Mark Millar

Mark Millar wasn't supposed to become one of the more prolific writers in the world of comic books and graphic novels. Born in Scotland in 1969 to pragmatic parents, Millar was a good student and his parents had hopes for his success as a doctor or engineer. But it wasn't meant to be. He had been drawn to the world of superheroes ever since his older brother, a university student when Millar was just a child learning to read, brought home copies of Spider-Man and Superman. By the time he was in high school he had penned and sold his first comic book story. When he was forced to drop out of university from lack of funds after his father died, it seemed inevitable he would turn to his first love, comic books. During the 1990s and into the early 2000s, he scripted for the two powerhouse companies in the industry, Marvel and DC Comics. In fact, he was writing for DC when Marvel sent head-hunters to convince him to switch. Around the same time he began to write for Marvel he received what he considered the best advice anyone ever gave him. A fellow writer pointed out that if he was ever to have control over the characters he wrote, he needed to own them. Marvel characters like The X-Men or Spider-Man may be fun to write, but all he would ever be was work for hire until he created and owned his own characters. He took the advice to heart and in 2004 he created Millarworld, a line of creator-owned titles that would be produced by different publishers. The initial titles Wanted, Chosen, The Unfunnies, Kick-Ass and War Heroes would all go on to be optioned for films. "Wanted" became a Universal film starring Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. "Kick-Ass" was adapted by Mathew Vaughn into a film that was released in 2010. That partnership with Vaughn led to a friendship between the pair. While discussing the latest James Bond film, an idea was born: Millar wanted to create a story that centered on the idea of a spy service run by a company instead of the government. It would showcase a spy who was an old hand and a young man being trained into the service. The more the two talked about it, the closer the idea came until Millar began writing The Secret Service, his next big graphic novel project. Naturally, Mathew Vaughn wanted to do the film adaptation from the start, and a sort of collaboration began. "Kingsman: The Secret Service" (2015) was both a graphic novel and a film, with Colin Firth and Michael Caine lending support to newcomer Taron Egerton's leading role.