James Dale Robinson
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| James Robinson | |
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| Birth name | James Dale Robinson |
| Born | April 1, 1963 Manchester, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Area(s) | Writer |
| Notable works | Starman |
James Dale Robinson (born 1 April 1963) is a British writer of comic books and screenplays who is also known for his interest in vintage collectibles and memorabilia. His style is described as smart and energetic, built upon his vast knowledge of obscure continuity from the period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books.
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[edit] Career as writer of comics
A native of Manchester, James Robinson has been writing for over two decades, with his first credited comics work, "The Devil's Whisper", appearing in the 1989 series of British anthology A1. The story for which he has arguably been most renowned is the DC Comics graphic novel 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 title 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 famous for his comic The Golden Age, which, despite being an Elseworlds story, still established much of the backstory he would later use in Starman. He has also written the Batman book Legends of the Dark Knight, and served as a consultant and co-writer in the first year of JSA and its subsequent spin-off Hawkman. Also at DC, he did a miniseries involving the company's original Vigilante character as well as producing the Sandman spin-off mini series Witchcraft for Vertigo. Robinson also wrote a brief but very well remembered run of Wildcats, teamed up with superstar artist Travis Charest, that further developed the book's mythology, along with a spinoff mini-series called Team One.
Similarly, he served as a transition writer on the Marvel Comics title, Cable. He also had a short stint on Heroes Reborn: Captain America during that time.
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.
[edit] Screenwriting career
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). In film terms, however, his best known endeavour has been the screenplay 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. Indeed, 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.[1][2]
[edit] Career events in the second half of 2000s
In 2006, Robinson took over the writing chores for Batman and Detective Comics as part of the One Year Later project announced by DC. Robinson has previously written the acclaimed Batman story "Blades" as one of his several stints at writing stories for the anthology title Legends of the Dark Knight.
On 8 February, 2008, Robinson was appointed the new writer of the DC flagship title, Superman.[3] [4] He will also be writing a new Justice League title simply named Justice League.* [5]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Archived early review of the "LXG" script by Coming Attractions' Patrick Sauriol, October 6, 2000. Accessed March 23, 2006
- ^ The Stax Report: Script Review of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". Accessed March 23, 2008
- ^ James Robinson Named as New Superman Writer, Newsarama, February, 8, 2008
- ^ GOLDEN AGE JAMES ROBINSON II: Superman, Comic Book Resources, May 23, 2008
- ^ GOLDEN AGE JAMES ROBINSON I: Justice League, Comic Book Resources, May 22, 2008
[edit] References
- James Robinson at the Grand Comic-Book Database
- James Robinson at the Comic Book DB
- James Robinson at the Internet Movie Database
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| Preceded by Rob Liefeld & Jeph Loeb |
Captain America writer 1997 |
Succeeded by Mark Waid |
| Preceded by Scott Lobdell |
Generation X writer 1997 |
Succeeded by Larry Hama |
| Preceded by Judd Winick |
Batman writer 2006 |
Succeeded by Grant Morrison |
| Preceded by David Lapham |
Detective Comics writer 2006 |
Succeeded by Paul Dini |
| Preceded by Kurt Busiek |
Superman writer 2008 |
Succeeded by present |
