Zdarsky, Chip

Chip Zdarsky
Zdarsky at Lucca Comics & Games 2015
BornSteven Murray
(1975-12-21) December 21, 1975 (age 48)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Area(s)Artist
Notable works
Sex Criminals
Batman
Spider-Man: Life Story
Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man
Daredevil
Howard the Duck
Jughead

Steve Murray (born December 21, 1975[1]), known by the pen-name Chip Zdarsky (/zəˈdɑːrski/[2]), is a Canadian comic book artist and writer, journalist, illustrator and designer. He has also used the pseudonym Todd Diamond.[3] He worked for National Post for over a decade, until 2014, as an illustrator and humorist (as Steve Murray) and wrote and illustrated a column called "Extremely Bad Advice" for the paper as well as The Ampersand, the newspaper's pop culture section's online edition.

He uses the Zdarsky pseudonym for comics-related work, using it to create Prison Funnies and Monster Cops and as artist and co-creator of Sex Criminals with writer Matt Fraction.[1] Comics attributed to him include Howard the Duck, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, Daredevil, Spider-Man: Life Story and Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow for Marvel Comics, Batman for DC Comics and Jughead for Archie Comics.

Early life

Steve Murray was born in Edmonton, Alberta and raised in Barrie, Ontario.[citation needed]

Career

Murray has illustrated for such clients as The Globe and Mail, New York magazine, CBC and Canadian Business.[citation needed]

In 2000, Murray created Chip Zdarsky as a pseudonym and alter ego for his persona as a comic book writer and illustrator, developing his own independent projects, such as Prison Funnies[4] and Monster Cops (which can be read online or in print) as well as collaborating on a variety of projects, including Dark Horse Comics titles Fierce and Rumble Royale. About his alter ego, Murray said "I wanted to have a sad-sack cartoonist persona that lives in his mom's basement, paints figurines for money, has restraining orders against him. And that became a character." He describes the character as "an idiot who doesn't know what I'm doing. I've had no success in my life. No matter what, I'm going to mess things up." Murray initially attempted to keep the identities separate and secret.[1]

From 2008 to 2014, Murray penned and illustrated a weekly advice column for the National Post called "Extremely Bad Advice".[5] He also wrote another column in that paper, Tear Jerk, in which he reviewed films to see if they could actually make him "weep like a baby".

Along with Kagan McLeod, Ben Shannon, and Cameron Stewart, he is a co-founder of the studio The Royal Academy of Illustration and Design, which produced Rumble Royale.

In 2010, he also launched a mock campaign for mayor of Toronto. He was not an officially registered candidate, launching his satirical "campaign" through social networking platforms after the deadline had passed to register as a candidate in the real campaign.[6]

Chip Zdarsky and Matt Fraction

In June 2013, Image Comics announced that Chip Zdarsky had teamed up with Invincible Iron Man and Hawkeye writer, Matt Fraction, on a new creator-owned series titled Sex Criminals. The first issue was released on September 23, 2013. Sex Criminals was declared number 1 on Time magazine's list of "Top 10 Comics and Graphic Novels" of 2013.[7]

In 2014, Murray won a Will Eisner Award for Best New Series for Sex Criminals.[8]

Zdarsky wrote the first series arc of the relaunched Jughead comic for the 2015 New Riverdale relaunch.

On February 15, 2017, it was announced that beginning that June, Zdarsky would be writing a brand new "back-to-basics" Spider-Man series Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man that would run alongside writer Dan Slott's run on The Amazing Spider-Man.[9] Zdarsky later wrote the two Spider-Man miniseries Spider-Man: Life Story and Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow.

In November 2018, it was announced that Zdarsky would serve as the writer on Daredevil, with Marco Checchetto serving as artist. The series began publication in February 2019 and lasted until November 2021 with issue 36.[10] This leads into the event Devil's Reign, also by Zdarsky and Checchetto.[11] A new Daredevil #1 will launch in July 2022, with Zdarsky and Checchetto returning from the previous volume. The series will explore the fallout of Devil's Reign and the effect it had on both Matt and Elektra, as both are operating as Daredevil.[12] Zdarsky then announced that August 2023 would mark the end of his Daredevil.[13]

In 2020, DC Comics announced that Zdarsky would be among the creators of a revived Batman: Black and White anthology series to debut on December 8, 2020.[14]

In 2021, it was announced that Zdarsky had signed a deal with Substack to develop executive comics for the service, such as Public Domain and volume two of Kaptara with Kagan McLeod.[15]

In February 2022, it was announced that Zdarsky will serve as the new writer for the mainline Batman book, starting with issue 125 on July 5, with Jorge Jiménez serving as the artist.[16]

In March 2022, it was announced that Public Domain would be heading to print via Image Comics in June 2022.[17]

Awards and nominations

Awards

  • 2014 Eisner Award – Best New Series (Sex Criminals, with author Matt Fraction)
  • 2014 Harvey Award – Most Promising New Talent
  • 2014 Harvey Award – Best New Series (Sex Criminals)
  • 2015 Harvey Award – Special Award For Humor (Sex Criminals; rejected by winner)
  • 2016 Harvey Award – Special Award For Humor (Howard the Duck)
  • 2017 Eisner Award – Best Humor Publication (Jughead, with Ryan North, Erica Henderson and Derek Charm)
  • 2017 War Rocket Ajax Intercontinental Championship
  • 2019 Eisner Award – Best Single Issue/One-Shot (Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310)
  • 2019 Shuster Award – Best Writer (Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel Two-in-One)
  • 2020 Eisner Award – Best Digital Comic (Afterlift, with artist Jason Loo)
  • 2021 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book — Empyre, Lords of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling / Empyre: Aftermath Avengers (with Al Ewing, Dan Slott and Anthony Oliveira)
  • 2023 Eisner Award – Best New Series (Public Domain)

Nominations

  • 2014 Eisner Award nominee – Best Series (Sex Criminals, with author Matt Fraction)
  • 2017 Eisner Award nominee – Best Publication for Teens (ages 13–17) (Jughead, with Ryan North, Erica Henderson and Derek Charm)
  • 2019 Eisner Award nominee – Best Writer (Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel Two-in-One)
  • 2020 Eisner Award nominee – Best Writer (White Trees, Daredevil, Spider-Man: Life Story, Afterlift), Best Continuing Series (Daredevil with Marco Checchetto)
  • 2021 Eisner Award nominee – Best Writer (Stillwater, Daredevil, Fantastic Four/X-Men)
  • 2021 Eisner Award nominee – Best Continuing Series (Daredevil)
  • 2021 Eisner Award nominee – Best Continuing Series (Stillwater)
  • 2023 Eisner Award nominee – Best Continuing Series (Daredevil with Marco Checchetto and Rafael de Latorre)
  • 2023 Eisner Award nominee – Best Writer (Stillwater, Daredevil)
  • 2023 Harvey Award nominee – Book of the Year (Public Domain)

Bibliography

Archie Comics

Comixology Originals

  • Afterlift #1–5 (writer, limited series, with Jason Loo, April 2020; republished by Dark Horse in February 2021, tpb, 136 pages, ISBN 978-1506724409)
  • The All-Nighter #1–5 (writer, limited series, with Jason Loo, October 2021 – January 2022; republished by Dark Horse in March 2022, tpb, 136 pages, ISBN 978-1506728049)
  • The All-Nighter #6-10 (writer, with Jason Loo, May 2022 – September 2022; republished by Dark Horse in December 2023, tpb, 120 pages, ISBN 9781506736488)[19]

DC Comics

Image Comics

  • Sex Criminals (artist, with Matt Fraction, September 2013 – October 2020)[20]
    • Volume 1: One Weird Trick (collects #1–5, tpb, 128 pages, 2014, ISBN 978-1607069461)
    • Volume 2: Two Worlds, One Cop (collects #6–10, tpb, 128 pages, 2015 ISBN 978-1632151933)
    • Volume 3: Three the Hard Way (collects #11–15, tpb, 132 pages, 2016 ISBN 978-1632155429)
    • Volume 4: Fourgy! (collects #16–20 tpb, 136 pages, 2017 ISBN ISBN 978-1534302310)
    • Volume 5: Five-Fingered Discount (collects #21–25, tpb, 128 pages, 2018 ISBN 978-1534306837)
    • Volume 6: Six Criminals (collects #26–30, 69, tpb, 152 pages, 2020 ISBN 978-1534310629)
    • Big Hard Sex Criminals (collects #1–10, hc, 256 pages, 2015 ISBN 978-1632152435)
    • Big Hard Sex Criminals Volume 2 Deluxxxe (collects #11–20, hc, 256 pages, 2018 ISBN 978-1534307063)
    • Big Hard Sex Criminals Volume 3 Deluxxxe (collects #21–30, 69, hc, 272 pages, 2021 ISBN 978-1534319097)
  • Sex Criminals: Just the Tips (artist, with Matt Fraction, December 2014)[21]
  • Kaptara (writer, with Kagan McLeod, April–November 2015)[22] continued digitally on Substack[23]
    • Volume 1: Fear Not, Tiny Alien (collects #1–5, tpb, 128 pages, 2015, ISBN 978-1632155573)
  • The White Trees #1–2 (writer, limited series, with Kris Anka, August–September 2019)
  • Stillwater #1–18 (writer, with Ramón K. Pérez, September 2020–December 2022)
  • The Silver Coin #1 (writer, with Michael Walsh, April 2021) collected in The Silver Coin, Volume 1 (tpb, 144 pages, 2021, ISBN 978-1534319929)
  • Crossover #7 (writer, with Phil Hester, June 2021) collected in Crossover Vol. 2: The Ten Cent Plague (tpb, 176 pages, 2022, ISBN 978-1534319288)
  • Newburn #1–current (writer, with Jacob Phillips, November 2021–)
  • Public Domain #1–current (writer/artist, reprint of Substack digital series, June 2022–)
  • Kaptara: Universal Truths #1–6 (writer, limited series, reprint of Substack digital series, with Kagan McLeod, August 2023–)

Marvel Comics

  • Original Sins #5: The No-Sin Situation (writer/artist, October 2014) collected in Original Sins (tpb, 144 pages, 2015, ISBN 978-0785191513)
  • Howard the Duck vol. 5 (writer, with Joe Quinones, May–October 2015)[24]
  • Howard the Duck vol. 6 (writer, with Joe Quinones January–December 2016)
  • All-New, All-Different Avengers Annual #1: "The Once and Future Marvel" (artist, with Mark Waid, August 2016) collected in All-New, All-Different Avengers Vol. 3: Civil War II (tpb, 112 pages, 2017, ISBN 978-1302902360)
  • Civil War II: Choosing Sides #5: "Alpha Flight" (writer, with Ramón K. Pérez, October 2016) collected in Civil War II: Choosing Sides (tpb,152 pages, 2016, ISBN 978-1302902513)
  • Doctor Strange vol. 4 #1.MU (writer, with Julian Lopez, April 2017)[25] collected in Monsters Unleashed: Battleground (tpb, 264 pages, 2017, ISBN 978-1302907198)
  • Star-Lord vol. 2 #1–6, Annual #1 (writer, with Kris Anka, February–July 2017)[26] collected as Star-Lord: Grounded (tpb, 168 pages, 2017, ISBN 978-1302905545)
  • Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man vol. 2 (August 2017 – February 2019)[27][28]
    • Volume 1: Into The Twilight (collects #1–6, FCBD 2017 Secret Empire, writer, tpb, with Adam Kubert and Michael Walsh, 144 pages, ISBN 978-1302907563)
    • Volume 2: Most Wanted (collects #297–300, writer/artist, tpb, with Adam Kubert and Juan Frigeri, 112 pages, ISBN 978-1302907570)
    • Volume 3: Amazing Fantasy (collects #301–303, Annual #1, writer, tpb, with Joe Quinones, 112 pages, ISBN 978-1302911188)
    • Volume 4: Coming Home (collects #304–310, writer/artist, tpb, with Adam Kubert, 112 pages, ISBN 978-1302911195)
  • Not Brand Echh #14: "The Not Next Issue Page" (writer/artist, January 2018) collected in Not Brand Echh: The Complete Collection (tpb, 480 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302918828)
  • Unbeatable Squirrel Girl vol. 2 #26: "A Bird in the Hand" (artist, with Erica Henderson, January 2018) collected in The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Volume 7: I've Been Waiting For a Squirrel Like You (tpb, 128 pages, 2018, ISBN 978-1302906658) and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 4 (hc, 272 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302915445)
  • Marvel 2-in-One vol. 2 (writer, February 2018 – January 2019)[29][30] to be collected in Fantastic Four: Fate of the Four (hc, 2021)
  • Doctor Strange vol. 1 #390 (co-artist, with Donny Cates and Frazer Irving, July 2018) collected in Doctor Strange by Donny Cates Vol. 2: City Of Sin (tpb, 112 pages, 2018, ISBN 978-1302910655) and Doctor Strange by Donny Cates (hc, 360 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302915292)
  • Merry X-Men Holiday Special: "The Gift That Keeps On Giving" (writer/artist, one-shot, February 2019)
  • Namor: The Best Defense #1 (writer, one-shot with Carlos Magno, February 2019) collected in Defenders: The Best Defense (tpb, 168 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302916145)[31]
  • Invaders vol. 3 (writer, with Carlos Magno and Butch Guice, March 2019 – February 2020)[32] collected as Always an Invader (hc, 304 pages, 2021, ISBN 978-1302927356)
  • Daredevil vol. 6 (April 2019–December 2021)[33]
    • Volume 1: Know Fear (collects #1–5, writer/artist, tpb, with Marco Checchetto, 120 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302914981)
    • Volume 2: No Devils, Only God (collects #6–10, writer, tpb, with Lalit Kumar Sharma and Jorge Fornés, 112 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302914998
    • Volume 3: Through Hell (collects #11–15, writer, tpb, with Marco Checchetto and Francesco Mobili 112 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302920180)
    • Volume 4: End of Hell (collects #16–20, writer, tpb, with Jorge Fornés and Marco Checchetto, 112 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302925802)
    • Volume 5: Truth/Dare (collects #21–25, Annual #1, writer, tpb, with Marco Checchetto, Francesco Mobili, and Mike Hawthorne, 144 pages, 2021, ISBN 978-1302925819)
    • Volume 6: Doing Time (collects #26–30, writer, tpb, with Marco Checchetto and Mike Hawthorne, 120 pages, 2021, ISBN 978-1302926090)
    • Volume 7: Lockdown (collects #31–36, writer, tpb, with Marco Checchetto, Mike Hawthorne, Stefano Landini, and Manuel Garcia, 2022, ISBN 978-1302926106)
    • Volume 1: To Heaven Through Hell (collects #1–10, hc, 232 pages, 2021, ISBN 978-1302928247)
    • Volume 2: To Heaven Through Hell Vol. 2 (collects #11–20, hc, 224 pages, 2022, ISBN 978-1302931995)
    • Volume 3: To Heaven Through Hell Vol. 3 (collects #21–30 and Annual #1, hc, 264 pages, 2022, ISBN 978-1302945114)
    • Volume 4: To Heaven Through Hell Vol. 4 (collects #31-36, Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #1-3, hc, 232 pages, 2023, ISBN 978-1302950057)
  • Daredevil vol. 7 (July 2022-August 2023)[12]
    • Volume 1: The Red Fist Saga Part One (collects #1-5, writer, with Marco Checchetto and Rafael De Latorre, tpb, 2023, ISBN 978-1302926113)
    • Volume 2: The Red Fist Saga Part Two (collects #6-10, writer, with Marco Checchetto, Rafael De Latorre, and Manuel Garcia, tpb, 2023, ISBN 978-1302932510)
    • Volume 3: The Red Fist Saga Part Three (collects #11-14, writer, with Marco Checchetto and Rafael De Latorre, tpb, 2023, ISBN 978-1302947712)
  • Spider-Man: Life Story (writer, 7-issue limited series, with Mark Bagley, May 2019 – August 2021)[34] collected as Spider-Man: Life Story (tpb, 208 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302917333) and Spider-Man: Life Story (hc, 240 pages, 2021, ISBN 978-1302931919)
  • War of the Realms: War Scrolls #1: "Waugh of the Realms" (writer, with Joe Quinones, June 2019) collected in War of the Realms Omnibus (hc, 1576 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302926410)
  • Marvel Comics #1000: "Armor: Disassemble": (writer/artist, one-shot, October 2019) collected as Marvel Comics #1000 (hc, 144 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302921378)
  • Amazing Spider-Man: Full Circle (co-writer, one-shot, with Rachel Stott and various, December 2019) collected as Amazing Spider-Man: Full Circle (hc, 128 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302921385)
  • X-Men/Fantastic Four vol. 2 #1–4 (writer, 4-issue limited series, with Terry Dodson, April–September 2020)[35] collected as X-Men/Fantastic Four: 4X (tpb, 128 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302920036)
  • Doom 2099 vol. 2 #1 (writer, one-shot, with Marco Castiello, February 2020) collected in Amazing Spider-Man 2099 Companion (tpb 296 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302924928)
  • Incoming! #1: "5–8" (writer, one-shot, with Jorge Fornés, February 2020) collected in Road to Empyre (tpb, 2020, ISBN 978-1302925888)
  • Lords of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling #1 (co-writer, one-shot, with Anthony Oliveira and Manuel Garcia, September 2020) collected in Empyre: Lords of Empyre (tpb, 168 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302925918)
  • Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow (writer, 5-issue limited series, with Pasqual Ferry, April–August 2021) collected in Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow (tpb, 128 pages, 2021, ISBN 978-1302920913)
  • Story in Carnage: Black, White & Blood #2 (writer, with Marco Checchetto, April 2021)
  • Story in Free Comic Book Day 2021: Spider-Man/Venom (one-shot, with Greg Smallwood, August 2021)
  • Devil's Reign (writer, 6-issue limited series, with Marco Checchetto, December 2021 – April 2022) collected in Devil's Reign (tpb, 208 pages, 2022, ISBN 978-1302932848)
  • Daredevil: Woman Without Fear (writer, 3-issue limited series, with Rafael De Latorre, January–March 2022) collected in Daredevil: Woman Without Fear (tpb, 120 pages, 2022, ISBN 978-1302934934)

Other publishers

  • Royal Academy of Illustration & Design
    • Monster Cops (writer/artist, 2003; republished by Legion of Evil Press in 2006)
  • Legion of Evil Press
    • Prison Funnies #1–2 (writer/artist, 2003)
    • Chip Zdarsky's Monster Cops (writer/artist, 2006)
    • Comics Festival!: Monster Cops (writer/artist, 2007–2009)
  • Substack
    • Kaptara #6–current (writer, with Kagan Mcleod, August 2021– )
    • Public Domain #1–current (writer/artist, September 2021–)

References

  1. ^ a b c Medley, Mark (28 November 2014). "A dream invite from Marvel to resurrect Howard the Duck". The Globe and Mail.
  2. ^ Chip Zdarsky spills Daredevil Secrets – Ask Marvel
  3. ^ Bayon, Arthur (3 June 2023). "Chip Zdarsky: «Je ne surprends personne avec mes "révélations" sur l'industrie des comics!»". Le Figaro.
  4. ^ "Chip Zdarsky's Prison Funnies! @ PopImage". Pop Image. Archived from the original on 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
  5. ^ "Extremely Bad Advice". National Post. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
  6. ^ "Steve Murray Hates Toronto, and Wants to Be Your Mayor". Torontoist, October 1, 2010.
  7. ^ Wolk, Douglas (December 4, 2013). "Top 10 Comics and Graphic Novels". Time.
  8. ^ "Steve Murray insufferable and 'very proud' after picking up prestigious Will Eisner award". July 28, 2014. Archived from the original on November 30, 2014. Retrieved November 28, 2014.
  9. ^ "Spider-Man Goes Spectacular". News - Marvel.com.
  10. ^ Marston, George (2021-08-16). "Marvel is ending Zdarsky and Checchetto's Daredevil ... for now". gamesradar. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
  11. ^ "EXCLUSIVE Announcement – New 'Daredevil' Creative Team: Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  12. ^ a b "Chip Zdarsky And Marco Checchetto Reunite For An All New Era Of Daredevil". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  13. ^ Zdarsky, Chip. "Just A Nice Friday Update". zdarsky.substack.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  14. ^ Adams, Tim (September 9, 2020). "DC's Batman: Black and White Anthology Series Returns in Late 2020". CBR.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  15. ^ Johnston, Rich (2021-08-12). "Chip Zdarsky, Latest Substack Publisher With Public Domain & Kaptara". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  16. ^ Rivera, Joshua (2022-02-24). "Daredevil writer Chip Zdarsky is the new writer of Batman". Polygon. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  17. ^ Schreur, Brandon (2022-03-17). "EXCLUSIVE: Batman Writer Chip Zdarsky's Public Domain Headed to Print". CBR. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
  18. ^ Jughead (2015–17)
  19. ^ Schreur, Brandon (2022-05-12). "EXCLUSIVE: Chip Zdarsky's All-Nighter Returns With Vampires, Superheroes and More". CBR. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  20. ^ Sex Criminals
  21. ^ "Just the Tips Hardcover". Image Comics. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  22. ^ Kaptara
  23. ^ Zdarsky, Chip. "Kaptara Katch-Up!". zdarsky.substack.com. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  24. ^ Howard the Duck (2015)
  25. ^ Doctor Strange (2015) #1.1
  26. ^ Star-Lord (2016–2017)
  27. ^ Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man (2017–2018)
  28. ^ Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual (2018) #1
  29. ^ Marvel 2-in-One (2017–2018)
  30. ^ Marvel 2-in-One Annual (2018) #1
  31. ^ Namor: The Best Defense (2018) #1
  32. ^ Invaders (2019–present)
  33. ^ Daredevil (2019–present)
  34. ^ Spider-Man: Life Story (2019)
  35. ^ X-Men/Fantastic Four (2020)

External links