Quicknation    Jeph Loeb

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is a United States comic book writer, screen and television writer as well as television and motion picture producer. A three time Eisner Award Winner and five time Wizard Award Winner, Loeb has found tremendous success at both Marvel and DC where he has guided such diverse characters as the X-Men and Superman as well as Batman and Spider-Man. He is known for his extensive use of narration boxes as monologues to reveal the inner thoughts of his characters. Much of his most celebrated work has been in collaboration with artist Tim Sale. In 2003, Loeb teamed with superstar artist Jim Lee to create the year long mystery Batman: Hush, the highest selling DC comic in over 10 years. Hush, which spawned three lines of toys, posters and calenders, sat at the #1 spot for eleven of the twelve months it was in publication. The following year, Loeb launched "SupermanBatman" which toppled Hush's success. It is the only comic book title with a single writer for 25 consecutive issues working with a rotating group of artists, Ed McGuinness, Michael Turner, Pat Lee, Carlos Pacheco and Ian Churchill. In 2005, Loeb spun Supergirl out of SupermanBatman with artist Ian Churchill. Another phenomenon, Supergirl launched as the most successful single female character in nearly ten years.

He was born in Stamford, Connecticut. He reportedly read his first comic book during the summer of 1970. By winter of the same year, Jeph was apparently fascinated enough to convince his father to purchase the comic book collection of one Tom Chicarella on his behalf. Tom was from Brooklyn, New York City, New York and the sold collection reportedly included every issue published by Marvel Comics between 1961 and late 1970.

His later step-father was a vice-president at Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, where Jeph met one of his mentors and greatest influences in comic book writing, the legendary Elliot Maggin. Jeph however attended Columbia University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master's degree in Film. His instructors included Miloš Forman and Paul Schrader.

His debut in film-making was his collaboration with Matthew Weisman in authoring the . The film was released on August 23, 1985 and was a notable starring role for Michael J. Fox.

Loeb and Weisman then collaborated in writing the . The film was released on October 4, 1985 and was a notable starring role for Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with being considered the greatest action movie of all time.

His next screen credit was the film i, first released on March 20, 1987. The plot was based on the novels of Lawrence Block about fictional burglar Bernice Rhodenbarr. His collaborators were Weisman and Hugh Wilson. The film was a typical for the time tough-woman comedic role for starring actress Whoopi Goldberg.

His second film that year was i. His co-writers were Weisman and Timothy Kring. The film was released on November 20, 1987. The film featured teen idol Jason Bateman and veteran actor John Astin.

Four years later, Loeb was working on a deal fell through, Loeb met then publisher Jeanette Kahn who asked Loeb to write a comic book for DC. The result was i vol. 2 #1 - #8 (March -October, 1991). The mini-series also featured notable guest appearances by Doctor Fate (Eric and Linda Strauss), Batman, James Gordon, Guy Gardner and Lois Lane. Most notably, it was the first of many collaborations with Tim Sale.

Jeph's most famous comic work is the Batman graphic novel The Long Halloween, a 13 issue maxi-series set in 'Year One' which he collaborated with Tim Sale. The book is considered one of the best Batman stories ever, and reccomended as one of the essential Batman books. The Long Halloween was one of the 3 noted comics that influenced the recent Batman Begins, the other's being The Man who Falls and Batman: Year One.

Jeph was also recruited as a writer and supervising producer for the hit show i for a number of seasons (2002-2005). Given his expertise on the Superman mythos and experience with writing the character in comics, he helped bring an authenticity to the show that fans loved. Most recently he has joined the writing staff of the popular ABC series i as Supervising Producer.

Tragically, Jeph's son, Sam Loeb, passed away on June 17, 2005 at the age of 17 after a three-year long battle with cancer. Sam wrote in an issue of iBatman #26 which was nearly completed before his untimely death. His father will finish the work with the royalty of the comic book industry all of whom were friends of Sam, including Michael Turner, Jim Lee, Joss Whedon, Brad Meltzer, Arthur Adams, Geoff Johns, Allan Heinberg and John Cassaday.

As of September 1, 2005, Loeb began an exclusive contract with Marvel. His first series will be Volume 3 of The Ultimates, with Joe Madureira on art.

Loeb currently shares his writing studio, The Empath Magic Tree House, with Geoff Johns and Allan Heinberg.

His work has won him a good deal of recognition in the industry, including nominations for the Comics' Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer in 1999 and 2000.