View source for Ben Edlund

{{Short description|American cartoonist (born 1968)}}
{{Infobox comics creator
| image         = Ben Edlund by Gage Skidmore.jpg
| caption       = Edlund at [[San Diego Comic-Con]] in July 2011.
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| birth_date    = {{birth date and age|1968|9|20}}
| birth_place   = [[Pembroke, Massachusetts]], U.S.
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| awards        = [[Inkpot Award]] (2012)<ref>[https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot Inkpot Award]</ref>
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}}
'''Ben Edlund''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɛ|d|l|ən|d}};<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krZfsnKNOyI "Kai Ryssdal interviews THE TICK creator Ben Edlund"]<!--at 0.00--></ref> born September 20, 1968) is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, television producer, and television director. He is best known as the creator of the [[satire|satirical]] [[superhero]] character [[Tick (character)|the Tick]].

==Background==
Edlund was born and raised in [[Pembroke, Massachusetts]]. He attended [[Silver Lake Regional High School]] and was voted by classmates as "Most Artistic" for both the 8th grade and 12th grade yearbook superlatives. At the age of 17, without a driver's license, Edlund was forced to ride with friends and frequent their favorite hangouts. One particular destination, the [[New England Comics]] store, spawned Edlund's interest in the comic book medium, which later launched his art and writing career.<ref name=":1" />

==The Tick==
While still in high school, he began developing his satirical superhero, the Tick, who became the mascot of the New England Comics newsletter. Edlund was invited to create a [[The Tick (comic book)|comic book series]] based on the character by New England Comics when, due to a production mix-up, the publisher needed a new title fast. Edlund graduated from high school in 1986 and continued to draw his popular character while majoring in film at [[Massachusetts College of Art]]. The debut issue of ''The Tick'' took a year and a half for Edlund to develop.

[[File:Ben Edlund 1990s.jpg|thumb|Edlund at a comics convention in the early 1990s]]
While still in college, Edlund was approached by Kiscom, a New Jersey–based toy licensing and design company, who wanted to develop merchandising off the Tick. [[Sunbow Entertainment]], a New York–based animation company, paired Edlund up with writer Richard Libmann-Smith. After having their premiere episode turned down by [[Fox broadcasting company|Fox]], the duo got approval with a refined version.

In 1994, ''The Tick'' debuted as [[The Tick (1994 series)|an animated series]] on Fox and lasted three seasons. The program led to various [[List of The Tick merchandise|toy and merchandising]] deals. The limited scope of merchandising compared to other contemporaneous animated series led Edlund to express contentment in his character as a "much more sincere proposal."<ref name=":1">Reber, Deborah [http://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.4/awm2.4pages/2.4reberedlund.html Tick Fever Endures: Ben Edlund Talks About the Evolution of Everyone's Favorite Blue Superhero] ''Animation World Magazine'', Issue 2.4 (July 1997). Retrieved on 5-16-09.</ref> The Tick appeared on the Fox network in late 2001 with a short-lived [[The Tick (2001 TV series)|live-action series]].

==Screenwriting==
In the late 1990s, Edlund collaborated with [[independent film|indie]] filmmaker [[Lisa Hammer]] and her husband, [[Doc Hammer|Eric Hammer]], on the film ''Crawley''. The Hammers later worked with him again during the creation of ''[[The Venture Bros.]]'' which draws inspiration from ''The Tick''.

Beginning in 2002, Edlund was employed by [[Joss Whedon]] at [[Mutant Enemy]], first as part of the original writing staff for the space/Western hybrid series ''[[Firefly (television series)|Firefly]]'', which was cancelled during its first season, and then on the final season of ''[[Angel (1999 TV series)|Angel]]'', where he wrote and also directed the [[Hugo Award]] nominated episode, "[[Smile Time]]". Edlund credits Whedon with teaching him to create television character arcs.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k8ZOh78_Q4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/6k8ZOh78_Q4 |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Ben Edlund (Supernatural) @ Comic-Con '09|date=August 1, 2009|author=WhedonAge.com|website=[[YouTube]] }}{{cbignore}}</ref> Edlund also had a hand in creating characters for Whedon's successful web series ''[[Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog]]'', to which he contributed "Bad Horse" and the henchman sidekick "Moist".

In 2005, Edlund served as co-executive producer on ''[[Point Pleasant (TV series)|Point Pleasant]]''. He also wrote the ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)|Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'' second season episode "Grievous Intrigue".

Beginning in 2006, he served as executive producer, writer, and occasionally director on the TV series ''[[Supernatural (U.S. TV series)|Supernatural]]'' from season 2 (2006–07) to season 8 (2012–13). On that show, there was a character, a writer/prophet named [[List of Supernatural characters#Chuck Shurley|Chuck Shurley]], who went by the pen name "Carver Edlund", a combination of Edlund's last name and that of [[Jeremy Carver]], another ''Supernatural'' producer and writer. The writers named another important character after executive producer Robert Singer.

In 2013, Edlund left the ''Supernatural'' writing staff to join the second season of ''Supernatural'' creator [[Eric Kripke]]'s new television series, [[Revolution (TV series)|''Revolution'']]. It was cancelled after that season. He then joined [[Gotham (TV series)|''Gotham'']] as a producer and writer for the first season (2014–15). In 2015, he became a writer for the second season of the Sony [[PlayStation Network]] original series ''[[Powers (American TV series)|Powers]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uproxx.com/tv/powers-sony-ben-edlund-the-tick-writer/ |last=Roberts |first=Andrew |title='Powers' Season Two Is Adding 'The Tick' Creator Ben Edlund To The Writer's Room |publisher=Uproxx |date=11 July 2015 |access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref>

==Podcast and radio appearances==
Edlund appeared on [[Ken Reid (comedian)|Ken Reid]]'s ''TV Guidance Counselor'' podcast on May 25, 2016.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}

== Filmography ==

=== Film ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Credit !! Notes !! Ref.
|-
| 1998 || ''[[A, B, C... Manhattan]]'' || Writer || ||
|-
| 2000 || ''[[Titan A.E.]]'' || Screenplay || With [[John August]] and [[Joss Whedon]] ||<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://io9.gizmodo.com/5973190/why-titan-ae-is-an-underappreciated-masterpiece|title=Why Titan A.E. is an Underappreciated Masterpiece|last=Woerner|first=Meredith|work=io9|language=en-US|access-date=2016-08-20|archive-date=2016-08-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829075008/http://io9.gizmodo.com/5973190/why-titan-ae-is-an-underappreciated-masterpiece|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|}

=== Television ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin-right:auto; margin-right:auto"
|-
!Year
!Title
! width="65" | Writer
!Creator
! width="65" | Director
! width="65" | Producer
! width="65" | Executive producer
!Notes
!Ref.
|-
| 1994–1996
| align="left" |''[[The Tick (1994 TV series)|The Tick: The Animated Series]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{Partial|Co-producer}}
| {{No}}
| align="left" |Wrote 24 episodes
|
|-
| 2001–2002
| align="left" |''[[The Tick (2001 TV series)|The Tick]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
|{{Yes}}
| align="left" |Wrote 3 episodes
|
|-
| 2002
| align="left" | ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{yes}}
| {{No}}
| align="left" |Wrote 2 episodes
|
|-
| 2003–2004
| align="left" | ''[[Angel (1999 TV series)|Angel]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| {{No}}
| align="left" |Wrote 5 episodes
|
|-
|2004–2006
| align="left" |''[[The Venture Bros.]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| align="left" |Wrote 3 episodes (1 teleplay, 2 stories)
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2005
| align="left" |''[[The Inside (TV series)|The Inside]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{yes}} 
| {{No}}
| align="left" |Wrote 1 episode
|
|-
| align="left" |''[[Point Pleasant (TV series)|Point Pleasant]]''
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{Partial|Co-executive}}
| align="left" |Wrote 3 episodes
|
|-
| 2006–2013
| align="left" |''[[Supernatural (American TV series)|Supernatural]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{yes}}
| {{Partial|Consulting}}
| {{Partial|Co-executive}}
| align="left" |Wrote 24 episodes; directed 2 episodes
|<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2013-06-01 |title='Supernatural' season 9: Ben Edlund will not return • Hypable |url=http://www.hypable.com/supernatural-ben-edlund-departs/ |access-date=2016-08-20 |language=en-US |archive-date=2016-08-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822222712/http://www.hypable.com/supernatural-ben-edlund-departs/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
| 2010
| align="left" |''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)|Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]''
| {{yes}}
|{{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| align="left" |Wrote 1 episode
|
|-
|2013–2014
| align="left" |''[[Revolution (TV series)|Revolution]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{Partial|Consulting}}
| {{No}}
| align="left" |Wrote 4 episodes
|<ref name=":0" />
|-
|2014–2015
| align="left" |''[[Gotham (TV series)|Gotham]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{Partial|Co-executive}}
| align="left" |Wrote 2 episodes
|<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-06-27 |title=Gotham adds Supernatural's Ben Edlund |url=http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/gotham/news/a580792/gotham-adds-supernatural-angel-veteran-ben-edlund-to-writing-team/ |access-date=2016-08-20 |website=[[Digital Spy]]}}</ref>
|-
|2016
| align="left" |''[[Powers (American TV series)|Powers]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{Partial|Co-executive}}
| align="left" |Wrote 1 episode
|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fowler |first=Matt |date=2015-07-09 |title=Comic-Con: Powers' Season 2 Writing Team Adds Creator of The Tick |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/07/10/comic-con-powers-season-2-writing-team-adds-creator-of-the-tick |access-date=2016-08-20 |website=IGN |language=en-US}}</ref>
|-
|2016–2018
| align="left" |''[[The Tick (2016 TV series)|The Tick]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
| {{No}}
| {{yes}}
| align="left" |Wrote 6 episodes
|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Petski |first=Denise |date=2016-07-21 |title='The Tick', 'I Love Dick' & 'Jean-Claude Van Johnson' Amazon Pilots Get Premiere Date |url=https://deadline.com/2016/07/the-tick-i-love-dick-jean-claude-van-johnson-1201789960/ |access-date=2016-08-20 |language=en-US}}</ref>
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|35em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ben Edlund}}
* {{IMDb name|0249421}}

{{The Tick}}
{{Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production}}
{{Inkpot Award 2010s}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edlund, Ben}}
[[Category:American television writers]]
[[Category:Animation screenwriters]]
[[Category:American male television writers]]
[[Category:Television producers from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Inkpot Award winners]]
[[Category:Massachusetts College of Art and Design alumni]]
[[Category:People from Pembroke, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1968 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Tick (comics)]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from Massachusetts]]