Kyle Higgins

Kyle Higgins (born June 12, 1985) is an American comic book writer and film director. He is best known for his work on the Batman franchise at DC Comics and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers franchise at Boom! Studios.

Kyle Higgins
Higgins at the 2014 Special Edition NYC
Born	(1985-06-12) June 12, 1985 Lockport, Illinois
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Writer, Director
Notable works	Batman: Gates of Gotham Nightwing

Early life

Kyle Higgins was born June 12, 1985, and grew up in Homer Glen, Illinois. At the age of seven Higgins saw the 1978 feature film Superman, which began his passion for both comic books and filmmaking.[1]

After two years of studying film and creative writing at the University of Iowa, Higgins transferred to the Film Production program of Chapman University in Orange, California, from which he would graduate. In late 2006, he began an unpaid internship with The Donners' Company, which provided him with the opportunity to work with Richard Donner, who directed the film that introduced Higgins to comics and filmmaking.[1]

Career

After writing and directing his college thesis film titled The League,[1] about the superhero labor union of 1960's Chicago, Higgins spent a year writing for Marvel Comics before authoring the back-up features for the 2010 editions of Detective Comics Annual and Batman Annual. The stories introduced the Franco-Islamic character Nightrunner, who he co-created with David Hine and caused some controversy.[2] Higgins stayed on the Batman brand, co-writing the five-issue Batman: Gates of Gotham with Detective Comics scribe Scott Snyder which delved into the history of Gotham City.

When DC rebooted their entire line in 2011 with The New 52, Higgins wrote Nightwing, often interlinking arcs with Snyder, who moved to Batman.[3] Higgins also wrote the first eight issues of Deathstroke in September 2011.[4] Higgins began writing Batman Beyond 2.0, a DCU version of the character from the DCAU animated series Batman Beyond, for DC's digital-first line.[5] In January 2014, it was announced that Higgins had joined the writing team for Batman Eternal following his work on Nightwing, which ended in March 2014.[6]

In January 2014, Higgins announced C.O.W.L., his first creator-owned ongoing series with Image Comics.[7] The series, co-written by Alec Siegel and featuring art by Rod Reis, revisited the world created by Higgins in The League. C.O.W.L. explored superheroes from the lens of union organization, and featured an early-1960s aesthetic, noir overtones, and political drama. The series debuted in May 2014 and its first issue sold out of its initial print run.[8] The series concluded in July 2015, with issue 11. Announced at Image Expo 2015, their next collaboration was the eight-issue sci-fi murder mystery Hadrian's Wall,[9] which debuted in September 2016, which he will direct the film adaptation for Gunpowder & Sky’s sci-fi label Dust.[10]

In late 2015, Higgins was announced as the writer of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, an ongoing comic based on the show of the same name.[11] Issue 9 of the comic introduced "the first new official Mighty Morphin Power Ranger created in over 20 years",[12] Lord Drakkon.[13] The character's popularity soon led to inclusion in mobile fighting game Power Rangers: Legacy Wars, an exclusive action figure,[14] and other merchandise. Beginning in March 2018, Higgins wrote the first Power Rangers comic book event in "Shattered Grid", incorporating a range of characters from across the show's history, to celebrate the franchise's 25th anniversary. Higgins later wrote the story for the video game Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, also acting as the game's voice director and providing the voice of the Mastadon Sentry.

Higgins' next short film, The Shadow Hours, premiered in August 2016. Starring Tom Riley and Britt Lower, the award-winning neo-noir follows twin private investigators born with a mysterious medical condition where only one of them can be awake at a time.[15]

In March 2017, Dynamite Entertainment announced a reboot of the Magnus, Robot Fighter franchise, written by Higgins with art by Jorge Fornés.[16] Although released to strong reviews,[17] the series was ultimately cancelled at issue 5. Higgins also reunited with his Gates of Gotham collaborator Trevor McCarthy for Nightwing: The New Order, an Elseworlds-style miniseries set in an alternate universe in which superpowers have been eliminated and outlawed. Despite initial fan criticism of the premise,[18] the series was ultimately well-received, with many reviewers comparing the book positively to Marvel's concurrent Secret Empire event.[19][20][21]

In early 2018, Higgins announced The Dead Hand, a creator-owned series for Image Comics with art by Stephen Mooney. A spy comic about a Cold War secret that returns to threaten the world, the series is set to debut in April 2018.[22]

Bibliography

Marvel Comics

• Captain America Theater of War: Prisoners of Duty (one-shot) (with Alec Siegel and Agustín Padilla, December 2009) collected in America First (hc, 128 pages, 2010, ISBN 0-7851-3906-0)
• Captain America #616, "Crossfire", (with Alec Siegel and Pepe Larraz, March 2011) collected in Prisoner of War (hc, 200 pages, 2012, ISBN 978-0-7851-5122-7)
• Supreme Power vol. 2 (4-issue limited series with Manuel Garcia, June 2011-September 2011, collected in Gods and Soldiers, tpb, 96 pages, 2011, ISBN 0-7851-5571-6)
• Avengers Origins: Vision (one-shot, with Alec Siegel and Stephane Perger, November 2011) collected in Avengers: Mythos (tpb, 208 pages, 2012, ISBN 0-7851-4860-4)
• Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy #3 (with Jonathan Marks, October 2014) collected in Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy (tpb, 160 pages, 2015, ISBN 0-7851-9259-X)

• The Rise Of Ultraman#1-5 (5-issue limited series with Mat Groom September 2020-)

DC Comics

• Detective Comics Annual #12, "The Night Runner" (with Trevor McCarthy, December, 2010)
• Batman Annual #28, "Nightrunner" (with Trevor McCarthy, December, 2010)
• Batman: Gates of Gotham (miniseries) (May, 2011-September, 2011)
  • Batman: Gates of Gotham (tpb, 144 pages, 2012, ISBN 1-4012-3341-4) collects:
    • "Part One: A Bridge to the Past" (with Scott Snyder and Trevor McCarthy, in #1, 2011)
    • "Part Two: The Four Families of Gotham" (with Scott Snyder and Trevor McCarthy, in #2, 2011)
    • "Part Three: The Key to the City" (with Scott Snyder and Trevor McCarthy, in #3, 2011)
    • "Part Four: The Gotham City Massacre" (with Scott Snyder and Dustin Nguyen, in #4, 2011)
    • "Part Five: Welcome to the Future" (with Scott Snyder, Trevor McCarthy and Graham Nolan, in #5, 2011)
• Deathstroke vol. 2 (September, 2011-April, 2012)[23]
  • Volume 1: Legacy (tpb, 192 pages, 2012, ISBN 1-4012-3481-X) collects:
    • "Back To Basics" (with Joe Bennett, in #1, 2011)
    • "The Carpocalypse" (with Joe Bennett, in #2, 2011)
    • "Legacy" (with Joe Bennett, in #3, 2011)
    • "Time's Up" (with Joe Bennett, in #4, 2011)
    • "Blowback" (with Joe Bennett, in #5, 2012)
    • "Achilles Heel" (with Joe Bennett and Eduardo Pansica, in #6, 2012)
    • "Deadly Reunions" (with Joe Bennett, in #7, 2012)
    • "Circle of Life" (with Eduardo Pansica, in #8, 2012)
• Nightwing vol. 3 (September, 2011-May, 2014)
  • Volume 1: Traps and Trapezes (tpb, 160 pages, 2012, ISBN 1-4012-3705-3) collects:
    • "Welcome to Gotham" (with Eddy Barrows, in #1, 2011)
    • "Haly's Wish" (with Eddy Barrows, in #2, 2011)
    • "Past and Present" (with Eddy Barrows and Eduardo Pansica, in #3, 2011)
    • "South Beach Connection" (with Trevor McCarthy, in #4, 2011)
    • "'Til Death Do Us Part" (with Eddy Barrows, in #5, 2012)
    • "Good Girl Gone Bad" (with Eddy Barrows and Geraldo Borges, in #6, 2012)
    • "Turning Points" (with Eddy Barrows and Geraldo Borges, in #7, 2012)
  • Volume 2: Night of the Owls (tpb, 144 pages, 2013, ISBN 1-4012-4027-5) collects:
    • "Bloodlines" (with Eddy Barrows, in #8, 2012)
    • "The Gray Son" (with Eddy Barrows and Andrés Guinaldo, in #9, 2012)
    • "The Tomorrow People" (with Eddy Barros and Geraldo Borges, in #10, 2012)
    • "Tomorrow Can't Wait" (with Andrés Guinaldo, in #11, 2012)
    • "Inside Out" (with Andrés Guinaldo, in #12, 2012)
    • "Perpetual Motion" (with Tom DeFalco and Eddy Barrows, in #0, 2012)
  • Volume 3: Death of the Family (tpb, 176 pages, 2013, ISBN 1-4012-4413-0) collects:
    • "The Hunter" (written by Tom DeFalco and drawn by Andrés Guinaldo, in #13, 2012)
    • "Die For Me" (written by Tom DeFalco and drawn by Andrés Guinaldo, in #14, 2012)
    • "Cleaning House" (with Eddy Barrows, in #15, 2012)
    • "Curtain Call" (with Eddy Barrows, in #16, 2013)
    • "The Punchline" (written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Greg Capullo, in Batman vol. 2 #17, 2013)
    • "Another Saturday Night" (with Sanford Greene, in Young Romance: A New 52 Valentine's Day Special #1, 2013
    • "The Long Week" (with Juan Jose Ryp, in #17, 2013)
    • "Slow Burn" (with Juan Jose Ryp, in #18, 2013)
  • Volume 4: Second City (tpb, 144 pages, 2014, ISBN 1-4012-4630-3) collects:
    • "Second City" (with Brett Booth, in #19, 2013)
    • "Flying Blind" (with Brett Booth, in #20, 2013)
    • "Co$t of Living" (with Brett Booth, in #21, 2013)
    • "Showtime" (with Will Conrad, in #22, 2013)
    • "World Turned Upside Down" (with Will Conrad, in #23, 2013)
    • "Buyer's Remorse" (with Will Conrad, in #24, 2013)
  • Volume 5: Setting Son (tpb, 200 pages, 2014, ISBN 1-4012-5011-4) collects:
    • "Embers" (with Jason Masters, in Anual #1, 2013)
    • "One Dark City Night" (with Will Conrad, in #25, 2013)
    • "Some Strings Attached" (with Will Conrad, in #26, 2013)
    • "Curiouser and Curiouser" (with Will Conrad, in #27, 2014)
    • "Butterfly Effects" (with Russell Dauterman, in #28, 2014)
    • "Safety Net" (with Russell Dauterman, in #29, 2014)
    • "Setting Son" (written by Tim Seeley and Tom King and drawn by Mikel Janín, Javier Garrón and Jorge Lucas, in #30, 2014)
• Masters of the Universe vol. 2 #2, #5 (with Pop Mhan and Mike Henderson, July, 2012)
• Batman Beyond 2.0 (October, 2013-November, 2014)[24]
  • Rewired (tpb, 176 pages, 2014, ISBN 1-4012-5060-2) collects:
    • "Rewired" (with Thony Silas, in #1-8, 2013)
    • "The Bat-Men" (with Thony Silas, in #9-15, 2013-2014)
    • "Reunion" (with Eric Wight, in #16, 2014)
  • Justice Lords Beyond (tpb, 176 pages, 2015, ISBN 1-4012-5464-0) collects:
    • "Justice Lords Beyond: Another World" (with Thony Silas, in #17-24, 2014)
• Secret Origins vol.3 #1, "The Long Year" (with Doug Mahnke, April, 2014) collected in Volume 1 (tpb, 160 pages, 2015, ISBN 1-4012-5049-1)
• Batman Eternal #22-39 (September, 2014-2015)[6]
  • Volume 2 (tpb, 448 pages, 2015, ISBN 1-4012-5231-1) collects:
    • "Succession Plans" (with Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley and Jorge Lucas, in #22, 2014)
    • "Lioness" (with Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley and Dustin Nguyen, in #23, 2014)
    • "The Spoiler" (with Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley and Andy Clark, in #24, 2014)
    • "City of Whispers" (with Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley and R.M. Guera, in #25, 2014)
    • "Broken Mirrors" (with Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley, R.M. Guera and Juan Ferreyra, in #26, 2014)
    • "Divided" (with Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley and Javier Garrón, in #27, 2014)
    • "Letting Go" (with Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley and Meghan Hetrick, in #28, 2014)
    • "The City of Shadow and Doubt" (with Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley and Simon Coleb, in #29, 2014)
    • "From On High" (with Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley and Fernando Pasarin, in #30, 2014)
    • "Buried Deep" (with Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley and Fernando Pasarin, in #31, 2014)
    • "Whisper Campaign" (with Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley and Jason Fabok, in #32, 2014)
    • "Contents Under Pressure" (with Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley and Jason Fabok, in #33, 2014)
    • "State of Truth" (with Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley and Álvaro Martínez, in #34, 2014)

Image Comics

• C.O.W.L. (May 2014-July 2015)[25]
  • Volume 1: Principles of Power (tpb, 128 pages, 2014, ISBN 1-63215-111-1) collects:
    • "Motivation" (with Alec Siegel and Rod Reis, in #1, 2014)
    • "Self-Deception" (with Alec Siegel and Rod Reis, in #2, 2014)
    • "Perception" (with Alec Siegel and Rod Reis, in #3, 2014)
    • "Unity" (with Alec Siegel and Rod Reis, in #4, 2014)
    • "Sacrifice" (with Alec Siegel and Rod Reis, in #5, 2014)
  • "The Grey Raven Soars in "Raven's First Flight!"" (with Alec Siegel, Rod Reis and Joe Bennett, in #6, 2014)
  • Volume 2: The Greater Good (tpb, 128 pages, 2015, ISBN 1-63215-326-2) collects:
    • "At the Brink" (with Alec Siegel and Rod Reis, in #7, 2014)
    • "Doppler Shift" (with Alec Siegel and Rod Reis, in #8, 2015)
    • "The High Ground" (with Alec Siegel and Rod Reis, in #9, 2015)
    • "Full Disclosure" (with Alec Siegel and Rod Reis, in #10, 2015)
    • "Coming to Terms" (with Alec Siegel and Rod Reis, in #11, 2015)

References

1. "Filmmakers". theleaguefilm.com. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
2. "Racists Totally Freak Out Over Muslim 'Batman of Paris'". Comics Alliance. December 18, 2010. Archived from the original on February 11, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
3. Rogers, Vaneta (June 13, 2011). "HIGGINS: Dick's BAT-Time Makes For Better DCnU NIGHTWING". Newsarama. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
4. Vaneta Rogers (June 23, 2011). "HIGGINS: DCnU DEATHSTROKE Will Be a BADASS Again". Newsarama.
5. Truitt, Brian (2 August 2013). "Kyle Higgins taps into cartoon love for 'Batman Beyond'". USA Today. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
6. Siegel, Lucas (January 24, 2014). "Kyle Higgins Added to Batman: Eternal Writing Team". Newsarama. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
7. "Forthcoming C.O.W.L. Features the First Superhero Labor Union". Image Comics. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
8. Salazar, Kat. "C.O.W.L.—superhero labor union wins public favor". Image Comics.
9. "JULY 2015 IMAGE EXPO ANNOUNCEMENTS REVEALED | News | Image Comics". imagecomics.com. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
10. "Gunpowder & Sky's DUST To Bring Comic Book 'Hadrian's Wall' To Big Screen, Creator Kyle Higgins To Direct & Adapt". Deadline. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
11. "BOOM! Studios Launching Original Power Rangers Comics!". EclipseMagazine. 2015-12-17. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
12. "nWAY ANNOUNCES POWER RANGERS: LEGACY WARS PARTNERSHIP WITH BOOM! STUDIOS". www.boom-studios.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
13. Yehl, Joshua (2016-11-30). "New Mighty Morphin Power Ranger Makes Mysterious Debut". IGN. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
14. "Power Morphicon Exclusive Legacy Lord Drakkon Figure | Power Morphicon 2018". officialpowermorphicon.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
15. "The Shadow Hours". THE SHADOW HOURS. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
16. "Dynamite Reboots 'Magnus' With Kyle Higgins And Jorge Fornes". ComicsAlliance. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
17. "Magnus Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
18. "Nightwing: The New Order Writer Responds To Fan Criticisms". DC. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
19. "Nightwing: The New Order #1". You Don't Read Comics. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
20. "Not Everything. Not Yet (Nightwing: New Order #2 Comic Review) - Shoot The Breeze Comics". shootthebreezecomics.com. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
21. "Pick of the Week: "Nightwing: The New Order" #1". Multiversity Comics. 2017-08-24. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
22. "The Dead Hand #1 | Releases | Image Comics". imagecomics.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
23. "Welcome To The Edge | DC Comics". DC Comics. June 9, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
24. "Batman Beyond 2.0 (2013-)". DC Entertainment. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
25. "C.O.W.L. #1". Image Comics. Retrieved June 28, 2014.

External links

• The League
• Kyle Higgins interview with ScriptsandScribes.com

Preceded by Marv Wolfman	Deathstroke writer 2011−2012	Succeeded by Rob Liefeld
Preceded by Peter Tomasi	Nightwing writer 2011−2014	Succeeded by Tim Seeley and Tom King
Preceded by Adam Beechen	Batman Beyond writer 2013−2014	Succeeded by Dan Jurgens