Chip Zdarsky

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Chip Zdarsky
Zdarsky at Lucca Comics & Games 2015
Born	Steven Murray (1975-12-21) December 21, 1975 (age 45) Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Area(s)	Comic book artist
Notable works	Sex Criminals Spider-Man: Life Story Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Daredevil Howard the Duck Jughead

Steve Murray (born December 21, 1975),^[1] known by the pen-name Chip Zdarsky, is a Canadian comic book artist and writer, journalist, illustrator and designer. He has also used the pseudonym Todd Diamonte. He worked for National Post for over a decade, until 2014, as an illustrator and humorist (as Steve Murray) and wrote and illustrated a column called "Extremely Bad Advice" for the paper as well as The Ampersand, the newspaper's pop culture section's online edition.

He uses the Zdarsky pseudonym for comics-related work, using it to create Prison Funnies and Monster Cops and as artist and co-creator of Sex Criminals with writer Matt Fraction.^[1] Comics attributed to him include Howard the Duck, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, Daredevil and Spider-Man: Life Story for Marvel Comics and Jughead for Archie Comics.

Early life[]

Steve Murray was born in Edmonton, Alberta and raised in Barrie, Ontario.^{[citation needed]}

Career[]

Murray has illustrated for such clients as The Globe and Mail, New York magazine, CBC and Canadian Business.^{[citation needed]}

In 2000, Murray created Chip Zdarsky as a pseudonym and alter ego for his persona as a comic book writer and illustrator, developing his own independent projects, such as Prison Funnies^[2] and Monster Cops (which can be read online or in print) as well as collaborating on a variety of projects, including Dark Horse Comics titles Fierce and Rumble Royale. About his alter ego, Murray said "I wanted to have a sad-sack cartoonist persona that lives in his mom's basement, paints figurines for money, has restraining orders against him. And that became a character." He describes the character as "an idiot who doesn't know what I'm doing. I've had no success in my life. No matter what, I'm going to mess things up." Murray initially attempted to keep the identities separate and secret.^[1]

From 2008 to 2014, Murray penned and illustrated a weekly advice column for the National Post called "Extremely Bad Advice".^[3] He also wrote another column in that paper, Tear Jerk, in which he reviewed films to see if they could actually make him "weep like a baby".

Along with , Ben Shannon, and Cameron Stewart, he is a co-founder of the studio The Royal Academy of Illustration and Design, which produced Rumble Royale.

In 2010, he also launched a mock campaign for mayor of Toronto. He was not an officially registered candidate, launching his satirical "campaign" through social networking platforms after the deadline had passed to register as a candidate in the real campaign.^[4]

In June 2013, Image Comics announced that Chip Zdarsky had teamed up with Invincible Iron Man and Hawkeye writer, Matt Fraction, on a new creator-owned series titled Sex Criminals. The first issue was released on September 23, 2013. Sex Criminals was declared number 1 on Time magazine's list of "Top 10 Comics and Graphic Novels" of 2013.^[5]

In 2014, Murray won a Will Eisner Award for Best New Series for Sex Criminals.^[6]

Zdarsky wrote the first series arc of the relaunched Jughead comic for the 2015 New Riverdale relaunch.

On February 15, 2017, it was announced that beginning that June, Zdarsky would be writing a brand new "back-to-basics" Spider-Man series Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man that would run alongside writer Dan Slott's run on The Amazing Spider-Man.^[7]

In 2020, DC Comics announced that Zdarsky would be among the creators of a revived Batman: Black and White anthology series to debut on December 8, 2020.^[8]

Awards and nominations[]

Awards[]

• 2014 Eisner Award – Best New Series (Sex Criminals, with author Matt Fraction)
• 2014 Harvey Award – Most Promising New Talent
• 2014 Harvey Award – Best New Series (Sex Criminals)
• 2015 Harvey Award – Special Award For Humor (Sex Criminals; rejected by winner)
• 2016 Harvey Award – Special Award For Humor (Howard the Duck)
• 2017 Eisner Award – Best Humor Publication (Jughead, with Ryan North, Erica Henderson and Derek Charm)
• 2017 War Rocket Ajax Intercontinental Championship
• 2019 Eisner Award – Best Single Issue/One-Shot (Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310)
• 2019 Shuster Award – Best Writer (Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel Two-in-One)
• 2020 Eisner Award – Best Digital Comic (Afterlift, with artist Jason Loo)
• 2021 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book — Empyre, Lords of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling / Empyre: Aftermath Avengers (with Al Ewing, Dan Slott and Anthony Oliveira)

Nominations[]

• 2014 Eisner Award nominee – Best Series (Sex Criminals, with author Matt Fraction)
• 2017 Eisner Award nominee – Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17) (Jughead, with Ryan North, Erica Henderson and Derek Charm)
• 2019 Eisner Award nominee – Best Writer (Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel Two-in-One)
• 2020 Eisner Award nominee – Best Writer (White Trees, Daredevil, Spider-Man: Life Story, Afterlift), Best Continuing Series (Daredevil with Marco Checchetto)
• 2021 Eisner Award nominee – Best Writer (Stillwater, Daredevil, Fantastic Four/X-Men)
• 2021 Eisner Award nominee – Best Continuing Series (Daredevil)
• 2021 Eisner Award nominee – Best Continuing Series (Stillwater)

Bibliography[]

Archie Comics[]

• Jughead #1-8 (writer, October 2015–August 2016)^[9]
  • Volume 1 (collects #1-6, with Erica Henderson, tpb, 168 pages, 2016, ISBN 978-1627388931)
  • #7-8 (with Derek Charm, 2016), collected in Volume 2 (tpb, 144 pages, 2017, ISBN 978-1682559987)

Comixology Originals[]

• Afterlift #1–5 (writer, limited series, with Jason Loo, April 2020; republished by Dark Horse in February 2021, tpb, 136 pages, ISBN 978-1506724409)

DC Comics[]

• Story in Harley Quinn 25th Anniversary Special (writer, with Joe Quinones, November 2017)
• Harley Quinn story in Dark Nights: Death Metal Guidebook (writer, with Khary Randolph, October 2020) collected in Dark Nights: Death Metal: The Darkest Knight (tpb, 208 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1779507921)
• Story in Detective Comics #1027 (artist, with Matt Fraction, November 2020) collected as Batman: Detective Comics #1027 Deluxe Edition (hc, 184 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1779506740)
• Red Hood story in Batman: Urban Legends #1–6 (writer, with Eddy Barrows, March 2021–)
• Story in Batman: Black and White vol. 5 #4 (writer, with Nick Bradshaw, March 2021–)
• Justice League: Last Ride #1-8 (writer, with Miguel Mendonça, May 2021-)

Image Comics[]

• Sex Criminals (artist, with Matt Fraction, September 2013–October 2020)^[10]
  • Volume 1: One Weird Trick (collects #1–5, tpb, 128 pages, 2014, ISBN 978-1607069461)
  • Volume 2: Two Worlds, One Cop (collects #6–10, tpb, 128 pages, 2015 ISBN 978-1632151933)
  • Volume 3: Three the Hard Way (collects #11–15, tpb, 132 pages, 2016 ISBN 978-1632155429)
  • Volume 4: Fourgy! (collects #16–20 tpb, 136 pages, 2017 ISBN ISBN 978-1534302310)
  • Volume 5: Five-Fingered Discount (collects #21–25, tpb, 128 pages, 2018 ISBN 978-1534306837)
  • Volume 6: Six Criminals (collects #26–30, 69, tpb, 152 pages, 2020 ISBN 978-1534310629)
  • Big Hard Sex Criminals (collects #1-10, hc, 256 pages, 2015 ISBN 978-1632152435)
  • Big Hard Sex Criminals Volume 2 Deluxxxe (collects #11-20, hc, 256 pages, 2018 ISBN 978-1534307063)
• Sex Criminals: Just the Tips (artist, with Matt Fraction, December 2014)^[11]
• Kaptara (writer, with Kagan Mcleod, April–November 2015)^[12]
  • Volume 1: Fear Not, Tiny Alien (collects #1–5, tpb, 128 pages, 2015, ISBN 978-1632155573)
• The White Trees #1–2 (writer, limited series, with Kris Anka, August–September 2019)
• Stillwater #1–ongoing (writer, with Ramón K. Pérez, September 2020–)
• The Silver Coin #1 (writer, with Michael Walsh, April 2021)

Marvel Comics[]

• Original Sins #5: The No-Sin Situation (writer/artist, October 2014) collected in Original Sins (tpb, 144 pages, 2015, ISBN 978-0785191513)
• Howard the Duck vol. 5 (writer, with Joe Quinones, May–October 2015)^[13]
  • Volume 0: What the Duck? (collects #1-5, tpb, 112 pages, 2015, ISBN 978-0785197720)
• Howard the Duck vol. 6 (writer, with Joe Quinones January–December 2016)
  • Volume 1: Duck Hunt (collects #1–6, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #6, tpb, 160 pages, 2016, ISBN 978-0785199380)
  • Volume 2: Good Night, and Good Duck (collects #7–11, tpb, 112 pages, 2016, ISBN 978-0785199397)
• All-New, All-Different Avengers Annual #1: "The Once and Future Marvel" (artist, with Mark Waid, August 2016) collected in All-New, All-Different Avengers Vol. 3: Civil War II (tpb, 112 pages, 2017, ISBN 978-1302902360)
• Civil War II: Choosing Sides #5: "Alpha Flight" (writer, with Ramón K. Pérez, October 2016) collected in Civil War II: Choosing Sides (tpb,152 pages, 2016, ISBN 978-1302902513)
• Doctor Strange vol. 4 #1.MU (writer, with Julian Lopez, April 2017)^[14] collected in Monsters Unleashed: Battleground (tpb, 264 pages, 2017, ISBN 978-1302907198)
• Star-Lord vol. 2 #1–6, Annual #1 (writer, with Kris Anka, February–July 2017)^[15] collected as Star-Lord: Grounded (tpb, 168 pages, 2017, ISBN 978-1302905545)
• Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man vol. 2 (August 2017–February 2019)^[16][17]
  • Volume 1: Into The Twilight (collects #1-6, FCBD 2017 Secret Empire, writer, tpb, with Adam Kubert and Michael Walsh, 144 pages, ISBN 978-1302907563)
  • Volume 2: Most Wanted (collects #297-300, writer/artist, tpb, with Adam Kubert and Juan Frigeri, 112 pages, ISBN 978-1302907570)
  • Volume 3: Amazing Fantasy (collects #301-303, Annual #1, writer, tpb, with Joe Quinones, 112 pages, ISBN 978-1302911188)
  • Volume 4: Coming Home (collects #304-310, writer/artist, tpb, with Adam Kubert, 112 pages, ISBN 978-1302911195)
• Not Brand Echh #14: "The Not Next Issue Page" (writer/artist, January 2018) collected in Not Brand Echh: The Complete Collection (tpb, 480 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302918828)
• Unbeatable Squirrel Girl vol. 2 #26: "A Bird in the Hand" (artist, with Erica Henderson, January 2018) collected in The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Volume 7: I've Been Waiting For a Squirrel Like You (tpb, 128 pages, 2018, ISBN 978-1302906658) and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 4 (hc, 272 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302915445)
• Marvel 2-in-One vol. 2 (writer, February 2018–January 2019)^[18][19] to be collected in Fantastic Four: Fate of the Four (hc, 2021)
  • Volume 1: Fate of the Four (collects #1–6, tpb, with Jim Cheung and Valerio Schiti, 136 pages, 2018, ISBN 978-1302910921)
  • Volume 2: Next of Kin (collects #7–12, Annual #1, tpb, with Declan Shalvey and Ramón K. Pérez, 160 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302914912)
• Doctor Strange vol. 1 #390 (co-artist, with Donny Cates and Frazer Irving, July 2018) collected in Doctor Strange by Donny Cates Vol. 2: City Of Sin (tpb, 112 pages, 2018, ISBN 978-1302910655) and Doctor Strange by Donny Cates (hc, 360 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302915292)
• Merry X-Men Holiday Special: "The Gift That Keeps On Giving" (writer/artist, one-shot, February 2019)
• Namor: The Best Defense #1 (writer, one-shot with Carlos Magno, February 2019) collected in Defenders: The Best Defense (tpb, 168 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302916145)^[20]
• Invaders vol. 3 (writer, with Carlos Magno and Butch Guice, March 2019–February 2020)^[21] collected as Always an Invader (hc, 304 pages, 2021, ISBN 978-1302927356)
  • Volume 1: War Ghost (collects #1–6, tpb, 144 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302917494)
  • Volume 2: Dead in the Water (collects #7–12, tpb, 136 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302917500)
• Daredevil vol. 6 (April 2019–ongoing)^[22]
  • Volume 1: Know Fear (collects #1-5, writer/artist, tpb, with Marco Checchetto, 120 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302914981)
  • Volume 2: No Devils, Only God (collects #6-10, writer, tpb, with Lalit Kumar Sharma and Jorge Fornés, 112 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302914998
  • Volume 3: Through Hell (collects #11-15, writer, tpb, with Marco Checchetto and Francesco Mobili 112 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302920180)
  • Volume 4: End of Hell (collects #16-20, writer, tpb, with Jorge Fornés and Marco Checchetto, 112 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302925802)
  • Volume 5: Truth/Dare (collects #21-25, Annual #1, writer, tpb, with Marco Checchetto, Francesco Mobili, and Mike Hawthorne, 144 pages, 2021, ISBN 978-1302925819)
  • Volume 1: To Heaven Through Hell (collects #1-10, hc, 232 pages, 2021, ISBN 978-1302928247)
• Spider-Man: Life Story (writer, 6-issue limited series, with Mark Bagley, May–October 2019)^[23] collected as Spider-Man: Life Story (tpb, 208 pages, 2019, ISBN 978-1302917333)
• War of the Realms: War Scrolls #1: "Waugh of the Realms" (writer, with Joe Quinones, June 2019) collected in War of the Realms Omnibus (hc, 1576 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302926410)
• Marvel Comics #1000: "Armor: Disassemble": (writer/artist, one-shot, October 2019) collected as Marvel Comics #1000 (hc, 144 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302921378)
• Amazing Spider-Man: Full Circle (co-writer, one-shot, with Rachel Stott and various, December 2019) collected as Amazing Spider-Man: Full Circle (hc, 128 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302921385)
• X-Men/Fantastic Four vol. 2 #1–4 (writer, 4-issue limited series, with Terry Dodson, April–September 2020)^[24] collected as X-Men/Fantastic Four: 4X (tpb, 128 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302920036)
• Doom 2099 vol. 2 #1 (writer, one-shot, with Marco Castiello, February 2020) collected in Amazing Spider-Man 2099 Companion (tpb 296 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302924928)
• Incoming! #1: "5-8" (writer, one-shot, with Jorge Fornés, February 2020) collected in Road to Empyre (tpb, 2020, ISBN 978-1302925888)
• Lords of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling #1 (co-writer, one-shot, with Anthony Oliveira and Manuel Garcia, September 2020) collected in Empyre: Lords of Empyre (tpb, 168 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1302925918)
• Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow (writer, limited series, with Pasqual Ferry, April 2021)
• Story in Carnage: Black, White & Blood #2 (writer, with Marco Checchetto, April 2021)

Other publishers[]

• Royal Academy of Illustration & Design
  • Monster Cops (writer/artist, 2003; republished by Legion of Evil Press in 2006)
• Legion of Evil Press
  • Prison Funnies #1–2 (writer/artist, 2003)
  • Chip Zdarsky's Monster Cops (writer/artist, 2006)
  • Comics Festival!: Monster Cops (writer/artist, 2007-2009)

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Chip Zdarsky at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Chip Zdarsky on Tumblr
• "Extremely Bad Advice" column