Empress

Early life

Millar was born on 24 December 1969 in Coatbridge, Scotland. He spent the first half of his life in the town's Townhead area and attended St. Ambrose High School.

Millar has four older brothers, and one older sister, who are 22, 20, 18, 16 and 14 years older than him, respectively. He was first introduced to comic books at age 4 by his brother Bobby, who at the time was attending university and, as of 2010, worked at a special needs school. The first comics that Millar read were the seminal The Amazing Spider-Man #121, which featured the death of Gwen Stacy, and a Superman book purchased by Bobby that day. Millar's interest in the medium was further cemented with the black-and-white reprints of other comics that his brothers purchased for him, which he enjoyed so much that he drew a spider web across his face with an indelible marker that his parents were unable to scrub off in time for his First Communion photo a week later.

In the mid-late 1970s, Millar frequently appeared as a guest on the long-running Scottish kids TV programme Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade, which he was a regular fan of at the time. On one occasion, he was invited onto the show to talk about the history of comics and, in a 2010 interview with the Scottish newspaper Daily Record, Millar has stated that Glen Michael's TV programme was where he first discovered superheroes.

Millar's mother died of a heart attack at age 64, when Millar was 14, and his father died four years later, aged 65. Although Millar enjoyed drawing comics, he was not permitted to go to art school because his family frowned upon such endeavours as a waste of time for the academic Millar, who studied subjects like chemistry, physics and advanced maths. He initially planned to be a doctor, and subsequently decided that becoming an economist would be a viable alternate plan, but later decided that he "couldn't quite hack it" in that occupation. He attended Glasgow University to study politics and economics, but dropped out after his father's death left him without the money to pay his living expenses.

Career

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. Soon after, Millar sold his first script, Saviour, to an independent Leicester-based publisher Trident. Illustrated by Daniel Vallely, Morrison's former bandmate in The Mixers and, earlier, The Fauves, Saviour provided a mix of religious themes, satire and superhero action that quickly brought Millar to the attention of the wider British comics industry and resulted in several script commissions for the long-running anthology 2000 AD and its sister title Crisis.

In 1992, Trident's owner Neptune Distribution went bankrupt, 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". Although Millar's further work on Swamp Thing brought some critical acclaim to the ailing title, the book's sales were still low enough to warrant cancellation by the publisher. For the next few years, Millar continued to write sporadically for 2000AD and various American publishers, often co-scripting the stories with Morrison, with whom he shares the writing credit on the mini-series Skrull Kill Krew for Marvel, a short run on Vampirella for Harris, a year-long run on The Flash as well as Aztek: The Ultimate Man for DC.

Marvel and DC career

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. As the series' original artist Dave Johnson fell behind the schedule, Millar opposed the idea of using other artists for the remaining pages. DC eventually brought in artist Kilian Plunkett to complete the book in 2002. Red Son, which Millar first came up with as a child after reading Superman #300, was published the following year and later adapted into an animated film of the same name.

In August 1999, it was announced that Millar and Scottish artist Frank Quitely will be taking over The Authority, an ongoing series published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint, on the recommendation of the outgoing writer and series' co-creator Warren Ellis. Millar's trademark style of over-the-top violence mixed with satire, pop culture references and mature themes was met with critical and commercial success 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. As part of the deal, Millar and his family relocated to New York City.

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 2008, the Millarworld line expanded with two new releases, War Heroes at Image, and Kick-Ass, published under Marvel's Icon imprint and adapted into a feature film two years later. The ownership of the Millarworld series is split 50/50 between Millar and the collaborating artist.

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. In 2015 and 2016, Millarworld held Talent Contest events where entrants had to write and/or draw short stories based on some of the company's properties. 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.

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 2006, Millar auctioned the right to name the protagonist of his then-upcoming creator-owned series Kick-Ass. 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. Morrison was seen as the mentor figure in their relationship, 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. The six-metre-high archway, created as part of the efforts to reinvigorate the canal, was inspired by Millar's work, depicting a superhero named Captain Coatbridge and two superheroines.

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)

2000 Eisner Award for Best Writer — Superman Adventures

2001 Eisner Award for Best Writer — The Authority and Ultimate X-Men

2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story — The Authority #13–16: "The Nativity" (shared with Frank Quitely and Trevor Scott)

2004 Eagle Award for Favourite Comics Writer

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

Millar has cited Alan Moore and Frank Miller as the two biggest influences on his career, characterising them as "my Mum and Dad." Other comic book creators he names as influences include Dave Sim, Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan, Warren Ellis, and Garth Ennis.

In 2013, Millar listed Superman, Flash Gordon, The Spy Who Loved Me, Star Wars, and The Incredibles as his five favorite films.

Personal life

Millar is a practicing Catholic who abstains from using profanity in his personal life. He met his first girlfriend Gill, who lived nearby in Coatbridge and attended the same school as him, at the age of 17. The couple married in 1993 and divorced in early 2009. They had one daughter, Emily, who was born in 1998. Millar's second wife, Lucy Unwin, gave birth to their first child in November 2011, and the second in March 2014. Millar and Unwin married in May 2016. As of 2010, they resided in Glasgow's West End.

In 2005, Millar was diagnosed with Crohn's disease.

Political views

Speaking about his political views, Millar has described himself thus, "I regard myself as traditionally left of centre and progressive, a Eurosceptic in the Bennite mould, and the policies espoused by the coalition formed under the Yes umbrella are the closest to my own particular ideology." He was formerly a member and "lifetime" supporter of the Labour Party, resigning from the party membership and withdrawing his support in 2025, describing the Starmer government as "nightmarish, totalitarian rabble" that had been more damaging for Britain "than Margaret Thatcher and the Luftwaffe put together."

Before the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Millar was cited as a supporter of Scottish independence by groups such as the National Collective, and made comments interpreted in support of independence. However, in the run-up to the referendum, Millar stated that he was "genuinely undecided". In a January 2015 interview with The Herald, he stated, "Originally I was Yes and then about six months before I started having doubts, and then I just went silent on it because I saw the country going mad. People who I love were falling out with each other." In 2020, Millar explained on Twitter that he is not a "tribalist" when it comes to Scottish independence, stating, "After the Blair era I was tempted for a year or two" regarding the matter, but questioned whether an independent Scotland could function economically.

Millar supported British withdrawal from the European Union and endorsed a Leave vote during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, stating that it would be a path towards Scottish independence.