Jeph Loeb
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Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an American comic book writer, screen and television writer as well as television and motion picture producer. A three-time Eisner Award Winner and five-time Wizard Award Winner, Loeb has found tremendous success at both Marvel and DC where he has guided such diverse characters as the X-Men and Superman as well as Batman and Spider-Man. He is known for his extensive use of narration boxes as monologues to reveal the inner thoughts of his characters. Much of his most celebrated work has been in collaboration with artist Tim Sale.
In 2003, Loeb teamed with artist Jim Lee to create the year long mystery Batman: Hush, the highest selling DC comic in over 10 years. Hush, which spawned three lines of toys, posters and calenders, sat at the #1 spot for eleven of the twelve months it was in publication. The following year, Loeb launched Superman/Batman which toppled "Hush"'s success, featuring artists such as Ed McGuinness, Michael Turner, Pat Lee, Carlos Pacheco and Ian Churchill. In 2005, Loeb spun Supergirl out of Superman/Batman with artist Ian Churchill.
Jeph Loeb was a writer and supervising producer for Smallville and Lost. In 2006, he will be working on the superhero drama Heroes, which features art by Tim Sale.
Biography
He was born in Stamford, Connecticut. He reportedly read his first comic book during the summer of 1970. By winter of the same year, Jeph was apparently fascinated enough to convince his father to purchase the comic book collection of one Tom Chicarella on his behalf. Tom was from Brooklyn, New York City, New York and the sold collection reportedly included every issue published by Marvel Comics between 1961 and late 1970.His later step-father was a vice-president at Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, where Jeph met one of his mentors and greatest influences in comic book writing, the legendary Elliot Maggin. Jeph however attended Columbia University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master's degree in Film. His instructors included Miloš Forman and Paul Schrader.
Film career
His debut in film-making was his collaboration with Matthew Weisman in authoring the script of Teen Wolf. The film was released on August 23, 1985 and was a notable starring role for Michael J. Fox.Loeb and Weisman then collaborated in writing the script of Commando. The film was released on October 4, 1985 and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.
His next screen credit was the film Burglar, first released on March 20, 1987. The plot was based on the novels of Lawrence Block about fictional burglar Bernice Rhodenbarr. His collaborators were Weisman and Hugh Wilson. The film was a typical for the time tough-woman comedic role for starring actress Whoopi Goldberg.
His second film that year was Teen Wolf Too, a sequel of Teen Wolf. His co-writers were Weisman and Timothy Kring. The film was released on November 20, 1987. The film featured teen idol Jason Bateman and veteran actor John Astin.
Four years later, Loeb was working on a script for THE FLASH as a feature with Warner Brothers. While the script deal fell through, Loeb met then publisher Jenette Kahn who asked Loeb to write a comic book for DC.
Comics career
The result was Challengers of the Unknown vol. 2 #1 - #8 (March -October, 1991). The mini-series also featured notable guest appearances by Doctor Fate (Eric and Linda Strauss), Batman, James Gordon, Guy Gardner and Lois Lane. Most notably, it was the first of many collaborations with Tim Sale.Jeph's most famous comic work is the Batman graphic novel The Long Halloween, a 13 issue limited series set in 'Year One' which he collaborated with Tim Sale. The book is considered one of the best Batman stories ever, and recommended as one of the essential Batman books. The Long Halloween was one of the 3 noted comics that influenced the recent Batman Begins, the others being [[Batman: The Man Who Falls]] and [[Batman: Year One]].
Jeph was also recruited as a writer and supervising producer for the hit show Smallville for a number of seasons (2002-2005). Given his expertise on the Superman mythos and experience with writing the character in comics, he helped bring an authenticity to the show that fans loved. Most recently he has joined the writing staff of the popular ABC series Lost as Supervising Producer.
As of September 1, 2005, Loeb began an exclusive contract with Marvel. His first series will be Volume 3 of The Ultimates, with Joe Madureira on art.
Jeph's son, Sam Loeb, died on June 17, 2005 at the age of 17 after a three-year long battle with cancer. At the age of 15 Sam wrote a story in issue 5 of the Tales of the Vampires comic series with Jeph's long-term collaborator Tim Sale. In 2006, Sam's final work appeared in Superman/Batman #26 which was nearly completed before his death. His father finished the work with the help of 25 others considered royalty in the comic book industry, all of whom were friends of Sam, including Art Adams, Joe Casey, John Cassaday, Joyce Chin, Ian Churchill, Allan Heinberg, Geoff Johns, Joe Kelly, Mike Kunkel, Jim Lee, Pat Lee, Rob Liefeld, Paul Levitz, Joe Madureira, Jeff Matsuda, Ed McGuinness, Brad Meltzer, Carlos Pacheco, Duncan Rouleau, Tim Sale, Richard Starkings, Michael Turner, Brian K. Vaughan, Mark Verheiden, and Joss Whedon. The issue also featured a story entitled "Sam's Story," dedicated to Sam.
Loeb currently shares his writing studio, The Empath Magic Tree House, with Geoff Johns and Allan Heinberg.
Works
- Challengers of the Unknown (Series 2)
- Superman
- Superman For All Seasons
- Smallville
- Superman/Batman
- ''[[Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight]]: Halloween Specials
- [[Batman: The Long Halloween]]
- [[Batman: Dark Victory]]
- [[Catwoman: When in Rome]]
- [[Batman: Hush]]
- Daredevil: Yellow
- Soulfire
- Spider-Man: Blue
- Hulk: Gray
External links
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