History Creator / ChristopherPriestComics

** Most of the cast of ''ComicBook/DeathstrokeRebirth'' are awful people at the very least, title character included.

In a neat bit of irony, when he returned to comics in 2016 to write ''ComicBook/DeathstrokeRebirth'', he ''was'' a flagship talent, even garnering an Eisner nomination. As a result, in 2017 DC made him the main writer for ''Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}'' until the ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueNoJustice'' anyway.

He also worked on ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'', ''ComicBook/{{Steel}}'', ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueTaskForce'', other books in the '90s Valiant universe (particularly the line's big crossover, ''Solar''), 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.

His most famous works are ''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".

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, TheSnarkKnight, GettingCrapPastTheRadar, VitriolicBestBuds, WallOfText, DeadpanSnarker, WhamLine, SnarkToSnarkCombat, CharacterDevelopment, and BetterThanABareBulb.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Successfully published a Justice League story in which Franchise/WonderWoman gives ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} a BJ. (Citation needed) 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.

Christopher James Priest (born James Christopher Owsleym June 30, 1961), is a 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 be one of the very best the industry has ever seen.

Christopher Priest, formerly Jim Owsley, is a 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 be one of the very best the industry has ever seen.

Currently, he's writing ''Deathstroke'' and ''Justice League'' for ComicBook/DCRebirth, as well as ''ComicBook/{{Inhumans}}: Once and Future Kings'' for Marvel.

* BetterThanABareBulb: Constantly, especially in ''ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody'', ''SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}}'', and ''ComicBook/BlackPanther''.

* 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.

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

* 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.

* BoringInvincibleHero: Priest gave Ray a really, really versatile and diverse power set, and avoided this problem by giving Ray problems that couldn't just be solved with a fight scene, and focusing on his inexperience and doubts. Part of the reason other writers very rarely use Ray, or conveniently forget half his powers, is because he's no longer inexperienced and it's hard to consistently come up with problems that can challenge somebody at Ray's power level.
** To elaborate: there's an alternate future where Ray turns kind of evil and ends up killing all of the other superheroes except Triumph and The Flash.
** For those wondering, Ray, essentially, has the combined powers of ComicBook/GreenLantern, Franchise/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 Franchise/GreenLantern-related problem. He can literally defeat all seven corps by himself without breaking a sweat.
*** Somebody finally realized this late in ComicBook/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).

** Triumph's journey was fascinating, and ultimately turned him into a very deep and relatable (still flawed) character...but the fans had labeled him TheScrappy long before that.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Successfully published a Justice League story in which Franchise/WonderWoman gives ComicBook/{{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.

He first came to fame as a writer and editor on ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' which he wrote and edited after Creator/RogerStern's run. He often clashed with regular writers like Tom Defalco and others but Creator/PeterDavid credits him for taking chances and encouraging more realistic stories, such as "The Death of Jean Dewolff". Priest also wrote the famous ''Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1'' one-shot which among things is known for featuring, controversially, a scene where Spider-Man breaks his no-kill rule and accidentally kills someone, as well as for being the first time that the caption at the end of ''Amazing Fantasy #15'' was mainlined into the pages, when Peter says that his Uncle told him "With Great Power ComesGreatResponsibility", which subsequently has become a permanent part of Spidey's mythos.

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

* 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.

* FemmeFatale: Malice. Tempest (the one from Ray, not the one from Quantum And Woody). Malice. Titania (spoiler: actually Copycat). Malice. Fang. Malice. Have we mentioned Malice yet?

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Marvel's Sentry is basically Triumph, minus all the flaws and conflicts that make Triumph interesting. This was apparently an improvement,as Sentry was a much, MUCH more popular character than Triumph.

In a neat bit of irony, when he returned to comics in 2016 to write ''ComicBook/DeathstrokeRebirth'', he *was* a flagship talent, even garnering an Eisner nomination. As a result, in 2017 DC made him the main writer for ''Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}'' until the ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueNoJustice'' anyway.

In a neat bit of irony, when he returned to comics in 2016 to write ''ComicBook/DeathstrokeRebirth'', he *was* a flagship talent, even garnering an Eisner nomination. As a result, in 2017 DC made him the main writer for ''Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}''.

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.

Christopher Priest, formerly Jim Owsley, is a 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 has ever seen.

In a little bit if irony, once Priest returned to comics in 2016 to write ''ComicBook/DeathstrokeRebirth'', he *was* a flagship talent, even garnering an Eisner nomination. So in 2017, DC actually made him the main writer for ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague''.

He was a notorious victim and/or perpetrator of ExecutiveMeddling.

Currently, after a hiatus from comics, he has returned to write ''ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}'' for ComicBook/DCRebirth, as well as ''ComicBook/{{Inhumans}}: Once and Future Kings'' for Marvel. In 2018, he will be the main writer for ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague''.

Currently, after a hiatus from comics, he has returned to write ''ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}'' for ComicBook/DCRebirth.