Line #13 Creator/KieronGillen


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kieron_gillen_8131.jpg]]
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3	Kieron Gillen (born 30 September, 1975) is a British comics writer and game journalist, known for his series ''ComicBook/TheWickedAndTheDivine'', ''ComicBook/{{DIE}}'', ''ComicBook/{{Phonogram}}'' and several Marvel books, including ''Uncanny ComicBook/XMen'', ''ComicBook/JourneyIntoMysteryGillen'', ''ComicBook/IronMan'', ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'', and ''ComicBook/StarWarsDarthVader''. He also helped found, and for a long while wrote for [[http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/ Rock, Paper, Shotgun]], and wrote the creator-owned mini-series ''ComicBook/{{Three}}''. Currently, he's writing the creator-owned title ''ComicBook/OnceAndFuture'', as well as Marvel’s ''ComicBook/Eternals2021'' and ''ComicBook/ImmortalXMen''. He also wrote the introductory fiction for the second edition of ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'' and contributed a setting to the second edition of ''TabletopGame/{{Monsterhearts}}''.
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5	Many of his best-known works, including ''ComicBook/{{Phonogram}}'', ''Young Avengers'', and ''The Wicked and the Divine'', are collaborations with artist Creator/JamieMcKelvie.
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7	[[http://kierongillen.tumblr.com/ He has a Tumblr.]]
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9	Not to be confused with Creator/KarenGillan.
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11	!! Notable comic works by him include:
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13	!!!Creator-owned works:[[index]]
14	* ''ComicBook/{{DIE}}''
15	* ''ComicBook/TheLudocrats''
16	* ''ComicBook/OnceAndFuture''
17	* ''ComicBook/{{Phonogram}}''
18	* ''ComicBook/{{Three}}''
19	* ''ComicBook/TheWickedAndTheDivine''
20
21	!!!Other works:
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23	* ''ComicBook/MercuryHeat''
24	* ''ComicBook/PeterCannonThunderbolt2019''
25	* ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'' [[/index]]
26	* A five-chapter ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}'' miniseries
27
28	!!!Marvel titles he has worked on include:
29	* ''ComicBook/AngelaAsgardsAssassin'' [[index]]
30	* ''ComicBook/Eternals2021''
31	* ''ComicBook/JudgmentDayMarvelComics''
32	* ''ComicBook/DeathToTheMutants''[[/index]]
33	* ''ComicBook/IronMan''[[index]]
34	* ''ComicBook/JourneyIntoMysteryGillen''
35	* ''[[ComicBook/JudgmentDayMarvelComics Judgment Day]]'' (main miniseries and some spin-offs)
36	* ''ComicBook/RiseOfThePowersOfX''
37	* ''ComicBook/SinsOfSinister''
38	* ''ComicBook/StarWarsMarvel2015''
39	* ''ComicBook/StarWarsDarthVader''
40	* ''ComicBook/StarWarsDoctorAphra''
41	* ''ComicBook/SWORD2009''[[/index]]
42	* ''ComicBook/XMen''[[index]]
43	* ''ComicBook/XMenForever2024''
44	* ''ComicBook/ImmortalXMen''
45	* ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' [[/index]]
46
47	!! Non-comic works include: [[index]]
48	* ''TabletopGame/{{DIE}}'' (the RoleplayingGame) [[/index]]
49	----
50	!!Tropes present in his works:
51	* AuthorAppeal:
52	** He's not shy about his love of pop music, and almost every title he's written has an "official" soundtrack. ''ComicBook/{{Phonogram}}'' is a love song to Britpop and ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' is full of pop culture and music references.
53	** He also has a real thing for very intelligent and very evil robots. Most of his non-Loki comics for Marvel feature them. (Even the Darth Vader one.)
54	** He is bisexual, and many of his works feature gay or bisexual male characters whose m/m sex lives are given just as much story prominence and fanservicey depiction as female lesbian or bisexual characters', in contrast to populist comics' usual [[GirlOnGirlIsHot fanboy-friendly]] bias towards depicting f/f erotic scenes.
55	* TheCameo: He makes an in-universe appearance in the {{Gamebook\|s}} comic ''You Are ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'' to demonstrate the dice combat mechanics in the story. He even wields a sandwich to serve as a "Combat Roll".
56	* PromotedFanboy: He is an enthusiastic player and huge fan of ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', and in 2020 was overjoyed to be hired to write some spin-off comics.
57	* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: ''The Ludocrats'' was teased for many years before finally being released in 2020. The third volume of ''Phonogram, Immaterial Girl'', also came out much later than anticipated.
58	* SelfDeprecation: Outside of his work, Gillen is frequently self-deprecating in interviews, essays, blog posts, his newsletter, his tumblr... Perhaps the greatest example of this is his reaction to the cancellation of ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'':
59	-->...part of me also thinks ‘you’re not a real British Comics Writer unless you’ve written Hellblazer.’ So that’s me doomed...
60	* ShownTheirWork:
61	** ''ComicBook/{{Phonogram}}''. Both the original comics and the collected editions have a ''glossary'' in the back!
62	** ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'' for which Gillen wrote a 25,000-word world bible. He notes he was so deep in research that at one point his German friends have found him with map of 1945 Berlin and pile of Nazi biographies, ''World At War'' on TV, and listening to Music/RichardWagner.
63	** Working on ''ComicBook/{{Three}}'' he is in close contact with a historian specializing in the period, to get it as accurate as possible.
64	** In ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers #3'', Billy at one point goes into detail about Norse Mythology, specifically the changes made to it by Marvel, such as Loki becoming Thor's adoptive brother and nemesis rather than his best friend. On Tumblr, Gillen admits that he would've had him go into more detail about his knowledge of Norse Mythology, but the scene would've dragged on.
65	** For ''ComicBook/{{Die}}'', Gillen actually created the roleplaying game that the characters are playing in the book (a beta version was released as a free download at the end of the first arc).
66	* IncrediblyLamePun: This is pretty much what he uses Twitter for.
67	* ScrewYouElves: While Gillen is critical of many 'traditional fantasy' tropes, Elves are practically a BerserkButton to him:
68	--> ''Don't start me on Elves. My perennial bugbear. Elves are basically "What If Aryans were right about there being a master race?" '''Fucking Elves'''''
69	* SpiritualAntithesis: His creator-owned titles have a tendency to be explicit critiques of other works.
70	** In particular, ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'' is a deconstruction of the "UsefulNotes/WorldWarII would have been '''awesome''' with [[StupidJetpackHitler superheroes]]" SubGenre.
71	** ''Comicbook/{{Three}}'' is an exposé of the actual brutality and inhumanity of the culture of ancient Sparta that was idealised in a certain famous graphic novel by Creator/FrankMiller, and its film adaptation.
72	** ''Comicbook/TheWickedAndTheDivine'' is, according to WordOfGod, a deliberate self-Spiritual Antithesis to ''Comicbook/{{Phonogram}}'' - ''Phonogram'' was about the relationship that fans have to recorded music with the actual artist being [[DeathOfTheAuthor wholly irrelevant]], while ''The Wicked and the Divine'' is completely about the relationship between fan and artist and fans as would-be artists.
73	** ''ComicBook/{{Die}}'' has parallels to ''Phonogram'', but is about tabletop role playing games and the wider fantasy genre instead of music.
74	** ''ComicBook/PeterCannonThunderbolt2019'', while not a creator-owned title for Gillen (the character is originally from Creator/CharltonComics but uniquely had his rights reclaimed by his original creator, Pete Morisi), turned out to be a commentary on ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' and critique of its ongoing shadow over the superhero genre. (The ''Watchmen'' costumed characters were originally inspired by those of Charlton Comics - Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt being specifically the basis for Adrian Veidt aka Ozymandias, and [[spoiler:the villain of the story is an alternate-universe Cannon who is a blatant CaptainErsatz for Veidt]]).

Context Creator / KieronGillen