Christopher Simon Claremont ( KLAIR-mont; born November 25, 1950) is an English-born American comic book writer and novelist. Claremont worked for 16 years on Uncanny X-Men from 1975 to 1991, longer than that of any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters as well as introducing complex literary themes into superhero narratives, turning the once underachieving comic into one of Marvel's most popular series. During his tenure, X-Men was the best-selling comic book in the world.
During his tenure at Marvel, Claremont co-created dozens of X-Men characters. He wrote the stories "The Dark Phoenix Saga" and "Days of Future Past", on which he collaborated with John Byrne. He developed the character of Wolverine. X-Men #1, the 1991 spinoff series premiere that Claremont co-wrote with Jim Lee, is the bestselling comic book of all time, according to Guinness World Records. In 2015, Claremont and Byrne were entered into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.
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Early life
Claremont was born in London, England. His father was an internist and his mother was a pilot and caterer. Claremont is Jewish on his mother's side, and lived in a kibbutz in Israel during his youth. His family moved to the United States when he was three years old, and he was raised primarily on Long Island. Alienated by the sports-oriented suburbs, his grandmother purchased for him a subscription to Eagle when he was a child, and he grew up reading Dan Dare, finding them more exciting than the Batman and Superman comics of the 1950s and early 1960s. He read works by science fiction writers such as Robert Heinlein, as well as writers of other genres such as Rudyard Kipling and C. S. Forester.
Career
Comics
Claremont initially did not view the comic book industry as the place where he would make his career, as he believed the dwindling readership to be a sign that the industry was dying, and found the material being published to be uninteresting. Instead, when he began at Bard College, he did so as a political theorist, studying acting and political theory, and writing novels with the hope of becoming a director. His first professional sale was a prose story. He graduated in 1972.
Claremont's career began in 1969, as a college undergraduate, when he was hired as a gofer/editorial assistant at Marvel Comics. His first professional scripting assignment was Daredevil #102 (Aug. 1973). As an entry into regular comics writing, Claremont was given the fledgling feature "Iron Fist" in Marvel Premiere as of issue #23 (Aug. 1975). He was joined two issues later by artist John Byrne. The Claremont/Byrne team continued to work together when the character received its own self-titled series in November 1975. This title lasted 15 issues.
Though his acting career did not yield great success, he functioned well at Marvel, where he obtained a full-time position. One of the first new characters created by Claremont was Madrox the Multiple Man in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4 (Feb. 1975). Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time, Len Wein, who recognized Claremont's enthusiasm for the new X-Men that Wein and Dave Cockrum had created in 1975, hired Claremont, a relatively young writer, to take over the series as of issue #94 (May 1975), reasoning that doing so would not draw opposition from other writers, given the book's poor standing. Claremont approached the job as a method actor, developing the characters by examining their motives, desires and individual personalities. This approach drew immediate positive reaction. According to former Marvel editor-in-chief Bob Harras, "He lived it and breathed it. He would write whole paragraphs about what people were wearing. He really got into these people's thoughts, hopes, dreams." Claremont's take on the series has been likened to writing "the Great American Novel about complex characters who just happened to fly", incorporating surprise character developments and emotional nuances amid the operatic battles that otherwise typified American superhero comics. By his own admission, Claremont acquired a reputation for taking a long time to resolve plot threads, and longtime X-Men editor Louise Simonson recounted that whenever she was at a loss for story ideas, "All I'd have to do was go through all of the plot threads that he had left for the last year or two."
Novels and acting
In 1987 Claremont began writing genre novels. His first was a science fiction trilogy about female USAF pilot/astronaut Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas, which continued the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. Claremont was a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.
Claremont made a cameo appearance in the opening scene of the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand, for which he is credited as "Lawnmower man". He made a cameo appearance as a Congressional committee member alongside fellow comic book writer Len Wein in an early scene in the 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past. Claremont has an uncredited cameo as the handyman/sword restorer in Heroes Season 1, episode 22.
Charity work
In December 2010 Claremont appeared at a book signing at Borders at Penn Plaza in Manhattan as part of a series of events nationwide to commemorate World AIDS Day, with 25% of the proceeds of books sold at the event donated to Lifebeat, a nonprofit organization that educates young people on HIV/AIDS prevention.
In July 2011 Claremont signed a deed of gift to Columbia University's Rare Book & Manuscript Library, donating his archives of all his major writing projects over the previous 40 years to the Library's nascent comics archives collection, forming the foundation of a research collection focusing on New York City-based cartoonists and comics writers. Following the examination and processing of the materials, which include notebooks, correspondence, early story drafts, plays, novels, comic books and materials from Claremont's early training in the theater and his career as an actor, Claremont's archive will be housed at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library in Butler Library, separate from the graphic novels collection, and will be open to anyone who demonstrates a need for its use, with a Finding Aid being made available online. Claremont's longtime editor Louise Simonson said, "his papers will provide many clues, not only to the evolving way comic books are created and presented, but also how they are perceived, licensed, bought and sold in America and around the world."
Personal life
In the mid-1970s, Claremont was married to Bonnie Wilford. Following the dissolution of that marriage, he married Beth Fleisher, with whom Claremont co-authored Dragon Moon. Fleisher is the cousin (through marriage) of editor Dan Raspler, who was the editor on JLA during the six-issue "Tenth Circle" story arc Claremont and John Byrne wrote in 2004. Claremont and Fleisher have twin sons.
Awards
1980 Inkpot Award
1992 Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Graphic Novel or Album for Star Trek: Debt of Honor
1979 Eagle Award for Best Comicbook Writer (US)
1979 Eagle Award for Favourite Single Story – X-Men #111 – "Mindgames" with John Byrne
1979 Eagle Award for Favourite Comicbook – X-Men
1979 Eagle Award for Favourite Group or Team – X-Men
1980 Eagle Award for Favourite Comicbook Writer
1980 Eagle Award for Favourite Continued Comic Story – X-Men #125–128 with John Byrne
1980 Eagle Award for Favourite Comicbook – X-Men
1980 Eagle Award for Favourite Team – X-Men
1984 Eagle Award for Favourite Group or Team (US) – X-Men
1986 Eagle Award for Favourite Group or Team (US) – X-Men
Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters from Bard College
