Lowell Cunningham
{{short description|American comic book writer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Lowell Cunningham
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| birth_date =c. {{Birth based on age as of date|38|1997|7|3}}
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| occupation = Writer, comic book author
| nationality = American
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| genre = Science fiction, action
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| notableworks = The Men in Black
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Lowell Cunningham (born c. 1958/1959) is an American comic book author. He is best known for creating the comic book The Men in Black, which later became the basis for a media franchise.{{gcdb|type=writer|search=Lowell+Cunningham|title=Lowell Cunningham}}
Early life
Lowell Cunningham was raised in Franklin, Tennessee, the son of farmers Ralph and Ruby Cunningham, the latter of whom was also an office worker for the state government. A fan of science-fiction and espionage fiction spy-fiction TV shows in his youth, he went on to a bachelor's degree in philosophy from The University of Tennessee{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/03/garden/men-in-black-come-from-his-galaxy.html|title=Men in Black Come From His Galaxy|first=Rick|last=Bragg|date=July 3, 1997|work=The New York Times|accessdate=June 16, 2019|quote=Mr. Cunningham, 38...}} in 1985.{{cite web|url= https://alumni.utk.edu/s/1341/alumni/interior_alumni.aspx?pgid=7733&gid=2&cid=11485|title=Notable Alumni|publisher= The University of Tennessee Knoxville|accessdate=June 16, 2019}}
Career
Following college, Cunningham worked for nearly three years in the circulation department of the Knox County Library in Knoxville, Tennessee.{{cite news|url= http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/education/men-in-black-creator-says-love-of-reading-preceded-his-success-ep-411594309-359884641.html/|title='Men in Black' creator says love of reading preceded his success|first=Terry|last= Morrow|work=Knoxville News Sentinel|location=Tennessee|date=May 27, 2008|accessdate=June 16, 2019|archivedate= June 16, 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616185039/http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/education/men-in-black-creator-says-love-of-reading-preceded-his-success-ep-411594309-359884641.html/|url-status=live}} After his 1990 comic-book series The Men in Black from Aircel Comics finished its run, Cunningham worked as a factory security guard. When his comic became the basis for the 1997 film Men in Black, Cunningham earned what he said in an interview that year was an initial "six-figure sum. In the low six figures. I've been living off it for five years."
This launched a media franchise that has included the sequels Men in Black II (2002) and Men in Black 3 (2012), a 2019 spin-off Men in Black: International, and an animated television program, Men in Black: The Series, which ran from October 1997 to June 2001. Cunningham went on to co-write four Star Wars parody short films with director John E. Hudgens, released from 2000 to 2005, and in 2012 returned to comics with About Comics' Jack Ooze, starring a district attorney turned semi-liquid superhero.{{cite news| url= http://newsok.com/article/3792548| title='Men in Black' creator returns with 'Jack Ooze'| first=Matthew|last= Price |date=July 10, 2012|accessdate= May 20, 2016|work=The Oklahoman | location=Oklahoma City, Oklahoma}}{{cite web| url= http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=38138 | title=Digital Comics Resources: The End of Comics As We Know It - or Not| first=Brigid |last=Alverson| date= April 13, 2012|accessdate= May 20, 2016| publisher=ComicBookResources.com | archivedate=September 7, 2015 | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907050833/http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=38138 | url-status=live}}
Personal life
As of 2008, Cunningham lived in West Knoxville, Tennessee.
Bibliography
=Comics=
Comics work includes:
- The Men in Black (with Sandy Carruthers, three-issue miniseries, Aircel Comics, January–March 1990, trade paperback, June 1990, {{ISBN|0944735606}})
- Alien Nation: The Skin Trade (with Leonard Kirk, four-issue miniseries, Malibu Comics, March–June 1991)
- The Men in Black Book II (with Sandy Carruthers & Scott Dutton, three-issue miniseries, Aircel Comics, May–July 1991)
- Alien Nation: The Public Enemy (with Sandy Carruthers, three-issue miniseries, Malibu Comics, Dec. 1991 - March 1992)
- Men In Black: Far Cry (with Dietrich Smith, one-shot, Marvel Comics, Aug. 1997)
- Men in Black: Movie Adaptation (with Rod Whigham, one-shot, Marvel Comics, Oct. 1997)
- Men In Black: Retribution (with Rod Whigham, one-shot, Marvel Comics, Dec. 1997)
- Jack Ooze (About Comics, 2012)
=Short films=
Star Wars parodies with John Hudgens include:
- Crazy Watto (2000)
- Darth Vader's Psychic Hotline (April 2002)
- The Jedi Hunter (August 2002)
- Sith Apprentice (March 2005)
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0192384}}
- {{Comicbookdb|type=creator|id=1363|title=Lowell Cunningham}}
- {{cite news|url=http://jamiecoville.com/blog/blog/tag/lowell-cunningham/|title=Sandy Carruthers Interview [Men in Black comic-book artist]|date=February 2006|first=Jamie|last=Coville|work=Collector Times|accessdate=June 16, 2019|archivedate=June 16, 2019|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20190616185505/http://jamiecoville.com/blog/blog/tag/lowell-cunningham/|url-status=live}}
{{Men in Black}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Lowell}}
Category:American comics writers