Garth Ennis

Garth Ennis- Biography

Garth Ennis is a Northern Irish comics writer best known for his long-running ‘Marvel’ series franchise ‘Punisher’ and ‘Vertigo’ series ‘Preacher.’ He also developed ‘The Boys’ for ‘Wildstorm’ (later ‘Dynamite Entertainment,’ ‘Judge Dredd,’ ‘Hellblazer,’ and ‘Hitman,’ all for ‘DC.’ His works are described as dark, aggressive, obscene, and dirty. Most of his works are inspired by John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Quentin Tarantino, and John Woo films, while his writing style is influenced by comics writer John Wagner. He previously created a series that was banned because it was critical of religion. When Ennis was in college, he began writing comics. He quickly rose to prominence as a writer for British comics periodicals. As a result, he dropped out of college to pursue a full-time career in comic book writing.

Garth Ennis- Birth, Age, Ethnicity, Siblings, Education

Garth Ennis was born in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland, on January 16, 1970. He doesn’t have any siblings. He went to Holywood’s Sullivan Upper School. Ennis began making violent and darkly humorous comics while studying there. He frequently shared these with his buddies. Garth Ennis then enrolled at ‘Queen’s University,’ Belfast, to study English literature, but dropped out after just one year to work on comics for ‘Crisis,’ a British comic book anthology/magazine published by ‘Fleetway’ publishing.

The magazine’s comics were intended for mature, intelligent, politically and socially informed readers. Ennis grew up reading American stories such as ‘Concrete,’ ‘Watchmen,’ and ‘Elektra: Assassin.’ Between the middle and the late 1980s, when the comics scene had become a booming industry, Ennis thought of creating a comic centered on Northern Ireland, something that the industry had not tackled before then.

Garth Ennis- Relationship, Married Life

Garth Ennis and Ruth, his wife, live in New York City. He is a skeptic and a World War II buff.

Garth Ennis- Professional Career

• In 1989, Garth Ennis broke into the comic-book-writing field with the series Troubled Souls,’ which was included in ‘Crisis.’ He partnered with comic-book illustrator John McCrea on the project. The deadly power struggle between the Protestants and the Catholics during the Irish “Troubles,” a tragedy that Ennis had observed growing up, formed the backdrop of the series.
• ‘Troubled Souls’ was followed by a sequel named ‘For a Few Troubles More,’ which featured the original’s two supporting characters, ‘Dougie’ and ‘Ivor.’ In 1997, the characters became the protagonists of the ‘Caliber Comics’ series ‘Dicks,’ and they were later featured in the indie comic book ‘Avatar.’
• Ennis and illustrator Warren Pleece then collaborated on the ‘True Faith’ religious parody series for ‘Crisis.’ The series mirrored his days at Sullivan Upper, where being an outspoken atheist made it difficult for him to survive in an evangelical Christian school.
• ‘True Faith,’ a graphic novel, was released in 1990 but was pulled from the market due to religious complaints. It was later released by ‘Vertigo’ in 1997.
• Ennis went on to write comic strips for the science-fiction magazine ‘2000 AD.’ He invented the iconic comic character ‘Judge Dredd,’ which was originally created by John Wagner. ‘Judgment Day,’ ‘Muzak Killer,’ and ‘Emerald Isle’ are among the major stories Ennis has written for the character.
• Ennis worked with comic-book artist Philip Bond on the political and science-fiction series Time Flies.’ In 1991, Ennis penned his debut series for the American comic-book publisher ‘DC Comics.’ Until 1994, he authored storylines for the ‘DC’ horror–comic series ‘Hellblazer.’ While working on ‘Hellblazer’ with illustrator Steve Dillon, he built up a rapport with him. They collaborated on the legendary 66-issue comic series ‘Preacher,’ which was published by ‘Vertigo.’ The show aired from 1995 to 2000.
• Ennis and McCrea collaborated once more with the ‘DC’ characters ‘The Demon’ and ‘Tommy Monaghan’ (better known as ‘Hitman,’ which ran for 61 issues between 1996 and 2001. He and Dillon collaborated on the one-shot comic book ‘Heartland,’ which was published by ‘Vertigo.’
• Ennis has also authored a story for ‘DC’ called ‘War Story.’
• Following the conclusion of the ‘Hellblazer’ series, Ennis took a break and resumed the five-part story titled ‘Son of Man,’ illustrated by John Higgins. Ennis went on to develop a slew of comic book series for ‘DC’ and ‘Vertigo,’ including ‘Goddess,’ ‘Bloody Mary,’ ‘Unknown Soldier,’ and ‘Pride & Joy.’
• He has also written for ‘Image Comics’ ‘The Darkness,’ ‘Valiant Comics’ ‘Shadowman,’ ‘Image Comics’ ‘The Pro,’ and ‘Black Bull Press’ ‘Just a Pilgrim.’ He wrote ‘303,’ ‘Chronicles of Wormwood,’ and the Western comic book ‘Streets of Glory’ for ‘Avatar Press.’
• Ennis then went to work for ‘Marvel Comics.’ Joe Quesada, the editor-in-chief, assigned him to write for the character ‘The Punisher.’ During the first 12-issue maxiseries, he collaborated with Dillion, who co-wrote an issue for him when he needed a break from writing.
• He ultimately wrote for well-known ‘Marvel’ characters like ‘Spider-Man,’ ‘Ghost Rider,’ ‘Hulk,’ and ‘Thor.’
• Ennis co-wrote the ‘Marvel’ series ‘Fury: Peacemaker’ and ‘Punisher: Born’ with illustrator Darick Robertson.
• Ennis transitioned from creating funny stories to writing a more serious series that was re-launched under Marvel’s ‘MAX’ brand.
• Working with ‘MAX,’ Ennis wrote the limited series ‘Born and Barracuda’ and various one-shots like ‘The End,’ ‘The Cell,’ and ‘The Tyger.’ He also contributed to the ‘MAX’ series ‘The Punisher,’ which influenced the 2008 action–thriller film ‘Punisher: War Zone.’
  Ennis returned to writing for UK comics in 2001 with ‘Judge Dredd.’ Unfortunately, his second inning was a letdown, as he was unable to replicate his previous brilliance.
• Ennis collaborated with comic-book artist Darick Robertson on the comic-book series ‘The Boys’ in 2006. After releasing six issues, publisher ‘Wildstorm’ (A former ‘DC Comics’ brand) terminated the series, since ‘DC Comics’ objected to the material. They believed the series portrayed the superhero in a negative way. ‘Dynamite Entertainment’ later restarted the series, which ran for 72 issues until 2012. Ennis also contributed to ‘The Authority,’ published by the ‘Wildstorm’ brand, and the spin-off, ‘Midnighter,’ which was canceled after the first issue.
• As his term with ‘The Punisher MAX’ concluded in 2008, Ennis resumed writing for the ‘Marvel’ book series ‘War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle,’ illustrated by artist Howard Chaykin.
• He also worked on a new miniseries for the science-fiction character ‘Dan Dare,’ created by Frank Hampson, for ‘Virgin Comics.’ He also collaborated on the comic book miniseries ‘Seven Brothers’ (with John Woo) (with John Woo). He wrote ‘Crossed’ for ‘Avatar’ and produced a metaseries of military comics named ‘Battlefields.’
• Teaming up with artist Jimmy Palmiotti, Ennis created the comic crime series ‘Back to Brooklyn for ‘Image Comics.’
• The 2011 short film ‘Stitched,’ written and directed by Ennis, was a promotional piece for the ‘Avatar’ series of the same name.
• Ennis was hired by the comics label ‘Dynamite’ in April 2012 to write for the original ‘The Shadow’ series. He wrote the miniseries ‘Red Team’ for the imprint the following year. He also worked on the ‘Marvel’ series ‘Fury: My War Gone By’ with illustrator Goran Parlov.
• Ennis restarted writing ‘War Stories’ in 2014. He paired up with McCrea again in 2015, for the ‘DC’ miniseries ‘Six Pack,’ incorporating the supporting characters from the series ‘Hitman.’ He wrote the ‘Marvel’ series ‘Where Monsters Dwell’ for the comic-book plot that year. ‘Secret Wars.’
• ‘AMC’ produced a series around Ennis’s character ‘Preacher,’ which premiered in 2016. Similarly, in 2019, ‘Amazon Prime’ aired a series based on ‘The Boys.’

Awards

Garth Ennis won the ‘National Comics Award’ for “Best Writer” in 1997, as well as the ‘UK Comic Art Award’ (for ‘Hitman,’ ‘Preacher,’ and ‘Saint of Killers’). In the following two years, he earned three ‘Eisner awards.

Ennis won the ‘National Comics Award’ in 2001 for his work on the supporting character ‘Natt The Hat’ from ‘Hitman.’

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