Journalism As a reviewer, Gillen has written for publications such as
Amiga Power (under the pseudonym "C-Monster"),
PC Gamer UK,
The Escapist,
Wired,
The Guardian,
Edge,
Game Developer,
Develop,
MCV/Develop,
GamesMaster,
Eurogamer and
PC Format, as well as the
PC gaming-oriented website
Rock Paper Shotgun, In 2000, Gillen became the first-ever video game journalist to receive an award from the
Periodical Publishers Association, for New Specialist Consumer Journalist. Gillen is a fan of the work of the
video game developer Warren Spector, having written positive pieces on several Spector's games, most notably
Deus Ex and
Thief: Deadly Shadows, both produced by
Ion Storm. In addition to his work as a reviewer, Gillen has acted as a guest speaker at numerous video game industry conferences. In video game journalism, he created the
New Games Journalism manifesto. He co-founded the British video game journalism website
Rock Paper Shotgun in July 2007. In a September 2010 post at
Rock Paper Shotgun, Gillen announced he was leaving full-time video game journalism to devote his time to comic book writing.
Comics 2003–2013 Gillen's earliest work in comics was published in various
British small-press anthologies and
Warhammer Monthly.
The Guardian highlighted that Gillen and the artist
Jamie McKelvie "met in 2003 at a convention where Gillen was selling his first photocopied comics". Between 2003 and 2007, Gillen collaborated with McKelvie on a comic strip for
PlayStation Official Magazine – UK, entitled "Save Point", following up with the pop music-themed
urban fantasy series
Phonogram, which was described by Gillen as his "first real comic". Veteran comics writer
Warren Ellis dubbed the series "one of the few truly essential comics of 2006." The first issue, published by
Image Comics, went on sale in August 2006, with the first series running for six issues. The sequel, a series of one-shots subtitled
The Singles Club, launched in December 2008. On 14 April 2008, it was announced Gillen would collaborate with artist Greg Scott to expand on Warren Ellis'
newuniversal series with "a story about killing the future" set in 1959. That year, he authored
Crown of Destruction, a
Warhammer Fantasy comic. Further Marvel assignments included a
Dazzler short story and a
Beta Ray Bill one-shot, which was followed by a three-issue mini-series. Gillen's workload at Marvel increased in late 2009. At
HeroesCon, it was announced he would be writing a tie-in to the "
Dark Reign" storyline, the mini-series
Dark Avengers: Ares, and, during the 2009
Chicago Comic Con, it was announced he would collaborate with Steven Sanders on
S.W.O.R.D., an
X-Men spin-off series. Gillen took over
Thor following a run by
J. Michael Straczynski, writing issues #604 to 614. In late 2010, Gillen launched another X-Men spin-off
Generation Hope that picked up plot threads from the end of the "
Second Coming" storyline. Gillen wrote the title for twelve issues before passing it to
James Asmus. After co-scripting a few issues of
Uncanny X-Men with outgoing writer
Matt Fraction, Gillen took over the series with issue #534.1. His time on the title saw the book through the 2011 "
Fear Itself" storyline, a renumbering to #1 in the wake of the "
Schism" storyline, and a tie-in with the "
Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline. After finishing his run with issue #20, Gillen penned a five-issue epilogue miniseries
AvX: Consequences that dealt with the aftermath of that event. In 2011, Gillen returned to
Marvel's Asgard with a run on
Journey into Mystery (the original name of the
Thor series, continuing its original numbering), starting with issue #622 and finishing with #645 in October 2012. As part of the
Marvel NOW! relaunch, Gillen wrote two books:
Iron Man (again taking over from Fraction) with art by his frequent
Uncanny X-Men collaborator Greg Land, and
Young Avengers with Jamie McKelvie.
2014–present Between 2014 and 2019, Gillen and McKelvie collaborated on
The Wicked + The Divine. This Image series won "Best Comic" at the 2014
British Comic Awards and received multiple award nominations such as the 2015
Eisner Award for "Best New Series", the 2018 Eisner Award for "Best Continuing Series" and the 2020
Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story. In 2015, the duo also returned to
Phonogram after a long hiatus with the third and final volume titled
The Immaterial Girl. and
The Ludocrats, initially announced in 2015 as a collaboration between writers Gillen and
Jim Rossignol and artist
David Lafuente. The series was eventually published in 2020 with art by Jeff Stokely. From 2015 to 2016, Gillen wrote the 25-issue
Star Wars: Darth Vader series for Marvel. This series introduced the character
Doctor Aphra; Gillen had originally planned to have Vader kill Aphra during the story, but realized a way that she could escape and still keep the integrity of both characters. Between 2016 and 2018, he wrote
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #1–#13, and then cowrote #14–#19 with
Simon Spurrier. Gillen also took over writing the
Star Wars ongoing series in November 2017 with issue #38; his final issue was #67 in June 2019. Gillen and
Stephanie Hans began discussing a collaboration on a creator-owned ongoing comic following their collaboration on
Journey Into Mystery. While they started with a different idea, they eventually settled on an idea which would become
Die. It premiered in December 2018 and was published by Image Comics. In September 2021, the series ended its run with twenty issues total.
Die won the 2021
British Fantasy Award for "Best Comic / Graphic Novel" and it was a finalist for the
Hugo Award for
Best Graphic Story or Comic three times. Gillen developed the game and the comic concurrently; ideas he developed for one would then crossover into the other. The hardcover edition of the
DIE: The Roleplaying Game was released by British publisher Rowan, Rook and Decard in June 2023 following a successful
Kickstarter campaign in May 2022 where the game was fully funded within 24 hours. Between August 2019 and October 2022, Gillen wrote the 30-issue creator-owned series
Once & Future with artist Dan Mora. This series was a finalist for the Hugo Award in "Best Graphic Story or Comic" three times. In June 2020, Marvel announced that Gillen would write the limited series
Warhammer 40,000: Marneus Calgar, the first series in a line of
Warhammer comics published by the company. In 2021, Gillen and McKelvie reunited with
Batman: Black and White #5 for
DC Comics.
GamesRadar+ highlighted that they "have worked together on-and-off for the past 17 years" and that the
Batman short story was their "first major project together since the conclusion of
The Wicked + The Divine in 2019". Also in 2021, Gillen began writing the
Eternals ongoing series, illustrated by
Esad Ribić. This culminated in the 2022 crossover event
A.X.E.: Judgment Day which focused on conflict between the
Avengers, the X-Men and the Eternals. In March 2022, as part of the
Destiny of X relaunch following
A.X.E.: Judgment Day, Gillen began writing the
Immortal X-Men series with artist Lucas Werneck which focused on the Quiet Council of
Krakoa; this series built plot points for the 2023 event
Sins of Sinister. The final part of
Krakoan Age of the X-Men, the
Fall of X, began in 2023 following
Sins of Sinister. Gillen is writer on multiple series in this era such as the ongoing
Immortal X-Men conclusion, the limited series
Rise of the Powers of X (January 2024) with artist R.B. Silva and the limited series
X-Men: Forever (March 2024) with artist Luca Maresca. At
Emerald City Comic Con 2024, Gillen announced a new Image series titled
The Power Fantasy with artist Caspar Wijngaard and
letterer Clayton Cowles; the first issue released in August 2024. It is set in an
alternate history from 1945 to 1999 and focuses on six super powered people who must never come into conflict. On the creative origins, Gillen stated that "
The Power Fantasy emerged in a similar way to
The Wicked + The Divine. I was doing a book at Marvel, and became aware of exactly the sort of things I could do with the reins taken off. As
The Wicked + the Divine was to
Young Avengers, this is to
Immortal X-Men". In 2025,
The Power Fantasy was nominated for Best New Series at the Eisner Awards. Gillen collaborated again with artist Hans on the original
Image graphic novel
We Called Them Giants which was released in October 2024. It was nominated for the "Best Graphic Story or Comic" Hugo Award in 2025. Dillon viewed "the post-apocalypse" as benefiting "Gillen's skills as a writer"; he also noted that while "Gillen is an author known primarily for writing stories about young people fucking around and finding out, there remains no one better in this line of work at writing crotchety old women" as seen in the graphic novel's Beatrice. ==Awards and accolades==