So what’s it mean to be a ‘breakout,’ anyway? Well, by our reasoning, a breakout creator is someone who’s got a body of work to their name, but over the past twelve months has found wider recognition amongst fans. While some of the writers below may have landed on your radar before 2015 began, our staff felt that they achieved something this year that propelled them to the next level of their career.
As always, chime in with your thoughts in the comments!
5. Marguerite Bennet
(Alice W. Castle) As soon as I read the “Batman Annual” #2 I knew to expect great things from Marguerite Bennett. Immediately you could sense a great writer within her with the potential to really change the face of comics. 2015 was definitely her year as she came out swinging by revitalising the Angela character with Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans in “Angela: Asgard’s Assassin” before having a hand in three major “Secret Wars” tie-ins (all of which would end up being named among the few I’d actually recommend from the event) and writing “DC Bombshells” which may go down as one of the most underrated I’ve ever seen come out of DC.
Seriously, though, Marguerite Bennett seemed to really get the recognition she deserves and with her getting the main writer credit on “Angela: Queen Of Hel” and the “A-Force” ongoing, I cannot wait to see what she has in store for 2016.
4. Matthew Rosenberg
(Leo Johnson) Matthew Rosenberg had a big year in 2015. Originally just self-publishing, Rosenberg landed at Black Mask with books like “12 Reasons to Die” and “We Can Never Go Home” and this is where he really made comics notice him. Along with that attention came a couple of Marvel one-shots, like “Quake”. On top of writing some high quality comics with interesting characters, Rosenberg seems to be big on retailer and reader outreach, doing a ton of signings and special things for retailers. The talent and the hard work hopefully mean we’ll be seeing comics with his name on them for years to come.
3. Genevieve Valentine
(Jess Camacho) Genevieve Valentine may not be a household name now but if her work this year is any indicator of what she’s gong to give comics throughout her career, we are looking at someone truly special. In 2015 she gave us one of the best Catwoman stories in years by taking Selina Kyle off the streets and out of her costume and into a mansion and Prada suits. As a longtime Catwoman fan, it had become painful reading her solo series within the New 52. It was full of sputtering storylines, questionable art choices and an infamous first issue that almost ruined the character for good. Valentine weaved a story with more twists and turns in one issue than some series can give you in a year and over the course of her run, she proved that Catwoman still had something new to offer readers. Combining some of history’s most interesting women with parts of The Godfather proved to be a winning combination that made the series feel unlike anything DC had tried in many years. Right now, Valentine is working on “Batman And Robin Eternal” and doing television recaps over at The A.V. Club but I’d love to see her take on another solo series next year.
2. Steve Orlando
(Brian Salvatore) 2015 is not Steve Orlando’s first year in comics by a long shot, but this year, he cemented his status as a major player in comics. “Midnighter” is a perfect example of DC pairing a book with a simpatico creator, and Orlando has made the book a success by not being afraid to confront any part of his protagonist’s life, from his sex life to his brutal fighting style, to his blank memory. Also this year, “Virgil” got reprinted, he wrote a Shazam one-shot, and he joined the ‘writer’s room’ for “Batman and Robin Eternal,” which has been an absolute delight thus far. Orlando brought his attention to detail, his sense of humor, and his gift for dialogue to more books than ever in 2015 – here’s hoping this year was just the aperitif.
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1. Tom King
(Zach Wilkerson) Tom King came onto the scene in late 2014 co-writing Grayson, an enjoyable book that certainly got people talking. It wasn’t until this year, however, that King truly established himself as a creator to watch. It’s very rare for a creator to receive nearly unanimous positive critical response for everything he has a hand in, even more so considering King’s relatively short career and paradoxically large body of work. Equally impressive is King’s ability to adapt to and excel at highly diverse genres, from spy-thrillers to space operas to…well, whatever you’d define “The Vision.” King’s performance in 2015 has been nothing short of spectacular and there’s no end to his potential as a writer in sight. I fully expect one of the Big Two to attempt to snatch him up in an exclusive agreement in 2016. Regardless of industry politics, I expect even greater things from King in days to come.
Editor’s Notes:
Mike Romeo – Last year’s list was dominated by smaller publishers, and this year seems to have snapped back. I know that landing high profile Big 2 work is a sure sign of ‘breaking out,’ but nevertheless, I was surprised to see how strong the DC connection to this category is.
Brian Salvatore – Mike’s point is a well taken one; DC has really snagged some of the best young writers in the business in 2015. This seems to be one of those trends that swings between DC and Marvel – at the start of the New 52, we saw a few new DC creators get chances, then, after a year or so, those names started drifting over to Marvel. Specifically, DC has been grooming their new talent in the Bat-books, under the tutelage of Mark Doyle (and, to a certain degree, Scott Snyder) – in fact, all but Rosenberg on this list have done work in Gotham this year.
