History Creator / ChristopherPriestComics

Currently, after a hiatus from comics (in order to become an ''actual'' Baptist minister), he has returned to write ''ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}'' for ComicBook/DCRebirth.

Christopher Priest, formerly Jim Owsley, is a (retired) comic book writer. He's famous mostly for things that have very little to do with his comics (namely, his race and various inter-office pissing contests), which is a shame, because as far as the people who read his work are concerned, he may have been one of the very best the industry ever saw.

His most famous works were ''ComicBook/{{Quantum And Woody}}'' (about two dysfunctional best friends turned superheroes), ''[[ComicBook/LukeCageHeroForHire Power Man]] And ComicBook/IronFist'' (about two dysfunctional superheroes turned best friends), ''ComicBook/TheRay'' (which was ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' ten years before Invincible, only with lots more TimeTravel and [[ThePlan Gambitting]]), and perhaps most famously, his ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'' relaunch, considered by many (if not most) fans to be the definitive take on Panther, and is largely credited with legitimizing the character beyond being "that black guy in the back of the Avengers team photos".

* AffirmativeActionLegacy: Played straight occasionally, but mostly played with. For example, (white) [[ButtMonkey Everett K.Ross]] is forced to briefly assume the mantle of the Black Panther.
* AllThereInTheManual: His website functions as this for a lot of his work that was either unfinished or changed on account of ExecutiveMeddling.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Lobo learns this the hard way with Ray.
* BlackBestFriend: Played with a lot in ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody, as Quantum is so ridiculously straight-laced and suburban that people are usually shocked to find out he's black under his costume.

* BettyAndVeronica: Done in TheRay, with Jenny as Betty and Black Canary as Veronica.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}}, even moreso than usual. To elaborate, in his first Deadpool story, Deadpool is admitted to a retirement community, in which all the other residents are the protagonists of other Priest titles which had been cancelled. They assure Deadpool that he'll be cancelled as well. Priest's run ends with Deadpool murdering Priest and throwing his body in a tar pit, accompanied by the cheers of all of Priest's old characters.
** The same run also included repeated references by both Deadpool and Loki along the lines of "None of this is really happening... there is a man... with a typerwriter."
* BreakingSpeech: Death Masque loves give these, but they come off kind of forced. Vandal Savage, on the other hand, is a pro.
* BrickJoke: Occasionally.

** For those wondering, Ray, essentially, has the combined powers of ComicBook/GreenLantern, ComicBook/TheFlash, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, ComicBook/CaptainAtom, and Comicbook/TheAtom, with a side order of illusion casting, invisibility, teleportation, and intangibility.
** Ray's complete control of light in all its forms is the reason he, basically, doesn't exist whenever there's a major GreenLantern-related problem. He can literally defeat all seven corps by himself without breaking a sweat.

* CharacterDevelopment: Turned Black Panther from the token black guy in the Avengers into, basically, Marvel's Batman, only smarter and cooler. And he did it without messing with continuity or throwing established character under the bus.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Oh my yes. On pretty much everything he worked on, but ESPECIALLY at DC. He's also been on the Executive side of this trope, and he'd be the first to admit he was occasionally as guilty of this as anyone.

* HappyDance: Ray does a memorable impersonation of James Brown, accompanied by hard-light constructs to facilitate Browns' "cloak" bit, across the Washington skyline after bedding Black Canary.
* HesBack: As of 2013, Priest is back for a "ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody" miniseries.

* NamesTheSame: This Christopher Priest is not the same person as [[Creator/ChristopherPriestNovelist the British novelist]] who wrote ''Film/ThePrestige''. It's partly to avoid confusion on this score that Owsley/Priest billed himself simply as "Priest" on some later works.
* NobleDemon: Much of the drama in later issues of TheRay comes from the question of whether Vandal Savage is this, pure evil, or an AntiVillain. [[spoiler: All of the above.]]
* NoHoldsBarredBeatDown: Triumph takes one so severe that it breaks his back. Kasper Cole takes on from Killmonger.

* ThePlan: Black Panther and most his enemies ''LOVE'' these. Vandal Savage in his DC work is as good as anybody. Triumph (from ''Justice League Task Force''), ''thinks'' he's good at these, and he's right... sometimes.

** Master Planner/Tuna Sandwhich.
** I was assigned to watch the Black Panther for four days.Four days. That was X years ago.

* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: Priest LOVES this trope.
** In ''ComicBook/TheCrew'', the Call knows where you live, and will show up there with a couple of dangerous renegade superheroes in tow.
** In ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'', the Call dresses up in a kitty suit and runs the most powerful country in the world. And will come and get you, even if you get reassigned to Antartica. Even if you'd rather stay in Antartica.
*** It was a really hard decision.
** In ''ComicBook/TheRay'', the Call knows where you live, and will lie to you about who you are, who your parents are, and which parents (fake or otherwise) are dead or alive. Also, there is another Call who not only knows where you live, but will threaten and/or murder your loved ones until you answer it. And that Call is [[TheCallsAreComingFromInsideTheHouse coming from inside the house]].
** In ''ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody'', the Call will force you to live within 12 hours of the person who annoys you most in the world, or else you die.
* TimeyWimeyBall: Both ''ComicBook/The Ray'' and ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'' had a lot of super-complicated time travel that ''mostly'' makes sense. Mostly.

** Ray visits one in outerspace. Lobo's in the bar. Cue LetsYouAndHimFight.

* WellDoneSonGuy: In ''ComicBook/TheRay''.
* WhatMightHaveBeen: Christopher Priest was in the running to helm the JLA relaunch before it went to Creator/GrantMorrison.
** This can be extended to Priest's whole career... had he burned one fewer bridge, or stayed in the industry one more year, or had one more artist that "got" him, he might be talked about in the same breath as Morrison, Moore, etc... instead, he's "that black guy who wrote Panther". Priest's never-realized run on a mainstream Justice League title might have been fantastic... his Martian Manhunter is often regarded as one of the best takes on the character, and pretty much everyone agrees that he did great things in his limited opportunities with Batman, Aquaman, etc.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Neron likes to pull this. It ALMOST works on Triumph.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Happens occasionally in Priest works. This possibility is brought up repeatedly with regards to Triumph, though it never reaches fruition under Priest. Creator/GrantMorrison eventually picked up the plot thread, though.

His work is known for non-linear storytelling, snark, meta-commentary, snark, deconstruction of the genre, snark, subtlety, snark, verbosity, snark, pith, snark, character driven plots, and snark. Or, if you prefer, AnachronicOrder, WorldOfSnark, LampshadeHanging, LeaningOnTheFourthWall, SarcasmMode, DeconstructiveParody, TheSnarkKnigh}, GettingCrapPastTheRadar, VitriolicBestBuds, WallOfText, DeadpanSnarker, WhamLine, SnarkToSnarkCombat, CharacterDevelopment, and BetterThanABareBulb.

His work is known for non-linear storytelling, snark, meta-commentary, snark, deconstruction of the genre, snark, subtlety, snark, verbosity, snark, pith, snark, character driven plots, and snark. Or, if you prefer, AnachronicOrder, WorldOfSnark, LampshadeHanging, LeaningOnTheFourthWall, SarcasmMode, DeconstructiveParody, TheSnarkKnigh}, GettingCrapPastTheRadar, VitriolicBest Buds, WallOfText, DeadpanSnarker, WhamLine, SnarkToSnarkCombat, CharacterDevelopment, and BetterThanABareBulb.

He also worked on ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'', ''ComicBook/{{Steel}}'', ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueTaskForce'', and other, less popular/successful characters and teams (including his doomed-from-the-starting-gate epic, ''Comicbook/TheCrew''.) He never really got a crack at writing Franchise/{{Batman}}, Franchise/{{Superman}}, or any other A-list character. Reports of how bitter (or not) he was over this vary. While a lot of his fans like to claim racism is responsible, Priest himself has always taken the high road, focusing more on just exactly how difficult it is to truly break through in the industry, particularly if your first or second project isn't an enormous success, and the tendency of DC and Marvel to give their flagship books to flagship talent.

** In TheCrew, the Call knows where you live, and will show up there with a couple of dangerous renegade superheroes in tow.

* WretchedHive: Little Mogadishu, from TheCrew.

* BlackBestFriend: Played with a lot in QuantumAndWoody, as Quantum is so ridiculously straight-laced and suburban that people are usually shocked to find out he's black under his costume.

* AffectionateParody: QuantumAndWoody is this to superhero comics in general.

** Gender flipped in QuantumAndWoody. Quantum was Betty, Woody was Veronica, and Amy Fishbein was Archie.

* GenreSavvy: Everett K. Ross, Woody, and Deadpool are all pros. Ray eventually gets pretty good at it. Savage is a master.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Happens occasionally in Priest works. This possibility is brought up repeatedly with regards to Triumph, though it never reaches fruition under Priest. GrantMorrison eventually picked up the plot thread, though.

His most famous works were ComicBook/{{Quantum And Woody}} (about two dysfunctional best friends turned superheroes), [[ComicBook/LukeCageHeroForHire Power Man]] And ComicBook/IronFist (about two dysfunctional superheroes turned best friends), ComicBook/TheRay (which was ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' ten years before Invincible, only with lots more TimeTravel and [[ThePlan Gambitting]]), and perhaps most famously, his ComicBook/BlackPanther relaunch, considered by many (if not most) fans to be the definitive take on Panther, and is largely credited with legitimizing the character beyond being "that black guy in the back of the Avengers team photos".

* DeathbyOriginStory: Occasionally, most famously with Quantum and Woody's fathers. Memorably played with and eventually averted in ''ComicBook/TheRay''.

** Most ''Black Panther'' stories, and a lot of the ''Justice League Task Force'' stuff. Quantum usually thinks this is going on, but he's never right.

* WhatMightHaveBeen: Priest's never-realized run on a mainstream Justice League title might have been fantastic... his Martian Manhunter is often regarded as one of the best takes on the character, and pretty much everyone agrees that he did great things in his limited opportunities with Batman, Aquaman, etc.

** This can be extended to Priest's whole career... had he burned one fewer bridge, or stayed in the industry one more year, or had one more artist that "got" him, he might be talked about in the same breath as Morrison, Moore, etc... instead, he's "that black guy who wrote Panther".

* DeathbyOriginStory: Occasionally, most famously with Quantum and Woody's fathers. Memorably played with and eventually averted in {{The Ray}}.

* DieHardOnAnX: Priest pitched, described, and wrote his Deadpool run as "{{Seinfeld}} with supervillains".

His most famous works were {{Quantum And Woody}} (about two dysfunctional best friends turned superheroes), [[LukeCage Power Man]] And IronFist (about two dysfunctional superheroes turned best friends), {{The Ray}} (which was ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' ten years before Invincible, only with lots more TimeTravel and [[ThePlan Gambitting]]), and perhaps most famously, his ComicBook/BlackPanther relaunch, considered by many (if not most) fans to be the definitive take on Panther, and is largely credited with legitimizing the character beyond being "that black guy in the back of the Avengers team photos".

He also worked on {{Deadpool}}, {{Steel}}, {{Justice League Task Force}}, and other, less popular/successful characters and teams (including his doomed-from-the-starting-gate epic, Comicbook/TheCrew.) He never really got a crack at writing Franchise/{{Batman}}, Franchise/{{Superman}}, or any other A-list character. Reports of how bitter (or not) he was over this vary. While a lot of his fans like to claim racism is responsible, Priest himself has always taken the high road, focusing more on just exactly how difficult it is to truly break through in the industry, particularly if your first or second project isn't an enormous success, and the tendency of DC and Marvel to give their flagship books to flagship talent.

He was a notorious victim and/or perpetrator of {{Executive Meddling}}.

His work is known for non-linear storytelling, snark, meta-commentary, snark, deconstruction of the genre, snark, subtlety, snark, verbosity, snark, pith, snark, character driven plots, and snark. Or, if you prefer, {{Anachronic Order}}, {{World of Snark}}, {{Lampshade Hanging}}, {{Leaning on the Fourth Wall}}, {{Sarcasm Mode}}, {{Deconstructive Parody}}, {{The Snark Knight}}, {{Getting Crap Past The Radar}}, {{Vitriolic Best Buds}}, {{Wall of Text}}, {{Deadpan Snarker}}, {{Wham Line}}, {{Snark to Snark Combat}}, {{Character Development}}, and {{Better Than a Bare Bulb}}.

* AngryBlackMan: Almost all of his works go to great lengths to avoid this, and it's frequently subverted, averted, and deconstructed. In the case of [[QuantumAndWoody Quantum]], it's averted, subverted, double-subverted, deconstructed, and then just generally beaten to death and fed to a goat.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: {{Deadpool}}, even moreso than usual. To elaborate, in his first Deadpool story, Deadpool is admitted to a retirement community, in which all the other residents are the protagonists of other Priest titles which had been cancelled. They assure Deadpool that he'll be cancelled as well. Priest's run ends with Deadpool murdering Priest and throwing his body in a tar pit, accompanied by the cheers of all of Priest's old characters.

** For those wondering, Ray, essentially, has the combined powers of GreenLantern, TheFlash, Wolverine, CaptainAtom, and TheAtom, with a side order of illusion casting, invisibility, teleportation, and intangibility.

*** Somebody finally realized this late in BlackestNight, where Ray single-handedly destroyed a whole bunch of Black Lanterns (which had otherwise been shown to be invincible to everything except the combined powers of other lanterns).

** Later writers made it even worse, particularly GrantMorrison, who implied that an unseen adventure into the microverse left Triumph with permanently reduced... powers.

* CuteAnimalMascot: H.A.E.D.U.S., short for Heavily Armored Espionage Deadly Uber Sheep. It's a goat in a cape and mask.

* FiveManBand: JusticeLeagueTaskForc

** Most Black Panther stories, and a lot of the Justice League Task Force stuff. Quantum usually thinks this is going on, but he's never right.
** TheCrew has a decently epic one, as well, although we never really get to see it play all the way out on account of the book being too good to last.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Successfully published a Justice League story in which WonderWoman gives Aquaman a BJ. The kicker? The last line of the scene is Aquaman muttering "[[HoYay I wish they'd sent J'onn]]". Nobody has ever topped that one at Marvel or DC.

* LetsYouAndHimFight: Uses this one a lot, particularly in ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'' and ''TheRay''. Ray is particularly guilty of it, as the first issue of his second series ends with him killing Superboy.

* MistakenForGay: [[QuantumAndWoody "We're not a couple!"]]

* PhlebotinumOverload: A constant concern in QuantumAndWoody. Comes up occasionally in {{The Ray}} as well.
* ThePlan: Black Panther and most his enemies ''LOVE'' these. Vandal Savage in his DC work is as good as anybody. Triumph (from Justice League Task Force), ''thinks'' he's good at these, and he's right... sometimes.
* PutOnABus: At one point, Queen Divine Justice literally puts TheIncredibleHulk on a bus to get him out of the story.

** In TheRay, the Call knows where you live, and will lie to you about who you are, who your parents are, and which parents (fake or otherwise) are dead or alive. Also, there is another Call who not only knows where you live, but will threaten and/or murder your loved ones until you answer it. And that Call is [[TheCallsAreComingFromInsideTheHouse coming from inside the house]].
** In QuantumAndWoody, the Call will force you to live within 12 hours of the person who annoys you most in the world, or else you die.
* TimeyWimeyBall: Both {{The Ray}} and ComicBook/BlackPanther had a lot of super-complicated time travel that ''mostly'' makes sense. Mostly.

* VitriolicBestBuds: PowerManAndIronFist, CaptainAmerica & Comicbook/TheFalcon, QuantumAndWoody, Quantum and the other Woody, Ray and Triumph, Deadpool and Constrictor... Priest likes this trope.

* WellDoneSonGuy: In {{The Ray}}.
* WhatMightHaveBeen: Christopher Priest was in the running to helm the JLA relaunch before it went to GrantMorrison.

His most famous works were {{Quantum And Woody}} (about two dysfunctional best friends turned superheroes), {{Power Man and Iron Fist}} (about two dysfunctional superheroes turned best friends), {{The Ray}} (which was ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' ten years before Invincible, only with lots more TimeTravel and [[ThePlan Gambitting]]), and perhaps most famously, his ComicBook/BlackPanther relaunch, considered by many (if not most) fans to be the definitive take on Panther, and is largely credited with legitimizing the character beyond being "that black guy in the back of the Avengers team photos".

He also worked on {{Deadpool}}, {{Steel}}, {{Justice League Task Force}}, and other, less popular/successful characters and teams (including his doomed-from-the-starting-gate epic, Comicbook/TheCrew. He never really got a crack at writing Franchise/{{Batman}}, Franchise/{{Superman}}, or any other A-list character. Reports of how bitter (or not) he was over this vary. While a lot of his fans like to claim racism is responsible, Priest himself has always taken the high road, focusing more on just exactly how difficult it is to truly break through in the industry, particularly if your first or second project isn't an enormous success, and the tendency of DC and Marvel to give their flagship books to flagship talent.

He also worked on {{Deadpool}}, {{Steel}}, {{Justice League Task Force}}, and other, less popular/successful characters and teams (including his doomed-from-the-starting-gate epic, {{The Crew}}. He never really got a crack at writing Franchise/{{Batman}}, Franchise/{{Superman}}, or any other A-list character. Reports of how bitter (or not) he was over this vary. While a lot of his fans like to claim racism is responsible, Priest himself has always taken the high road, focusing more on just exactly how difficult it is to truly break through in the industry, particularly if your first or second project isn't an enormous success, and the tendency of DC and Marvel to give their flagship books to flagship talent.

His most famous works were {{Quantum And Woody}} (about two dysfunctional best friends turned superheroes), {{Power Man and Iron Fist}} (about two dysfunctional superheroes turned best friends), {{The Ray}} (which was ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' ten years before Invincible, only with lots more TimeTravel and [[ThePlan Gambitting]]), and perhaps most famously, his {{Black Panther}} relaunch, considered by many (if not most) fans to be the definitive take on Panther, and is largely credited with legitimizing the character beyond being "that black guy in the back of the Avengers team photos".

* TimeyWimeyBall: Both {{The Ray}} and {{Black Panther}} had a lot of super-complicated time travel that ''mostly'' makes sense. Mostly.

----

* ManipulativeBastard: Oh boy. ComicBook/BlackPanther, Triumph, Vandal Savage, White Wolf, Achebe, Killmonger, Happy Terrill, Neron, Woody (but only to Quantum), WarMachine, Triage, Blackjack, Death Masque, Loki...

* HesBack: As of 2013, Priest is back for a "ComicBookQuantumAndWoody" miniseries.

* FiveManBand: JusticeLeagueTaskForce

* BetterThanABareBulb: Constantly, especially in QuantumAndWoody, {{Deadpool}}, and BlackPanther.

* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: Everett K. Ross is the narrator for most of the ''BlackPanther'' works, which have superhero Black Panther as the main character.
* FirstPersonSmartass: Ross from BlackPanther.

* FreakyFridayFlip: Happens in both QuantumAndWoody and BlackPanther.

* LampshadeHanging: Often, in everything, but especially in BlackPanther and QuantumAndWoody.

* LetsYouAndHimFight: Uses this one a lot, particularly in BlackPanther and TheRay. Ray is particularly guilty of it, as the first issue of his second series ends with him killing Superboy.
* ManipulativeBastard: Oh boy. BlackPanther, Triumph, Vandal Savage, White Wolf, Achebe, Killmonger, Happy Terrill, Neron, Woody (but only to Quantum), WarMachine, Triage, Blackjack, Death Masque, Loki...

* StealthParody: Did it to himself, scripting a QuantumAndWoody story that spoofed BlackPanther.

* TakeThatMe: Woody at one point reads, and eviscerates, an issue of BlackPanther.

** In BlackPanther, the Call dresses up in a kitty suit and runs the most powerful country in the world. And will come and get you, even if you get reassigned to Antartica. Even if you'd rather stay in Antartica.

He also worked on {{Deadpool}}, {{Steel}}, {{Justice League Task Force}}, and other, less popular/successful characters and teams (including his doomed-from-the-starting-gate epic, {{The Crew}}. He never really got a crack at writing {{Batman}}, {{Superman}}, or any other A-list character. Reports of how bitter (or not) he was over this vary. While a lot of his fans like to claim racism is responsible, Priest himself has always taken the high road, focusing more on just exactly how difficult it is to truly break through in the industry, particularly if your first or second project isn't an enormous success, and the tendency of DC and Marvel to give their flagship books to flagship talent.

* GambitPileup: Most Black Panther stories, and a lot of the Justice League Task Force stuff. Quantum usually thinks this is going on, but he's never right.
** TheCrew has a decently epic one, as well, although we never really get to see it play all the way out on account of the book being TooGoodToLast.

He also worked on {{Deadpool}}, {{Steel}}, {{Justice League Task Force}}, and other, less popular/successful characters and teams (including his [[TooGoodToLast doomed-from-the-starting-gate]] epic, {{The Crew}}. He never really got a crack at writing {{Batman}}, {{Superman}}, or any other A-list character. Reports of how bitter (or not) he was over this vary. While a lot of his fans like to claim racism is responsible, Priest himself has always taken the high road, focusing more on just exactly how difficult it is to truly break through in the industry, particularly if your first or second project isn't an enormous success, and the tendency of DC and Marvel to give their flagship books to flagship talent.

* NamesTheSame: This Christopher Priest is not the same person as the British novelist who wrote ''Film/ThePrestige''. It's partly to avoid confusion on this score that Owsley/Priest billed himself simply as "Priest" on some later works.

* NobleDemon: Much of the drama in later issues of TheRay comes from the question of whether Vandal Savage is this, a CompleteMonster, or an AntiVillain. [[Spoiler: All of the above.]]