Matt Fritchman[2][3] (born December 1, 1975),[2] better known by the pen name Matt Fraction, is an Eisner Award-winning American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of The Invincible Iron Man, FF, The Immortal Iron Fist, Uncanny X-Men, and Hawkeye for Marvel Comics; Casanova and Sex Criminals for Image Comics; and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen for DC Comics.

Matt Fraction
Fraction at the Midtown Comics booth at the
2011 New York Comic Con
BornMatt Fritchman
(1975-12-01) December 1, 1975 (age 48)
Chicago Heights, Illinois, U.S.
Area(s)Writer
Notable works
Hawkeye
Sex Criminals
The Invincible Iron Man
The Immortal Iron Fist
Casanova
Uncanny X-Men
FF
Awards"Favourite Newcomer Writer" Eagle Award (2007)
"Best New Series" Eisner Award (2009)
Inkpot Award (2016)[1]
Spouse(s)Kelly Sue DeConnick
http://www.mattfraction.com

Early life

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Matt Fraction was born December 1, 1975, in Chicago Heights, Illinois.[2] As a child, he developed an affinity for telling stories, and he enjoyed reading comic books and strips. The first comic he remembers buying was Batman #316 (Oct. 1979), and he liked newspaper comics Peanuts and Doonesbury. He became a regular weekly comic-book reader around the time that the 1985–86 DC Comics storyline "Crisis on Infinite Earths" ended, but he found that storyline bizarre and impenetrable and gravitated toward Marvel Comics instead. Spider-Man became his favorite character, and he read other Marvel publications such as Star Wars and G.I. Joe.[3]

In the late 1990s Fraction worked as an employee at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based comics retailer Heroes Aren't Hard to Find,[4][5] and participated in the Warren Ellis Forum under the username "Matt Fraction".[6]

Career

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Fraction started in the comics industry by working for smaller publishers including AiT/Planet Lar and IDW Publishing, many of which employed people that he had met on the Warren Ellis Forum; as such, he continued using the "Fraction" name as it was the one under which he had built a reputation.[6] He became known early in his career for his creator-owned work on The Five Fists of Science and Casanova, before taking on a number of assignments for Marvel Comics.

Fraction wrote two columns for Comic Book Resources: "Poplife"[7] and "The Basement Tapes",[8] the latter with Joe Casey.

Fraction teamed with Ed Brubaker for a run on Marvel's The Immortal Iron Fist.[9] The pair re-teamed on Uncanny X-Men for a short time, after which Fraction wrote the series solo until leaving it in 2011.[10][11][12]

He wrote The Mighty Thor and The Invincible Iron Man, the latter of which led to his consulting work on the set of the film Iron Man 2 and writing the Iron Man 2 video game that tied into that film sequel.[13][14]

In 2011, Fraction wrote the Fear Itself limited series, which was the central part of the crossover storyline of the same name.[15][16] In December 2011, he revived the series The Defenders with artist Terry Dodson[17] and, in August 2012, he started a new Hawkeye series with David Aja.[18]

As part of Marvel NOW!, Fantastic Four was relaunched in November 2012 with the creative team of Fraction and artist Mark Bagley. Its spinoff series FF was produced by Fraction and artist Mike Allred.[19][20] Fraction left both series due to other work commitments.[21]

In February 2013, he was named on IGN's list of "The Best Tweeters in Comics", which described him as "the premier comics Twitter personality."[22]

In 2013, Fraction and Chip Zdarsky co-created the Sex Criminals series for Image Comics. He and illustrator Christian Ward created the ODY-C series in 2014, a science-fiction retelling of the Odyssey with the characters' genders changed to female.[citation needed]

In 2015, Fraction and Fabio Moon returned to Casanova with a new eight-issue mini-series, Acedia. The series featured backup stories written by Michael Chabon with art by Casanova co-creator Gabriel Bá. Also in 2015, Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick's company, Milkfed Criminal Masterminds, signed a two-year deal with Universal Television to adapt some of their comic books, as well as original TV series concepts. They also planned to use Milkfed Criminal Masterminds as a TV launchpad for other comic creators' properties.[23] [needs update]

In 2018, Milkfed Criminal Masterminds signed another two-year overall deal, this time with Legendary TV to adapt several of their creator-owned comics, as well as produce exclusive, original projects developed by the duo for television across traditional and non-traditional platforms.[24] [needs update]

In 2019, Fraction and Elsa Charretier co-created the graphic novella crime series, November, for Image Comics.[25] Meanwhile, Fraction wrote his first series for DC Comics, the twelve-issue series Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen which was drawn by Steve Lieber.

In 2020, Sex Criminals concluded with issue #69, volumes 2 and 3 of November were released, and Adventureman, the long-anticipated series from Fraction and Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson began releasing from Image Comics, and his and Lieber's run on Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen concluded, with a collected trade paperback entitled Who Killed Jimmy Olsen? being released in October.

Fraction served as a consultant for the Hawkeye television miniseries, which was heavily inspired by his 2012 comic run. He also planned to make a cameo appearance as a member of the Tracksuit Mafia, but was unable to commit to this, due to complications stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.[26][27]

Since 2022, Fraction has been working on the Apple TV+ show Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, on which he is a co-creator with Chris Black.[28] The series debuted in November 2023 and Fraction wrote episode 9, "Axis Mundi".

Personal life

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Fraction is married to Kelly Sue DeConnick, a comic book writer and adapter of manga into English,[3][29] whom he met when they were both participants on the Warren Ellis Forum.[6] They have two children, Henry and Tallulah.[30]

Awards

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Nominations

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  • 2008 Eisner Award
  • 2013 Harvey Award
    • Best Writer for Hawkeye[39]
    • Best New Series for Hawkeye (shared with David Aja and others)[39]
    • Best Continuing or Limited Series for Hawkeye (shared with David Aja and others)[39]
    • Best Single Issue or Story for Hawkeye #1, "Lucky" (shared with David Aja and others)[39]
  • 2013 Eisner Award
    • Best Continuing Series for Hawkeye (shared with David Aja and others)[40]
    • Best Writer for Hawkeye and Casanova: Avarita[40]
  • 2014 Harvey Award
    • Best Writer for Hawkeye[41]
    • Best Continuing or Limited Series for Hawkeye (shared with David Aja and others)[41]
  • 2014 Eisner Award
    • Best Continuing Series for Hawkeye (shared with David Aja)[36]
    • Best Continuing Series for Sex Criminals (shared with Chip Zdarsky)[36]
    • Best Writer for Sex Criminals, Hawkeye, Fantastic Four, and FF[36]
  • 2014 Angoulême Sélection Officielle for Hawkeye, Vol 1 (shared with David Aja)[42]

Bibliography

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Early work

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  • Double Take #6–8: "Rex Mantooth" (with Andy Kuhn, anthology, Funk-O-Tron, 2001–2002) collected as The Annotated Mantooth! (tpb, 96 pages, AiT/Planet Lar, 2002, ISBN 1-932051-05-8)
  • Last of the Independents (with Kieron Dwyer, graphic novel, sc, 104 pages, AiT/Planet Lar, 2003, ISBN 1-932051-14-7; hc, 112 pages, Image, 2020, ISBN 1-5343-1592-6)
  • IDW Publishing:

Image Comics

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Marvel Comics

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Other publishers

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Other work

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Fraction served as a consulting producer for the Disney+ series Hawkeye, which is heavily influenced by his stint writing for the Hawkeye comic.[26] Fraction also serves as the co-creator, writer, and executive producer of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters alongside Chris Black.[47]

References

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  1. ^ "Inkpot Award". Archived from the original on January 29, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Matt Fraction". IGN. Archived from the original on October 26, 2013. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c MajorJJH (September 29, 2008). "Conversations with GoD: Matt Fraction". Geeks of Doom. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013.
  4. ^ Howard, Natalie. "Our Hero", Creative Loafing (May 2, 2007), pp. 24–26.
  5. ^ Hargro, Carlton. "Home is for Heroes", Creative Loafing (June 18, 2008), p. 39.
  6. ^ a b c Rivera, Joshua (December 5, 2018). "An Oral History of the Warren Ellis Forum". Image Comics. Archived from the original on December 22, 2018. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
  7. ^ Fraction, Matt. "Poplife". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 25, 2010. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
  8. ^ "Casey & Fraction launch THE BASEMENT TAPES at CBR July 27th". CBR.com. July 21, 2004. Archived from the original on March 9, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  9. ^ Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "2000s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 334. ISBN 978-0756641238. Ed Brubaker teamed with co-writer Matt Fraction and artist David Aja to give Iron Fist another shot at an ongoing title. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Ekstrom, Steve (February 25, 2010). "Revelation X: Matt Fraction Talks Uncanny & Second Coming". Newsarama. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013.
  11. ^ Ching, Albert (September 23, 2010). "Fraction and Gillen on Their Uncanny X-Men Team-Up". Newsarama. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013.
  12. ^ Ching, Albert (January 24, 2011). "Fraction and Gillen Explain It All (Thor, Journey, X-Men)". Newsarama. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013.
  13. ^ Vitka, William (February 5, 2010). "Matt Fraction talks Iron Man (and a bunch of other stuff)". New York Post. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012.
  14. ^ Castro, Adam-Troy (August 3, 2009). "Comics' Matt Fraction on how he wrote the Iron Man 2 game". Blastr. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013.
  15. ^ Manning, Shaun (December 21, 2010). "Marvel Announces Fear Itself". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013.
  16. ^ Truitt, Brian (December 21, 2010). "Be afraid: Marvel's heroes gear up for Fear Itself". USA Today. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012.
  17. ^ Richards, Dave (July 24, 2011). "CCI Exclusive: Fraction Unravels a Strange Conspiracy in Defenders". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013.
  18. ^ Uzumeri, David (April 15, 2012). "Matt Fraction Takes Aim at Hawkeye". Comics Alliance. Archived from the original on November 1, 2013.
  19. ^ Beard, Jim (August 13, 2012). "Marvel NOW! Q&A: Fantastic Four". Marvel Comics. Archived from the original on May 11, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  20. ^ Richards, Dave (November 27, 2012). "Fraction Celebrates Marvel's First Families in Fantastic Four & FF". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  21. ^ Esposito, Joey (August 14, 2013). "Matt Fraction Leaving Fantastic Four and FF". IGN. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
  22. ^ Yehl, Joshua (February 20, 2013). "The Best Tweeters in Comics". IGN. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  23. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 25, 2015). "Comic Book Writers Matt Fraction & Kelly Sue DeConnick Sign Deal With Universal TV, Will Adapt 'Sex Criminals' To Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 25, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  24. ^ Petski, Denise (December 13, 2018). "Legendary TV Inks Overall Deal With Kelly Sue DeConnick & Matt Fraction's Milkfed Criminal Masterminds". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 14, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  25. ^ Holub, Christian (July 19, 2019). "Matt Fraction and Elsa Charretier's 'November' puts normal people in noir circumstances". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 28, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  26. ^ a b Barnhardt, Adam (November 15, 2021). "Hawkeye Comic Writer Matt Fraction Was Consulting Producer on the Show, Almost Cameoed as Tracksuit Mafia". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on November 16, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  27. ^ Robinson, Joanna; Holmes, Charles (November 15, 2021). "Discussing 'Hawkeye' With Matt Fraction". The Ringer. Archived from the original on November 15, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ Kit, Borys (January 20, 2022). "Godzilla and Kaiju Monster TV Series in the Works From Legendary, Apple". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  29. ^ Richards, Dave (April 6, 2010). "DeConnick On Sif, Rescue and Girl Comics". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  30. ^ Truitt, Brian (November 12, 2012). "Family fuels Matt Fraction's Fantastic Four". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 18, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  31. ^ "Eagle Awards Previous Winners 2008". Eagle Awards. 2013. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
  32. ^ Doran, Michael (July 25, 2009). "SDCC 09: 2009 Eisner Awards Winners". Newsarama. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
  33. ^ MacDonald, Heidi (September 20, 2010). "Matt Fraction wins 2010 PEN Center literary award". ComicsBeat.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013.
  34. ^ "PEN Center USA Winners". 2013. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
  35. ^ a b MacDonald, Heidi (September 6, 2014). "2014 Harvey Awards Unspool". The Beat. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
  36. ^ a b c d e Wheeler, Andrew (July 26, 2014). "2014 Eisner Awards: Full List Of Winners And Nominees". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
  37. ^ "Inkpot Award". San Diego Comic-Con. 2016. Archived from the original on January 29, 2017.
  38. ^ a b "2008 Eisner Nominations Announced". Comic Book Resources. April 14, 2008. Archived from the original on August 27, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
  39. ^ a b c d Spurgeon, Tom (September 8, 2013). "Your 2013 Harvey Awards Winners". The Comics Reporter. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
  40. ^ a b Hughes, Joseph (July 20, 2013). "Building Stories, Saga Dominate 2013 Eisner Awards". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
  41. ^ a b Sims, Chris (July 16, 2014). "Harvey Awards Announces 2014 Nominees, Congratulations In Advance To Hawkeye #11". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
  42. ^ Spurgeon, Tom (November 27, 2013). "Your Sélection Officielle (And Other Lists) For Angouleme 2014". The Comics Reporter. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
  43. ^ Franich, Darren (July 11, 2013). "Marvel's 'Inhumanity'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 14, 2013.
  44. ^ "Marvel Announces All-New Marvel NOW! Series, "Avengers" Renumbering". Comic Book Resources. September 9, 2013. Archived from the original on September 11, 2013.
  45. ^ Ching, Albert (December 17, 2013). "JMS Confirms "Thor" Exit". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on December 17, 2013.
  46. ^ "Axel-In-Charge: The Full Story Of "Inhuman" With Fraction & Soule". Comic Book Resources. December 20, 2013. Archived from the original on December 25, 2013.
  47. ^ Kroll, Justin (January 20, 2022). "Apple TV+ Lands Godzilla & Titans Series Based On Legendary's Monsterverse". Deadline. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
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Preceded by
n/a
Punisher War Journal vol. 2 writer
2006–2009
(2008 with Rick Remender)
Succeeded by
Preceded by Uncanny X-Men writer
2008–2011
Succeeded by
Preceded by Iron Man writer
2008–2012
Succeeded by
Kieron Gillen
Preceded by
Kieron Gillen
Thor writer
2010–2012
Succeeded by
Preceded by Fantastic Four writer
2012–2013
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Jonathan Hickman
Future Foundation writer
2012–2013
Succeeded by
Lee Allred