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Brian Azzarello
Azzarello at Lucca Comics & Games 2016
Born	(1962-08-11) August 11, 1962 (age 56) Cleveland, Ohio
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Writer
Notable works	100 Bullets Before Watchmen: Comedian Before Watchmen: Rorschach Hellblazer Joker Lex Luthor: Man of Steel Loveless Wonder Woman
Awards	Eisner Award (2001)

Brian Azzarello (born in Cleveland, Ohio, August 11, 1962) is an American comic book writer and screenwriter. He came to prominence with the hardboiled crime series 100 Bullets, published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo. In 2011, he became the writer of DC's relaunched Wonder Woman series.

Early life

Azzarello grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where his mother managed a restaurant his father was a salesman. As a child, he read monster and war comic books, but avoided the superhero genre. He attended the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he studied painting and printmaking. After several years of working various blue-collar jobs, he moved to Chicago in 1989. After his move to Chicago, Azzarello became interested in the work of Black Lizard Press, a small publishing house which reprinted hardboiled detective and noir fiction.^[1]

In Chicago, Azzarello met his future wife, artist Jill Thompson, then working for Vertigo (a comic book imprint of DC Comics). She also liked monster movies, and she was impressed by a werewolf story Azzarello had written. She introduced him to Lou Stathis, an editor at Vertigo who wanted to move away from the light fantasy Vertigo was publishing. He hired Azzarello as a writer.^[1]

Career

Brian Azzarello was the line editor for Andrew Rev's incarnation of Comico.^[2]

Azzarello's first published comics work was "An Undead Evolution", a text article in Cold Blooded #1 (May 1993) published by Northstar. His first story for DC Comics was "Ares" which appeared in Weird War Tales vol. 2 #1 (June 1997). He and artist Eduardo Risso launched the 100 Bullets series for Vertigo in August 1999.^[3] In addition to 100 Bullets, Azzarello has written for Batman ("Broken City";^[4]Batman/Deathblow: After the Fire; Joker; and Flashpoint: Batman Knight of Vengeance^[5]), Hellblazer and Superman ("For Tomorrow" and Lex Luthor: Man of Steel). In 2003, upon being assigned to write both the Batman and Superman titles, Azzarello told the Chicago Tribune, "DC is giving me the keys to both cars in the garage, the Maserati and the Ferrari...Somebody told me, 'Don't drive drunk.'"^[6]

Mark Waid's and Alex Ross' 1996 miniseries Kingdom Come features a character named "666", who is physically modeled after Azzarello.^[7]

In 2005, Azzarello began a new creator-owned series, the western Loveless, with artist Marcelo Frusin.^[8] Also at Vertigo, his Filthy Rich original graphic novel was one of the two titles that launched the Vertigo Crime line.^[9] Azzarello and Risso produced a Batman serial for Wednesday Comics in 2009.^[10][11]

He designed the First Wave, a new fictional universe for DC Comics, separate from the main DC Universe. It started with a Batman/Doc Savage one-shot,^[12] followed by the First Wave limited series.^[13]

In 2011 he began writing The New 52 relaunch of the Wonder Woman series, collaborating with artist Cliff Chiang.^[14] He wrote two Before Watchmen limited series featuring the Comedian and Rorschach.^[15][16] In 2014, he and Jeff Lemire, Keith Giffen, and Dan Jurgens co-wrote The New 52: Futures End.^[17]

In April 2015 he was announced as the co-writer of an eight-issue second sequel to The Dark Knight Returns, titled The Dark Knight III: The Master Race, with Frank Miller. The series was released twice-monthly starting in late 2015.^[18]Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson were the artists on the series.^[19] Azzarello and artist Lee Bermejo are collaborating on the Batman: Damned limited series for DC's Black Label imprint.^[20]

Influences

Azzarello cites Jim Thompson and David Goodis among his influences.^[21][22]

Awards

Azzarello and Argentine artist Eduardo Risso, with whom Azzarello first worked on Jonny Double,^[23] won the 2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story for 100 Bullets #15–18: "Hang Up on the Hang Low".^[24]

Personal life

Azzarello is married to fellow comic book creator Jill Thompson.^[25] The couple reside in Chicago.^[6]

Bibliography

Early work

• 
  Overstreet's Fan #7–9: "Elementals: Thicker Than Water" (with Jim Callahan, Gemstone, 1995–1996)


• 
  Comico:
  
  
  
  • 
    Primer #1: "The Assassin's Song" (with Vincent Proce, 1996)
  
  
  • 
    Red Dragon #1: "Enter Red Dragon" (with Tony Akins, 1996)
  
  
  
  

Vertigo

• 
  Weird War Tales #1: "Ares" (with James Romberger, 1997)


• 
  Gangland #1: "Clean House" (with Tim Bradstreet, 1998) collected in Gangland (tpb, 112 pages, 2000, .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
  ISBN 1-56389-608-7)


• 
  Jonny Double #1–4 (with Eduardo Risso, 1998) collected as Jonny Double: Two-Finger Discount (tpb, 104 pages, 2002,
  ISBN 1-56389-815-2)


• 
  Heartthrobs #2: "The Other Side of Town" (with Tim Bradstreet, 1999)


• 
  Flinch:
  
  
  
  • "Food Chain" (with Eduardo Risso, in #2, 1999)
  
  
  • "Last Call" (with Danijel Žeželj, in #10, 2000)
  
  
  • "The Shaft" (with Javier Pulido, in #13, 2000)
  
  
  
  


• 
  100 Bullets:
  
  
  
  • 
    Volume 1 (hc, 456 pages, 2011,
    ISBN 1-4012-3201-9) collects:
    
    
    
    • "100 Bullets" (with Eduardo Risso, in #1–3, 1999)
    
    
    • "Shot, Water Back" (with Eduardo Risso, in #4–5, 1999)
    
    
    • "Short Con, Long Odds" (with Eduardo Risso, in #6–7, 2000)
    
    
    • "Silencer Nights" (with Eduardo Risso, in Vertigo: Winter's Edge #3, 2000)
    
    
    • "Day, Hour, Minute...Man" (with Eduardo Risso, in #8, 2000)
    
    
    • "The Right Ear, Left in the Cold" (with Eduardo Risso, in #9–10, 2000)
    
    
    • "Heartbreak Sunnyside Up" (with Eduardo Risso, in #11, 2000)
    
    
    • "Parlez Kung Vous" (with Eduardo Risso, in #12–14, 2000)
    
    
    • "Hang Up on the Hang Low" (with Eduardo Risso, in #15–18, 2000–2001)
    
    
    • "Epilogue for a Road Dog" (with Eduardo Risso, in #19, 2001)
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    Volume 2 (hc, 416 pages, 2012,
    ISBN 1-4012-3372-4) collects:
    
    
    
    • "The Mimic" (with Eduardo Risso, in #20, 2001)
    
    
    • "Sell Fish & Out to Sea" (with Eduardo Risso, in #21–22, 2001)
    
    
    • "Red Prince Blues" (with Eduardo Risso, in #23–25, 2001)
    
    
    • "Mr. Branch & the Family Tree" (with Eduardo Risso and various artists, in #26, 2001)
    
    
    • "Idol Chatter" (with Eduardo Risso, in #27, 2001)
    
    
    • "¡Contrabandolero!" (with Eduardo Risso, in #28–30, 2001–2002)
    
    
    • "The Counterfifth Detective" (with Eduardo Risso, in #31–36, 2002)
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    Volume 3 (hc, 512 pages, 2012,
    ISBN 1-4012-3729-0) collects:
    
    
    
    • "On Accidental Purpose" (with Eduardo Risso, in #37, 2002)
    
    
    • "Cole Burns Slow Hand" (with Eduardo Risso, in #38, 2002)
    
    
    • "Ambition's Audition" (with Eduardo Risso, in #39, 2002)
    
    
    • "Night of the Payday" (with Eduardo Risso, in #40, 2003)
    
    
    • "A Crash" (with Eduardo Risso, in #41, 2003)
    
    
    • "Point off the Edge" (with Eduardo Risso, in #42, 2003)
    
    
    • "Chill in the Oven" (with Eduardo Risso, in #43–46, 2003)
    
    
    • "In Stinked" (with Eduardo Risso, in #47–49, 2003–2004)
    
    
    • "Prey for Reign" (with Eduardo Risso, in #50, 2004)
    
    
    • "Wylie Runs the Voodoo Down" (with Eduardo Risso, in #51–57, 2004–2005)
    
    
    • "Coda Smoke" (with Eduardo Risso, in #58, 2005)
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    Strychnine Lives (tpb, 224 pages, 2006,
    ISBN 1-4012-0928-9) collects:
    
    
    
    • "The Calm" (with Eduardo Risso, in #59, 2005)
    
    
    • "Staring at the Son" (with Eduardo Risso, in #60–63, 2005)
    
    
    • "The Dive" (with Eduardo Risso, in #64, 2005)
    
    
    • "New Tricks" (with Eduardo Risso, in #65–66, 2005–2006)
    
    
    • "Love Let Her" (with Eduardo Risso, in #67, 2006)
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    Decayed (tpb, 192 pages, 2006,
    ISBN 1-4012-1939-X) collects:
    
    
    
    • "Sleep, Walker" (with Eduardo Risso, in #68, 2006)
    
    
    • "A Wake" (with Eduardo Risso, in #69–74, 2006)
    
    
    • "Amorality Play" (with Eduardo Risso, in #75, 2006)
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    Once Upon a Crime (tpb, 192 pages, 2007,
    ISBN 1-4012-1315-4) collects:
    
    
    
    • "Punch Line" (with Eduardo Risso, in #76–79, 2006–2007)
    
    
    • "A Split Decision" (with Eduardo Risso, in #80, 2007)
    
    
    • "Tarantula" (with Eduardo Risso, in #81–83, 2007)
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    Dirty (tpb, 128 pages, 2008,
    ISBN 1-4012-1939-X) collects:
    
    
    
    • "The Lady Tonight" (with Eduardo Risso, in #84, 2007)
    
    
    • "Red Lions" (with Eduardo Risso, in #85, 2007)
    
    
    • "Rain in Vain" (with Eduardo Risso, in #86, 2008)
    
    
    • "The Blister" (with Eduardo Risso, in #87, 2008)
    
    
    • "My Lonely Friend" (with Eduardo Risso, in #88, 2008)
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    Wilt (tpb, 304 pages, 2009,
    ISBN 1-4012-2287-0) collects:
    
    • "100 Bullets" (with Eduardo Risso, in #89–100, 2008–2009)
    
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  Strange Adventures #4: "Native Tongue" (with Esad Ribić, 2000)


• 
  Hellblazer:
  
  
  
  • 
    Hellblazer (with Richard Corben, Marcelo Frusin, Steve Dillon and Guy Davis and Giuseppe Camuncoli, 2000–2002) collected as:
    
    
    
    • 
      Hard Time (collects #146–150, tpb, 128 pages, 2000,
      ISBN 1-56389-696-6)
    
    
    • 
      Good Intentions (collects #151–156, tpb, 140 pages, 2002,
      ISBN 1-56389-856-X)
    
    
    • 
      Freezes Over (collects #157–163, tpb, 168 pages, 2003,
      ISBN 1-56389-971-X)
    
    
    • 
      Highwater (collects #164–174, tpb, 264 pages, 2004,
      ISBN 1-4012-0223-3)
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    Vertigo Secret Files & Origins: Hellblazer: "The First Time" (with Dave Taylor, 2000)
  
  
  • 
    Hellblazer #250: "All I Goat for Christmas" (with Rafael Grampá, 2009)
  
  
  
  


• 
  El Diablo #1–4 (with Danijel Žeželj, 2001) collected as El Diablo (tpb, 104 pages, 2008,
  ISBN 1-4012-1625-0)


• 
  Loveless (with Marcelo Frusin, Danijel Žeželj and Werther Dell'Edera, 2005–2008) collected as:
  
  
  
  • 
    A Kin of Homecoming (collects #1–5, tpb, 128 pages, 2006,
    ISBN 1-4012-1061-9)
  
  
  • 
    Thicker Than Blackwater (collects #6–12, tpb, 168 pages, 2007,
    ISBN 1-4012-1250-6)
  
  
  • 
    Blackwater Falls (collects #13–24, tpb, 288 pages, 2008,
    ISBN 1-4012-1495-9)
  
  
  
  


• 
  Vertigo Crime: Filthy Rich (with Victor Santos, graphic novel, hc, 200 pages, 2009,
  ISBN 1-4012-1184-4)


• 
  Spaceman #1–9 (with Eduardo Risso, 2011-2012) collected as Spaceman (hc, 224 pages, 2012,
  ISBN 1-4012-3552-2)

DC Comics

• 
  Batman:
  
  
  
  • 
    Batman: Gotham Knights:
    
    
    
    • "Scars" (with Eduardo Risso, in #8, 2000)
    
    
    • "Cornered" (with Jim Mahfood, in #35, 2003)
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    Batman #620–625: "Broken City" (with Eduardo Risso, 2003-2004) collected as Batman: Broken City (hc, 144 pages, 2004,
    ISBN 1-4012-0133-4)
  
  
  • 
    Joker (with Lee Bermejo, graphic novel, 128 pages, 2008,
    ISBN 1-4012-1581-5)
  
  
  • 
    Wednesday Comics #1–12: "Batman" (with Eduardo Risso, 2009) collected in Wednesday Comics (hc, 200 pages, 2009,
    ISBN 1-4012-2747-3)
  
  
  • 
    Flashpoint: Batman: Knight of Vengeance #1–3 (with Eduardo Risso, 2011) collected in Flashpoint: The World of Flashpoint Featuring Batman (tpb, 272 pages, 2012,
    ISBN 1-4012-3405-4)
  
  
  • 
    The Dark Knight III: The Master Race #1–9 (with Frank Miller, Andy Kubert, and Klaus Janson, 2015–2017)
  
  
  • 
    Batman: Damned #1–3 (with Lee Bermejo, 2018)
  
  
  
  


• 
  9-11: The World's Finest Comic Book Writers & Artists Tell Stories to Remember, Volume Two: "America's Pastime" (with Eduardo Risso, anthology graphic novel, tpb, 224 pages, 2002,
  ISBN 1-56389-878-0)


• 
  Sgt. Rock: Between Hell and a Hard Place (with Joe Kubert, graphic novel, hc, 140 pages, 2003,
  ISBN 1-4012-0053-2)


• 
  JSA All-Stars #6: "Blind Spot" (with Eduardo Risso, 2003) collected in JSA: All Stars (tpb, 208 pages, 2004,
  ISBN 1-4012-0219-5)


• 
  Superman:
  
  
  
  • 
    Superman vol. 2 #204–215: "For Tomorrow" (with Jim Lee, 2004–2005) collected as Superman: For Tomorrow (hc, 328 pages, 2009,
    ISBN 1-4012-2198-X)
  
  
  • 
    Lex Luthor: Man of Steel #1–5 (with Lee Bermejo, 2005) collected as Luthor (hc, 144 pages, 2010,
    ISBN 1-4012-2930-1)
  
  
  
  


• 
  DC Comics Presents: Green Lantern: "Penny for Your Thoughts, Dollar For Your Destiny!" (with Norm Breyfogle, one-shot, 2004)


• 
  Solo:
  
  
  
  • "Low Card in the Hole" (with Tim Sale, in #1, 2004)
  
  
  • "Poison" (with Jordi Bernet, in #6, 2005)
  
  
  
  


• 
  Tales of the Unexpected #1–8: "Architecture and Morality" (with Cliff Chiang, 2006–2007) collected as Doctor 13: Architecture and Morality (tpb, 144 pages, 2007,
  ISBN 1-4012-1552-1)


• 
  First Wave (hc, 256 pages, 2011,
  ISBN 1-4012-3135-7; tpb, 2012,
  ISBN 1-4012-3136-5) collects:
  
  
  
  • 
    Batman/Doc Savage Special: "Bronze Night" (with Phil Noto, one-shot, 2009)
  
  
  • 
    First Wave #1–6 (with Rags Morales, 2010–2011)
  
  
  
  


• 
  The Spirit #6: "The Man I Love" (with Eduardo Risso, 2010)


• 
  Doc Savage #6–12 (with Ivan Brandon and Nic Klein, 2010–2011)


• 
  Wonder Woman (with Cliff Chiang and Tony Akins, 2011–2014) collected as:
  
  
  
  • 
    Blood (collects #1–6, hc, 160 pages, 2012,
    ISBN 1-4012-3563-8)
  
  
  • 
    Guts (collects #7–12, hc, 144 pages, 2013,
    ISBN 1-4012-3809-2)
  
  
  • 
    Iron (collects #0 and #13–17, hc, 176 pages, 2013,
    ISBN 1-4012-4261-8)
  
  
  • 
    War (collects #19–23, hc, 144 pages, 2014,
    ISBN 1-4012-4608-7)
  
  
  • 
    Flesh (collects #24–29 and #23.2, hc, 176 pages, 2014,
    ISBN 1-4012-5097-1)
  
  
  • 
    Bones (collects #30–35, hc, 160 pages, 2015,
    ISBN 1-4012-5350-4)
  
  
  
  


• 
  Before Watchmen: Comedian #1–6 (with J. G. Jones, 2012)


• 
  Before Watchmen: Rorschach #1–4 (with Lee Bermejo, 2012)

Other publishers

• 
  Wildstorm:
  
  
  
  • 
    Wildstorm Summer Special: "Zealot: Apple Read" (with Brian Stelfreeze, 2001)
  
  
  • 
    Batman/Deathblow #1–3 (with Lee Bermejo, 2003) collected as Batman/Deathblow: After the Fire (tpb, 160 pages, 2003,
    ISBN 1-4012-0034-6)
  
  
  • 
    Deathblow #1–9 (with Carlos D'Anda, 2006–2008) collected as Deathblow: And Then You Live! (tpb, 224 pages, 2008,
    ISBN 1-4012-1515-7)
  
  
  
  


• 
  Marvel Comics:
  
  
  
  • 
    Startling Stories: Banner #1–4 (with Richard Corben, 2001) collected as Banner (tpb, 112 pages, 2001,
    ISBN 0-7851-0853-X)
  
  
  • 
    Cage #1–5 (with Richard Corben, 2002) collected as Cage (hc, 128 pages, 2002,
    ISBN 0-7851-0966-8; tpb, 2003,
    ISBN 0-7851-1301-0)
  
  
  • 
    Spider-Man's Tangled Web #14: "The Last Shoot" (with Scott Levy and Giuseppe Camuncoli, 2002) collected in Spider-Man's Tangled Web Volume 3 (tpb, 160 pages, 2002,
    ISBN 0-7851-0951-X)
  
  
  
  


• 
  Dark Horse Comics
  
  • 
    Noir: "The Bad Night" (with Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon, anthology graphic novel, tpb, 104 pages, 2009,
    ISBN 1-59582-358-1)
  
  

Screenwriter

• 
  Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)


• 
  Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brian Azzarello.

• 
  Brian Azzarello at the Comic Book DB


• 
  Brian Azzarello on IMDb


• 
  Brian Azzarello at Mike's Amazing World of Comics


• 
  Brian Azzarello at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators