Christina Strain is an American comic book

colorist In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it is ...

, writer and screenwriter. Strain formerly worked for

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

as a colorist before pursuing a career as a writer. Strain's notable works include; the award-winning Marvel series '' Runaways'', Marvel's '' Generation-X,'' the Syfy TV show, '' The Magicians'', and the Netflix series '' Shadow and Bone''.

Life

Strain was born in Seoul, South Korea on April 27, 1981. She lived in South Korea for the majority of her youth, as her mother was from

Gunsan Gunsan (), also romanized as Kunsan, is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is on the south bank of the Geum River just upstream from its exit into the Yellow Sea. It has emerged as a high-tech manufacturing industrial city and an i ...

, South Korea and her father was an Air Force officer stationed in South Korea. Except for a brief three years living in Illinois, from 1983 to 1986, Strain lived in South Korea for about fifteen years, during which she lived near a military base and attended Seoul American Elementary School and High School Upon graduating high school, Strain moved back to the United States in 1999 to attend

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

in Baton Rouge where she majored in graphic design. Strain resides in Los Angeles, California with her husband Jon Shiring, a lead engineer at

Respawn Entertainment Respawn Entertainment, LLC is an American video game development studio founded by Jason West and Vince Zampella. West and Zampella previously co-founded Infinity Ward and created the '' Call of Duty'' franchise, where they were responsible fo ...

, and their adopted son.

Career

Strain got her start in comics working as a

for CrossGen in 2003. She was let go after two months working at CrossGen when the company began having financial problems and eventually went bankrupt in 2004. Weeks after losing her job at CrossGen, Strain began working for

UDON Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. It is a comfort food for many Japanese people. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a hot soup as with a mild broth called ...

and

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...

. Strain worked for UDON from 2003 to 2005, during which she contacted and impressed the Editor-in-Chief of UDON, Erik Ko, who helped her get a job at

. One of the first comics Strain worked on for Marvel was '' Runaways,'' which she worked on as an official colorist for about 6 years. Other prominent comics Strain worked on for Marvel include; ''

Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane ''Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane'' is an American comic book series focusing on a teenage Mary Jane, the love interest of superhero Spider-Man. The series, published by Marvel Comics, is a teen drama set outside the regular Marvel continuity and ...

S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often dea ...

,'' and ''

World War Hulk "World War Hulk" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled limited series and various titles published by Marvel Comics in 2007, featuring the Hulk. The series consists of five main issues titled ''World War Hulk'', wi ...

.'' Additionally, Strain colored several Jay Company exclusive comic covers such as the '' Grimm Fairy Tales''. Strain worked as a colorist for Marvel for 8 years, before she retired at 32 and decided to go to grad school at the American Film Institute. Initially, Strain was interested in 3-D graphics, but after taking a comic-writing class she realized she really wanted to write stories, so she switched her focus to screenwriting. While she was transitioning to a writing career, Strain collaborated with various artists to produce original works. Strain and Adrian Alphona, who previously worked together on the Marvel series ''Runaways,'' collaborated on an art book. Together they published ''Sweetness'' in 2011'','' consisting of random art illustrated by Aphona and colored and finished by Strain. In 2011, Strain met Jayd Aït-Kaci, an artist she long admired according to a ''

Newsarama Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website GamesRadar+, also owned by FutureUS. History ...

'' interview, through a mutual friend. Strain proposed that they collaborate on a webcomic and pitched various story ideas, of which Aït-Kaci liked ''

The Fox Sister The Fox Sister is a Korean storyHeinz Insu Fenkl , about the mythical Korean nine-tailed fox demon (''kumiho A kumiho or gumiho (, literally " nine-tailed fox") is a creature that appears in the folktales on East Asia and legends of Korea. It ...

'' the best. Strain wrote the script for ''The Fox Sister'' and Aït-Kaci illustrated it, and they published the first few pages of ''The Fox Sister'' in July 2017 on their official website. Strain and Aït-Kaci always planned to officially publish ''The Fox Sister'' as a 9x12 hardbound comic book, and in 2012 they compiled and published the first chapter of their webcomic. ''The Fox Sister'' takes inspiration from the

Korean folklore Stories and practices that are considered part of Korean folklore go back several thousand years. These tales derive from a variety of origins, including Shamanism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and more recently Christianity. Many folk traditions dev ...

also called

the Fox Sister The Fox Sister is a Korean storyHeinz Insu Fenkl , about the mythical Korean nine-tailed fox demon (''kumiho A kumiho or gumiho (, literally " nine-tailed fox") is a creature that appears in the folktales on East Asia and legends of Korea. It ...

, and is about a

kumiho A kumiho or gumiho (, literally " nine-tailed fox") is a creature that appears in the folktales on East Asia and legends of Korea. It is similar to the Chinese and the Japanese . It can freely transform, among other things, into a beautiful woma ...

, a nine-tailed fox demon. On the webcomics official website, Stain describes ''The Fox Sister'' as a "Korean Supernatural thriller/dram-edy story" set in South Korea in the 1960s. As of October 2017 Strain has completed writing the fourth and final chapter of ''The Fox Sister.'' However, ''The Fox Sister'' is officially on hiatus according to the webcomic's website, and as of December 2018, only 17 pages of chapter four have been released. ''The Fox Sister'' continues to be available to freely read online. After her career switch from colorist to writer, Strain began working as a staff writer for the Syfy TV series, '' The Magicians,'' during its second season. As of December 2018, Strain continues to be employed as a staff writer for ''The Magicians.'' While writing for ''The Magicians,'' Strain returned to the comic book industry when Chris Robinson, the Editor of Marvel, asked her to write a short story for a ''

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

'' anthology, ''Civil War II: Choosing Sides''. After writing for the anthology, Strain was officially reintroduced to the comic world as a writer when she was asked to write for the rebooted X-Men series, '' Generation X.'' Strain was allowed to create her own concept and list of mutant characters for the rebooted ''Generation X,'' thus Strain came up with the concept of "

lovable loser The lovable loser is a character archetype portrayed as a sympathetic, likable, or well-meaning person for whom bad luck continually prevents their various efforts from succeeding, and from obtaining the things they feel will bring them happiness,S ...

s". Strain chose to feature a mix of original and already established but lesser known mutants, such as Nathaniel Carver created by Strain, and Nature Girl (Lin Li) created by

Jason Latour David Jason Latour (born 1977) is an American comic book artist and writer known for his work for Image, Dark Horse, Marvel and DC comics on titles such as ''Wolverine'', '' Winter Soldier'', '' Southern Bastards'' and ''Spider-Gwen''. Early ...

. The relaunched ''Generation X'' series ran for a year, from 2017 to 2018 and published 11 issues, ending at No. 87 under the

Marvel Legacy Marvel Legacy is a 2017–18 relaunch of a line of American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is concurrent with All-New, All-Different Marvel and Marvel NOW! 2.0. Publication history On April 22, 2017, Marvel Comics announced Marvel ...

relaunch's numbering system .

Bibliography

Colorist

Marvel

(2003–2011) *'' Amazing Fantasy'' vol. 2, No. 15 Cover *'' Araña, The Heart of the Spider'' No. 12 Cover *''

Astonishing X-Men ''Astonishing X-Men'' is the name of four X-Men comic book series from Marvel Comics, the first two of which were limited series. The third volume, an ongoing series, began in 2004, with its first run written by Joss Whedon and art by John Cassada ...

'' vol. 5, and No. 29 *''Avengers Fairy Tales'' No. 1, #3 *''

Captain Britain and MI13 ''Captain Britain and MI13'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics and written by Paul Cornell, with art by Leonard Kirk. The series centers on the fictional British government agency MI: 13, which is dedicated to protecting ...

'' Annual 01 *'' Civil War: Front Line'' No. 1 *''Daredevil: Shadowland Omnibus'' *''Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus'' #1 *''Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia'' *'' Dark Reign:

Young Avengers The Young Avengers are the names of two fictional superhero teams appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first team, created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, features numerous adolescent characters who typically have ...

'' No. 1 *'' Daughters of the Dragon'' #1–6 *''Deadpool Classic'' vol. 2 *''Giant-Size Avengers'' No. 1 *''The Hulk 100 Project'' *''Hulk Chronicles: WWH'' #2–6 *'' I ♥ Marvel: Marvel A i'' *''

Incredible Hercules ''The Incredible Hercules'' was an ongoing series, ongoing comic book series written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente and published by Marvel Comics. The series starred the mythological superhero Hercules (Marvel Comics), Hercules, his sidekick Amad ...

'' vol. 4, vol. 5, No. 126 *''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...

'' vol. 14 *''

Loners A loner is a person who does not seek out, or may actively avoid, interaction with other people. There are many potential reasons for their solitude. Intentional reasons include introversion, mysticism, spirituality, religion, or personal consi ...

'' #1–5 *''

Marvel Fairy Tales ''Marvel Fairy Tales'' is a term for three volumes of comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics and written by C. B. Cebulski with art by different artists each issue. Each of these series adapts fairytales and folk tales from around ...

'' *''Marvel Heroes Extra'' No. 7 *'' Marvel Holiday Special'' 2004, 2005 *''Marvel Icons'' No. 26, #36 *''Marvel Mega'' No. 24 *''Marvel Monster Edition'' No. 35 *''Marvel Now!: X-Men'' No. 1 *''Marvel Tales Flip Magazine'' No. 15 *'' Marvel Romance Redux: But I Thought He Loved Me!'' Cover *''

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man ''Marvel Adventures Spider-Man'' (preceded by ''Marvel Age Spider-Man'') is a Marvel Comics comic book series intended for all ages, especially children, that ran for 61 issues from May 2005 through May 2010. The ''Marvel Age Spider-Man'' stories ...

'' #16,19,20 Covers *'' Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four'' No. 13 Cover *'' Mary Jane'' #1–4 *'' Mary Jane: Homecoming'' #1–4 *''Mighty Marvel: Women of Marvel'' *'' The Mighty World of Marvel'' #1–3, No. 5 *''

Ms. Marvel Ms. Marvel is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was originally conceived as a female counterpart to Captain Marvel. Like Captain Marvel, most of the bearers of the Ms. M ...

'' No. 41 *''Ms. Marvel: War of the Marvels Must Have'' #1 *'' New Avengers'' No. 13 *''Original of Marvel Comics: X-Men'' #1 *''

'' #1-present *'' Runaways'' (2003) vol. 2, vol. 3, #8–10,13–18 *'' Runaways'' (2005) vol. 4, vol. 5, vol. 6, vol. 7, vol. 8 #1–30 *''Runaways Saga'' (2007) *'' Runaways'' (2008) vol. 9, vol. 10, vol. 11, #1–14 *''

S.H.I.E.L.D S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often dea ...

.'' (2010) #1–6 *''

'' (2011) Collected edition 01, and No. 4 *''Secret Invasion'' (2008) *''Secret Invasion'' by Brian Michael Bendis Omnibus *'' Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers'' #1–3 *'' Shadowland'' #1–3 *''Shane the She Devil: Survival of the Fittest'' #1 *''Siege: Thor'' *'' Spider-Man Fairy Tales'' No. 3 *''

Spider-Man Family ''Spider-Man Family'' (later retitled ''The Amazing Spider-Man Family'') is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It began as a series of one-shots written and penciled by various writers and artists before becoming a bi-monthly ongoin ...

'' No. 4 *''

'' #1–20 *''

Spider-Man Unlimited ''Spider-Man Unlimited'' is an American animated series by Saban Entertainment which features the Marvel comic book superhero Spider-Man, intended as a loose sequel series to the previous '' Spider-Man: The Animated Series'', which ran from 19 ...

'' No. 7 *''Strange'' #1–2 *''Target Marvel Age Mary Jane: Circle of Friends'' (2004) *''

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, an ...

'' (1996) No. 600, #604–605, #607–609 *''

'' (2007) vol. 2, vol. 3 * ''Thor'' (2008) No. 8 *''

by J. Michael Straczynski Omnibus'' (2010) *''

Giant-Size Finale'' No. 1 *''

: the Trial of Thor'' (2009) No. 1 *''

: the Trial of Thor'' (2017) *''

Uncanny X-Force ''Uncanny X-Force'' was a comic book ongoing series published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Rick Remender and artist Jerome Opeña, the first volume of the series continued the story of Wolverine and his X-Force team from the series '' X- ...

'' vol. 1, #3–5 *''

Uncanny X-Men ''Uncanny X-Men'', originally published as ''The X-Men'', is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics since 1963, and is the longest-running series in the X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of superheroes called the X- ...

'' *''What If? Civil War'' vol. 4 *''What If? X-Men-Rise And Fall of the Shi'ar Empire'' No. 1 * ''Wolverine'' (1989) No. 232 * ''Wolverine'' (1997) No. 184 * ''Wolverine'' (2003) No. 67 * ''Wolverine'' ''By Mark Millar Omnibus'' (2013) *''Women of Marvel Poster Book'' (2006) *''

'' (2007) #1–5 *''

'' (2008) #1–5 *''World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker'' (2007) #1 *''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to lo ...

'' (1991) No. 191 *''

'' (2013) vol. 1, No. 2 *''

'' RA(1997) No. 127, #140, No. 143, #147, No. 159, #161 *''

'' ER(2001) No. 81, #95–96, No. 99, #105, No. 108, #113 *''

'' LNo. 298 *''

Extra'' No. 61, #100 *''

Legacy'' vol. 1, # 208 *''

Universe'' #2–5 *''

: Divided We Stand'' No. 2 *''

: Manifest Destiny'' #4–5 *''

: Pixie Strikes Back'' #1–4 *'' X-Men: Kitty Pryde-Sh'' adow ''& Flame'' No. 1, Covers #2–5 *''

Annual'' No. 1 *''

'' No. 191 *'' Young Avengers Presents'' No. 4

Aspen

(2003–2005) *''Aspen Seasons 2005: Spring'' *'' Fathom'' vol. 2, #0–4 *''Fathom Beginnings'' No. 1 *''Fathom: Dawn of War'' #0–3 *''Fathom Omnibus'' vol. 1, vol. 2 *''Fathom Sonderheft'' #3

DC

(2003–2005) *''

Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/ magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as National Allied Publications, and later as National Comics Publications ...

'' #812–813 (separations) *'' Adventures of Superman'' #625–626 (separations) *''DC Comics Presents: Supergirl/Superman #1'' *'' Love is Love'' *''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

'' vol. 5, No. 0 *'' Superman'' vol. 2, #202–203 (separations) *''Superman: Godfall'' (2004) *''

Superman/Batman ''Superman/Batman'' is a monthly comic book series published by DC Comics that features the publisher's two most popular superheroes: Superman and Batman. ''Superman/Batman'' premiered in August 2003, an update of the previous series, ''World's ...

'' vol. 2, No. 19, #3

Misc

*''Archard's Agents: The Case of the Puzzled Pugilist'' *'' Atomika'' #1–7 *''

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), Ac ...

'' #31–33 (Fantome Back-up Story) *''Meridian'' #19'','' No. 42 *''Phonogram: The Singles Club'' #4 *'' Shi: Illustrated Warrior'' No. 2, 4 *''Street Fighter II'' vol. 4 *''Street Fighter Tribute'' (2008) Artbook *''Sweetness,'' coauthored with

Adrian Alphona Adrian Alphona is a Canadian comic book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' '' Runaways'', which he co-created with writer Brian K. Vaughan. Slated to be pencilling the second volume of '' Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane'' when writer T ...

(

line art Line art or line drawing is any image that consists of distinct straight lines or curves placed against a background (usually plain), without gradations in shade (darkness) or hue (color) to represent two-dimensional or three-dimensional objec ...

ist) *''The Ultimate Graphic Novel Collection'' vol. 55 (#51), vol. 59 (#53) *'' Violent Messiahs'' No. 7

Jay Company exclusive covers

(Note: Many Jay Company Exclusives have multiple covers done by the same or different artists) *'' Grimm Fairy Tales: Return to Wonderland'' No. 0 *''

Purgatori Purgatori is a fictional comic book character, created by writer Brian Pulido and artist Steven Hughes. A crimson-skinned, winged vampire goddess, she first appeared in ''Evil Ernie: Revenge'' #1 (October 1994), published by Chaos! Comics. She h ...

'' No. 1, 3

Writer

*'' Civil War II: Choosing Sides'' No. 6 *''

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s a ...

'' vol. 1, vol. 2, #1–9, #85–87

Self-published

*''

'', webcomic illustrated by Jayd Aït-Kaci

Screenwriter

*''Wake Up'' (Short) (2014) *''Zelos'' (Short) (2015) *''In Pursuit'' (Short) (2016) *'' The Magicians'' (2017–2019) ** 2.07 - Plan B (2017) ** 2.12 - Ramifications (co-writer with David Reed, 2017) ** 3.10 - The Art of the Deal (2018) ** 4.06 - A Timeline and Place (2019) ** 4.11 - The 4-1-1 (co-writer with Henry Alonso Myers, 2019) * '' Shadow and Bone'' (2021) * '' Finding 'Ohana'' (2021)

References

External links

Christina Strain
on

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Christina Strain
at the Comic Book DB
Christina Strain
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

Christina Strain: Comics
at

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

*
The Fox Sister
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Strain, Christina Living people American female comics artists American people of Korean descent American people of South Korean descent Comics colorists People from Seoul 1981 births