James Asmus Explained

James Asmus is a writer, actor, and comedian known for his work with such theaters as The Annoyance and the sketch group Hey You Millionaires, and for his work writing comic books such as Quantum and Woody, Thief of Thieves, Gambit, and Rick and Morty.

Career

Asmus has written several plays for both the Annoyance Theater and The New Colony theater group in Chicago. The plays he has written include Love Is Dead (The Annoyance), Hearts Full of Blood (the New Colony) and Amelia Earhart Jungle Princes (The New Colony). Both Love is Dead and Hearts Full of Blood received remounts in the New York Fringe Fest, winning awards for Outstanding Music & Lyrics^[1] and Outstanding Achievement in Playwrighting^[2] respectively.

Asmus is currently most prolific as a comic book writer,^[3] contributing to titles such as Gambit for Marvel Comics, Rick and Morty for Oni Press, Survival Street for Dark Horse Comics, and Quantum & Woody for Valiant Entertainment.

Awards and nominations

• 2008 Fringe NYC Outstanding Music & Lyrics - Love Is Dead: a NecRomantic Musical Comedy^[4]
• 2008 After Dark Awards' Outstanding Original Score - Love Is Dead: a NecRomantic Musical Comedy
• 2009 Chicago Readers' Choice Best Emerging Playwright^[5]
• 2010 Fringe NYC Overall Excellence in Playwrighting - Hearts Full of Blood^[6]
• 2014 Stan Lee Excelsior Award - Silver Award, Readers' Favorite Graphic Novel - Quantum & Woody vol. 1 - World's Worst ^[7]
• 2014 Harvey Awards, 3 Nominations - Best Writer, Most Promising New Talent, and Special Award for Humor in Comics - Quantum & Woody ^[8]
• 2015 Harvey Awards, 2 Nominations - Special Award for Humor in Comics - Quantum & Woody and The Delinquents ^[9]

Bibliography

Marvel Comics

• X-Men
  • X-Men: Manifest Destiny #1, 4 (#1 Boom Boom story; #3 Nightcrawler story, 2008)
  • X-Men: Manifest Destiny - Nightcrawler #1 (with pencils by Jorge Molina and Adrian Syaf, 2008)
  • Dark X-Men: The Beginning #1 (Mimic story, pencils by Jesse Delperdang, 2009)
  • Nation X #1 (Nightcrawler & Wolverine story, art by Mike Allred, 2009)
  • X-Men vs. Vampires #1 (Husk story, art by Tom Raney, 2010)
  • Wolverine #900 (first story only, with co-writer C. B. Cebulski pencils by David Finch (comics), 2010)
  • Deadpool Team-Up #890 (pencils by Micah Gunnell, 2010)
  • X-Men: Serve and Protect #1, 4 (#1 Emma Frost story; #4 Psylocke story, 2010-2011)
  • Uncanny X-Men Annual #3 (pencils by Nicholas Bradshaw, 2011)
  • Deadpool Family #1 (Dogpool story, pencils by Darnell Johnson, 2011)
  • Astonishing X-Men #43 (pencils by David Yardin and Gabriel Hernandez Walta, 2011)
  • Generation Hope #13-17 (pencils on #13-14 by Ibraim Roberson, #15 by Tim Green III, #16-17 by Takeshi Miyazawa, 2011-2012)
  • Gambit vol.5 #1-17 (pencils by Clay Mann, 2012-2013)
• Other Marvel
  • Runaways Vol. 3 #10 (with co-writer Christopher Yost and art by Sara Pichelli & Emma Rios, Marvel Comics, 2009)
  • Steve Rogers: Super Soldier Annual #1 (pencils by Ibraim Roberson, 2011)
  • Namor: The First Mutant Annual #1 (pencils by Max Fiumara, 2011)
  • Captain America & Bucky #625-628 (with co-plotter Ed Brubaker and art by Francesco Francavilla, 2011-2012)
  • A+X #3 (Hawkeye + Gambit story, with pencils by Billy Tan, 2012)
  • Superior Foes of Spider-Man #10, 2014
  • All-New Inhumans #1-12 (pencils by Stefano Caselli, 2015-2016)
  • Amazing Spider-Man Annual and #25 (2016-2017)
  • Vault of Spiders #1 (Savage Spider-Man story, 2018)

Image Comics

• Thief of Thieves #8-13 (with co-writer Robert Kirkman and art by Shawn Martinbrough, Image Comics/Skybound, 2012)
• CBLDF Liberty Annual #5, story "Last Rights" with art by Takeshi Miyazawa, Image Comics, 2012)
• The End Times Of Bram & Ben #1-4, (with co-writer / co-creator Jim Festante and art by Rem Broo, Image Comics, 2013)
• Evolution #1-18, (with co-writers Joseph Keatinge and Christopher Sebela and art by Joe Infurnari, Image Comics, 2017-2018)
• Creepshow Holiday Special #1, art by Letizia Cadonici, Image Comics/Skybound, 2023)

Valiant Comics

• Quantum and Woody #1-12, (with art by Tom Fowler, 2013-2014)
• Quantum and Woody: Goat #0 (with art by Tom Fowler, 2014)
• The Delinquents #1-4, (with co-writer Fred Van Lente and art by Kano (comics), 2014)
• Valiant-Sized Quantum and Woody #1, (with co-writer Tim Siedell and art by Pere Pérez, 2014)
• Quantum and Woody Must Die! #1-4, (with art by Steve Lieber, 2015)
• Unity #23-25, 2015

DC Comics

• DC Holiday Special 2016 (Titans story, with art by Reilly Brown)
• The Terrifics Annual (Tom Strong story, with art by Jose Luis, 2018)

BOOM! Studios

• Kong of Skull Island #1-12, (with art by Carlos Magno, 2016-2017)
• Adventure Time Comics #20, ("Epic Yard Sale" story, art by Christina Rose Chua, 2018)

IDW Publishing

• My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #51-53, (with art by Tony Fleecs, 2017), Holiday Special 2017 (art by Brenda Hickey), Holiday Special 2019 (art by Andy Price and Trish Forstner)
• Transformers: Bumblebee - Win If You Dare graphic novel (with art by Marcelo Ferriera, 2018)
• Transformers / My Little Pony - Friendship In Disguise #1-4, (with art by Tony Fleecs, 2020)
• Transformers / My Little Pony - The Magic of Cybertron #1-4, (with art by Jack Lawrence, 2021)
• Voyage to the Stars #1-4, (with art by Connie Daidone, 2020-2021)

ONI Press

• Rick and Morty Presents - Mr. Meeseeks (with co-writer Jim Festante, art by CJ Cannon, 2019)
• Aggretsuko: Meet Her Friends #3 (with art by Megan Huang, 2021)
• (with art by Jarrett Williams, 2022)
• (with co-writer Jim Festante, art by Dean Rankine, Tony Gregori, Angela Trizzino, and Mark Ellerby, 2024)
• (with co-writer Jim Festante, art by Suzi Blake, 2024)

Dark Horse Comics

• Survival Street (co-written / co-created with Jim Festante, with art by Abylay Kussainov, 2022)
• Survival Street: The Radical Left (co-written / co-created with Jim Festante, with art by Abylay Kussainov, 2024)

Opus Comics

• Bill & Ted Roll the Dice #1-4, (art by Wayne Nichols, 2022)

Bad Egg

• ALTRVERSE #0, (Jackie-Boy Man story with art by Connie Diadone and Austin Baechle, 2023)
• The Somewhat Incredible Jackie-Boy Man #1-, (with art by Megan Huang, 2024)

Insight Editions

• The Official Rick and Morty Cookbook (with August Craig, 2022)
• Supernatural: The Official Cocktail Book (with Adam Carbonell, 2023)

External links

• James Asmus Official Site
• James Asmus profile on Comic Vine
• Podcast Interview with James Asmus at Scripts & Scribes

Notes and References

1. "2008 Fringe Awards", http://www.playbill.com/news/article/120723-Fringe-Festival-Announces-Overall-Excellence-Award-Winners, Aug 25, 2008
2. "2010 Fringe Awards", http://www.playbill.com/news/article/142485-Veritas-Twentieth-Century-Way-and-Jurassic-Parq-Win-Fringe-Excellence-Awards, Aug 30, 2010
3. Web site: The Annoyance Theatre - Chicago Stage Review. chicagostagereview. 24 September 2010.
4. Web site: Best bets.
5. "2009 Best of Chicago", http://www1.chicagoreader.com/best_of_chicago_09/performing_arts/emerging_playwright/, May, 2009
6. Web site: Veritas, Twentieth Century Way and Jurassic Parq Win Fringe Excellence Awards - Playbill.com . www.playbill.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100904073525/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/142485-Veritas-Twentieth-Century-Way-and-Jurassic-Parq-Win-Fringe-Excellence-Awards . 2010-09-04.
7. Web site: Shortlist 2014.
8. Web site: 2014 Final Ballot | Harvey Awards . 2014-07-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140720033303/http://www.harveyawards.org/2014-final-ballot/ . 2014-07-20 .
9. Web site: 2015 Harvey Awards Nominees Announced. 14 July 2015. 14 July 2015. 15 July 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150715064753/http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/2015-harvey-awards-nominees-announced-2015. dead.