Getting to Know the Creators: Brian K. Vaughan

[iSteve]

http://www.avclub.com/content/files/images/briankvaughan-new.article.jpg

Brian K. Vaughan bio from his website:

Born in Cleveland in 1976, Brian K. Vaughan is the Eisner, Harvey, and Shuster Award-winning writer and co-creator of the critically acclaimed comics series Y: The Last Man, Runaways, and Ex Machina (picked as one of the ten best works of fiction of 2005 by Entertainment Weekly).

Recently named "Writer of the Year" by Wizard Magazine, and one of the “top ten comic writers of all time” by Comic Book Resources, Vaughan’s work has been featured and/or reviewed in countless mainstream media outlets, including The New York Times, MTV, National Public Radio, and feminist magazine Bust, which photographed him for their “Men We Love” issue (don’t ask).

As an undergraduate film student at New York University, Vaughan got his big break as part of Marvel’s Stanhattan Project, a workshop for aspiring comic book writers. In the ten years since, he has written nearly all of the major DC and Marvel characters, everyone from Batman to the X-Men.

In September of 2006, Vertigo released Vaughan’s first original graphic novel, Pride of Baghdad, lavishly illustrated by artist Niko Henrichon. Inspired by an unbelievable true story of four lions who escaped the Baghdad Zoo during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Pride is equal parts anthropomorphic adventure and Animal Farm-like parable about the ongoing conflict in Iraq, and was described as "the best novel so far" about the war by the UK's Telegraph.

Along with his creator-owned work, Vaughan is currently writing The Escapists, a Dark Horse miniseries inspired by Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, as well as a new Doctor Strange limited series for Marvel with artist Marcos Martin.

This summer, the new WGA member/CAA client transplanted his poor playwright wife to Los Angeles, where Vaughan is currently working on the screenplay adaptations of Y and Ex Machina for New Line Cinema, as well as other new creations in film and television.

His home on the web is www.bkv.tv, and he’s become the last aging hipster to get a MySpace page: www.myspace.com/briankvaughan.

1) Brian K. Vaughan Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_K._Vaughan)

2) Brian K. Vaughan website (http://www.bkv.tv/pages/news.html)

3) Newsarama: THE LIONS OF WAR: BKV ON PRIDE OF BAGHDAD (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=82394)

4) Newsarama: BRIAN K. VAUGHAN TALKS RUNAWAYS EXIT (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=83353)

5) Fanboy Radio #299 - Brian K Vaughan LIVE (http://fanboyradio.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=84446)

[acomicbookgirl]

I love Pride of Baghdad. :) My biggest regret was getting The Filth over Y: The Last Man.. I recently read the first trade and loved it. :)

[mikegraham6]

I love Pride of Baghdad. :) My biggest regret was getting The Filth over Y: The Last Man.. I recently read the first trade and loved it. :)

everyone keeps bashing the filth and im still waiting on my order....:(
but hey Pride of Bagdad is in my order as well so it can wash the taste out of my mouth i guess!

[acomicbookgirl]

everyone keeps bashing the filth and im still waiting on my order....:(
but hey Pride of Bagdad is in my order as well so it can wash the taste out of my mouth i guess!


The Filth is a mind****.. I had no problems with it.. Would I recommend it? Not really... Pride of Bagdad was awesome! You so have to read it!

[benjaminsimpson]

Useless fact: when he was in high school, BKV shopped at the same comic book store in Cleveland that I shopped at in high school.

[paper]

Bald people are good with the writing comics.

Which is sad. Because without the obtainable hair samples, there's less of a chance for cloning them.

[mikegraham6]

The Filth is a mind****.. I had no problems with it.. Would I recommend it? Not really... Pride of Bagdad was awesome! You so have to read it!

a mind f*ck? well thats why i ordered it, i like the bizarrre grant morrison. im really looking forward to POB though, i keep hearing great things about it. wasn't it voted the best graphic novel of 2006? either that or it won some award, im sure it's in iSteves post, but it's really long and im at work:rolleyes:
anyway, i hoped you picked up Y the last man, because it kicks all kinds of ass!

[acomicbookgirl]

a mind f*ck? well thats why i ordered it, i like the bizarrre grant morrison. im really looking forward to POB though, i keep hearing great things about it. wasn't it voted the best graphic novel of 2006? either that or it won some award, im sure it's in iSteves post, but it's really long and im at work:rolleyes:
anyway, i hoped you picked up Y the last man, because it kicks all kinds of ass!


Oh its bizarre Grant Morrison... ;) I'm going to pick up Y.. Don't worry.. I'm trying to do this experiment in regards to my stash for the next couple of weeks.. ;)

[paper]

I hope I never meet BKV.

PAPER - Hey.
BKV - Hey, sport.
PAPER - Remember when you wrote Y: The Last Man?
BKV - Yup.
PAPER - That was awesome.
BKV - People seem to like it.
PAPER - Can you sign this?
BKV - Are these all the issues of Amazing Spider-Man dating back to 1981?
PAPER - The ones I could find.
BKV - I didn't write these.
PAPER - You could have though.
BKV - I was five when this one came out.
PAPER - Were you bald then?
BKV - Of course not.
PAPER - Would it be too forward of me if--
BKV - Yes.

[jgg0610]

I've only recently starting reading his stuff, but I have yet to find a bad issue by him. I'm still borrowing Y from a friend and I'm way behind. I can't wait to borrow the next batch.

[fred]

I've met bkv and he's really cool

the bio is depressing though - he's only 3 years older than me. I'd like to think of his accomplishments coming after 50 years or so of toiling away

[iSteve]

DC's Spotlight on Brian K. Vaughan (http://www.dccomics.com/media/podcasts/DCComics_2007-03-07_Spotlight_On_Brian_K_Vaughn_New_York_Comic_Con_ 2007.mp3)

[the-screw-on-aaron]

Vaughan is the man! I can give Y the Last Man to almost anyone and they'll love it guaranteed. I haven't read Pride of Baghdad yet I think I'll get that on my birthday next month along with some other stuff.

[kwok_talk]

In this month's issue of Wired, BKV won the award for Best Storyteller.

[iSteve]

GOOD-BYE TO Y I: BRIAN K VAUGHAN, I (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=144778)

by Zack Smith

In the summer of 2002, a plague of unknown origin destroyed every last sperm, fetus and fully-developed mammal with a Y chromosome…with the apparent exception of one young man and his male pet.

For Yorick Brown, a would-be magician, it was the beginning of a quest across this new “Unmanned World” to rescue his girlfriend Beth, trapped in Australia at the time the plague hit. Aided by Agent 355 of the mysterious Culper Ring and Dr. Allison Mann, a scientist whose cloning experiments might hold the key to saving the human race (if they weren’t responsible for its downfall in the first place), Yorick and his helper monkey Ampersand found themselves journeying through a world turned upside-down.

They were pursued by Alter Tse'elon, an Israeli military leader seeking to capture the last man, and Yorick’s own sister Hero, who had been brainwashed by a cult determined to wipe all traces of patriarchy from the Earth. As the journey stretched on for five long years, Yorick and his friends found themselves battling for survival, discovering new possibilities for the future, and confronting their inner demons. Yorick’s quest forced him to do things he’d never imagined…and, in the process, helped him truly become a man.

And this week, the saga of Yorick Brown reaches its end.

With issue #60 of Vertigo’s Y: The Last Man hitting stands this Wednesday, Newsarama is doing its part to help the series go out in style. We’re dedicating a special week of interviews to Y, beginning with an in-depth look back from series writer and co-creator Brian K. Vaughan.

Vaughan was an up-and-coming writer with several Marvel and DC series to his credit when Y hit. The book helped propel him to the ranks of fan favorite, leading to such other acclaimed works as Ex Machina, Runaways, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ultimate X-Men, The Escapists, Pride of Baghdad, Doctor Strange and the upcoming Logan…not to mention a writing and producing gig on a little series called Lost, whose fourth season coincidentally premieres the day after Y’s final issue hits stands. There’s also a film in development from Disturbia screenwriter Carl Ellsworth.

Known as “BKV” to his fans, Vaughan answered some of our burning questions about Y and his other works over the course of several rounds of questions over the holidays. In the first part of this interview, Vaughan discusses how both he and the book evolved over the course of its run.

By the way – this interview covers elements from all 59 issues published to date, so SPOILER WARNING - okay? And if you haven’t read the series yet…well, you can always start with the first issue......

http://www.newsarama.com/Vertigo/Y_LastMan/YLME_Cv60_t.jpg

[iSteve]

GOOD-BYE TO Y II: BRIAN K VAUGHAN, II (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=144940)

by Zack Smith

Warning: This interview discusses the death of a major character in the book’s last few issues. If you’re just picking up the trades…you might want to wait before you read this.

Newsarama: Brian, I’ve encountered a lot of women who’ve gotten into comics because of Y. Given the premise of the book, perhaps it’s not unexpected that it would acquire a large female fan base, but did you anticipate this?

Brian K. Vaughan: I actually did, and I think it’s entirely because of Pia Guerra. Not because she happens to be a woman, but because she’s an unbelievably talented artist who draws performances that everyone can relate to, and creates storytelling that is absolutely accessible to anyone, even if the only comics you’ve ever read are the Sunday funnies.

I’ve said this a million times, but I think the idea that female readers require certain story elements to enjoy a comic is horseshit. I always hear, “Oh, you need 60 percent romance and a strong female protagonist and blah, blah, blah.” What the fuck is a “strong female,” anyway? As opposed to what?

I think it’s stupid to presume that just because you don’t have a penis you’re automatically not going to like hardcore action or graphic sex or gory horror, all of which Pia happens to dig and excel at drawing. For the most part, women love the exact same things that guys do – great stories that are well told with cool characters.

But because so many female readers are new to this medium and don’t have the same codependent relationship with the characters guys like me grew up loving and continue to tolerate any amount of abuse from, the only things women tend to dependably dislike are convoluted continuity, confusing artwork and lousy writing.

Like all human beings, I also think they hate being pandered to, which is why nine times out of ten, I gave my girlfriends Preacher before I gave them some well-intentioned “girl comic.” Seriously, is there a woman alive who doesn’t love Preacher?

So yeah, I though that as long as Pia and I told the story we wanted to tell the way we wanted to tell it, the book would hopefully spread like a venereal disease through relationships, to steal an observation from Neil Gaiman for the thousandth time.......

[kahunablair]

Here's a great little write-up CNN did on the Last "Y" and Vaughan's TV career.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/01/30/brian.vaughan/index.html

[iSteve]

BRIAN K. VAUGHAN: LIFE AFTER Y (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=145160)

by Zack Smith

Our week-long celebration of Y: The Last Man’s final issue continues today, as we get series writer and co-creator Brian K. Vaughan in for a special “Bonus Round” of questions about life after Y.

Vaughan’s got plenty of projects on his plate, from his DC/Wildstorm series Ex Machina with Tony Harris, to his new Marvel miniseries Logan with 100 Bullets’ Eduardo Risso to his continuing work on ABC’s hit series Lost, whose fourth season premieres this tonight. He’s even seeing his older work coming back into print with Batman: False Faces, a new collection from DC. Vaughan talked about everything from the Writers’ Guild strike to his plans for other mediums and more.

Newsarama: Brian, tell us about Logan – what's the basic story, and where/how does it fit into Wolverine's chronology?

Brian K. Vaughan: It starts in the present continuity, with Wolverine realizing that he’s got a sixty-year-old score to settle thanks to his recently returned memories......