1980s–1990s work Millar was first inspired to become a comic book creator after meeting
Alan Moore at a
con in the mid-1980s. Years later, when an 18-year-old Millar interviewed Scottish comic book writer
Grant Morrison for a fanzine, he told Morrison that he wanted to create comics as both a writer and an artist. Morrison, who then-recently returned to comics after spending most of the decade touring with their band
The Mixers and had limited experience with both writing and drawing stories earlier in their career, suggested that Millar focus on one of those career paths, as it was very hard to be successful at both, which Millar cites as the best advice he has ever received. leaving both
Saviour and
The Shadowmen, Millar's second series at the publisher, unfinished. By that time, Millar already became a semi-regular contributor to
2000AD and its adjacent titles, and his output included several
Robo-Hunter serials, a six-part prison story "Insiders" for
Crisis, a
Judge Dredd spin-off series
Red Razors, as well as numerous
newspaper strips starring Dredd himself for
Daily Star. The following year, Millar, Morrison and writer
John Smith were given editorial reins over
2000AD for an eight-week run titled "The Summer Offensive". The controversial initiative resulted, among other things, in the first major story co-written by Millar and Morrison,
Big Dave. In 1994, Millar crossed over to the American comic book industry, taking over the long-running series
Swamp Thing, published under
DC Comics'
Vertigo imprint. The first four issues of his run were again co-written with Morrison, who, according to Millar, "came on board to make sure that DC selected me above anyone else pitching for the gig". Several of Millar's unrealized projects of this period include a revamp of Marvel's
2099 imprint and an "end-of-the-world" storyline for
Marvel Tales, both co-created with Grant Morrison. In late 1998, Millar and Morrison, along with
Mark Waid and
Tom Peyer, developed an extensive proposal for the
Superman titles that was scheduled to launch in January 2000. The proposal was greenlit, and the team's tenure as collaborative writers was scheduled to begin with upcoming editor
Eddie Berganza's first issue. Upon returning from his vacation, then-current DC editor
Mike Carlin was shocked to discover that big changes were being implemented to Superman without his knowledge and vetoed the project. In 1999, Millar also developed pitches for
Phantom Stranger and
Secret Society of Super-Villains as well as a revamp of his debut series
Saviour. In the late 1990s, Millar made the first attempt to branch out from comics into screenwriting with a vampire-themed black comedy-drama
Sikeside. Described as "
Buffy meets
Trainspotting" and planned to be filmed in Millar's hometown of
Coatbridge,
Sikeside was ultimately cancelled during pre-production. In a 2010 interview, Millar mentioned that he has sold the rights to the script to producer
Angus Lamont who wanted to turn it into a film for a theatrical release. In 1999 and 2000, Millar wrote a
newspaper column for
The Evening Times.
Marvel and DC career '' at
Midtown Comics in Manhattan Millar started gaining notice at DC Comics for his work on the all-ages comic book series
Superman Adventures, which featured stories set in the continuity of
Superman: The Animated Series. Millar, a self-proclaimed
Superman fan, stayed on the title for two years and received two
Eisner Award nominations while penning one-off stories featuring the version of the character from the mainline
DC Universe. Millar's best known Superman story, the three-issue
Elseworlds mini-series
Superman: Red Son, was first announced in 1998, even though Millar finished most of the script two years prior.
Red Son, which Millar first came up with as a child after reading
Superman #300, an ongoing series published by DC Comics'
Wildstorm imprint, on the recommendation of the outgoing writer and series' co-creator
Warren Ellis. while the book itself suffered from censorship enacted by DC starting with the new creative team's very first issue and continuing into Millar-written
spin-off mini-series focusing on the team's former leader Jenny Sparks. As a result, the creators repeatedly requested a "Suggested for Mature Readers" label for the series but the idea was vetoed by then-Publisher of DC Comics
Paul Levitz. Meanwhile, DC published a "lost"
Superman Adventures script by Millar to capitalize on his newfound success, while Millar himself considered a move from his native Scotland to the United States, deliberating between staff position offers made by Wildstorm and DC Comics' main competitor
Marvel. In June 2000, Marvel announced that Millar will join its then-upcoming "
Ultimate" line of comics as the writer on
Ultimate X-Men, since
Brian Michael Bendis, who was previously attached to the series, decided to focus his attention on the inaugural "Ultimate" launch of the
Spider-Man title. The line, designed to simplify and streamline the company's
long-running fictional continuity for mainstream audiences, was met with instant critical and commercial success and, soon after the launch of
Ultimate X-Men, Millar announced that he had signed a two-year contract for a staff writing position at Marvel. and would therefore leave the title earlier than planned. Wildstorm assigned
Art Adams to finish the last issues and hired writer Tom Peyer and artist
Dustin Nguyen to create another four-issue story arc that would fill the publishing gap while Adams worked on his portion of the series. Then, following the
11 September 2001 attacks, Wildstorm decided to postpone the release of the remaining three issues and further edit the completed but not yet released work for sensitive content, but never produced. In 2002, Millar and artist
Bryan Hitch further expanded Marvel's Ultimate line with
The Ultimates, a reimagining of the company's
Avengers team. The title also proved highly successful, although it suffered from delays in shipping due to Hitch's personal issues.
The Ultimates was eventually cancelled after 13 issues and two years of publication with the aim of relaunching the title so that more issues could be produced in advance.
The Ultimates 2 launched shortly thereafter and also suffered from delays, this time due to Millar's
newly-diagnosed chronic condition and increased workload at Marvel. The second volume as well as the creative team's run on the title ended in 2007 with another 13th issue. Millar and Hitch's work on
The Ultimates inspired two
Marvel Animated Features titled
Ultimate Avengers and the subsequent 2012
Marvel Studios feature film
The Avengers, directed by
Joss Whedon. In 2002 and 2003, Millar wrote a column for
Comic Book Resources. Around the same time, Millar's website included a teaser for a 6-issue
Punisher series with artist
Steve Dillon, although no official announcement was made by Marvel. In 2003, Millar and artist
Terry Dodson launched
Trouble at Marvel's newly-revived
Epic imprint, a series meant to re-popularize
romance comics that ended up both a sales and critical failure. That same year, Millar renewed his exclusive contract with Marvel for two more years. The following year, he penned two 12-issue runs for titles published under the
Marvel Knights imprint, launching
Marvel Knights Spider-Man again with Dodson and taking over the
Wolverine ongoing series with artist
John Romita Jr.. Millar and
Ultimate Spider-Man writer Brian Michael Bendis launched a new ongoing series for the Ultimate Marvel imprint,
Ultimate Fantastic Four but left it after just six issues due to scheduling problems. Millar and artist
Greg Land were announced as the creative team for a new
Thor ongoing series but the pair took over
Ultimate Fantatic Four instead. Millar's return to the title introduced, among other things, the concept of
Marvel Zombies. During this period, Millar was assigned to write a trilogy of mini-series that would
introduce Galactus to the Ultimate Universe but he left the project due to other commitments at Marvel and health issues. In 2006, after renewing his exclusive contract with Marvel for two more years, The storyline had lasting impact on the fictional
Marvel Universe and served as the inspiration for the 2016 Marvel Studios film
Captain America: Civil War. During that time, he also had two pitches rejected at Marvel, a
Blade story with
Richard Corben and a
Ghost Rider story with John Romita Jr., as both characters already had ongoing series at the time and Marvel did not believe either property could support more books. In 2008, Millar returned to the
Wolverine ongoing series for an extended
dystopian storyline "
Old Man Logan", illustrated by his
Civil War collaborator Steve McNiven. Elements of this story inspired the 2017
20th Century Fox film
Logan. and launched the mini-series
Marvel 1985 with artist
Tommy Lee Edwards. The three titles, running concurrently, are notable in that Millar purposefully wrote them as interlinked through the introduction of the character
Clyde Wyncham, who also appeared in Millar's creator-owned series
Kick-Ass that was published under Marvel's
Icon imprint. In 2009, Millar returned to the Ultimate Universe with a number of limited series released under the
Ultimate Comics: Avengers banner, his last Marvel work to date. In 2011, Millar abandoned work-for-hire in favor of working full-time on his creator-owned properties. '' co-creator, artist
J. G. Jones at the
Big Apple Convention, 2 October 2010
Millarworld In 2003, Millar introduced
Millarworld, a unified label for his future
creator-owned comics, set in a new
shared fictional universe. The initial line-up consisted of
Wanted (published by
Top Cow and subsequently adapted into a
Savage Dragon crossover by
Erik Larsen, a
feature film starring
Angelina Jolie and
Morgan Freeman, and a
video game),
Chosen (published by
Dark Horse),
The Unfunnies (published by
Avatar) and the unreleased one-shot
Run. Another unreleased project was
King and Country, a political drama involving the
British royal family repurposed from a TV series pitch Millar created in 2005. According to Millar, the book was supposed to be published in the form of a fully-painted graphic novel by a "big book publisher". In 2010, Millar and British publisher
Titan launched a pop culture-themed magazine
CLiNT that featured serializations of Millar's creator-owned comics as well as a number of short stories by up-and-coming creators submitted via the Millarworld forum. Other magazine contributors include
Frankie Boyle,
Stewart Lee,
Jonathan Ross and
Jimmy Carr. In 2011 and 2012, Millar organized the
Kapow! Comic Convention in London. The 2011 Kapow! event was notable for setting two
Guinness World Records, the "Fastest Production of a Comic Book" and "Most Contributors to a Comic Book". Millar began work at 9 am, plotting a 20-page
Superior story, followed by more than 60 comic book creators—including
Sean Phillips,
Dave Gibbons,
Frank Quitely,
John Romita Jr.,
Jock,
Doug Braithwaite,
Ian Churchill,
Olivier Coipel,
Duncan Fegredo,
Simon Furman,
David Lafuente,
John McCrea,
Liam Sharp—who appeared on stage throughout the day to create a panel each. The black-and-white book was completed in 11 hours, 19 minutes and 38 seconds, then published through Marvel's
Icon imprint on 23 November 2011, with all royalties being donated to Yorkhill Children's Foundation. The winning entries were published as two anthology specials in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Most of the Millarworld series have enjoyed interest from Hollywood over the years. In 2008,
Michael De Luca optioned
War Heroes for
Columbia Pictures. In 2010,
Nemesis was optioned by
20th Century Fox with
Tony Scott attached to direct. Three years later, Fox optioned
Starlight. 2014 saw the release of
Kingsman: The Secret Service, directed by
Matthew Vaughn. That same year,
Superior was optioned by Fox with Vaughn attached as producer. The following year,
Huck was picked up by
Studio 8, while an adaptation of
Chrononauts was announced to be in development by
Universal. In 2016, Waypoint Entertainment optioned both
Supercrooks and
American Jesus (which had previously been optioned by Matthew Vaughn's
Marv Films in 2009), while
Lorenzo di Bonaventura began development on ''
Jupiter's Legacy. That same year, Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum signed on to produce Empress with XXX: Return of Xander Cage'' writer
F. Scott Frazier set to pen the screenplay. In August 2017, it was announced that Millarworld has been purchased for an undisclosed sum by
Netflix. Millar noted it was the third time in history a comic book company had been purchased by a production studio, comparing the buyout to the 1967 purchase of
DC Comics by
Kinney National Company (subsequently renamed to
Warner Communications) and the 2009 acquisition of
Marvel Comics by
The Walt Disney Company. As part of the deal, Millar and his wife Lucy continued to run Millarworld as President and CEO, respectively, developing new properties to be produced by Netflix. Comics adapted to film before the deal, such as
Kick-Ass and
Kingsman, were not included in the package. It was followed by the anime series
Super Crooks in November 2021
. On May 27, 2025, it was announced that Millar would reunite with Romita for a new comic project entitled
Psychic Sam. The premise follows Sam Nicoletti, a man who begins hearing a voice that tells him about murders the day before they happen. The comic, published under Side Hustle Comics (separate from the Millarworld imprint), launched as a
Kickstarter campaign later that same day. It was announced that a film adaptation was in the works from producer Ivan Atkinson.
Public image Over the years, Millar has earned a reputation as a controversial and outspoken writer. In interviews, he openly criticized the business practices of the American comics industry in the 90s, the comic book writing trend of
decompression popularized in the early 00s, the tendency of Big Two publishers to oversaturate the market with tie-ins and spin-offs in the mid-00s as well as the
DC Comics' management of
The Authority during his tenure as the title's writer. In his writing, Millar has incorporated the themes of
domestic abuse (
The Ultimates),
teenage pregnancy (
Trouble),
child molestation (
The Unfunnies) and rape, the latter sometimes for comedic effect. In August 2013, when asked by
Abraham Josephine Riesman of
The New Republic about the use of rape as a plot device in more than one of his comics, Millar responded, "The ultimate [act] that would be the taboo, to show how bad some villain is, was to have somebody being raped, you know. I don't really think it matters. It's the same as, like, a decapitation. It's just a horrible act to show that somebody's a bad guy." The comment drew criticism from industry peers and comic book journalists. Similar incidents include Millar publicly expressing amazement at the fact that non-caucasians can get
Down's syndrome and referring to all
gamers as "
pedos" in an interview. Millar frequently employs unusual tactics to promote himself and his work, such as the public bet with
Harry Knowles regarding the casting of the lead actor in
then-upcoming Superman film in 2004, which Millar used as a way to advertise his run on
Wolverine. That same year, Millar claimed that rapper
Eminem was in talks to take the lead role of Wesley Gibson in the film adaptation of his creator-owned series
Wanted, whose likeness Millar had the character illustrated with, which resulted in public denial by Eminem's management via
Variety. In 2016, he organized a "treasure hunt" for advance copies of ''
Jupiter's Legacy'' hidden in ten cities around the world. In 2017, Millar established a charitable foundation and launched a multi-year campaign to promote it. Throughout the 90s and early 00s, Millar was close friends with fellow Scottish writer
Grant Morrison. The pair
frequently collaborated on works published by British and American publishers and appeared together at various events. as evidenced by a humorous strip created by
Garth Ennis and
Dave Gibbons for an anniversary issue of
2000 AD in which Millar appeared in the form of a small droid repeating a single phrase, "me and Gwant". The pair was also parodied in an issue of
Simpsons Comics written by
Gail Simone, shown fighting over whose then-ongoing
X-Men series—Millar's
Ultimate or Morrison's
New—is more important. Sometime around 2004, Millar and Morrison seemingly cut all communication and never interacted in public again, which, according to Morrison, happened because Millar wanted to break away from the image of Morrison's protégé after the success he had with
The Authority and
Ultimate X-Men. When asked about the state of their relationship in a 2011 interview, Morrison responded thus, "I wish him well but, no, there is no good feeling between myself and Mark Millar for many reasons most of which are he destroyed my faith in human fucking nature."
Awards and accolades In August 2011, Millar appeared in his native
Coatbridge to unveil a superhero-themed steel archway beside the
Monkland Canal, created by sculptor
Andy Scott with the help from the students at
St. Ambrose High School, Millar's alma mater. In June 2013, Millar was appointed a Member of the
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to film and literature on the
Queen's Honours Birthday list.
Award nominations • 2000
Eisner Award for Best Title for a Younger Audience —
Superman Adventures (shared with
Aluir Amâncio,
Terry Austin, and others) • 2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story —
The Authority #13–16: "The Nativity" (shared with
Frank Quitely and
Trevor Scott) • 2005 Eagle Award for Favourite Comics Writer
Award wins • 2007
Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story for Marvel's Civil War #1 with
Steve McNiven ==Influences==