Brian Wood

Brian Wood (born January 29, 1972) is an American writer, illustrator, and graphic designer, known for his work in comic books, television and video games. His noted comic book work includes the series DMZ, Demo, Northlanders, The Massive, Marvel Comics' The X-Men, and Star Wars. His web series work includes adaptations of his own short stories from the comics series The Massive and Conan the Barbarian for Geek & Sundry and YouTube, and his video game work includes three years on staff at Rockstar Games, co-writing 1979 Revolution: Black Friday and story contributions to Aliens: Fireteam Elite. His television work includes pilot scripts for AMC, Amazon Studios, and Sonar Entertainment. He is a contributing writer on HBO Max's DMZ adaptation of his own work. Wood's work is well known for sociopolitical commentary, particularly on the topics of media and conflicts, climate change, and identity. Much of his work is about or takes place in New York City. He's contributed the character of Zula Hendricks to the Aliens franchise, created the character of Shogo Lee, Jubilee's adopted son, to the X-Men/Marvel Universe, and created Nomi Blume for the Ultimate Marvel universe. Early life Brian Wood was born January 29, 1972, and grew up in the village of Essex Junction, Vermont, where he attended Hiawatha Elementary School and Essex High School. He has described his upbringing as "outdoorsy and active, with regular incidents involving neighborhood bullies and trauma at home." He describes a period of heavy drinking before moving to New York City to attend college, stating, "I was ejected into the adult world too early, orphaned and lacking a plan, support, or sound judgement." He is a lifelong stutterer, has spoken publicly about seeking therapy to deal with childhood trauma and the loss of his mother to cancer. He moved to New York City in 1991, describing it as "something of a big leap of faith on my part... it was one of those situations where I had hardly any money, and a single backpack full of clothes. I bought a one-way bus ticket from Burlington, Vermont and kind of burned bridges as I left. I was all-in. Stupid, but committed." He describes working below minimum wage at a skate shop while applying to colleges. "After I hit 21, I got a little bit of money from an inheritance, which paid for my first year of school and a grimy $325/month bedroom on East 3rd Street for a few months," he recounts.