
- *** "Power and Weakness"
- *** "The Fall and Rise of Jonathan Kent"
- *** "The Tourist"
- *** "The Setup"
- **' includes:
- *** Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen Special #2
- *** "Codename: Patriot, Part Four"
- **Mon-El, vol.2 collects:
- *** "Down Time"
- *** "7734"
- *** "The History Lesson"
- *** "Man of Valor"
- *** "The Espionage Squad"
- **Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton, vol.1 includes:
- *** "Prologue, Part Two: The Future is Now"
- *** "Part One: Invaded"
- *** "Part Three: Destiny"
- *** "Part Four: Namesake"
- *** "Part Five: Bottles and Battles"
- **Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton, vol.2 includes:
- *** "Part Six: Divided, Conquerable"
- *** "Part Eight: Irony in Ire"
- *** "Part Nine: This is the Way the World Ends"
- ** "The Comeback"
- *' collected as:
- ** New Krypton, vol.3
- ** New Krypton, vol.4
- *Blackest Night: Superman #1–3 collected in Black Lantern Corps vol.1
- *' #0–4 collected as
- *Superman vol. 4 #40-41
- Legends of the DC Universe 80-Page Giant: "Lights, Camera and Too Much Action"
- Justice Society of America:
- *The Justice Society Returns includes:
- **All Star Comics #1: "Time's Keeper"
- **All-American Comics: "Untitled"
- **Adventure Comics: "Stars and Atoms"
- **Sensation Comics: "Womanly Deeds and Manly Words"
- **All Star Comics #2: "Time's Arrow"
- *JSA: Justice Be Done includes:
- ** "Gathering Storm"
- ** "Justice Be Done"
- ** "The Wheel of Life"
- ** "Old Souls"
- ** "Ouroboros"
- *JSA 80-Page Giant: "Memory Lane"
- *Blackest Night: JSA #1–3 collected in Black Lantern Corps vol.2
- Hawkman #1–7, 9–10 collected in Hawkman Omnibus vol.1
- Action Comics #879–889: "Captain Atom"
- Justice League of America:
- *' #1–7 collected as Justice League: Cry for Justice
- *Justice League of America collected as:
- ** Team History
- ** Dark Things
- ** Omega
- ** The Rise of Eclipso
- Flashpoint: The Outsider #1–3 collected in Flashpoint: The World of Flashpoint Featuring Wonder Woman
- Superman/Batman Annual #5: "Reign of Doomsday, Part Five: No Exit!"
- "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" July 2012
- Earth-Two #1–16, Annual #1: with Nicola Scott, 2012–2013
- Wonder Woman vol. 5 #31–50, Annual #2
- Trinity'' vol. 2 #17-22
Marvel Comics
- 67 Seconds
- The Incredible Hulk Annual #18: "The Running Man"
- Ectokid #1–3
- Tales of Suspense: "Men & Machines"
- Captain America:
- *Heroes Reborn: Captain America includes:
- ** "Crossroads"
- ** "Serpents & Eagles"
- * "World War III, Part Four: War without End..."
- *Captain America Comics 70th Anniversary Special: "What Makes the Man" collected in Timely 70th Anniversary Collection
- Cable #44–50, −1
- Generation X #29–31, −1
- Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business OGN
- Fantastic Four:
- *Fantastic Four vol. 2 #13: "World War III, Part One: Life in Wartime"
- *Fantastic Four vol. 5
- **Volume 1: The Fall of the Fantastic Four collects:
- *** "The Fall of the Fantastic Four"
- **Volume 2: Original Sin collects:
- *** "Original Sin"
- *** "East of Eden"
- **Volume 3: Back in Blue collects:
- *** "East of Eden"
- *** "Fairy Tale"
- *** "East of Eden"
- *** "Back in Blue"
- *Fantastic Four #642–645
- The Avengers vol. 2 #13: "World War III, Part Two: Winning and Losing"
- Iron Man vol. 2 #13: "World War III, Part Three: No Time to Mourn!"
- Generation X/Gen¹³: "Harvest of Evil"
- All-New Invaders
- *Volume 1: Gods and Soldiers collects:
- ** "To Tame the Very Gods Themselves"
- ** "Gods and Soldiers"
- *Volume 2: Original Sin collects:
- ** "Original Sin"
- ** "Death-Locked!"
- Age of Ultron vs Marvel Zombies #1-4
- Armor Wars #1-5, 1/2
- Avengers Vol. 6 #0
- Scarlet Witch Vol. 2 #1-15
- Squadron Supreme Vol. 4 #1-15
- Nick Fury #1-6
- Cable Vol. 3 #1-5
Malibu Comics
- Firearm #0–18
- Break-Thru #1–2
- The Night Man:
- * "Firearm Origin"
- * "Crossfire!"
- Malibu Ashcan: Rafferty #nn
- Codename: Firearm #0–2: "Idle Thoughts"
Wildstorm
- WildC.A.T.s:
- *James Robinson's Complete WildC.A.T.s collects:
- ** WildC.A.T.s #15–20, 50, Annual #1
- ** Wildstorm Rising #1
- ** Team One: WildC.A.T.s #1–2
- *WildC.A.T.s/X-Men includes:
- ** WildC.A.T.s/X-Men: The Modern Age
- Union #4 collected in Wildstrom Rising
- Leave It to Chance collected as:
- *Shaman's Rain
- *Trick or Threat and Other Stories
- *Monster Madness and Other Stories
- Gen¹³ Bootleg #7: "Renaissance Ruckus"
Other US publishers
- Bluebeard #1–3
- Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #1: "Bart People" collected in Treehouse of Horror: Heebie-Jeebie Hullabaloo
- Vampirella :
- *Vampirella 25th Anniversary Special: "Two So Different"
- *Vampirella: Bloodlust #1–2
- *Vampirella/Dracula: The Centennial: "Vampirella vs. Dracula"
- Ash :
- *Ash #½
- *Ash: Fire and Crossfire #1–2
- Airboy #1–4
Screenwriting
- Firearm
- Cyber Bandits
- Comic Book Villains
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- Son of Batman - story by