James Robinson (comics)

Infobox Comics creator
name = James Robinson

---

imagesize =
caption = Robinson appearing at the Superman: Man of Tomorrow panel at Comic-Con 2008.
nationality = British
area = Writer
notable works = "Starman"
birthdate =

James Dale Robinson 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. His revival of stories that rely on and reworked continuity has greatly affected DC Comics, amongst other publishers, and led to the revival of the Justice Society of America.

Biography

Comics writing

James Robinson has been writing for over two decades, with an early comics work, "Grendel: 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 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 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 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.

In 2006, Robinson took over the writing chores for "Batman" and "Detective Comics", penning the eight-issue "" storyline, as part of the "One Year Later" project announced by DC. Robinson has previously written the Batman story "Blades" as one of his several stints at writing stories for the anthology title "Legends of the Dark Knight".

On February 8, 2008, Robinson was appointed the new writer of the DC flagship title, "Superman". [ [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=146029 James Robinson Named as New Superman Writer] , Newsarama, February, 8, 2008] [ [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16541 GOLDEN AGE JAMES ROBINSON II: Superman] , Comic Book Resources, May 23, 2008] He will also be writing a new "Justice League" title simply named "Justice League". [ [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16532 GOLDEN AGE JAMES ROBINSON I: Justice League] , Comic Book Resources, May 22, 2008]

creenwriting

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. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20001214100900/http://www.corona.bc.ca/films/directorscut/001006 Archived early review of the "LXG" script by "Coming Attractions"' Patrick Sauriol, October 6, 2000] . Accessed March 23, 2006] [ [http://movies.ign.com/articles/358/358223p1.html The Stax Report: "Script Review of" "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"] . Accessed March 23, 2008]

Personal life

Robinson lives in Los Angeles, where he is good friends with fellow writers and collaborators Geoff Johns and Sterling Gates. [Venta Rogers and Cliff Biggers. "Planet Stories" Comic Shop News #1108. September 2008]

Bibliography

Comics work includes:

*"67 Seconds" (with Steve Yeowell, graphic novel, Epic Comics, 1992, ISBN 0871358646)
*"Ectokid" (with pencils by Steve Skroce and inks by Bob Dvorak, Razorline, 1993)
*"Firearm" (with pencils by Cully Hamner and inks by John Lowe, Malibu Comics, 1993-1995)
*"Starman" (with pencils by Tony Harris, DC Comics, 1994-2001)
*"Wildcats" #15-20, #50 (1994, 1998, Wildstorm, collected in "James Robinson's Wildcats", 224 pages, January 2009, ISBN 1401222048)
*"Superman" #677- (with pencils by Renato Guedes and inks by Jose Wilson Magalhaes, DC Comics, 2008-ongoing)

Notes

References

*gcdb|type=writer|search=James+Robinson|title=James Robinson
*comicbookdb|type=creator|id=10|title=James Robinson
*imdb name|id=0732702|name=James Robinson