Judd Winick
Encyclopedia
Judd Winick is an American
comic book
, comic strip
and television writer/artist
and former reality television
personality. Winick first gained fame for his 1994 stint on MTV
's The Real World: San Francisco
, before earning success for his work on comic books as Green Lantern
, Green Arrow
, and Pedro and Me
, his autobiographical graphic novel
about his friendship with Real World castmate and AIDS
educator Pedro Zamora
. He also created the animated TV series The Life and Times of Juniper Lee
, which ran for three seasons on Cartoon Network
.
. He graduated from high school in 1988 and entered the University of Michigan
, Ann Arbor's School of Art, intending to emulate his cartoonist
heroes, Garry Trudeau
and Berkeley Breathed
. His comic strip, "Nuts and Bolts", began running in the school’s newspaper, the Michigan Daily, in his freshman year, and he was selected to speak at graduation. U of M also published a small print-run of a collection of his strips called Watching the Spin-Cycle: The Nuts & Bolts Collection. In his senior year, Universal Press Syndicate
, which syndicates strips such as Doonesbury
and Calvin & Hobbes, offered Winick a development contract. After graduation, Winick lived in an apartment in Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts
, with fellow writer Brad Meltzer
, struggling to develop Nuts and Bolts for UPS, while working at a bookstore. On January 1, 1993, UPS decided not to renew Winick’s strip for syndication, feeling it could not compete in the current market. Winick was unable to secure syndication with another company, and was forced to move back in with his parents by the middle of 1993, doing unfulfilling T-shirt
work for beer
companies. Winick also had Nuts & Bolts in development with the children’s television network
Nickelodeon
as an animated series, even turning the human characters into mice, and proposing new titles like Young Urban Mice and Rat Race, but nothing came of it.
, hoping for fame and a career boost. During the casting process, the producers of the show conducted an in-person, videotape
d interview with Winick. When asked how he would feel about living with someone who was HIV
-positive, Winick gave what he thought was an enthusiastic, politically correct
answer, despite reservations. Winick was accepted as a cast member on the show in January 1994. The producers informed the housemates that they would be living with someone who was HIV-positive, but they did not reveal who it was. Winick and his six castmates (Mohammed Bilal, Rachel Campos, Pam Ling
, Cory Murphy, David "Puck" Rainey, and Pedro Zamora
) moved into the house at 953 Lombard Street on Russian Hill on February 12. Winick became roommates with AIDS educator Pedro Zamora
, who informed Winick that he was an AIDS educator, and showing his scrapbook to Winick and the other housemates.
Winick's Nuts and Bolts strip began running in the San Francisco Examiner in March of that year.
Winick, who is Jewish, was offended at David "Puck" Rainey's wearing of a T-shirt depicting four guns arranged in the shape of a swastika
, and by Rainey's refusal to accede to Winick's request not to wear it.
After filming of the season ended, Winick and Ling moved to Los Angeles
to continue their relationship.
By August 1994, Zamora's health began to decline. After being hospitalized, he asked Winick to substitute for him at a national AIDS education lecture. When Zamora died on November 11, 1994, Winick and Ling were at his bedside. Winick would continue Zamora's educational work for some time after that.
s for The Complete Idiot's Guide to...
series of books, and has done over 300 of them, including that series’ computer-oriented line. A collection of the computer-related titles' cartoons was published in 1997 as Terminal Madness, The Complete Idiot's Guide Computer Cartoon Collection.
While working on Pedro and Me, Winick also began working on comic books, beginning with a one-page Frumpy the Clown cartoon in Oni Press
’ anthology
series, Oni Double Feature #4, in 1998, before going on to do longer stories, like the two-part Road Trip, which was published in issues #9 and 10 of the same book. Road Trip went on to become an Eisner Award
nominee for Best Sequential Story.
Winick followed up with a three-issue miniseries
, The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius, about a cynical, profane grade school whizz kid, who invents a myriad of futuristic devices that no one other than his best friend knows about. Barry Ween was published by Image Comics
from March through May 1999, with two subsequent miniseries, The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius 2.0 and The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius: Monkey Tales (Retitled The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius 3 or The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius: Gorilla Warfare in the collected editions), published by Oni Press, which also published trade paperback
collections of all three miniseries. Barry Ween was also optioned by Platinum Studios to be adapted into an animated series, but to date, nothing has come of this.
Winick’s graphic novel, Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned, was published in September 2000. It was awarded six American Library Association
awards, was nominated for an Eisner Award, won Winick his first GLAAD award, has been praised by creators such as Frank Miller
, Neil Gaiman
, and Armistead Maupin
, and has been incorporated into school curricula
across the country. Among its other awards are:
Winick’s work in mainstream superhero
comics has received attention for storylines in which he explores gay or AIDS-oriented themes. In his first regular writing assignment on a monthly superhero book, DC Comics
' Green Lantern, Winick wrote a storyline in which Terry Berg
, an assistant of the title character, emerged as a gay character in Green Lantern #137 (June 2001) and in Green Lantern #154 (November 2001) the story entitled "Hate Crime" gained media recognition when Terry was brutally beaten in a homophobic attack. Winick was interviewed on Phil Donahue
's show on MSNBC
for that storyline on August 15, 2002, and received two more GLAAD awards for his Green Lantern work.
In 2003, Judd Winick left Green Lantern for another DC book, Green Arrow, beginning with issue #26 of that title (July 2003). He gained more media recognition for Green Arrow #43 (December 2004) in which he revealed that Green Arrow's 17-year-old ward, a former runaway-turned prostitute named Mia Dearden
, was HIV-positive. In issue #45 (February 2005), Winick had Dearden take on the identity of Speedy, the second such Green Arrow sidekick to bear that name, making her the most prominent HIV-positive superhero to star in an ongoing comic book, a decision for which Winick was interviewed on CNN
.
Winick’s other comic book work includes Batman
, The Outsiders
, and Marvel
's Exiles
. Winick was also responsible for bringing Jason Todd
, the second character known as Batman’s sidekick Robin
, back from the dead, and making him the new Red Hood
, the second such Batman villain by that name. Winick also wrote a five-issue miniseries for DC’s Vertigo imprint called Blood & Water
, about a young man with terminal illness whose two friends reveal to him that they are vampire
s, and that they wish to save his life by turning him into a vampire himself. Between September 2005 and March 2006, Winick wrote the four-issue Captain Marvel
/Superman
limited series, Superman/Shazam: First Thunder with art by Josh Middleton. Winick continued his work with the Marvel Family
in a 12-issue limited series
called The Trials Of Shazam!, and continued his Green Arrow
work with 2007's Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special, which led to the ongoing series Green Arrow and Black Canary
, the first 14 issues of which Winick wrote. He is currently the writer of Titans
. In November 2007, DC also released a Teen Titans East special (a prequel for Titans), which was also scripted by Winick. Following the "Battle for the Cowl" storyline, Winick took over the writing on Batman
for four issues. He co-wrote a 26-issue biweekly Justice League: Generation Lost
with Keith Giffen
, a title which alternated with Brightest Day
. In addition he was a regular writer on the monthly Power Girl
series.
Starting in September 2011, under DC Comics' "New 52" relaunch, Winick began writing new Catwoman and Batwing
ongoing series.
in 2005, which ran for three seasons on the Cartoon Network
.
Winick wrote the screenplay for Batman: Under the Red Hood
the direct to DVD animated feature for Warner Premiere in 2010. It was based on the 1988-89 story arc "Batman: A Death in the Family
" and the 2005 "Batman: Under the Hood
" story arc that ran in the monthly Batman comic book series by DC Comics, the latter of which Winick had written.
. Winick and Ling married in a civil ceremony
on August 26, 2001. Writer Armistead Maupin
spoke at their ceremony. As of 2008, they have two children.
, Nick Oceano's 2008 film dramatizing Pedro Zamora
's life, Winick is portrayed by Hale Appleman
. Winick and his wife Pam can be seen in a cameo in a scene in which Jenn Liu and Alex Loynaz, as Ling and Zamora, are meeting up on a set of stairs.
Winick is also mentioned in Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
, comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
and television writer/artist
Comic book creator
A comic book creator is someone who creates a comic book or graphic novel.The production of a comic book by one of the major comic book companies in the U.S...
and former reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
personality. Winick first gained fame for his 1994 stint on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's The Real World: San Francisco
The Real World: San Francisco
The Real World: San Francisco is the third season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships...
, before earning success for his work on comic books as Green Lantern
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...
, Green Arrow
Green Arrow
Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His secret identity is Oliver Queen, billionaire and former mayor of fictional Star City...
, and Pedro and Me
Pedro and Me
Pedro and Me is an autobiographical graphic novel by Judd Winick regarding his friendship with AIDS educator Pedro Zamora after the two met while on the reality television series, The Real World: San Francisco...
, his autobiographical graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
about his friendship with Real World castmate and AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
educator Pedro Zamora
Pedro Zamora
Pedro Pablo Zamora was a Cuban-American AIDS educator and television personality...
. He also created the animated TV series The Life and Times of Juniper Lee
The Life and Times of Juniper Lee
The Life and Times of Juniper Lee was an American animated television series, created by Judd Winick and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. The show premiered on Cartoon Network on May 30, 2005. The series ended on April 9, 2007...
, which ran for three seasons on Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
.
Early life and career
Winick was born February 12, 1970, and grew up in Dix Hills, New YorkDix Hills, New York
Dix Hills is a hamlet Dix Hills is a hamlet Dix Hills is a hamlet (and a census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Huntington on the North Shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Dix Hills was named the 19th most affluent U.S. neighborhood by Forbes in 2008.. It is one...
. He graduated from high school in 1988 and entered the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, Ann Arbor's School of Art, intending to emulate his cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
heroes, Garry Trudeau
Garry Trudeau
Garretson Beekman "Garry" Trudeau is an American cartoonist, best known for the Doonesbury comic strip.-Background and education:...
and Berkeley Breathed
Berkeley Breathed
Guy Berkeley "Berke" Breathed is an American cartoonist, children's book author/illustrator, director and screenwriter, best known for Bloom County, a 1980s cartoon-comic strip that dealt with sociopolitical issues as understood by fanciful characters and through humorous analogies...
. His comic strip, "Nuts and Bolts", began running in the school’s newspaper, the Michigan Daily, in his freshman year, and he was selected to speak at graduation. U of M also published a small print-run of a collection of his strips called Watching the Spin-Cycle: The Nuts & Bolts Collection. In his senior year, Universal Press Syndicate
Universal Press Syndicate
Universal Press Syndicate, a subsidiary of Andrews McMeel Universal, is the world's largest independent press syndicate. It distributes lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and other content. Popular columns include Dear Abby, Ann Coulter, Roger Ebert and News of the Weird...
, which syndicates strips such as Doonesbury
Doonesbury
Doonesbury is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau, that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, Michael Doonesbury, who has progressed from a college...
and Calvin & Hobbes, offered Winick a development contract. After graduation, Winick lived in an apartment in Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts
Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts
Beacon Hill is a historic neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, that along with the neighboring Back Bay is home to about 26,000 people. It is a neighborhood of Federal-style rowhouses and is known for its narrow, gas-lit streets and brick sidewalks...
, with fellow writer Brad Meltzer
Brad Meltzer
Brad Meltzer is a bestselling American political thriller novelist, non-fiction writer, TV show creator and award-winning comic book author.-Early life:...
, struggling to develop Nuts and Bolts for UPS, while working at a bookstore. On January 1, 1993, UPS decided not to renew Winick’s strip for syndication, feeling it could not compete in the current market. Winick was unable to secure syndication with another company, and was forced to move back in with his parents by the middle of 1993, doing unfulfilling T-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
work for beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
companies. Winick also had Nuts & Bolts in development with the children’s television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
as an animated series, even turning the human characters into mice, and proposing new titles like Young Urban Mice and Rat Race, but nothing came of it.
The Real World: San Francisco
Winick applied to be on MTV network’s reality TV show, The Real World: San FranciscoThe Real World: San Francisco
The Real World: San Francisco is the third season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships...
, hoping for fame and a career boost. During the casting process, the producers of the show conducted an in-person, videotape
Videotape
A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
d interview with Winick. When asked how he would feel about living with someone who was HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
-positive, Winick gave what he thought was an enthusiastic, politically correct
Politically Correct
Politically Correct may refer to:*Political correctness, language, ideas, policies, or behaviour seeking to minimize offence to groups of people-See also:*Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, book by James Finn Garner, published in 1994...
answer, despite reservations. Winick was accepted as a cast member on the show in January 1994. The producers informed the housemates that they would be living with someone who was HIV-positive, but they did not reveal who it was. Winick and his six castmates (Mohammed Bilal, Rachel Campos, Pam Ling
Pam Ling
Pam Ling is a Chinese American physician, best-known as a castmate on The Real World: San Francisco, the third season of MTV's long-running reality television show.-On the Real World:...
, Cory Murphy, David "Puck" Rainey, and Pedro Zamora
Pedro Zamora
Pedro Pablo Zamora was a Cuban-American AIDS educator and television personality...
) moved into the house at 953 Lombard Street on Russian Hill on February 12. Winick became roommates with AIDS educator Pedro Zamora
Pedro Zamora
Pedro Pablo Zamora was a Cuban-American AIDS educator and television personality...
, who informed Winick that he was an AIDS educator, and showing his scrapbook to Winick and the other housemates.
Winick's Nuts and Bolts strip began running in the San Francisco Examiner in March of that year.
Winick, who is Jewish, was offended at David "Puck" Rainey's wearing of a T-shirt depicting four guns arranged in the shape of a swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
, and by Rainey's refusal to accede to Winick's request not to wear it.
After filming of the season ended, Winick and Ling moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to continue their relationship.
By August 1994, Zamora's health began to decline. After being hospitalized, he asked Winick to substitute for him at a national AIDS education lecture. When Zamora died on November 11, 1994, Winick and Ling were at his bedside. Winick would continue Zamora's educational work for some time after that.
Comics
Winick designed illustrationIllustration
An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
s for The Complete Idiot's Guide to...
The Complete Idiot's Guide to...
The Complete Idiot's Guides is an Alpha Books product line of how-to and other reference books that each seek to provide a basic understanding of a complex and popular topic. The term "idiot" is used as hyperbole in claiming ensured comprehension. The approach relies on explaining a topic via very...
series of books, and has done over 300 of them, including that series’ computer-oriented line. A collection of the computer-related titles' cartoons was published in 1997 as Terminal Madness, The Complete Idiot's Guide Computer Cartoon Collection.
While working on Pedro and Me, Winick also began working on comic books, beginning with a one-page Frumpy the Clown cartoon in Oni Press
Oni Press
Oni Press is an American independent comic book publisher based in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1997 by Bob Schreck and Joe Nozemack with the goal of publishing the kinds of comics and graphic novels they themselves would want to read...
’ anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
series, Oni Double Feature #4, in 1998, before going on to do longer stories, like the two-part Road Trip, which was published in issues #9 and 10 of the same book. Road Trip went on to become an Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
nominee for Best Sequential Story.
Winick followed up with a three-issue miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
, The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius, about a cynical, profane grade school whizz kid, who invents a myriad of futuristic devices that no one other than his best friend knows about. Barry Ween was published by Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
from March through May 1999, with two subsequent miniseries, The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius 2.0 and The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius: Monkey Tales (Retitled The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius 3 or The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius: Gorilla Warfare in the collected editions), published by Oni Press, which also published trade paperback
Trade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
collections of all three miniseries. Barry Ween was also optioned by Platinum Studios to be adapted into an animated series, but to date, nothing has come of this.
Winick’s graphic novel, Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned, was published in September 2000. It was awarded six American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
awards, was nominated for an Eisner Award, won Winick his first GLAAD award, has been praised by creators such as Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
, Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
, and Armistead Maupin
Armistead Maupin
Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. is an American writer, best known for his Tales of the City series of novels, based in San Francisco.-Early life:...
, and has been incorporated into school curricula
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
across the country. Among its other awards are:
- 2000 Publishers WeeklyPublishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
Best Book - 2000 Bay Area Book Reviewers Award for Best in Children's Literature
- 2000 Eisner Nomination for Best Original Graphic Novel
- 2001 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor Award
- 2001 American Library Association Notable Children's Book citation
- 2001 American Library Association Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Roundtable Nonfiction Honor book
- YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers
- YALSA Notable Graphic Novels
- Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book
- America's Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature Highly Recommended List (Award sponsored by the National Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs—CLASP).
Winick’s work in mainstream superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
comics has received attention for storylines in which he explores gay or AIDS-oriented themes. In his first regular writing assignment on a monthly superhero book, DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' Green Lantern, Winick wrote a storyline in which Terry Berg
Terry Berg
Terry Berg is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe who first appeared in Green Lantern #129, in 2000.- Fictional character history :...
, an assistant of the title character, emerged as a gay character in Green Lantern #137 (June 2001) and in Green Lantern #154 (November 2001) the story entitled "Hate Crime" gained media recognition when Terry was brutally beaten in a homophobic attack. Winick was interviewed on Phil Donahue
Phil Donahue
Phillip John "Phil" Donahue is an American media personality, writer, and film producer best known as the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show. The television program, also known as Donahue, was the first to use a talk show format. The show had a 26-year run on U.S...
's show on MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
for that storyline on August 15, 2002, and received two more GLAAD awards for his Green Lantern work.
In 2003, Judd Winick left Green Lantern for another DC book, Green Arrow, beginning with issue #26 of that title (July 2003). He gained more media recognition for Green Arrow #43 (December 2004) in which he revealed that Green Arrow's 17-year-old ward, a former runaway-turned prostitute named Mia Dearden
Mia Dearden
Mia Dearden is a DC Comics superheroine, the second character to take the mantle of Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy. Created by writer Kevin Smith and artist Phil Hester, she first appeared in Green Arrow #2...
, was HIV-positive. In issue #45 (February 2005), Winick had Dearden take on the identity of Speedy, the second such Green Arrow sidekick to bear that name, making her the most prominent HIV-positive superhero to star in an ongoing comic book, a decision for which Winick was interviewed on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
.
Winick’s other comic book work includes Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, The Outsiders
Outsiders (comics)
The Outsiders are a fictional DC Comics superhero team. As its name suggests, the team consists of superheroes who allegedly do not fit the norms of the mainstream superhero community, namely the Justice League....
, and Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
's Exiles
Exiles (Marvel Comics)
The Exiles are a group of fictional characters that feature in three Marvel Comics series, Exiles, New Exiles, and Exiles vol. 2. The Exiles consists of characters from different dimensions, or realities, which have been removed from time and space in order to correct problems in various alternate...
. Winick was also responsible for bringing Jason Todd
Jason Todd
Jason Peter Todd is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Jason first appeared in Batman #357 and became the second Robin, sidekick to the superhero Batman, when the previous Robin went on to star in The New Teen Titans under the moniker of Nightwing.Though...
, the second character known as Batman’s sidekick Robin
Robin (comics)
Robin is the name of several fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson, as a junior counterpart to DC Comics superhero Batman...
, back from the dead, and making him the new Red Hood
Red Hood
Red Hood is the alias used by several fictional characters, usually antagonists for Batman in the DC Universe.-Joker:The Red Hood first appeared in Detective Comics #168 "The Man Behind the Red Hood" . In the original continuity, the man later known as the Joker was a master criminal going by the...
, the second such Batman villain by that name. Winick also wrote a five-issue miniseries for DC’s Vertigo imprint called Blood & Water
Blood & Water
Blood & Water was a 2003 five-issue horror comic book limited series written by Judd Winick and illustrated by Tomm Coker, with covers by Brian Bolland...
, about a young man with terminal illness whose two friends reveal to him that they are vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s, and that they wish to save his life by turning him into a vampire himself. Between September 2005 and March 2006, Winick wrote the four-issue Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
/Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
limited series, Superman/Shazam: First Thunder with art by Josh Middleton. Winick continued his work with the Marvel Family
Marvel Family
The Marvel Family is a group of fictional characters, a team of superheroes in the Fawcett Comics and DC Comics universes. Created in 1942 by writer Otto Binder and Fawcett artists C. C...
in a 12-issue limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
called The Trials Of Shazam!, and continued his Green Arrow
Green Arrow
Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His secret identity is Oliver Queen, billionaire and former mayor of fictional Star City...
work with 2007's Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special, which led to the ongoing series Green Arrow and Black Canary
Green Arrow and Black Canary
Green Arrow and Black Canary is a comic book ongoing series published by DC Comics starring superheroes Green Arrow and Black Canary.-Publication history:...
, the first 14 issues of which Winick wrote. He is currently the writer of Titans
Titans (comics)
-Original incarnation:Robin , Kid Flash , and Aqualad — the sidekicks of Justice League members Batman, the Flash, and Aquaman — teamed up in The Brave and the Bold #54 to defeat a weather-controlling villain known as Mr. Twister...
. In November 2007, DC also released a Teen Titans East special (a prequel for Titans), which was also scripted by Winick. Following the "Battle for the Cowl" storyline, Winick took over the writing on Batman
Batman (comic book)
Batman is an ongoing comic book series featuring the DC Comics hero of the same name. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27, published in May 1939. Batman proved to be so popular that a self-titled ongoing comic book series began publication in the spring of 1940...
for four issues. He co-wrote a 26-issue biweekly Justice League: Generation Lost
Justice League: Generation Lost
Justice League: Generation Lost was a year-long comic book limited series that premiered July 2010. It ran twice a month for 24 issues, alternating with Brightest Day written by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi.-Publication history:...
with Keith Giffen
Keith Giffen
Keith Ian Giffen is an American comic book illustrator and writer.-Biography:Giffen was born in Queens, New York City....
, a title which alternated with Brightest Day
Brightest Day
Brightest Day is a year-long comic book maxi-series that began in April 2010. The story follows the ending of the series Blackest Night and how the aftermath of these events affect the entire DC Universe.-Plot:...
. In addition he was a regular writer on the monthly Power Girl
Power Girl
Power Girl is a DC Comics superheroine, making her first appearance in All Star Comics #58 ....
series.
Starting in September 2011, under DC Comics' "New 52" relaunch, Winick began writing new Catwoman and Batwing
Batwing (DC Comics)
Batwing is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics. Batwing, whose real name is David Zamvimbi, was created by writer Grant Morrison within the pages of Batman Incorporated, before getting his own eponymous series....
ongoing series.
Television work
Winick created an animated TV show named The Life and Times of Juniper LeeThe Life and Times of Juniper Lee
The Life and Times of Juniper Lee was an American animated television series, created by Judd Winick and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. The show premiered on Cartoon Network on May 30, 2005. The series ended on April 9, 2007...
in 2005, which ran for three seasons on the Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
.
Winick wrote the screenplay for Batman: Under the Red Hood
Batman: Under the Red Hood
# "A Death in the Family" # "Main Titles" # "Mob Boss Meeting" # "Amazo" # "Batwing" # "Batmobile to Arkham" # "Interrogation" # "Rooftop Chase" # "Flashback" # "Black Mask Strikes Back"...
the direct to DVD animated feature for Warner Premiere in 2010. It was based on the 1988-89 story arc "Batman: A Death in the Family
Batman: A Death in the Family
"A Death in the Family" is a Batman comic book story arc first published in the late 1980s which gave fans the ability to influence the story through voting with a 900 number. "A Death in the Family" ran in Batman #426-429, published in 1988-1989...
" and the 2005 "Batman: Under the Hood
Batman: Under the Hood
"Batman: Under the Hood" is a comic book story arc published by DC Comics, written by Judd Winick and primarily illustrated by Doug Mahnke. Featuring Batman in the monthly title of the same name, it ran from February to August 2005, before going on a short hiatus and returning from November 2005 to...
" story arc that ran in the monthly Batman comic book series by DC Comics, the latter of which Winick had written.
Personal life
Winick proposed to Ling with a cartoon he made for the occasion, and which he presented to her while wearing a gorilla suit. The cartoon presented Ling with two choices for her to choose from in order to answer his proposal. After she accepted his proposal, he summoned three singing ElvisesElvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
. Winick and Ling married in a civil ceremony
Civil ceremony
A civil registrar ceremony is a non-religious legal marriage ceremony performed by a government official or functionary. In the UK, this person is normally called a registrar...
on August 26, 2001. Writer Armistead Maupin
Armistead Maupin
Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. is an American writer, best known for his Tales of the City series of novels, based in San Francisco.-Early life:...
spoke at their ceremony. As of 2008, they have two children.
In popular culture
In PedroPedro (film)
Pedro is a 2008 American film about the openly gay, Cuban-American AIDS educator and television personality, Pedro Zamora, who became famous as a castmember on MTV's reality television series, The Real World: San Francisco. It was produced by Bunim-Murray Productions, the same company that produces...
, Nick Oceano's 2008 film dramatizing Pedro Zamora
Pedro Zamora
Pedro Pablo Zamora was a Cuban-American AIDS educator and television personality...
's life, Winick is portrayed by Hale Appleman
Hale Appleman
Hale Isaac Appleman is an American actor. Best known for playing Tobey Cobb in the 2007 film Teeth, Appleman made his film debut in Chad Lowe's feature, Beautiful Ohio, and portrayed cartoonist Judd Winick in Pedro, Nick Oceano's 2008 film dramatizing the life of AIDS educator Pedro Zamora...
. Winick and his wife Pam can be seen in a cameo in a scene in which Jenn Liu and Alex Loynaz, as Ling and Zamora, are meeting up on a set of stairs.
Winick is also mentioned in Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
External links
- Judd Winick talks Juniper Lee m NewsaramaNewsaramaNewsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews and essays about the American comic book industry.-History:Newsarama began in Summer 1995 as a series of Internet forum postings on the Prodigy comic-book message boards by fan Mike Doran. In these short messages. Doran shared...
- Juniper Lee Community at LiveJournalLiveJournalLiveJournal is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary. LiveJournal is also the name of the free and open source server software that was designed to run the LiveJournal virtual community....
- Cartoon Network: Juniper Lee