Robert Kirkman

Career

Battle Pope

Robert Kirkman got his start in comics in 2000, when he created the independent parody series Battle Pope, along with childhood friend and artist Tony Moore. Shortly afterwards, he was hired to work on Image's SuperPatriot miniseries, before moving on to create the Tech Jacket series, also with Image, in 2002. A year later he and Cory Walker, who had previously worked with Kirkman on SuperPatriot, created Invincible, a new superhero series that was optioned as a film three years later, with Kirkman slated to write the screenplay. In 2003, Kirkman and occasional collaborator Tony Moore created The Walking Dead, though Moore later left after struggling to keep up with deadlines.

In 2004 Kirkman was hired by Marvel, who put him to work on a revival of Sleepwalker, though his issues didn't see individual print, instead appearing later in an anthology series. He remained with Marvel, however, and worked on a number of different projects, including Captain America during Avengers Disassembled, Marvel Knights 2099, several issues of Jubilee and Fantastic Four: Foes, Ultimate X-Men, Marvel Team-Up Volume 3, Marvel Zombies and Irredeemable Ant-Man. He also maintained his position with Image comics, creating The Astounding Wolf-Man and editing Brit. In 2007 he started collaborations with Rob Liefeld and Todd McFarlane, on Killraven and Haunt, respectively. In 2008 he was elevated to the role of partner in Image Comics, effectively ending his freelance role with Marvel, though he acted as producer for The Destroyer's miniseries, which was released under a Marvel imprint, the following year

In 2009 he became the writer of the six-issue limited series Image United, which was collaborated on by six of the seven original founders of Image, and has since faced some major issues in production time. Also in 2009, he became involved with Top Cow, writing each of the Pilot Season's five one-shots. In 2010 he became the producer of The Walking Dead television series, based on his original work. He also wrote an episode in the first series, titled "Vatos". Also in 2010, he announced he was founding a new Image imprint, called Skybound. In 2011 he created the series Super Dinosaur under this new imprint, based on a sketch by co-creator Jason Howard. Skybound also publishes a number of Kirkman's other works.

Personal Life

Robert Kirkman was born in the United States in 1978. He has a son named Peter Parker Kirkman, who was named after Spider-Man. Lived in Kentucky for the majority of his early career, though recently he moved to Los Angeles in order to help with the work the Walking Dead TV show.

Other Media

Novels

The Walking Dead: The Rise of the Governor

In the Walking Dead universe, there is no greater villain than The Governor. The despot who runs the walled-off town of Woodbury, he has his own sick sense of justice: whether it’s forcing prisoners to battle zombies in an arena for the townspeople’s amusement, or chopping off the appendages of those who cross him. The Governor was voted “Villain of the Year” by Wizard magazine the year he debuted, and his story arc was the most controversial in the history of the Walking Dead comic book series. Now, for the first time, fans of The Walking Dead will discover how The Governor became the man he is, and what drove him to such extremes. Editions Paperback (St. Martin's Griffin, June 2012), ISBN: 1-250-00839-5 Hardcover (Thomas Dunne, October 2011), ISBN: 0-312-54773-0 Audiobook (Macmillan Audio, October 2011), ISBN: 1-427-21768-8