Trautmann got his start at tabletop RPG company West End Games, helping to write and edit their popular Star Wars game for several years before that company went out of business in the late 90s. Trautmann then took a job at Microsoft, working for the division which would become Microsoft Game Studios, writing everything from web content to story bibles to in-game dialogue, including all of the incidental (non-cutscene) dialogue for the original Halo: Combat Evolved; he also pushed for and edited The Fall of Reach, which was a surprise success. Additionally, he did a great deal of work on the Crimson Skies universe, and contributed to both Mechwarrior 4 and Perfect Dark Zero.
Post-Microsoft, he wrote the Perfect Dark: Janus' Tears limited series, then edited and lettered the Army of Two graphic novel Dirty Money. He also consulted with Epic Games to help write the Gears of War story bible.
Later, he would become a writer for DC Comics, penning issues of Checkmate and Adventure Comics among others before moving to Dynamite Comics and finding success with Red Sonja (becoming the longest-tenured writer on that series), then creating a new Vampirella title and the Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist series.
In 2012, he co-wrote the PRISM-award winning graphic novel Shooters with Brandon Jerwa, with art by Steve Lieber, after which he was drafted by Rucka to help with worldbuilding and design on Rucka's upcoming series Lazarus; this has led to him splitting his time between comic writing, and graphic design through his Fedora Monkey Studio.
Works
Novels
- Athena Voltaire: Pulp Tales Vol 1 (writer, story "The Curse of Destruction Island")
- Crimson Skies (co-writer, story "Bayou Blues" with Nancy Berman)
- Halo: The Fall of Reach (editor)
- Halo: The Flood (ghostwriter)
- The Art of Halo: Creating a Virtual World (co-writer, with Frank O'Conner)
Comic Books
- Perfect Dark: Janus' Tears (writer)
- Army of Two: Dirty Money (editor and letterer)
- Action Comics (co-writer, issues #883-#889, with Rucka)
- Adventure Comics (co-feature writer, issues #8-10)
- Checkmate (co-writer, issues #17, and #21-#25, with Rucka)
- Final Crisis Resist (co-writer, with Rucka)
- Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist (writer)
- JSA Vs Kobra: Engines of Faith (writer)
- Lady Rawhide (2013) (writer)
- Lazarus Sourcebook Volumes 1-3 (contributing writer)
- Lazarus: X+66 (co-writer, issue #1, issues #4-#6)
- Mighty Crusaders (co-writer, with Brandon Jerwa)
- Pathfinder Goblins (co-writer, story "Legendary" with Larry White)
- Red Sonja (2005) (writer, issues #51-#75; contributing writer, issue #100; writer, issue #1973, story "The Raiding Party")
- The Shield (2009) (writer)
- Shooters (co-writer, with Brandon Jerwa)
- The Old Guard: Tales Through Time (writer, issue #2, story "Strong Medicine")
- Vampirella (2010) (writer, issues #1-#10, #12-#20; contributing writer, issue #100)
- Vampirella: Feary Tales (contributing writer, issue #4)
Comic Design & Layout
- Atomic Robo (publication design and DOCTOR DINOSAUR FILES design)
- Black Magick (production design)
- Compass (logo and book design)
- Lazarus (publication design and digital artifacts)
- Lazarus Sourcebooks (cover and layout design)
- Lazarus: X+66 (publication design)
- The Old Guard (publication design)
- The Old Guard: Tales Through Time (logo and design)
- Rotten (book and logo design)
- Real Science Adventures (book design)
Video Games
- Gears of War (contributing writer, story bible)
- Halo: Combat Evolved (co-writer, non-cutscene dialogue, with Brannon Boren; contributing writer, story bible)
- Perfect Dark Zero (writer, story bible)
