Alternative and independent comics work
Brubaker’s first work in comics was as a cartoonist, writing and drawing Pajama Chronicles for Blackthorne Comics, Purgatory U.S.A. for Slave Labor Graphics, and the semi-autobiographical series Lowlife for Slave Labor and later Caliber Comics. At Caliber, he briefly edited the anthology series Monkey Wrench.
In 1991, he began contributing to the Dark Horse Comics anthology series Dark Horse Presents, a comic he would continue to contribute to intermittently throughout the decade. Among those contributions was the three part serial "An Accidental Death" (Dark Horse Presents #65—67), a collaboration with artist Eric Shanower, which garnered the two a 1993 Eisner Award nomination.
In 1997, he began to publish his cartoonist work through the small press publisher Alternative Comics. In the one-off At the Seams, a romantic triangle is explored through three stories which each depict a different participant’s point-of-view. The comic was a 1997 Ignatz Award nominee for Outstanding Graphic Novel or Collection. His other work for Alternative Comics, the humorous and experimental Detour #1, was to be the first issue of a series, though only one issue was ever published. Detour was nevertheless nominated for the "Best New Series" Eisner in 1997.
The Fall, a graphic novel that was written by Brubaker and illustrated by Berlin creator Jason Lutes was published by Drawn and Quarterly in 2001. This work had previously been anthologized in five parts in Dark Horse Presents in 1998. The story involved a convenience store clerk who gets involved in a ten-year-old murder mystery after he uses a stolen credit card. In 2004 IDW Publishing announced that Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips would collaborate on a creator owned pirate series titled Black Sails for them. That series has not yet materialized and The Fall is the last independent comic book work by Brubaker to date.
DC Comics
Predating Brubaker's Alternative Comics work by two years, Vertigo Visions: Prez, Smells Like Teen President (1995) was Brubaker's first work for one of the two major American comic book publishers. Published by DC Comics’ "mature readers" imprint Vertigo, the comic was a broad political satire which revamped an obscure 1970s Joe Simon creation. Brubaker worked with his "An Accidental Death" collaborator, artist Eric Shanower, again on the comic.
Brubaker's next major work for Vertigo was the four issue limited series Scene of the Crime (1999), which marked his first collaboration with both Michael Lark and Sean Phillips, two artists who would frequently work with the writer in later years. A slacker detective story set in San Francisco, the series was critically acclaimed and the first to gain Brubaker attention from Hollywood producers.
In late 2000, Brubaker signed a one-year exclusive contract with DC Comics. The contract was renewed in 2001 That same year the writer began to do his first mainstream super-hero work, on the series Batman. He would continue to work on various series starring the Batman character until late 2003.
Returning to Vertigo in 2000, Brubaker and artist Warren Pleece produced the science fiction series Deadenders. The series lasted 16 issues before being canceled in 2001. Staying with Vertigo in 2001, Brubaker wrote the four issue Dead Boy Detectives, which was drawn by artist Bryan Talbot.
Also in 2001, Brubaker and artist Darwyn Cooke teamed up to revamp the Catwoman character. They started with the four issue serial "Trail of the Catwoman" which ran in Detective Comics #759-762. In the serial, private detective Slam Bradley attempts to investigate the death of Selina Kyle (AKA Catwoman). The story led into a new Catwoman title in late 2001 by Brubaker and Cooke in which the character's costume, supporting cast and modus operandi were all redesigned and redeveloped. Brubaker stayed on the series, which was met with critical and fan acclaim, up until #37 (January 2004).
At the 2001 San Diego Comic Convention Brubaker and Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis discussed co-writing a story which would team up DC's Batman with Marvel's Daredevil. The two writers were enthusiastic about their ideas, which included a fight between Batman and Marvel villain Bullseye as well as another between Catwoman and Elektra. DC editors Matt Idelson and Bob Schreck were also enthusiastic, but DC executive editor Paul Levitz objected to the project due to a prior disagreement with Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada. Newsarama The aborted project became controversial when Bendis publicly spoke about Levitz's decision at the 2002 Wizard World Chicago comic convention. Bendis later apologized for his comments, saying that he regretted ever discussing the project in public.
In early 2003, Brubaker and writer Greg Rucka created and co-wrote the Gotham Central series. Focusing on the activities of the Gotham City Police Department, the two writers either co-wrote storylines or wrote alternate arcs separately throughout the series, which featured artwork from Brubaker's Scene of the Crime collaborator Michael Lark. The title was cancelled in 2006, shortly after Brubaker's last issue.
Wildstorm
In 2002 Brubaker did his first work for Wildstorm, (another DC imprint), with the series Point Blank which featured the artwork of New Zealand artist Colin Wilson. The series took existing concepts from the Wildstorm universe, such as Grifter (the star of the series), John Lynch and Tao and used them to set up his Sleeper series which debuted later that year.
A collaboration between artist Sean Phillips and Brubaker, Sleeper, featured a secret agent protagonist ("Holden Carver") who goes undercover in a super villain’s powerful organisation, only to have the only contact he has in law enforcement fall in to a coma. With the authorities believing him a dangerous criminal, Carver is caught between the two warring sides with unclear allegiances.
In December 2003, in a unique publicity stunt conceived to help promote the first trade paperback collection of Sleeper, Brubaker organized an "arm-wrestling competition" at San Francisco's "Isotope - the comic book lounge" comic book shop. If participants were able to beat Brubaker at arm wrestling they were awarded free signed comic books. According to Brubaker, the writer wrestled 40-50 people and won most of the fights, losing only eight or nine times.
Although Sleeper was a success with critics and fans on the Internet, the series underperformed commercially, and so it was canceled after its 12th issue, only to be relaunched in 2004 with the same creators as Sleeper: Season Two. Season Two also ended with its twelfth issue, the story apparently concluded.
Brubaker's other work for Wildstorm during this period was the third volume of The Authority. Brubaker first tackled the characters with artist Jim Lee on the one issue special Coup D’état: Sleeper which showed how a series of events led the Authority (a powerful team of super-humans) to take over the United States. Later that year and throughout 2005 Brubaker and artist Dustin Nguyen produced the 12 issue The Authority: Revolution which explored the ramifications of the team's actions.
Marvel Comics
In late 2004 Brubaker, no longer exclusive to DC, began to work for their main competitor Marvel Comics. His first major work for the publisher was the fifth relaunch of the Captain America series. Paired with artist Steve Epting, Brubaker's Captain America introduced new villains and resurrected the long dead character Bucky as "The Winter Soldier". The series was a sales and critical success from its first issue.
In February 2005 Brubaker signed his first exclusive contract with Marvel, the deal allowing the writer to finish out his prior commitments for DC on Gotham Central and Sleeper. In an interview with Newsarama Brubaker attributed his shift of employer to the publishers' good treatment of him, the quality and high profile of the work Marvel was offering him and his lack of involvement in DC's "big plans" (DC's large intercompany crossover Infinite Crisis was in the final planning stages at the time). Brubaker's Marvel exclusive contract was extended and expanded in April 2006.
In early 2006 Brubaker wrote two limited series for Marvel; with artist Pablo Raimondi, he wrote Books of Doom, which retold and expanded on the origin of Doctor Doom; and with artist Trevor Hairsine, he wrote Deadly Genesis, ret-conning information about the origins of the "All New, All-Different X-Men" who first debuted in 1975.
In addition, that year Brubaker started on Daredevil, having already planned his run with Bendis. Comic Book Resources - CBR News: WWC, Day 1 - Taking The Dare: Brubaker/Lark to take over “Daredevil” in December Once again teamed with artist Michael Lark, Brubaker followed Brian Michael Bendis' acclaimed stint on the title, exploring the ramifications of the character's imprisonment, which occurred at the close of Bendis' run.
He became the regular writer of Uncanny X-Men, working with artist Billy Tan and Clayton Henry, in July 2006.
A new creator-owned crime comic with Sean Phillips, Criminal, has been published by Marvel's Icon Comics imprint. It has generally received positive reviews. In 2007, Criminal won the Eisner Award for Best New Series for its first arc, "Coward." He and Phillips are now working on a new Icon series called Incognito, which Brubaker says is "about a completely amoral guy with super-powers forced to pretend he's a normal law-abiding citizen, because he's in Witness Protection, and how that shapes what he becomes. It's also a brutal noir twist on the super-hero/super-villain genre that delves more into their roots in the pulps, and it's going to be pretty over-the-top and action-packed."
Brubaker, together with Matt Fraction, co-wrote the new Iron Fist ongoing series, The Immortal Iron Fist, which started in November 2006 and quickly became one of Marvel's most popular books.
Recently, Brubaker has been pushed into the media spotlight for writing the Captain America issue involving the death of Steve Rogers. Brubaker has taken credit for conceiving the idea. He also wrote the mini-series that saw his return: Reborn. He will also be writing a eight issue limited series titles The Marvels Project, as well as a new title Secret Avengers following the end of the "Siege" storyline.
Brubaker caused controversy when he implied that members of Tea Parties are necessarily racists in a Captain America comic. Brubaker apologized by stating that he wasn't entirely responsible for all the text in the book. In an interview following the controversy Brubaker stated that "I had to shut down my public email because I started getting death threats from, y'know, peaceful protesters."
Angel of Death
In March 2009 Brubaker premiered his web series Angel of Death on Crackle.
