Christian Cooper (born 1963) is an American science writer and editor, and also a comics writer and editor. He is based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Career

Cooper is currently a senior biomedical editor at Health Science Communications. On May 16, 2022,

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

announced Cooper would host a show on their American TV channel called ''Extraordinary Birder'', following showing species of bird around the world. A release date for the series remains to be determined.

Comics

Cooper was Marvel's first openly gay writer and editor. He introduced the first gay male character in ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'', Yoshi Mishima, in the ''

Starfleet Academy In the Setting (fiction), fictional universe of ''Star Trek'', Starfleet Academy is where recruits to Starfleet's officer corps are trained. It was created in the year 2161, when the United Federation of Planets was founded. The Academy's mot ...

'' series, which was nominated for a

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...

in 1999. He also introduced the first openly lesbian character for Marvel, Victoria Montesi and created and authored ''Queer Nation: The Online Gay Comic''. Cooper was also an associate editor for ''

Alpha Flight Alpha Flight is a fictional team of Canadian superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters premiered in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #120 (April 1979), and were created to serve as part of the X-Men member Wo ...

'' #106 in which the character

Northstar Northstar may refer to: * Polaris, a star Arts and entertainment * Northstar (band), an emo band from Alabama * Northstar (rap group), a rap group affiliated with the Wu-Tang Clan * "Northstar", a 2019 song by XXXTentacion from the album ''Bad Vi ...

came out as gay. Cooper has written stories for ''

Marvel Comics Presents ''Marvel Comics Presents'' was an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics originally from 1988 to 1995. It returned for a second volume in 2007–2008, and a third volume that started in 2019. Volume 1 The first volume ...

'', which often feature characters such as ''

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

'' and ''

Vengeance Vengeance may refer to: *Vengeance (concept) or revenge, a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance Film * ''Vengeance'' (1930 film), action adventure film directed by Archie Mayo * ''Vengeance'' (1937 film) or ''W ...

''. He has also edited a number of

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

collections, and the final two issues of the ''

Marvel Swimsuit Special The ''Marvel Swimsuit Special'' (formerly ''Marvel Illustrated: The Swimsuit Issue'') was an annual magazine-styled comic book published by Marvel Comics from 1991 to 1995. A parody of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, ''Sports Illustrated ...

''.

Personal life

Born in 1963 to parents who were both teachers, Cooper found his interest in birds while reading a birdwatching book during a roadtrip from his Long Island childhood home to California. In the 1980s, he was president of the

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Ornithological Club, and is currently on the Board of Directors for NYC Audubon. Cooper has a long history of

LGBT activism Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBT people in society. Some focus on equal rights, such as the ongoing movement for same-sex marriage, while others focus on liberation, as in the ...

including being the co-chair of the board of directors of

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...

in the 1980s. On May 25, 2020, Cooper was involved in the

Central Park birdwatching incident On May 25, 2020, a confrontation occurred between Christian Cooper (a black birder) and unrelated Amy Cooper (a white dogwalker) in a section of New York City's Central Park known as the Ramble. Amy's dog was unleashed in the Ramble, an area w ...

, which led to the creation of Black Birders Week. The incident is also the basis for his online

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

about racism, illustrated by

Alitha Martinez Alitha E. Martinez is an American comic book artist best known for her work on for Marvel Comics's '' Iron Man'', the ''Heroes'' webcomics, and DC's '' Batgirl''. Over the course of her career she has worked for all the major comic book publishe ...

and published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, called "It's a Bird".

Bibliography

* ''

'': ** "Return of the Braineaters" (featuring

and

Werewolf by Night The Werewolf by Night (usually referred to by other characters simply as the Werewolf) is the name applied to two fictional characters who are werewolves appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first incarnation of W ...

, with pencils by John Stanisci and inks by

Jimmy Palmiotti James Palmiotti (born August 14, 1961) is an American writer and inker of comic books, who also does writing for games, television and film. Early life Palmiotti attended the High School of Art and Design in New York City. Career Palmiotti star ...

, in ''Marvel Comics Presents'' #107–112, Marvel Comics, 1992) ** "Siege of Darkness" (featuring Ghost Rider, with pencils by Reggie Jones and inks by

Fred Harper Frederick Harper (24 November 1863 – 19 January 1937) was a New Zealand cricketer. He played fourteen first-class matches for Otago between 1886 and 1895. Harper was a stylish batsman and brilliant fieldsman who captained Otago in most ...

, in ''Marvel Comics Presents'' #144–146, Marvel Comics, 1993–1994) ** "Tower of Blood" (featuring

, with pencils by Reggie Jones and inks by Fred Harper, in ''Marvel Comics Presents'' #147–148, Marvel Comics, 1994) ** "The Price" (featuring Vengeance, with Fred Harper, in ''Marvel Comics Presents'' #149, Marvel Comics, 1994) ** "Dangerous Games" (featuring Vengeance, with pencils by Reggie Jones and inks by Fred Harper, in ''Marvel Comics Presents'' #152–153, Marvel Comics, 1994) ** "Altered Spirits" (featuring Vengeance, with pencils by Reggie Jones and inks by Fred Harper, in ''Marvel Comics Presents'' #156–157, Marvel Comics, 1994) ** "Final Gambit" (featuring Vengeance, with pencils by Reggie Jones and inks by Fred Harper, in ''Marvel Comics Presents'' #175, Marvel Comics, 1995) * ''

Darkhold The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features. Places Certain places fe ...

'' #1–16 (with

Richard Case Richard Case (born 1964) is an American comics artist best known for his work for DC Comics especially the Vertigo imprint. He is not to be confused with the similarly-named Richard Case, a comics artist who worked for the Iger Studio and Fictio ...

, Marvel Comics, 1992–1994) * ''

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...

'' #77–81 (Marvel Comics, 1994) * '' Star Trek: Starfleet Academy'' #1–19 (with pencils by

Chris Renaud Chris Renaud (born December 1966) is an American film producer, director, illustrator, designer, animator, and voice actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the 2006 animated short ''No Time for Nuts'', which featured the character Scrat ...

and inks by

Andy Lanning Andy Lanning is an English comic book writer and inker, known for his work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and for his collaboration with Dan Abnett. Career Lanning works primarily at Marvel Comics and DC Comics as an inker. He has also pencill ...

, Marvel Comics, 1996–1998) *''Songs of the Metamythos (as'' C. F. Cooper) * "It's a Bird" (with

Alitha E. Martinez Alitha E. Martinez is an American comic book artist best known for her work on for Marvel Comics's ''Iron Man'', the ''List of Heroes graphic novels, Heroes'' webcomics, and DC Comics, DC's ''Batgirl''. Over the course of her career she has worked ...

, Mark Morales, Emilio Lopez, and Rob Clark Jr, DC Comics, 2020)

References

External links