Garth Ennis: A Rebel Among Superheroes

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Garth Ennis is the writer that wrote superhero comics while hating superhero comics. That might seem like a contradictory statement but such is the reality of one of the most complex and thought-provoking writers in the industry in the last thirty years.

While most comic book writers that have built their careers in Marvel and DC grew up as fans of these companies’ material, that wasn’t the case with Ennis. The British writer started reading war comics when he was a kid and didn’t read superhero stuff until his late teens, which formed his opinion that they were “ridiculous”. This would be a key aspect of his career many years down the line.

After several years doing work for companies in the UK, Ennis found his breakthrough with DC’s Vertigo line, which was focused on more mature content, and took over the Hellblazer series in 1991. This series was key for Ennis, not only because he started writing for one of the most notorious comic book companies in the world, but also because he worked in this series with artist Steve Dillon, who would go on to become his partner in crime for several of his best work.