Brian K. Vaughan

Brian K. Vaughan (; born July 17, 1976) is an American writer and producer. He is best known for the comic book series Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways, Pride of Baghdad, Saga, and Paper Girls.

Vaughan was a writer, story editor, and producer of the television series Lost during seasons three through five. He was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the Writers Guild of America Awards 2008 for his work on the fourth season. The writing staff was nominated for the award again at the Writers Guild of America Awards 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. He was formerly the showrunner and executive producer of the television series Under the Dome (2013– 15) and co-wrote the screenplay of the film Dune: Part Three (2026).

Wired describes Vaughan's comics work as "quirky, acclaimed stories that don't pander and still pound pulses". His creator-owned comics work is also characterized by "finite, meticulous, years-long story arcs", on which Vaughan comments, "That's storytelling, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Something like Spider-Man, a book that never has a third act, that seems crazy." In 2007, Erik Malinowski, also of Wired, called Vaughan "the greatest comic book visionary of the last five years", comparing him to Frank Miller, Alan Moore, Paul Pope, and Steve Niles, and praised his addition to the TV series Lost as redeeming that series' third season.

For his writing, Vaughan has won 14 Eisner Awards, 15 Harvey Awards, and two Hugo Awards.

Early life Brian K. Vaughan was born July 17, 1976 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Geoffrey and Catherine Vaughan. He grew up in Rocky River and Westlake. Before beginning his career in comics, Vaughan worked as an auxiliary police officer, a live-in dog butler, and a psychiatric ward employee.

Vaughan and his older brother are both fans of writer Peter David, and according to Vaughan, their adolescent comics reading was largely defined by a shared love of David's 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk. Vaughan also cites Joss Whedon as the reason he wanted to become a writer, a decision he made while attending St. Ignatius High School, from which he graduated in 1994.

Career Vaughan's first credit was for Marvel Comics' Tales from the Age of Apocalypse #2 (December 1996). He would eventually write for some of the highest-profile characters at Marvel, including the X-Men, Spider-Man, and Captain America. He would also write Batman and Green Lantern for DC Comics, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight for Dark Horse Comics. wrote the creator-owned monthly series Y: The Last Man, a post-apocalyptic science fiction series about the only man to survive the apparent simultaneous death of every male mammal on Earth. The series was published in sixty issues by Vertigo and collected in a series of ten paperback volumes (and later a series of five hardcover "Deluxe" volumes). The series received Eisner Awards in 2005 and 2008, and numerous other nominations. The film rights to the series were acquired by New Line Cinema. Vaughan wrote his own screenplay for the project,

In 2006, Vaughan published the graphic novel Pride of Baghdad, which centers on a group of lions who escape from an Iraqi zoo after the start of the Iraq War. who named it the Best Original Graphic Novel of 2006, calling it a "modern classic", lauding it for combining a tale of survival and family with a powerful analogy of war, and praising Vaughan for representing various viewpoints through the different lion characters.

From 2004 to 2010 Vaughan wrote another creator-owned series, Ex Machina, a political thriller that depicts the life of Mitchell Hundred, a former superhero known as the Great Machine who, in the wake of his heroism during the September 11, 2001 attacks, is elected Mayor of New York City. The story is set during Hundred's term in office, and interwoven with flashbacks to his past as the Great Machine. Through this, the series explores both the political situations Hundred finds himself in, and the mysteries surrounding his superpowers. New Line Cinema purchased the film rights to the series in July 2005, and commissioned Vaughan to write one of the two commissioned scripts, which he was reported to be working on in 2007.

Vaughan was a writer, executive story editor and producer for seasons 3 to 5 on the ABC TV series Lost, a job he earned on the basis of his work on Y: The Last Man, Vaughan was the showrunner and executive producer of the series.

On March 14, 2012, Image Comics published the first issue of Vaughan and Fiona Staples' epic space opera/fantasy series Saga, which he conceived to be a concept strictly relegated to comics, and not adapted to other media. Although Vaughan was a child when he first conceived of the ideas for the book – which owes its inspiration to Star Wars – it was not until his wife became pregnant with his second child that he began to write the series, which harbors parenthood as an underlying theme. The series depicts two aliens from warring races trying to survive with their newborn daughter. and represents the first time he has employed first-person narration in his comics writing. The series has received positive reviews from MTV, Ain't it Cool News, Comic Book Resources, IGN, Publishers Weekly and Time magazine. won three 2013 Eisner Awards, won a Hugo Award and was nominated for seven Harvey Awards.

In March 2013, Vaughan published the first issue of The Private Eye with artist Marcos Martín on Panel Syndicate, a pay-what-you-want host for their creative efforts. Panel Syndicate offers DRM-free comics available for purchase/download for whatever price readers wish to pay. Through Panel Syndicate, Vaughan and Martin published 10 issues of The Private Eye and released the first issue of Barrier in late 2015.

At the Image Expo in January 2015, it was announced that Vaughan would release two new books through Image Comics in 2015: Paper Girls with Cliff Chiang and Matthew Wilson, and We Stand On Guard with Steve Skroce.

Personal life Vaughan and his wife, a native of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and playwright, live in Los Angeles. Hamburger has also appeared in an illustration of Vaughan and Fiona Staples that was included in a 2013 Time magazine story on Saga. Best Writer Y: The Last Man, Runaways, Ex Machina

Best Single Issue or One-Shot Ex Machina #1: "The Pilot" (with Tony Harris, and Tom Feister)

Best Serialized Story Ex Machina #2-5: "State of Emergency" (with Tony Harris, and Tom Feister)

Best Serialized Story Y: The Last Man #18-20: "Safeword" (with Pia Guerra and José Marzan Jr.)

Best Continuing Series Y: The Last Man (with Pia Guerra and José Marzan Jr.)

Best Single Issue or One-Shot Ex Machina #11: "Fortune Favors" (with Tony Harris, and Tom Feister)

Best Serialized Story Ex Machina #12–14: "Fact v. Fiction" (with Tony Harris and Tom Feister)

Best Serialized Story Y: The Last Man #37–39: "Paper Dolls" (with Pia Guerra, Goran Sudžuka, and José Marzan Jr.)

Best Continuing Series Ex Machina (with Tony Harris, and Tom Feister)

Best Writer Ex Machina, Y: The Last Man and Runaways

Harvey Awards Best Continuing Series or Limited Series Runaways

Joe Shuster Awards Outstanding International Creator

Best Single Issue or Story Pride of Baghdad (with Niko Henrichon)

Best Writer Y: The Last Man

Best Graphic Album of Original Work Pride of Baghdad (with Niko Henrichon)

Joe Shuster Awards Outstanding International Creator Award

Wired Rave Awards Print: The Storyteller

Best Continuing Series Y: The Last Man (with Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan, Jr.)

Best New Series Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight (with Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty and Andy Owens)

Best Writer Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Ex Machina, and Y: The Last Man

Harvey Awards Best Writer Y: The Last Man

Hugo Awards Best Graphic Story Y: The Last Man, Volume 10: Whys and Wherefores

Harvey Awards Best Single Issue or Story Y: The Last Man #60 (with Pia Guerra)

Hugo Award Best Graphic Story

Best Writer

Best New Series

Best Continuing Series

Best Writer

Best New Series

Best Continuing Series or Limited Series

British Fantasy Award Best Comic/Graphic Novel

Hugo Awards Best Graphic Story

Best Writer

Best Continuing Series

Best Writer

Best Continuing or Limited Series

Hugo Awards Best Graphic Story Saga, Volume 2 (with Fiona Staples)

Best Writer

Best Continuing Series

Best Limited Series

Best Digital Comic/Webcomic

Best Writer

Best Continuing or Limited Series

Best Online Comics Work The Private Eye (with Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente)

Eisner Awards Best New Series

Best New Series

Best Writer

Best Continuing or Limited Series

Best Graphic Story Saga, Volume 6 (with Fiona Staples)

Best Graphic Story Paper Girls, Volume 1 (with Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson, and Jared Fletcher)

Best Writer Paper Girls, Saga, We Stand On Guard

Best Continuing Series Saga (with Fiona Staples)

Best Graphic Story Saga, Volume 7 (with Fiona Staples)

Best Graphic Story Paper Girls, Volume 3 (with Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson, and Jared Fletcher)

Eisner Awards Best Digital Comic Barrier (with Marcos Martin)

Harvey Award Digital Book of the Year Barrier (with Marcos Martin)

Best Graphic Story Saga, Volume 8 (with Fiona Staples)

Best Graphic Story Paper Girls, Volume 4 (with Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson, and Jared Fletcher)

2020 Hugo Awards Best Graphic Story Paper Girls, Volume 6 (with Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson, and Jared Fletcher)

2023 Hugo Awards Best Graphic Story Saga, Volume 10 (with Fiona Staples)

2024 Hugo Awards Best Graphic Story Saga, Volume 11 (with Fiona Staples)