47 Facts About Mark Millar

1.

Mark Millar is a Scottish comic book writer and television producer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series The Authority, published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint.

2.

In 2006, Mark Millar wrote the Civil War mini-series that served as the centrepiece for the eponymous company-wide crossover storyline and later inspired the Marvel Studios film Captain America: Civil War.

3.

The "Old Man Logan" storyline, published as part of Mark Millar's run on Wolverine, served as the inspiration for the 2017 film Logan.

4.

In 2013, Mark Millar was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for services to film and literature.

5.

Mark Millar was born on 24 December 1969 in Coatbridge, Scotland.

6.

Mark Millar spent the first half of his life in the town's Townhead area and attended St Ambrose High School.

7.

Mark Millar has four older brothers, and one older sister, who are 22,20,18,16 and 14 years older than him, respectively.

8.

Mark Millar was first introduced to comic books at age 4 by his brother Bobby, who at the time was attending university and, as of 2010, worked at a special needs school.

9.

Mark Millar's mother died of a heart attack at age 64, when Mark Millar was 14, and his father died four years later, aged 65.

10.

Mark Millar initially planned to be a doctor, and subsequently decided that becoming an economist would be a viable alternate plan, but later decided that he "couldn't quite hack it" in that occupation.

11.

Mark Millar attended Glasgow University to study politics and economics, but dropped out after his father's death left him without the money to pay his living expenses.

12.

Mark Millar was first inspired to become a comic book creator after meeting Alan Moore at a con in the mid-1980s.

13.

Years later, when an 18-year-old Mark Millar interviewed Scottish comic book writer Grant Morrison for a fanzine, he told Morrison that he wanted to create comics as both a writer and an artist.

14.

Morrison, who then-recently returned to comics after spending most of the decade touring with their band The Mixers and had limited experience both of writing and drawing stories earlier in his career, suggested that Mark Millar focus on one of those career paths, as it was very hard to be successful at both, which Mark Millar cites as the best advice he has ever received.

15.

In 1994, Mark Millar crossed over to the American comic book industry, taking over the long-running series Swamp Thing, published under DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.

16.

In late 1998, Millar and Morrison, along with Mark Waid and Tom Peyer, developed an extensive proposal for the Superman titles that was scheduled to launch in January 2000.

17.

In 1999, Mark Millar developed pitches for Phantom Stranger and Secret Society of Super-Villains as well as a revamp of his debut series Saviour.

18.

In 1999 and 2000, Mark Millar wrote a newspaper column for The Evening Times.

19.

Mark Millar started gaining notice at DC Comics for his work on the all-ages comic book series Superman Adventures, which featured stories set in the continuity of Superman: The Animated Series.

20.

Mark Millar, a self-proclaimed Superman fan, stayed on the title for two years and received two Eisner Award nominations while penning one-off stories featuring the version of the character from the mainline DC Universe.

21.

Mark Millar's best known Superman story, the three-issue Elseworlds mini-series Superman: Red Son, was first announced in 1998, even though Mark Millar finished most of the script two year prior.

22.

Meanwhile, DC published a "lost" Superman Adventures script by Mark Millar to capitalize on his newfound success, while Mark Millar himself considered a move from his native Scotland to the United States, deliberating between staff position offers made by Wildstorm and DC Comics' main competitor Marvel.

23.

In June 2000, Marvel announced that Mark Millar will join its then-upcoming "Ultimate" line of comics as the writer on Ultimate X-Men, since Brian Michael Bendis, who was previously attached to the series, decided to focus his attention on the inaugural "Ultimate" launch of the Spider-Man title.

24.

The line, designed to simplify and streamline the company's long-running fictional continuity for mainstream audiences, was met with instant critical and commercial success and, soon after the launch of Ultimate X-Men, Mark Millar announced that he had signed a two-year contract for a staff writing position at Marvel.

25.

In 2002 and 2003, Mark Millar wrote a column for Comic Book Resources.

26.

Around the same time, Mark Millar's website included a teaser for a 6-issue Punisher series with artist Steve Dillon, although no official announcement was made by Marvel.

27.

That same year, Mark Millar renewed his exclusive contract with Marvel for two more years.

28.

In 2006, after renewing his exclusive contract with Marvel for two more years, Mark Millar launched the most well-known and best-selling work of his career, the 7-issue mini-series Civil War with artist Steve McNiven that acted as the centrepiece of the company-wide crossover storyline of the same name.

29.

In 2007 and 2008, Millar attempted to pitch a new series of Superman films to Warner Brothers but the studio went with David S Goyer's pitch for Man of Steel instead.

30.

In 2008, Mark Millar returned to the Wolverine ongoing series for an extended dystopian storyline "Old Man Logan", illustrated by his Civil War collaborator Steve McNiven.

31.

Also in 2008, Mark Millar reteamed with The Ultimates co-creator Bryan Hitch for a run on the mainline Fantastic Four series and launched the mini-series Marvel 1985 with artist Tommy Lee Edwards.

32.

In 2009, Mark Millar returned to the Ultimate Universe with a number of limited series released under the Ultimate Comics: Avengers banner, his last Marvel work to date.

33.

In 2011, Mark Millar abandoned work-for-hire in favor of working full-time on his creator-owned properties.

34.

Mark Millar noted it was the third time in history a comic book company had been purchased by a production studio, comparing the buyout to the 1967 purchase of DC Comics by Kinney National Company and the 2009 acquisition of Marvel Comics by The Walt Disney Company.

35.

Similar incidents include Mark Millar publicly expressing amazement at the fact that non-caucasians can get Down's syndrome and referring to all gamers as "pedos" in an interview.

36.

Mark Millar frequently employs unusual tactics to promote himself and his work, such as the public bet with Harry Knowles regarding the casting of the lead actor in then-upcoming Superman film in 2004, which Mark Millar used as a way to advertise his run on Wolverine.

37.

That same year, Mark Millar claimed that rapper Eminem was in talks to take the lead role in the film adaptation of his creator-owned series Wanted which resulted in public denial by Eminem's management via Variety.

38.

In 2006, Mark Millar auctioned the right to name the protagonist of his then-upcoming creator-owned series Kick-Ass.

39.

In 2017, Mark Millar established a charitable foundation and launched a multi-year campaign to promote it.

40.

Morrison was seen as the mentor figure in their relationship, as evidenced by a humorous strip created by Garth Ennis and Dave Gibbons for an anniversary issue of 2000 AD in which Mark Millar appeared in the form of a small droid repeating a single phrase, "me and Gwant".

41.

The six-metre-high archway, created as part of the efforts to reinvigorate the canal, was inspired by Mark Millar's work, depicting a superhero named Captain Coatbridge and two superheroines.

42.

In June 2013, Mark Millar was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for services to film and literature on the Queen's Honours Birthday list.

43.

In 2013, Mark Millar listed Superman, Flash Gordon, The Spy Who Loved Me, Star Wars and The Incredibles as his five favorite films.

44.

Mark Millar is a practicing Catholic who abstains from using profanity in his personal life.

45.

Mark Millar met his first girlfriend Gill, who lived nearby in Coatbridge and attended the same school as him, at the age of 17.

46.

However, in the run-up to the referendum, Mark Millar stated that he was "genuinely undecided".

47.

Mark Millar supported British withdrawal from the European Union and endorsed a Leave vote during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.