Early work Wood's first professional work in comics was the five-issue
limited series Channel Zero, published by
Image Comics in 1998, which began as part of his graduation project for
Parsons School of Design.
Channel Zero is set in a
dystopian near-future New York City where the tenets of then-Mayor
Rudy Giuliani have grown into a freedom-restricting government initiative called "The Clean Act". The protagonist is Jennie 2.5, a DIY media personality who sets out to stir the complacent population into revolution.
Channel Zero was orphaned shortly after Image Comics sold out of the first print run of the collected edition, opting not to return to press, and
AiT/Planet Lar acquired it soon afterwards. In 2012 Wood regained the publishing rights and
Dark Horse Comics took up the publishing, releasing a "Complete Collection" that included the original graphic novel, the prequel series
Channel Zero: Jennie One with
Becky Cloonan, his
Public Domain design book material, and numerous other extras from the early development of the property.
ComicsAlliance has identified
Channel Zero as "The Unofficial Bible of Comics Activism," and noted its "eerie prescience" and "represents an arduous, expressly
DIY method of comic book-making that new technology has dramatically changed."
Publishers Weekly called it "significant" and "unapologetically experimental," and "Wood is far more interested in trying out a variety of visual techniques than in creating something that is slick and polished. The result is a graphic novel whose form and content could not be more perfectly matched."
Bleeding Cool placed
Channel Zero within a larger
cyberpunk movement. Following
Channel Zero, Wood took a two-year break from comics. In early 2000, comic book writer
Warren Ellis offered Wood a co-writing job on
Marvel Comics'
Generation X, as part of Ellis'
Counter-X run. Wood co-wrote issues #63–70 with Ellis and 71–75 on his own, before the series was canceled as part of incoming Editor-in-Chief
Joe Quesada's attempts to simplify the
X-Men franchise. Wood would not work again with Marvel until 2012.
AiT/Planet Lar and original graphic novels Wood was employed as a staff designer for
Rockstar Games, designing for video game franchises such as
Grand Theft Auto,
Midnight Club,
Max Payne, ''
Smuggler's Run and Manhunt. He nonetheless produced a series of original graphic novels, coinciding with a trend within independent comic publishers that favored that format. The first was Couscous Express
with artist Brett Weldele, an action romp about food delivery people. This was followed by a trilogy of bike messenger books, The Couriers, The Couriers: Dirtbike Manifesto
, and The Couriers: Ballad of Johnny Funwrecker
, all drawn by Rob G. Several characters are shared between Couscous Express
and The Couriers'', and in 2012 all four books were collected together and published by Image Comics. Wood created and wrote the limited series'
Pounded for
Oni Press and
Fight for Tomorrow for
DC Comics's imprint
Vertigo. He also produced
Public Domain and
Channel Zero: Jennie One during this time, the first of what will come to be several collaborations with artist
Becky Cloonan. Larry Young's
AiT/Planet Lar heavily promoted Wood during this time, including designating the month of January as "Brian Wood Month" to exclusively offer his titles only. Wood also served as AIT's branding designer and overall creative director for a short period of time, and designed covers for Warren Ellis'
Come In Alone,
Badlands, and
Black Heart Billy. In January 2007,
Intrepid Pictures optioned the feature film rights to Wood and Rob G.'s graphic novel
The Couriers with
Javier Grillo-Marxuach set to pen the screenplay.
Demo, Local, and the single issue format In 2003, Wood partnered with artist
Becky Cloonan to create
Demo, an anthology series of twelve 'done-in-one' or 'one-shot' stories about young people with superpowers. Although initially inspired by the aborted NYX project, the series was not traditionally superhero and instead compared emerging powers to
autistic themes and tragic love stories. The series was well-received, and
Wizard, a steadfastly superhero-oriented comics magazine, named
Demo its 2004 "Indie of the Year". The series was also nominated for two
Eisner Awards in 2005, for "Best Limited Series" and "Best Single Issue" (for #7, "One Shot, Don't Miss").
Thirteen Minutes cites Wood and Demo as " blipping a young artist named Becky Cloonan onto everyone's collective radar screen, and cementing Wood's relationship with this frequent collaborator." Wood and Cloonan moved Demo from AiT/Planet Lar to
Vertigo Comics in 2008, announcing a "Volume 2" of the series, upping the total number of short stories to 18. In 2015, Wood and Cloonan took the publishing rights to Dark Horse Comics, producing the single volume
The Complete Demo. The
Demo format proved successful so Wood went on to replicate it, with some changes, for his 12-issue series
Local at
Oni Press, which launched in 2005 and was drawn by artist
Ryan Kelly. NPR named it one of its Best Graphic Novels of the year and called it a "contemporary ballad to the idea of the open road... Megan moves from state to state, dealing with roommates and dead-end jobs and looking for an existence that befits her intelligence and desire for authenticity. She's not a lost cause; she simply chooses, for personal reasons, to drift a while."
DMZ, Northlanders, and DC Comics exclusivity Demo was the book with which Wood and Becky Cloonan first gained Vertigo's attention. Editor Will Dennis approached Wood and invited him to pitch, and editor
Shelly Bond hired Becky Cloonan to illustrate the series
American Virgin. The inspiration for
DMZ had come to Wood in early 2003, at a time when the
9-11 incident in New York City and the
invasion of Iraq dominated the U.S. national psyche. Wood had just moved to San Francisco from New York City, and the experience of recalling in that political atmosphere the memories and story ideas he had accumulated over a decade living in the city instigated the creation of the artwork that would become the foundation of
DMZ. Initially developed as
Wartime, a five issue black-and-white miniseries, the comic was consciously a project of importance to Wood, representing a return to the perspective of his breakthrough work
Channel Zero, a bleak portrayal of youth culture and anti-authoritarian expression in the repressive environment of
Giuliani-era New York City. After the "
Wartime" title had been disqualified as too close a title to a recent
Books Of Magic miniseries, Wood considered a host of alternatives including "
Embedded", "''No Man's Land
" and "The War for New York
" before settling on "DMZ"''. and was collected in twelve trade paperbacks. A Deluxe Edition of five hardcovers were published in 2014, followed by softcover editions of same in 2016. A two volume compendium set was published in 2020. In August 2006, DC Comics announced that Wood was signed to an exclusive contract. This was announced at the same time as Wood's second monthly title for Vertigo, the historical series
Northlanders. Described as an anthology series that takes a realistic, "street level" looking at Vikings, the series ran for 50 issues before being cancelled due to low sales. It was collected into seven trade paperbacks, and then re-cut into three volumes that presents the stories in a different sequence than originally published. In 2006, editor
Shelly Bond announced Minx, a young adult graphic novel imprint aimed at the teenage girl market. Wood and artist
Ryan Kelly produced
The New York Four for the imprint. Years later, they would return for
The New York Five, published under the Vertigo label. The sequel was nominated for an
Eisner award in 2012 for Best New Limited Series. In 2014, Wood and Kelly took the books to Dark Horse Comics and produced the collected edition
The New York Four, containing the complete story. In 2008, Wood was nominated for Best Writer at that year's
Eisner Awards, for
DMZ,
Northlanders, and
Local. During the term of his exclusivity to DC Comics, Wood also wrote DV8 Gods And Monsters for the
WildStorm imprint, and a short run on the
Supernatural licensed comic. In 2011, Wood was rumored to write the relaunched
Supergirl series as part of DC's
New 52 initiative, but it did not come to pass. This generated some confusion and commentary, particularly after DC's New 52 website inadvertently leaked Wood's name as the series writer. Wood stated, "I don't really know what I can and can't say about it, even now. But to answer at least part of your question, I did not turn down "Supergirl." I would have loved to be the writer on "Supergirl." I have over a year's worth of "Supergirl" story outlines and several scripts sitting right here." Soon after, Wood declined to renew his DC Exclusive. In 2021, Wood reported that
DC Entertainment had renewed the
Northlanders publishing agreement. Outside of the exclusivity, Wood wrote the miniseries
Supermarket and the graphic novel
The Tourist during this time, for publishers
IDW and
Image Comics respectively.
Return to Marvel and the "all-female" X-Men In late 2011,
Bleeding Cool reported that during
Fan Expo Canada, Marvel teased a Brian Wood return in 2012, alongside an image of
Wolverine's claw marks.
CBR later revealed the project as
Wolverine & the X-Men: Alpha and Omega, a four issue series with Mark Brooks on art. Wood then took over on the main, "adjective-less" X-Men title starting with #30 and wrapping up with #37. Wood returned in 2013 with the #1 selling relaunch of X-Men with an all-female "A-list" roster: Jubilee, Storm, Rogue,
Kitty Pryde, Rachel Grey and Psylocke.
USA Today quoted Wood as saying, "I feel like as far as the X-Men go, the women are the X-Men. Cyclops and Wolverine are big names, but taken as a whole, the women kind of rule the franchise." The reaction to the title was mostly positive, but some took offense at the lack of male characters, and others at the execution. Journalist Laura Hudson interviewed Wood for
Wired Magazine, and quoted him as saying, ""There's too much cheesecake out there that is sold, or at least marketed, as a 'strong female' character or book when it's anything but, it just reinforces the worst opinions of the most sexist fans, and we gain no new ground. We probably lose ground. I'm not approaching this new
X-Men as a 'female book,' but I'm writing it as a high action X-Men comic, and with some luck that will nullify some of these poisonous critics who go looking for something to feel angry/uncomfortable/threatened by." Wood left the series in 2014 with issue #17, saying, "I left the title on my own accord, no drama, no pressure, just moving on," and writer
G. Willow Wilson took over. Brian Wood and
Olivier Coipel created the Shogo Lee,
Jubilee's adopted infant son. He appeared as a time-traveling adult hero Sentinel-X in
Battle of the Atom. Concurrent with the X-Men, Wood also took over monthly writing duties on Ultimate Comics: The X-Men with issue #13. He continued until issue #33. He and artist Paco Medina created the mutant Nomi Blume aka Mach Two. His final work for Marvel during this time was to take over writing the
Moon Knight reboot
Warren Ellis began. He scripted issues #7-12.
Image Comics and Dark Horse Wood returned to Image with three miniseries:
Mara with
Ming Doyle,
Starve with
Danijel Žeželj and
Black Road with Garry Brown. The bulk of Wood's post-DC Comics creator-owned work happened at Dark Horse Comics. After exiting his exclusive contract, Wood signed on to write the publisher's long-running
Conan the Barbarian title, adapting the well-loved "Queen of the Black Coast" short story with
Becky Cloonan on art. The series ran for 25 issues. Wood also launched
The Massive, a creator-owned series with artist Garry Brown, depicting a group of environmentalists grappling with an unexplained failing of the earth's ecosystems. After the series conclusion at issue #30, Wood and Brown created the six-issue prequel
Ninth Wave. In the environmental novel
Apocalyptic Ecology in the Graphic Novel by Clint Jones, he states, "[The Massive] comes closest to representing the complexity of real destruction in the case of a global catastrophe." In 2013 Wood was approached by Dark Horse to head up a brand new
Star Wars monthly title, one that uses the original cast of the
1977 film, a first for the publisher.
Star Wars #1 debuted to positive reviews, selling out of its initial print run in 24 hours. Wood wrote the series up until issue #20, when Dark Horse lost the license to Marvel Comics. Wood's run is known for making
Princess Leia an
X-wing pilot, generating a lot of commentary, positive and negative. Italian artist Andrea Mutti joined Wood in creating
Rebels, a historical comic series set during the
American Revolutionary War. Wood noted he found it relevant to modern political times. "The first story arc of
Rebels is called 'A Well Regulated Militia,' and believe me, that was very specifically chosen to direct confront how loaded that phrase is these days," he says. "The
Green Mountain Boys were America's first
militia, and it's important to
me to draw a very clear line between that and the guys that show up to Obama rallies with assault rifles on their backs, using that phrase to justify acting out."
Publishers Weekly describes the series' main story as follows "by shorter slices of war that cover other concerns within the conflict, including those of women who played a role in combat, Native Americans who had to navigate the battle to ensure their own survival, and black combatants desiring actual independence in a war that focused on white men's freedom." They followed it up in 2017 with a second volume, titled
Rebels: These Free and Independent States, dealing with the
War of 1812. "We have the great political divide of the day, often boiled down to the contrast between Hamilton's
Federalist stance and the more states-oriented Democratic-Republicans that Jefferson and Madison pushed for, manifesting in street rallies and back-of-the-pub arguments. We had the piracy in the
Barbary states against American merchant ships, the Quasi-War in the Caribbean, John making a couple friends in the
abolitionist movement, and the great lead-up to the War of 1812, America's second war with England." Wood's final creator-owned project during this time was
Briggs Land, a generational crime drama set in an American secessionist community, "the Sopranos as secessionists," Wood said. At the same time as announcing the comic series, the
Hollywood Reporter announced the property was in development at
AMC TV, with Wood both writing and executive producing. Wood said to Bleeding Cool, "I'm writing both, simultaneously. As a comic, its unfolding a little slower, since the 'container' of a 22-page comic is smaller than an hour-long premium cable show, which requires a hell of a lot of story and there's an expectation to get into the meat of it much quicker. In my head, it's two separate
Briggs Lands – the one for comics, which is being done one way, and the TV one, which I'm developing differently." There has been no updates on the live action version of the project since Wood posted an image of a completed script. That same year, Wood co-wrote the video game
1979 Revolution: Black Friday, with
Navid Khonsari.
Aliens: Defiance, Zula Hendricks, and Amanda Ripley Wood has written a number of series for the
Aliens franchise, starting with the 12-issue
Aliens: Defiance, which introduced the point-of-view character Zula Hendricks, an ostracized Colonial Marine suffering from injury and under a cloud of suspicion. He saw similarities between Zula and
Ellen Ripley character, and strived to make the connection on the page. "I did take a hard look at Ripley, especially the Ripley in the original film, to figure out how one makes a Ripley-esque lead character since one of our goals with this comic is to create a ‘classic’ Alien story in the mold of the original film. Zula is cut from the same cloth as the crew of the
Nostromo: blue collar people just looking ahead to the next paycheck dropped into a terrible situation and needing to struggle their way out of it. Ripley does all that, keeps her wits about her, her humanity, and her cool. I want to instill all of that in Zula, even if it's from a different perspective, that of a soldier. A young, passionate, walking-wounded soldier." The series also featured Ellen's daughter,
Amanda Ripley, her first media appearance since the
Alien: Isolation video game. "A pre-
Isolation Amanda Ripley is [Zula's] only friend." Wood said. Zula Hendricks, created by Wood and artist Tristan Jones, is canon, featured in the 2019 novelization of the video game
Alien: Isolation and the novel
Alien: Prototype. written by Wood with art by Robert Carey. Set after Defiance, it features Zula Hendricks and Amanda Ripley continuing the search for
Weyland-Yutani black ops experiments on the
xenomorph. It was followed by
Aliens: Rescue in 2019 A fourth
Alien series,
Colonial Marines: Rising Threat, was cancelled prior to publication. It was meant to star Olivia Shipp, a character from
Alien: Echo, a young adult novel by
Mira Grant.
Sword Daughter and DMZ at HBOMax In June 2018, Wood and his
Briggs Land collaborator Mack Chater launched a new monthly series,
Sword Daughter. Described as a Norse - Samurai Cinema revenge mash-up, the team enlisted
José Villarrubia as colorist. Dark Horse described the series as "a raw and violent story that is a testament to the power of redemption and the resiliency of family, and a visually stunning tribute to samurai cinema." There would be a total of nine issues of the series, published in three hardcovers, titled
She Brightly Burns, Folded Metal, and Elsbeth Of The Island. Wood also wrote and co-wrote several licensed comics during the late 2010s, EVE Online: Valkyrie,
Terminator: Sector War,
Mono,
John Carter: The End,
Planet of The Apes: Memorial, a short story for
Megadeth: Death By Design, and ''RoboCop: Citizens' Arrest
. He oversaw a reboot of Robotech'' for
Titan Comics, writing two volumes of the series before turning the job over to
Simon Furman. In 2014
Warner Horizon were reported to be developing a
DMZ television show with producers
David Heyman and
Andre and Maria Jacquemetton for the
Syfy network. In January 2020, a new
DMZ deal was announced, this time for
HBO Max, with
Ava DuVernay directing,
Roberto Patino showrunning, and
Rosario Dawson in a lead role. On November 19, 2020, Deadline reported that
HBO Max has ordered
DMZ to series with actors
Hoon Lee, Freddie Miyares and
Jordan Preston Carter joining the cast and Patino writing all four episodes. ==Unrealized projects==