Robert Venditti is an American

comic book writer A script is a document describing the narrative and dialogue of a comic book in detail. It is the comic book equivalent of a Television, television program teleplay or a film screenplay. In comics, a script may be preceded by a plot outline, and ...

, known for his work on the

Top Shelf Productions Top Shelf Productions is an American publishing company founded in 1997, originally owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock and a small staff. Now an imprint of IDW Publishing, Top Shelf is based in Marietta, Georgia. Top Shelf pu ...

title ''

The Surrogates ''The Surrogates'' is a five-issue comic book limited series written by Robert Venditti, drawn by Brett Weldele, and published by Top Shelf Productions from 2005 to 2006. In 2009 it was followed by a prequel graphic novel, ''The Surrogates: Fles ...

'', which was adapted to a major motion picture starring

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

directed by Jonathan Mostow for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

., and for the

Valiant Comics Valiant Comics is an American comic books, comic book publisher. The company was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter along with lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky. In 1994, the company was sold to Acclaim E ...

title ''

X-O Manowar X-O Manowar (Aric of Dacia) is a fictional superhero co-created by writers Jim Shooter and Steve Englehart, and artists Bob Layton and Barry Windsor-Smith. The eponymous comic book series published by Valiant Comics has sold more than 8 million ...

''. He is also known for his work on

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 ...

titles such as '' The Flash'', ''

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

'', ''

Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived b ...

'', and '' Hawkman''. He has also adapted the ''

Percy Jackson & The Olympians ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' is a series of five fantasy novels written by American author Rick Riordan, and the first book series in the '' Camp Half-Blood Chronicles''. The novels are set in a world with the Greek gods in the 21st centu ...

'' and ''

The Heroes of Olympus ''The Heroes of Olympus'' is a pentalogy of fantasy-adventure novels written by American author Rick Riordan. The novels detail a conflict between Greek demigods, Roman demigods, and Gaia (Roman name Terra). In the fourth book of the series, ...

'' book series by

Rick Riordan Richard Russell Riordan Junior (; born June 5, 1964) is an American author, best known for writing the ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million co ...

into graphic novels.

Early life

Robert Venditti was born in Memorial Hospital and raised in Hollywood, and Pembroke Pines, Florida. Though he says he always wanted to be a prose writer, he rarely read comics as a child, but would peruse the comics at the barber shop.Piccione, Sebastian (November 24, 2008)
"Robert Venditti: Writer/Creator of The Surrogates"
Fanboy Buzz. He later moved to Gainesville to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

where he received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and English. After college he worked as a clerk at a law firm in southern Florida with aspirations to practice law, but found that work not to his liking. After subsequently worked pumping gas on a fuel truck, he moved to the Port St. John/ Titusville area in

Brevard County Brevard County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 606,612, making it the 10th-most populated county in Florida. The official county seat is located in ...

to which his parents had moved, where he attended the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

, working at a

Borders Books Borders Group, Inc. (former NYSE ticker symbol BGP) was an American multinational book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. In its final year, the company employed about 19,500 people throughout the U.S., primarily i ...

store in Winter Park, while earning his M.A. in

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

. In about 2000, while working at Borders, a coworker recommended comics books as reading material to him. Though the skeptical Venditti initially thought of comics as solely for children, his reading of

Kurt Busiek Kurt Busiek ( ) (born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the '' Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled ''Astro City'', a four-year run on '' The Avengers, Thunderbolts'' and '' Superman.'' Early lif ...

's ''

Astro City ''Kurt Busiek's Astro City'' is an American superhero anthology comic book series centered on a fictional American city of that name. Created and written by Kurt Busiek, the series is mostly illustrated by Brent Anderson, with character designs an ...

'' impressed him enough to decide to change his career aspirations from prose to comics.

Career

In 2002 Venditti attended a convention and met

Chris Staros Chris Staros (born 1962) is the Editor-in-Chief of the graphic novel publishing company Top Shelf Productions, and also does comics mentoring for aspiring comics professionals at www.chrisstaros.com. He is also the author of ''Yearbook Stories, 19 ...

from

, and was added to Staros' email list. That April, Staros subsequently sent out a mass email announcing that Top Shelf's distributor was going bankrupt, and asking recipients of the email to place orders to aid the distributor. Venditti contacted Staros to offer help, and ending up doing warehouse work for him. Venditti began working on ''The Surrogates'' in July 2002, and after finishing the script that December, he gave it to Staros, who decided to publish it through Top Shelf, despite the fact that it was not typical of the material they usually published. The first issue of the five-issue miniseries was published in July 2005, and the fifth in March 2006. The prequel ''Surrogates: Flesh & Bone'', was released in September 2009, the same month as the release of the feature film adaptation of the first miniseries, starring

. In May 2012 Venditti began writing the ''

'' series for Valiant Entertainment. Venditti began his first work for

when he took over from

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as ''Doctor Who'' fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. As well as ''Docto ...

on ''

Demon Knights ''Demon Knights'' is a DC Comics title launched in 2011 as part of that company's line-wide title relaunch, The New 52. It is a team title featuring Etrigan, Madame Xanadu, Shining Knight and others. Its main difference to other team titles, suc ...

'' beginning with issue #16, and took over ''

'' and '' Green Lantern Corps'' in June 2013.Phegley, Kiel (November 30, 2012)
"Robert Venditti Redrafts "Hellblazer" As 'Constantine'"
Comic Book Resources.

Personal life

As of 2008, Venditti lives in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

Bibliography

Top Shelf Productions

*''

'' #1-5 (limited series, July 2005-April 2006) **''The Surrogates'' (tpb, 208 pages, 2006, ) collects: *** "Chapter One: Field Test" (with Brett Weldele, in #1, 2005) *** "Chapter Two: Life Unfiltered" (with Brett Weldele, in #2, 2005) *** "Chapter Three: Revelations" (with Brett Weldele, in #3, 2005) *** "Chapter Four: Biologics" (with Brett Weldele, in #4, 2006) *** "Chapter Five: Pulse" (with Brett Weldele, in #5, 2006) *'' The Surrogates: Flesh and Bone'' (graphic novel, with Brett Weldele, tpb, 144 pages, July 2009, ) *''The Homeland Directive'' (graphic novel with

Mike Huddleston Mike Huddleston is an American comic book artist. Biography Huddleston started working in comics in the mid-1990s at the age of 21, doing creator-owned projects for Spoon Ink and Caliber, as well as some work for DC Comics, including a short run ...

, June 2011, tpb, 144 pages, ) *'' The Surrogates: Case Files'' #1-2 (with Brett Weldele, July–September 2012)

Valiant Entertainment

*''4001 A.D.: X-O Manowar'' #1 (2016) *''Armor Hunters'' #1-4 (2014) *''Armor Hunters: Aftermath'' #1 (2014) *''Book of Death'' #1-4 (2015) *''Book of Death: The Fall of X-O Manowar'' #1 (2015) *''

Eternal Warrior Gilad Anni-Padda, also known as the Eternal Warrior, is a character/Superhero published by Valiant Comics and originally created by Jim Shooter and Don Perlin. Introduced originally in 1992, he was then rebooted in 1996 after Acclaim Entertainme ...

: Awakening'' #1 (2017) *''Wrath of the Eternal Warrior'' #1-14 (2015-2016) *''

'' vol. 3 #0-50, ''Annual 2016'' (2012-2016) *''X-O Manowar: Commander Trill'' #0 (2015) *''X-O Manowar: Valiant 25th Anniversary Special'' #1 (2015)

DC Comics

*''

Damage Damage is any change in a thing, often a physical object, that degrades it away from its initial state. It can broadly be defined as "changes introduced into a system that adversely affect its current or future performance".Farrar, C.R., Sohn, H., ...

'' vol. 2 #1-16, ''Annual'' #1 (2018-2019) *''

'' #16-23 (2013) *'' The Flash'' vol. 4 #30-49, ''Annual'' #3 (2014-2016) *''The Flash:

Futures End Futures End is an American progressive metal band based in California, formed by guitarists Christian Wentz and Marc Pattison. Once their first few demos were completed, Fred Marshall, formerly of progressive metal band Zero Hour, was chose ...

'' #1 (2014) *'' Freedom Fighters'' vol. 3 #1-12 (2019-2020) *'' Future State: Green Lantern'' #2 (2021) *'' Generations: Forged'' #1 (2021) *''Generations: Shattered'' #1 (2021) *''

'' vol. 5 #21-52, 23.1, ''Annual'' #2-4 (2013-2016) *''Green Lantern 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular'' #1 (2020) *''Green Lantern: Futures End'' #1 (2014) *'' Green Lantern Corps'' vol. 3 #21-27, ''Annual'' #2 (2013-2014) *'' Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps'' #1-50 (2016-2018) *''Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps:

Rebirth Rebirth may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Film * ''Rebirth'' (2011 film), a 2011 Japanese drama film * ''Rebirth'' (2016 film), a 2016 American thriller film * ''Rebirth'', a documentary film produced by Project Rebirth * ''The Re ...

'' #1 (2016) *'' Hawkman'' vol. 5 #1-29 (2018-2020) *''

'' vol. 3 #32 (2018) *''Justice League'' vol. 4 #40-47, ''Annual'' #2 (2020) *'' New Gods: Godhead'' #1 (2014) *'' Secret Origins'' vol. 3 #3, 7 (2014) *''

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. 7 ''Annual'' #2 (2020)

Other publishers

*'' Marvel Comics Presents'' vol. 2 #6, "4F" (with Jeremy Haun, February 2008,

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 ...

) *'' Iron Man: Iron Protocols'', one-shot, "The Ark" (with Mark Nelson, October 2009) collected in ''Iron Man: Tales Of The Golden Avenger'' (tpb, 128 pages, 2010, ,

) *''

Percy Jackson & the Olympians ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' is a series of five fantasy novels written by American author Rick Riordan, and the first book series in the '' Camp Half-Blood Chronicles''. The novels are set in a world with the Greek gods in the 21st centu ...

'',

Disney-Hyperion Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints inclu ...

: ** "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" (graphic novel, with

Attila Futaki Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central Europe ...

, October 2010, tpb, 128 pages, ) ** "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters" (graphic novel, with Attila Futaki, July 2013, tpb, 128 pages, ) ** "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Titan's Curse" (graphic novel, with Attila Futaki, October 2013, tpb, 128 pages, ) *'' Blue Bloods'' (graphic novel with Alina Urusov, January 2013, hc, 112 pages, ,

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

) *''

'',

: ** "The Lost Hero: The Graphic Novel" (graphic novel, with

Nate Powell Nathan Lee Powell (born 1978) is an American graphic novelist and musician. His 2008 graphic novel ''Swallow Me Whole'' won an Ignatz Award and Eisner Award for Best Original Graphic Novel. He illustrated the ''March'' trilogy, an autobiographical ...

, October 2014, hc, 192 pages, ) ** "The Son of Neptune: The Graphic Novel" (graphic novel, with Antoine Dodé, February 2017, hc, 192 pages, ) *''Miles Taylor and the Golden Cape: Attack of the Alien Horde'' (book, illustrated by Dusty Higgins, June 2015, hc, 304 pages, ,

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

) *''Miles Taylor and the Golden Cape: Rise of the Robot Army'' (book, illustrated by Dusty Higgins, June 2016, hc, 304 pages, ,

)

References

External links

*
Audio interview with Robert Venditti"Robert Venditti"

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Venditti, Robert University of Florida alumni University of Central Florida alumni Living people People from Pembroke Pines, Florida American comics writers American writers of Italian descent Year of birth missing (living people)