13 Big Name Filmmakers Who Also Write Comics

Comics are a tough racket to break into. Writers and artists slave away day and night, trying to perfect their craft by working on free, underviewed webcomics or self-publishing books that they might make a tenner profit off if they're lucky when they're not trying to convince editors and publishers that they've got the goods required to create for them. So it must be more than a little frustrating when a writer who's worked in a completely different field - say, movies or television - strolls along and decides that they'd like to have a crack at making a funnybook or two, too. And just because they've had a couple of quirky indie movies made or happened to create a cult TV show or two, the publishers get starts in their eyes and give them the keys to the kingdom in the hopes that putting the big celebrity's name in bold on the cover of their books will bring in the big bucks, regardless of how good their work actually is. Of course, it helps that most of the time the comics actually end up being pretty damn good, being that the writers in question must have had at least a modicum of talent in order to succeed in their original field. With the recent news that Tiny Furniture writer/director and Girls creator Lena Dunham will be penning a four-issue story arc for Archie comics in 2015, we thought it might be a good time to take a look at other screenwriters who's decided to dip their toes into comics - and whether they were any good or should have maybe thought about sticking to their day job.