Jeph Loeb
Loeb at Comic Con San Diego 2007. Photograph by Empath Studios.
Birth name	Joseph Loeb III
Born
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Writer, Executive Producer
Awards	Nominated Emmy Award, WGA Award HEROES Season 1, Eisner Awards (4 times), Wizard Awards (5 times), Jules Verne Award, Honorary Doctorate, St. Edwards University Austin Texas

Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an American motion picture and television producer/writer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb is a Co-Executive Producer on the NBC hit show Heroes, and was formerly a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost.

A four-time Eisner Award winner and five-time Wizard Fan Awards winner (see below), Loeb's comic book career includes work on many major characters, including Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Daredevil, Supergirl, the Avengers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, much of which he has produced in collaboration with artist Tim Sale, who provides the comic art seen on Heroes.

Biography

Loeb was born in Stamford, Connecticut.^[1] He reportedly read his first comic book during the summer of 1970. By winter of the same year, Jeph was apparently fascinated enough to convince his father to purchase the comic book collection of one Tom Chicarella on his behalf. Tom was from Brooklyn, New York and the sold collection reportedly included every issue published by Marvel Comics between 1961 and late 1970.

His later step-father was a vice-president at Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, where Jeph met one of his mentors and greatest influences in comic book writing, the writer Elliot Maggin. Jeph however attended Columbia University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master's degree in Film.^[2] His instructors included Miloš Forman and Paul Schrader.

Film and TV career

His debut in filmmaking was his collaboration with Matthew Weisman in authoring the script of Teen Wolf. The film was released on August 23, 1985 and was a notable starring role for Michael J. Fox. Loeb and Weisman then collaborated in writing the script of Commando. The film was released on October 4, 1985 and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.

His next screen credit was the film Burglar, released on March 20, 1987. The plot was based on the novels of Lawrence Block about fictional burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. His collaborators were Weisman and Hugh Wilson. The film was atypical for the time, featuring a tough-woman comedic role for starring actress Whoopi Goldberg. His second film that year was Teen Wolf Too, a sequel of Teen Wolf, which was co-written by Weisman and Tim Kring. The film was released on November 20, 1987. The film featured teen idol Jason Bateman and veteran actor John Astin. Loeb would re-team with Kring almost two decades later for the TV series Heroes.

Four years later, Loeb was working on a script for The Flash as a feature with Warner Bros. While the script deal fell through, Loeb met then publisher Jenette Kahn who asked Loeb to write a comic book for DC.

In 2002, Jeph Loeb wrote the script for the episode of Smallville, entitled "Red", which introduced Red kryptonite into the series. He became a supervising producer, and has written many episodes since then. He signed a three-year contract, and although producers Mike Millar and Alfred Gough offered to keep him on for future seasons, Loeb left to care for his son, whose had cancer (See Comics Career below.)^[3]

Loeb later became a writer/producer on the ABC TV series Lost during that show's second season. Leaving Lost, Loeb went on to become Co-Executive Producer and writer on the NBC drama Heroes, which his colleague Tim Kring had created. Loeb wrote the teleplay for the first-season episodes "One Giant Leap" and "Unexpected" .^[4] The show prominently features the artwork of Tim Sale, Loeb's longtime artistic collaborator from his comics work.^[5]

The series was nominated for the 2007 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, and a Writers Guild of America award for Best New Series.^[6] It won The People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama, as well the Saturn Award for Best Network Television Series. It was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Dramatic Television Series.^[7]

Loeb and Tim Kring were presented with the Jules Verne Award for Artistic Achievement at the Jules Verne Festival in Paris, France on April 22, 2007 for their work on Heroes.^[8] Loeb himself was also presented with a belated 2005 Jules Verne Award for Best Writing for his work on Smallville, which he had not previously been given because his trip to Paris had fallen through that year.^[9]

Comics career

Loeb is known for his extensive use of narration boxes as monologues to reveal the inner thoughts of said characters.

Jeph Loeb's first comic work was Challengers of the Unknown vol. 2 #1 - #8 (March -October 1991). The mini-series also featured notable guest appearances by Doctor Fate (Eric and Linda Strauss), Batman, James Gordon, Guy Gardner and Lois Lane. Most notably, it was the first of many collaborations with Tim Sale.^[10] Their later collaborations included the -centered Batman: The Long Halloween, , and Superman For All Seasons.

Loeb's other comic works include the Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials, The Long Halloween, a 13-issue limited series and Dark Victory, a 14-issue limited series set in the first years of the hero's career. The Long Halloween was one of 3 noted comics that influenced the 2005 feature film Batman Begins, the others being and .

In 2003, Loeb teamed with artist Jim Lee to create the year-long mystery , the highest selling DC comic in over 10 years. Hush, which spawned three lines of toys, posters and calendars, sat at the #1 spot for eleven of the twelve months it was in publication. The following year, Loeb launched Superman/Batman, which toppled Hush's success, featuring artists such as Ed McGuinness, Michael Turner, Pat Lee, Carlos Pacheco and Ian Churchill. In 2005, Loeb spun Supergirl out of Superman/Batman with artist Ian Churchill.

Loeb's son, Sam Loeb, died on June 17, 2005 at the age of 17, after a three-year long battle with cancer. At the age of 15, Sam wrote a story in Tales of the Vampires #5 with Jeph's long-term collaborator Tim Sale. In 2006, Sam's final work appeared in Superman/Batman #26, which was nearly completed before his death. His father finished the work with the help of 25 other writers and artists, all of whom were friends of Sam, including Art Adams, Joe Casey, John Cassaday, Joyce Chin, Ian Churchill, Allan Heinberg, Geoff Johns, Joe Kelly, Mike Kunkel, Jim Lee, Pat Lee, Rob Liefeld, Paul Levitz, Joe Madureira, Jeff Matsuda, Ed McGuinness, Brad Meltzer, Carlos Pacheco, Duncan Rouleau, Tim Sale, Richard Starkings, Michael Turner, Brian K. Vaughan, Mark Verheiden, and Joss Whedon. The issue also featured a tale titled "Sam's Story," dedicated to Sam.

Also in 2006, it was Jeph who chose his hometown of Stamford, Connecticut to be subject to superhero destruction in the opening issue of Marvel's crossover event, Civil War.

In 2007, Jeph wrote the miniseries , which used the five stages of grief as a motif to explore reactions of various characters of the Marvel Universe to the loss of the assassinated Captain America. The fifth and final chapter, dated July 4, 2007, was the "Funeral for Captain America", which was covered by the Associated Press and appeared in over 150 news outlets including the Washington Post and ABC.

Loeb signed an exclusive contract with Marvel in September 2005, and will begin work on The Ultimates 3 with artist Joe Madureira.^[11] Loeb has also indicated in an interview that he will be writing The Ultimates 4 as well.^[12]

Loeb currently shares his writing studio, The Empath Magic Tree House, with Geoff Johns and Allan Heinberg.

Awards and nominations

Eisner Awards

• 1998 Best Limited Series for Batman: The Long Halloween
• 1999 Best Reprint Graphic Album for Batman: The Long Halloween
• 2002 Best Reprint Graphic Album for Batman: Dark Victory
• 2007 Best Single Issue or One-Shot for Batman/The Spirit #1 ^[13][14]

Wizard Fan Awards

• 1997 Favorite One Shot or Mini-Series: Batman The Long Halloween
• 1998 Favorite One Shot or Mini-Series: Superman For All Seasons
• 2003 Favorite Ongoing Series: Batman
• 2003 Comics' Greatest Moment of the Year - Clayface returns as Jason Todd (Batman #617)
• 2003 Favorite Supporting Character 2003 - Catwoman (in Batman)^[15]

Notable works

• Challengers of the Unknown (Series 2)
• Smallville
• Superman For All Seasons
• ''Superman (vol. 2)
• Superman/Batman
• '': Halloween Specials
• Daredevil: Yellow
• Hulk: Gray
• Soulfire
• The Witching Hour
• X-Force
• Wolverine

References

External links

• Chronology of Loeb-Sale Collaborations
• Jeph Loeb at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Jeph Loeb

Preceded by Fabian Nicieza	X-Force (vol. 1) writer 1995–1997	Succeeded by John Francis Moore
Preceded by Mark Waid	Avengers writer 1996–1997 (with Rob Liefeld)	Succeeded by Walt Simonson
Preceded by Mark Waid	Captain America writer 1996–1997 (with Rob Liefeld)	Succeeded by James Robinson
Preceded by Terry Kavanagh	Iron Man writer 1997 (with Jim Lee in late 1997)	Succeeded by Kurt Busiek
Preceded by Carlos Pacheco & Rafael Marin	Fantastic Four writer 2001–2002 (with Carlos Pacheco & Rafael Marin)	Succeeded by Carlos Pacheco, Rafael Marin & Karl Kesel
Preceded by Dan Jurgens	Superman (vol. 2) writer 1999–2002	Succeeded by Steven T. Seagle
Preceded by Ed Brubaker	Batman writer 2002–2003	Succeeded by Brian Azzarello
Preceded by [none]	Superman/Batman writer 2003–2006	Succeeded by Mark Verheiden
Preceded by Peter David	Supergirl writer 2005–2006	Succeeded by Greg Rucka
Preceded by Marc Guggenheim	Wolverine writer 2007	Succeeded by Current Writer
Preceded by TBA	Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight writer TBA	Succeeded by TBA