Garth Ennis Garth Ennis ( born January 16 , 1970 in Holywood , Northern Ireland ) is an Irish comic writer , who wrote the Star Wars Tales comics " Trooper " and " In the Beginning " . He is best known for the / series and his successful revival of Marvel Comics ' " " franchise . His work is characterized by extreme violence , black humor , profanity , an interest in male friendship , a disdain for organized religion , and contempt for superheroes . Biography . Ennis began his comic - writing career in 1989 with the series " Troubled Souls " . Appearing in the short - lived but critically - acclaimed British anthology " " and illustrated by McCrea , it told the story of a young , apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish ' ' . It spawned a sequel , " For a Few Troubles More " , a broad Belfast - based comedy featuring two supporting characters from " Troubled Souls " , Dougie and Ivor , who would later get their own American comics series , " " , from in 1997 , and several follow - ups from . Another series for " Crisis " was " True Faith " , a religious satire inspired by his schooldays , this time drawn by . Like the two " Troubles " stories it was collected as a graphic novel in 1990 , but religious protests led to it being quickly withdrawn from sale , apparently on the orders of publisher . It was later republished in 1997 by Vertigo . Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis ' parent publication , " " . He quickly graduated on to the title ' s flagship character , , taking over from original creator for a period of several years . Ennis ' s most notable " Dredd " stories include " Muzak Killer " ( a pastiche of mainstream pop music ) , " Emerald Isle " ( a tongue - in - cheek story set in Ennis ' s native Ireland ) , and the twenty - part epic " . " Ennis also contributed the surreal " Time Flies " , dealing with time travel paradoxes and Nazis . His first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over horror title " " , which he wrote until 1994 . became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis ' s run . The creative partnership established went on to create " " . From 1993 to 1995 Ennis and worked on another DC title , " " , during which they introduced super - powered contract killer Tommy Monaghan , also known as , whose own series would allow their creative partnership to continue when " The Demon " ended . Towards the end of the initial " Hellblazer " run , Ennis and Dillon collaborated on a one - shot called " Heartland " , exploring one of the secondary characters of their run . Several years after leaving , Ennis briefly returned for the five - part " Son of Man " story with artist . Ennis ' landmark work to date is the 66 - issue epic " " , which he co - created with artist Steve Dillon . Running from 1995 to 2000 , it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers , searching ( literally ) for God who has abandoned Earth . Mixing influences from western movies and religious themes , it drew plaudits for Ennis from all sections of the media ; the " " newspaper voted one of the " Preacher " collections its " book of the week " , and film director Kevin Smith described it as " More fun than going to the movies . " While " " was running , Ennis began a series set in the universe called " " . Despite being lower profile than " " , " " ran for 60 issues ( plus specials ) from 1996 to 2001 , veering wildly from violent action to goofy humor to a surprisingly tender examination of male friendship under fire . Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include " " , " " , " " , and " " , all for DC / Vertigo , as well as origin stories for " " and " " for Image Comics . After the end of " Hitman " , Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor - in - Chief Joe Quesada that he could write " The Punisher " as long as he cared to . The initial 12 - issue maxi - series was illustrated by Steve Dillon , who also did a 37 - issue series ( even illustrating it and co - writing an issue while Ennis briefly stepped down as writer ) which only ended when Ennis decided to change direction . Instead of largely comical tone of these issues , he decided to make a much more serious series , re - launched under Marvel ' s imprint . This is currently ongoing , approaching issue # 60 , which is said to be the last written by Ennis , and has also inspired several limited series ( such as " Born " and " Barracuda " ) and one - shots ( " The End " , " The Cell " , and " The Tyger " ) . While at Marvel , Ennis also wrote stories for " " , " " , " " , and " " . In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic " " for " " - this series cannot be considered a success , with Ennis himself saying that there is " not a hope " to return to writing Dredd as he was generally not happy with his run . " I ’ m too close to Dredd , I like him too much . I can ’ t tamper with the formula ; nor can I take the piss the way I do with superheroes , " he said . Other comics Ennis has written include " War Story " ( with various artists ) for DC ; " " for Image Comics ; " " for ; " Just a Pilgrim " for Black Bull Press , and " " , " " ( a six issue mini - series about the Antichrist ) , and a comic book , " " for Avatar Press . His work has won him a good deal of recognition in the comics industry , including nominations for the Award for Favorite Writer in 1997 , 1998 , 1999 , and 2000 . Unexpectedly , in 2006 , it was announced that Ennis would write a new creator - owned extended series entitled " " , originally published by Wildstorm . After just six issues , " The Boys " was canceled by Wildstorm , despite high sales and with no reason given . The series was picked up by Dynamite Entertainment , and is now ongoing . " The Boys " sees Ennis reunited with artist , the two had previously worked together on the Marvel series " Fury : Peacemaker " and " Punisher : Born " . " The Boys " is expected to run for sixty issues . Ennis wrote the first arc of WildStorm ' s " " and one stand alone issue before leaving the title . Ennis has also worked with on a 5 - issue comic book mini - series called " " for Virgin Comics . In 2008 Ennis ended his five - year run on " Punisher " MAX to debut a new Marvel title , " War is Hell : The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle " . The limited series features the little - used character , a WWI pilot who originally appeared in Marvel Comics during the 1960s . In 2008 , Ennis also wrote a new " " miniseries published by . In June , 2008 , at Wizard World , Philadelphia , Ennis announced several new projects , including an ongoing war series called " Garth Ennis : Battlefields " for Dynamite , another " Chronicles of Wormwood " mini - series and " " both at Avatar , a six - issue miniseries about Butcher ( from " The Boys " ) and an Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon . He has also worked with on " " , a crime - based limited series for Image Comics .