He is also the creator of the Massive-Verse shared universe of comic book titles published through Image Comics.
Early life
Kyle Higgins was born June 12, 1985, and grew up in Homer Glen, Illinois. At the age of seven, Higgins saw the 1978 feature film Superman, which began his passion for both comic books and filmmaking.[1]
After two years of studying film and creative writing at the University of Iowa, Higgins transferred to the film production program of Chapman University in Orange, California, from which he would graduate. In late 2006, he began an unpaid internship with the Donners' Company, which provided him with the opportunity to work with Richard Donner, who directed the film that introduced Higgins to comics and filmmaking.[1]
Career
After writing and directing his college thesis film titled The League,[1] about the superhero labor union of 1960's Chicago, Higgins spent a year writing for Marvel Comics before authoring the back-up features for the 2010 editions of Detective Comics Annual and Batman Annual. The stories introduced the Franco-Islamic character Nightrunner, who he co-created with David Hine and caused some controversy.[2] Higgins stayed on the Batman brand, co-writing the five-issue Batman: Gates of Gotham with Detective Comics scribe Scott Snyder which delved into the history of Gotham City.
When DC rebooted their entire line in 2011 with The New 52, Higgins wrote Nightwing, often interlinking arcs with Snyder, who moved to Batman.[3] Higgins also wrote the first eight issues of Deathstroke in September 2011.[4] Higgins began writing Batman Beyond 2.0, a DCU version of the character from the DCAU animated series Batman Beyond, for DC's digital-first line.[5] In January 2014, it was announced that Higgins had joined the writing team for Batman Eternal following his work on Nightwing, which ended in March 2014.[6]
In January 2014, Higgins announced C.O.W.L., his first creator-owned ongoing series with Image Comics.[7] The series, co-written by Alec Siegel and featuring art by Rod Reis, revisited the world created by Higgins in The League. C.O.W.L. explored superheroes from the lens of union organization, and featured an early-1960s aesthetic, noir overtones, and political drama. The series debuted in May 2014, and its first issue sold out of its initial print run.[8] The series concluded in July 2015, with issue 11. Announced at Image Expo 2015, their next collaboration was the eight-issue sci-fi murder mystery Hadrian's Wall,[9] which debuted in September 2016, which he will direct the film adaptation for the Gunpowder & Sky sci-fi label Dust.[10]
In late 2015, Higgins was announced as the writer of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, an ongoing comic based on the show of the same name for Boom! Studios.[11] Issue 9 of the comic introduced "the first new official Mighty Morphin Power Ranger created in over 20 years",[12] Lord Drakkon.[13] The character's popularity soon led to inclusion in mobile fighting game Power Rangers: Legacy Wars, an exclusive action figure,[14] and other merchandise. Beginning in March 2018, Higgins wrote the first Power Rangers comic book event in "Shattered Grid", incorporating a range of characters from across the show's history, to celebrate the franchise's 25th anniversary. Higgins later wrote the story for the video game Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, also acting as the game's voice director and providing the voice of the Mastodon Sentry. He would later be replaced as head writer of the comic by Marguerite Bennett, Ryan Parrott and Melissa Flores.
Higgins' next short film, The Shadow Hours, premiered in August 2016. Starring Tom Riley and Britt Lower, the award-winning neo-noir follows twin private investigators born with a mysterious medical condition where only one of them can be awake at a time.[15]
In March 2017, Dynamite Entertainment announced a reboot of the Magnus, Robot Fighter franchise, written by Higgins with art by Jorge Fornés.[16] Although released to strong reviews,[17] the series was ultimately cancelled at issue 5. Higgins also reunited with his Gates of Gotham collaborator Trevor McCarthy for Nightwing: The New Order, an Elseworlds-style miniseries set in an alternate universe in which superpowers have been eliminated and outlawed. Despite initial fan criticism of the premise,[18] the series was ultimately well-received, with many reviewers comparing the book positively to Marvel's concurrent Secret Empire event.[19][20][21]
In early 2018, Higgins announced The Dead Hand, a creator-owned series for Image Comics with art by Stephen Mooney. A spy comic about a Cold War secret that returns to threaten the world, the series debuted in April 2018.[22]
In March 2020, it was announced that Higgins and Mat Groom would be writing a new Ultraman series, titled The Rise of Ultraman, with art by Michael Cho, Francesco Manna. The series began publication on September 9, 2020.[23] Later that year, it was announced that a sequel, The Trials of Ultraman, would begin publication in March 2021, with Higgins and Groom returning as writers and Manna returning as artist.[24] A third series, The Mystery of Ultraseven, was announced to begin publication in August 2022, with Higgins and Groom returning as writers and Davide Tinto serving as the artist.[25]
In November 2020, it was announced that Higgins was writing another creator-owned book for Image Comics entitled Radiant Black, with art by Marcelo Costa. The series officially began publication in February 2021.[26] The series would grow so popular, that it would expand into its own universe of books dubbed "The Massive-Verse". It all started with a one-shot crossover entitled Supermassive, written by Higgins, Ryan Parrott, and Mat Groom with art by Francesco Manna and Simone Ragazzoni. The comic served as a crossover between Radiant Black, Inferno Girl Red, and Rogue Sun, with the comic marking the first appearances of the latter two. The first of these new books to spawn out of this would be the title Rogue Sun written by Parrott and drawn by Abel, with its first issue releasing on March 2, 2022.[27] The first official spin-off of Radiant Black would release on March 9, 2022, entitled Radiant Red, with the miniseries written by Cherish Chen and art by David Lafuente.[28]
In April 2021, it was announced that Higgins would be writing Ordinary Gods for Image with Felipe Wantanabe providing artwork. The series began publication in July 2021.[29] In August 2021, it was announced that Joe Clark, music composer and long time friend of Higgins, would be joining as a permanent co-writer starting with issue 4.[30]
In May 2021, it was announced that Higgins would write a miniseries on Darkhawk for Marvel, with Juanan Ramirez serving as artist. The first issue debuted on August 25, 2021, with the fifth and final issue releasing on January 12, 2022.[31]
In July 2024, it was announced that Higgins was set to make his feature-length directorial debut with I Am No/One, a film adaption of the comic series No/One co-written and co-created by Higgins. He is also set to co-write the screenplay with No/One co-writer and co-creator Brain Buccellato, with the film set to be both a recap of the comic series and its companion podcast, Who is No/One?, while also serving as the final chapter in this multi-narrative experience.[32]
