Jason Aaron
Jason Aaron is an American comic book writer, known for his creator-owned series Scalped and Southern Bastards, as well as his work on Marvel series Ghost Rider, Wolverine, PunisherMAX, Thor and The Avengers, as well as his work on DC Comics for his work on Absolute Superman. In 2019 he wrote the eponymous central miniseries of the Marvel company-wide crossover storyline "The War of the Realms". As part of his Marvel work, he co-created the character Gorr the God Butcher and introduced the concept of Jane Foster becoming Thor in the main Marvel Universe.
The film Thor: Love and Thunder was based on and influenced by his work on Thor.
Early life
Jason Aaron was born in Jasper, Alabama. His cousin, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, on which the feature film Full Metal Jacket was based, was a large influence on Aaron. Aaron decided he wanted to write comics as a child, and though his father was skeptical when Aaron informed him of this aspiration, his mother took Aaron to drug stores, where he would purchase comic books from spinner racks, some of which he still owned as of 2012.Aaron graduated from Shelby County High School. He then attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English.
Career
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175, gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors. In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC Comics's imprint Vertigo, which became his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side. The Other Side was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and Aaron regards it as the "second time" he broke into the industry. Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to Scalped, a creator-owned series with artist R. M. Guéra set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation.In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. In July of that year, he wrote the Penguin issue of Joker's Asylum.
After a four-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre." In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with the relaunch of The Incredible Hulk in 2011 and Thor: God of Thunder in 2012. Aaron and artist Mike Deodato collaborated on the Original Sin limited series in 2014. In 2018, Aaron relaunched Thor with Mike del Mundo and The Avengers with Ed McGuinness. In addition to his work on Marvel characters, Aaron wrote a year-long run on the Conan the Barbarian series after Marvel regained the licensing rights to the character in 2019.
At the 2019 San Diego Comic Con, it was announced that Aaron's Thor storyline which depicted Jane Foster acquiring the mantle of the Thunder God would be the basis for the 2022 film Thor: Love and Thunder.
In 2022, Aaron would write a new creator-owned book at Boom! Studios entitled Once Upon a Time at the End of the World. The 15 issue series began publication in November that same year with three artists, Alexandre Tefenkgi, Leila del Duca, and Nick Dragotta, being employed every 5 issues to highlight the passage of time.
In March 2023, Aaron announced that he was no longer under exclusive contract with Marvel. In August 2023, it was announced that Aaron would be writing a project for DC called Batman: Off-World, a six-issue limited series drawn by artist Doug Mahnke and inker Jamie Mendoza. The series would focus on a young Batman's first adventure in space. In October 2023, it was announced that Aaron's next DC project would be a three-issue story arc on Action Comics focusing on the character Bizarro to be drawn by artist John Timms. The story arc is part of a new Action Comics initiative called "Superman Superstars" where rotating creative teams of writers and artists write short story arcs focusing on Superman and his villains. Aaron's arc will start on Action Comics #1061 in January 2024 and end in March 2024 with Action Comics #1063.
In June 2024, Marvel published a one-shot story, written by Aaron in collaboration with other artists, featuring Disney's Uncle Scrooge character for the first time ever in a Marvel comic book. The story, named Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime, introduced Scrooge and the Duck Universe to the Marvel Multiverse concept.
Personal life
Aaron moved to Kansas City, Kansas in 2000, the day after the first X-Men feature film was released.Aaron is a passionate and well known fan of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team.
Commenting on the religious themes that run through his work, Aaron says he was raised Southern Baptist, but has since renounced religion:
Awards and nominations
- Nominated: 2007 Eisner Award for Best Miniseries for The Other Side.
- Nominated: 2015 Eisner Award for Best Writer for Southern Bastards, Original Sin, Thor: God of Thunder and Men of Wrath.
- Nominated: 2015 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series for Southern Bastards.
- Recipient: 2015 Harvey Award for Best New Series for Southern Bastards.
- Nominated: 2015 Harvey Award for Best Writer for Southern Bastards.
- Recipient: 2016 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series for Southern Bastards.
- Recipient: 2016 Eisner Award for Best Writer for Southern Bastards, Star Wars, Doctor Strange, Thor and Men of Wrath.
- Recipient: 2016 Inkpot Award
DC Comics
- The Other Side #1–5 collected as The Other Side
- Scalped, Davide Furnò, Francesco Francavilla, Danijel Žeželj and Jason Latour collected as:
- *Book One
- *Book Two
- *Book Three
- *Book Four
- *Book Five
- Friday the 13th: How I Spent My Summer Vacation #1–2 collected in Friday the 13th: Book Two
- Hellblazer #245–246: "Newcastle Calling" collected in John Constantine, Hellblazer Volume 21
- Joker's Asylum: Penguin collected in Joker's Asylum Volume 1
- American Vampire Anthology #1: "Lost Colony"
- * Collected in American Vampire Volume 6
- * Collected in American Vampire Omnibus Volume 2 Batman: Off World #1–6 Action Comics #1061–1063 "I, Bizarro" Absolute Superman #1–present
Marvel Comics
- X-Men:
- *Wolverine by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection Volume 1 includes:
- ** Wolverine vol. 2 #175: "A Good Man"
- ** Wolverine vol. 3:
- *** "The Man in the Pit"
- *** "Get Mystique!"
- *** "A Mile in My Moccasins"
- ** Wolverine: Manifest Destiny #1–4
- *Wolverine: Weapon X, C. P. Smith and Davide Gianfelice collected as:
- ** Wolverine by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection Volume 1
- ** Wolverine by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection Volume 2
- *** Includes the Dark Reign: The List—Wolverine one-shot
- *** Includes the "Get Mystique " short story from Dark X-Men: The Beginning #3
- ** Wolverine by Jason Aaron Omnibus
- *Wolverine vol. 4, Daniel Acuña, Goran Sudžuka, Ron Garney and Steven Sanders + Billy Tan collected as:
- ** Wolverine by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection Volume 3
- *** Includes the "Falling" short story from Wolverine: Road to Hell
- *** Includes the 6-issue spin-off limited series Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine
- ** Wolverine by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection Volume 4
- ** Wolverine Goes to Hell Omnibus
- *X-Force Special: Ain't No Dog: "Hunters and Killers" collected in X-Force by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost Volume 1
- *X-Men: Schism #1–5 collected as X-Men: Schism
- *Wolverine and the [X-Men (comics)|Wolverine and the X-Men], Steven Sanders, David López, Ramón K. Pérez, Giuseppe Camuncoli collected as:
- ** Volume 1
- ** Volume 2
- ** Volume 3
- ** Volume 4
- ** Volume 5
- ** Volume 6
- ** Volume 7
- ** X-Men: Battle of the Atom
- *** Also collects X-Men: Battle of the Atom #2
- ** Volume 8
- ** Wolverine and the X-Men by Jason Aaron Omnibus
- *Amazing X-Men vol. 2 #1–6 collected as Amazing X-Men: The Quest for Nightcrawler
- *Wolverine: Japan's Most Wanted #1–13 collected as Wolverine: Japan's Most Wanted
- Ghost Rider vol. 4 collected as:
- *The War for Heaven: Book One
- *The War for Heaven: Book Two
- ** Also collects the 6-issue spin-off limited series Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire
- *Ghost Rider by Jason Aaron Omnibus
- Black Panther vol. 3 #39–41: "See Wakanda and Die" collected as Secret Invasion: Black Panther
- American Eagle: Just a Little Old Fashioned Justice
- * First published in print as a feature in Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular #1
- * Collected in Bloodstone and the Legion of Monsters
- Punisher:
- *Punisher MAX by Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon Omnibus collects:
- ** The [Punisher (2004 series)|Punisher MAX X-Mas Special] also collected in Punisher MAX: The Complete Collection Volume 6
- ** Punisher MAX #1–22 also collected as Punisher MAX: The Complete Collection Volume 7
- *The Punisher vol. 13 collected as:
- ** The King of Killers Book One
- ** The King of Killers Book Two
- Deadpool vol. 2 #900: "Close Encounters of the @*#$ed-Up Kind" collected in Deadpool: Dead Head Redemption
- Immortal Weapons #1: "The Book of the Cobra" collected in Immortal Iron Fist: The Complete Collection Volume 2
- Captain America: Who Won't Wield the Shield?: "Forbush Man: Forbush Kills!" collected in Secret Wars Too
- The Avengers vs. Atlas #4: "My Dinner with Gorilla Man" collected in Gorilla Man
- Ultimate Comics: Captain America #1–4 collected as Ultimate Comics: Captain America
- The Incredible Hulk by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection collects:
- *Fear Itself #7: "Epilogue: Saturday"
- *The Incredible Hulk vol. 3 #1–15, Pasqual Ferry, Tom Raney, Dalibor Talajić and Carlos Pacheco
- Avengers vs. X-Men includes:
- *Avengers vs. X-Men #0 — #2 — #9 — #12 also collected in Avengers vs. X-Men
- *AvX: VS also collected in Avengers vs. X-Men: VS
- ** "The Invincible Iron Man vs. Magneto"
- ** "Angel vs. Hawkeye"
- ** "Iron Fist vs. Iceman"
- BrooklyKnight
- Thor:
- *Thor: God of Thunder, Nic Klein, Ron Garney, Das Pastoras, Agustín Alessio and R. M. Guéra + Simon Bisley collected as:
- ** Thor by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection Volume 1
- ** Thor by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection Volume 2
- *** Also collects the 8-issue fourth volume of the Thor ongoing series
- *** Also collects the 4-issue spin-off limited series Secret Wars: Thors
- *The Mighty Thor vol. 2, Steve Epting, Valerio Schiti and James Harren collected as:
- ** Thor by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection Volume 3
- ** Thor by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection Volume 4
- *** Also collects the 5-issue spin-off limited series The Unworthy Thor
- *** Also collects the Generations: the Mighty Thor and the Unworthy Thor one-shot
- *** Also collects The Mighty Thor: At the Gates of Valhalla one-shot
- *Thor by Jason Aaron: The Complete Collection Volume 5 collects:
- ** Thor vol. 5 #1–16, Tony Moore, Lee Garbett and Scott Hepburn
- ** King Thor #1–4
- *Thor vol. 6 #24: "Who Wields Who?" collected in Thor: God of Hammers
- A+X #3: "Black Panther + Storm" collected in A+X = Awesome
- Thanos Rising #1–5 collected as Thanos Rising
- Original Sin:
- *Original Sin #1–8 collected as Original Sin
- *Original Sin #5.1–5.5: "Thor and Loki: The Tenth Realm"
- ** Collected as Original Sin: Thor and Loki — The Tenth Realm
- ** Collected in Original Sin Companion
- Men of Wrath #1–5 collected as Men of Wrath
- Star Wars:
- *Star Wars vol. 4, Mike Mayhew collected as:
- ** Volume 1
- ** Vader Down
- *** All issues of the crossover — Star Wars vol. 4 #13–14, Star Wars: Darth Vader #13–15 and the Star Wars: Vader Down one-shot — are co-written by Aaron and Kieron Gillen.
- ** Volume 2
- ** Volume 3
- ** The Screaming Citadel
- *** Also collects the Star Wars: The Screaming Citadel one-shot
- ** Omnibus
- *Star Wars: Darth Vader — Black, White and Red #1–4: "Hard Shutdown" collected in Star Wars: Darth Vader — Black, White and Red
- Secret Wars: Weirdworld #1–5 collected as Weirdworld: Warzones!
- Doctor Strange vol. 4 and Frazer Irving collected as:
- *Volume 1
- *Volume 2
- *Doctor Strange by Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo Omnibus
- Marvel Legacy
- The Avengers:
- *The Avengers vol. 7, David Marquez, Andrea Sorrentino, Jason Masters, Stefano Caselli, Dale Keown, Javier Garrón, Luca Maresca, Flaviano, Aaron Kuder + Carlos Pacheco, Juan Frigeri and Ivan Fiorelli collected as:
- ** The Final Host
- ** World Tour
- ** War of the Vampires
- ** War of the Realms
- ** Challenge of the Ghost Riders
- ** Starbrand Reborn
- ** The Age of Khonshu
- ** Enter the Phoenix
- ** World War She-Hulk
- ** The Death Hunters
- *** Includes the Avengers 1,000,000 B.C. one-shot
- ** History's Mightiest Heroes
- ** Avengers Assemble
- *** Includes the Avengers Assemble: Alpha one-shot
- *** Includes the Avengers Assemble: Omega one-shot
- *Incoming!: "The Avengers" collected in Road to Empyre
- *Free Comic Book Day 2021: The Avengers/Hulk: "The Tower at the Center of Everything"
- *Avengers Forever vol. 2 and Jim Towe collected as:
- ** The Lords of Earthly Vengeance
- ** The Pillars
- *** Includes the digital-only 4-issue limited series Infinity Comics: Avengers Forever
- ** Avengers Assemble
- Conan the Barbarian:
- *Conan the Barbarian vol. 4 #1–12 collected as Conan the Barbarian by Jason Aaron and Mahmud Asrar
- *King Conan #1–6 collected as King Conan
- War of the Realms Omnibus includes:
- *War of the Realms #1–6 also collected as War of the Realms
- *War of the Realms: War Scrolls #1–3: "The God without Fear" also collected in War of the Realms: Spider-Man/Daredevil
- *War of the Realms: Omega: "God and the Devil Walk into a Church"
- Valkyrie:
- *Jane Foster: Valkyrie and Torunn Grønbekk, art by CAFU, Pere Pérez and Ramon Rosanas collected as:
- ** The Sacred and the Profane
- ** At the End of All Things
- *King in Black: Return of the Valkyries #1–4 collected as King in Black: Return of the Valkyries
- *The Mighty Valkyries #1–5 collected as The Mighty Valkyries: All Hell Let Loose
- Marvel Comics #1000: "Bloodbath" collected in Marvel Comics 1000
- The Amazing Spider-Man: Full Circle: "Part Seven"
- Heroes Reborn: America's Mightiest Heroes collects:
- *Heroes Reborn #1–7, Federico Vicentini, James Stokoe, R. M. Guera, Erica D'Urso and Aaron Kuder
- *Heroes Return: "The Man Who Rebooted the World"
- Miracleman #0: "The Man Whose Dreams Were Miracles"
- ''Uncle Scrooge: "Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime" ''
[|Image] Comics
- 24Seven Volume 2: "This Mortal Coil"
- Pilot Season: Ripclaw collected in Pilot Season 2007
- Liberty Comics #2: "First Cens*r" collected in CBLDF Presents: Liberty
- Southern Bastards :
- *Southern Bastards collected as:
- ** Here Was a Man
- ** Gridiron
- ** Homecoming
- ** Gut Check
- *Thought Bubble Anthology #6: "Earl Around the World"
- The Goddamned :
- *The Goddamned #1–5 collected as The Goddamned: Before the Flood
- *The Goddamned: The Virgin Brides #1–5 collected as The Goddamned: The Virgin Brides
- Sea of Stars collected as:
- *Lost in the Wild Heavens
- *The People of the Broken Moon
- The Old Guard: Tales Through Time #5: "An Old Soul" collected in The Old Guard: Tales Through Time
- Bug Wars #1-6
Other publishers
- Country Ass-Whuppin': A Tornado Relief Anthology: "Ass Kicked in Alabama"
- Love is Love
- Sound and Fury
- Once Upon a Time at the End of the World, Leila del Duca and Nick Dragotta collected as:
- *Love in the Wasteland
- *The Rise and Fall of Golgonooza
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol. 2, IDW Publishing, 2024-