David Matthew Gallaher (born June 5, 1975, in
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...
) is an
American video game writer, graphic novelist, podcaster and editor, known primarily for his work in comics and video games: ''
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint'', ''
Vampire: The Masquerade'', ''
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
''Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar'' is a radio drama that aired on CBS Radio from February 18, 1949 to September 30, 1962.
The first several seasons imagined protagonist Johnny Dollar as a private investigator drama, with Charles Russell, Edmond O'Br ...
'', ''
High Moon
''High Moon'' is a horror Western webcomic series featuring werewolves. It was developed in 2004 with a debut in 2007 as a part of Zuda, DC Comics' webcomic imprint. The first season concluded on July 8, 2008. Season two ran from August 16 ...
'', ''Box 13'', ''The Only Living Boy'' and 'The Only Living Girl'. His clients include
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book 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 Comics'' in 19 ...
, the
CBLDF,
Harris Publications
Harris Publications Inc. was an American special interest media company, operating over 75 brands with print, digital, mobile and live event platforms prior to its sale to Athlon Media in 2016. It produced magazines that educate, entertain, inf ...
and
McGraw-Hill
McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referen ...
. He also helped create ad campaigns for the
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest i ...
.
Early life
Gallaher's family did not own a television until he was five years old. The first film he saw was the 1978 ''
Superman'' movie. When his family finally obtained a television, he enjoyed ''
Shazam!'', ''
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends'', ''
Super Friends
''Super Friends'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1985 on ABC as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League ...
'', ''
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 ...
'' and ''
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...
''. Shortly after, he read his first comic ''
Power Man and Iron Fist
''Power Man and Iron Fist'' (originally ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' then ''Luke Cage, Power Man'') was an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the superheroes Power Man and Iron Fist.
Publication history
''Hero ...
''. When he was 7, his mother bought a book for Gallaher which featured superhero designs one could trace.
[Lien-Cooper, Barb]
"Shadow Man: David Gallaher"
Sequential Tart
In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...
. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
During Boy Scout summer camp in '88, Gallaher and became an avid reader of ''
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1 ( cover dated March 1941) from T ...
'', ''
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...
'', ''
West Coast Avengers
The West Coast Avengers is a fictional group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team first appeared in ''The West Coast Avengers'' #1 (Sept. 1984), created by Roger Stern and Bob Hall (comics), Bob Ha ...
'', and ''
Speedball''. Gallaher cites
John Byrne's "Vision Quest" storyline in ''West Coast Avengers'' as a story that had significant influence on him. He became a fan of Byrne's, particularly his work on ''
Namor
Namor (), also known as the Sub-Mariner, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in early 1939, the character was created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies I ...
''.
[
A graduate of Frederick High School, Gallaher attended ]Hood College
, motto_lang = la
, mottoeng = With Heart and Mind and Hand
, established =
, type = Private college
, religious_affiliation = United Church of Christ
, endowment = $104.5 million (2020)
, president = Andrea E. Chapd ...
in Maryland, double-majoring in both Special Education
Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...
and Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
. During his junior year, despite his love for teaching, he felt compelled to write. He switched to Goddard College
Goddard College is a progressive education private liberal arts low-residency college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle, Washington. The college offers undergraduate and grad ...
on learning that David Mamet
David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and '' Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first gained cri ...
, William H. Macy, and Piers Anthony
Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob (born 6 August 1934) is an American author in the science fiction and fantasy genres, publishing under the name Piers Anthony. He is best known for his long-running novel series set in the fictional realm of Xant ...
studied there. The school allowed him to create his own curriculum to major in Comics. He also taught a comics class to seniors and juniors with the work of Garth Ennis
Garth Ennis (born January 16, 1970) is a Northern Irish–American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series ''Preacher'' with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise, and ''The Boys'' with artist Dari ...
and Warren Ellis
Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including '' Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), '' Global Frequency'' ...
included as part of the curriculum.[
]
Career
After graduating from Goddard, Gallaher drew a crude version of his résumé as a six-panel comic strip and faxed it to Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book 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 Comics'' in 19 ...
. The next day, he received a call to work at Marvel as an intern for the Interactive and Marketing department. After a week, he was hired as the department production editor, editing digital comics, training interns, researching material, writing character biographies and developing websites.[
His work as a creator at Marvel includes ''Hulk: ]Winter Guard
Winter guard (sometimes spelled "winterguard") is an indoor color guard sport and performance art derived from military ceremonies. Modern winter guard is a competitive, performance-based activity which incorporates choreographed staging, dance, ...
'' and '' Darkstar and the Winter Guard''.
In late 2001, Gallaher met Joe Gentile of Moonstone Books at the Detroit Motor City Comic Con. Gentile encouraged Gallahar to submit for the Moonstone Noir Line and was hired to write ''Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
''Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar'' is a radio drama that aired on CBS Radio from February 18, 1949 to September 30, 1962.
The first several seasons imagined protagonist Johnny Dollar as a private investigator drama, with Charles Russell, Edmond O'Br ...
''. He wrote single issues of comics for ''Annex'' (Chalk Outline Studios), ''Immortals Gods and Heroes'' (Archaia), ''Deadlands'' (IDW and Image Comics), ''More Fund Comics'' (Sky Dog Press), and ''Vampirella'' #8-10 (Harris). He also wrote articles for Marvel Comics and ''Visual Opinions Magazine''.
In advertising, Gallaher worked on several successful campaigns for the New York Police Department including a multimedia presentation CD Rom which won the 2007 CEA Award, and the 2008 "My NYPD" and "Only in NY, Only in The NYPD" campaigns which also won CEA Awards in 2008 and 2009. He also worked on books about marketing and computers, such as ''Introduction to Web Databases'' and ''Networking Tools 2.0''.
In 2008, Gallaher was named as a 'Breakout Creator' by Comic Foundry magazine. In October 2009, Gallaher earned a Harvey Award
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that we ...
for his work on the series ''High Moon
''High Moon'' is a horror Western webcomic series featuring werewolves. It was developed in 2004 with a debut in 2007 as a part of Zuda, DC Comics' webcomic imprint. The first season concluded on July 8, 2008. Season two ran from August 16 ...
''.
In July 2011, Gallaher worked as consulting editor on a broad range of titles for Kodansha including Sailor Moon
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine '' Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The s ...
, Gon, Negima
''Negima! Magister Negi Magi'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from February 2003 to March 2012, with its chapters co ...
and Arisa
Rosalba Pippa (born 20 August 1982), better known by her stage name Arisa, is an Italian singer and actress.
Early life
Arisa was born in Genoa, Italy. A week after her birth, her family moved back to their original hometown, Pignola, a villa ...
. In July 2012, he and artist Steve Ellis formed Bottled Lightning Studios to self-publish their comics. Gallaher wrote 2 issues of Green Lantern Corps
Green Lantern Corps is the name of a fictional intergalactic law enforcement organization appearing in comics published by DC Comics. They patrol the farthest reaches of the DC Universe at the behest of the Guardians, a race of immortals residi ...
for DC Comics during the "Convergence
Convergence may refer to:
Arts and media Literature
*''Convergence'' (book series), edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen
* "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics:
**A four-part crossover storyline that united the four Weir ...
" storyline.
In 2018, Papercutz announced it would publish the spin-off series to The Only Living Boy, The Only Living Girl with David Gallaher and Steve Ellis resuming their young-adult children's adventure series.
In February 2019, Gallaher became the co-host of the For The Love Of Comics podcast with Adam Vermillion. In June 2019, it was announced that David Gallaher would be one of the writers on Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include ''Assassin's Creed'', '' Far Cry'', ...
's Ghost Recon series.
In October 2019, Gallaher and his studio were hired by the Children's Tumor Foundation to release a series of comic strips to promote the awareness of neurofibromatosis
Neurofibromatosis (NF) is a group of three conditions in which tumors grow in the nervous system. The three types are neurofibromatosis type I (NF1), neurofibromatosis type II (NF2), and schwannomatosis. In NF1 symptoms include light brown ...
.
Awards
*Gallaher's creation ''High Moon'' (with collaborator Steve Ellis and Scott O. Brown) won the "Best Online Comic" and was nominated for a ‘Best New Series’ Harvey Award for 2009.
*Gallaher's was again nominated for a 2010 Harvey Award for "Best Online Comic" for ''High Moon''
*Gallaher (with collaborator Steve Ellis and Scott O. Brown) was nominated for a 2014 Harvey Award
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that we ...
for "The Only Living Boy" in the "Best Graphic Publication for Young Readers" category
*Gallaher was nominated for a 2016 Harvey Award
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that we ...
for "The Only Living Boy" in the "Best Graphic Publication for Young Readers" category
*Gallaher's work The Only Living Boy Omnibus received a nomination for "Best Presentation in Design" category
*Gallaher's (and his team's work) on Ghost Recon: Breakpoint received the 'Best PC Game' in the Gamescom Awards 2019.
Personal life
Gallaher claims to have epilepsy
Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...
.[Gallaher, David. avidgallaher1.livejournal.com/profile User Profile ]LiveJournal
LiveJournal (russian: Живой Журнал), stylised as LiVEJOURNAL, is a Russian-owned social networking service where users can keep a blog, journal, or diary.
American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal on April 15, 1999, ...
. accessed October 2, 2011. Gallaher lives with his spouse, Val D'Orazio, whom he married in 2011, in Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...
.
Bibliography
Amazon Studios
* ''It Came In The Mail'' storyboards with artist Steve Ellis
Archaia
* ''Immortals: Gods & Heroes'' with artist Kevin Colden
Bottled Lightning
* ''The Altern80s'' with artist Kevin Colden
comiXology
* Box 13 (with artist and co-creator Steve Ellis)
* Box 13: The Pandora Process (with artist and co-creator Steve Ellis)
DC Comics
* High Moon
''High Moon'' is a horror Western webcomic series featuring werewolves. It was developed in 2004 with a debut in 2007 as a part of Zuda, DC Comics' webcomic imprint. The first season concluded on July 8, 2008. Season two ran from August 16 ...
- Zuda webcomic imprint (with artist and co-creator Steve Ellis)
* Green Lantern Corps
Green Lantern Corps is the name of a fictional intergalactic law enforcement organization appearing in comics published by DC Comics. They patrol the farthest reaches of the DC Universe at the behest of the Guardians, a race of immortals residi ...
(with artist and co-creator Steve Ellis)
Image Comics
* Deadlands: The Devil's Six Gun (with artist and co-creator Steve Ellis)
Marvel Comics
* Iron Man: Threaded Web
* Untold Tales of Spider-Man: Threaded Web
* Hulk: Winter Guard
* '' Darkstar and The Winter Guard''
Moonstone Books
* Vampire: The Masquerade Blood and Shadows
* Yours Truly, Jonny Dollar: The Brief Candle Matter
* Moonstone Monsters: Ghosts (incorrectly credited as Ken Wolak)[Gallaher, David]
"NUMBER EIGHT IS MISSING!"
Topica. August 19, 2003
Papercutz
* ''The Only Living Boy'' (with artist and co-creator Steve Ellis)
* ''The Only Living Girl'' (with artist and co-creator Steve Ellis)
Skydog Press
* More Fund Comics
Ubisoft
* Ghost Recon: Wildlands
* Ghost Recon: Breakpoint
Notes
References
*
External links
*
graphic novel illustrated by Eric Theriault, written by David Gallaher
Interviews
Interview
at 2008's New York Comic Con with comiXology
Podcast interview
with David at comiXology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallaher, David
1975 births
American male bloggers
American bloggers
Goddard College alumni
Hood College alumni
Writers from Brooklyn
Writers from Honolulu
Living people
American webcomic creators
American comics writers
Marvel Comics people
People with epilepsy