Ed Brubaker

"Forebush Man: "You did this? You killed Captain America?"

Ed Brubaker: "Do you mean did I write the best-selling comic of 2007? Yes, I did. Here, you wanna touch my Eisners, don't you?""

- Captain America: Who Won't Wield The Shield? #1

Ed Brubaker is an American comics writer who has plied his trade at both DC Comics and Marvel Comics, but ascended to superstar status at the latter. He got his start writing independent crime comics in the 1990s (earning an Eisner nomination for his debut in 1993, and more in 1999), before taking up in the Bat-books are DC around the turn of the Millennium. This notably included the launch of a new Catwoman title, and the acclaimed Gotham Central series focussing of the Gotham Police co-written with Greg Rucka. Around the same time, his work on DC's Wildstorm included the acclaimed Sleeper and twelve issues on The Authority.

In 2005, he migrated over to Marvel Comics to write Captain America, beginning a landmark run that has been hailed as the best ever on the title. Subsequent acclaimed work has included a stint on Daredevil, reviving Immortal Iron Fist with Matt Fraction, and the launch of the creator-owned books Criminal and Incognito. His time on X-Men was not as well-received. He has won the Best Writer Eisner Award three times (the third-most wins of any writer, behind Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman).

Tropes associated with Ed Brubaker:

 * Anti Hero: The protagonists of his various crime stories are either this or a Villain Protagonist; his superhero works occasionally skirt this, though less often than you might think.
 * Comics Noir: Probably the foremost practioner of marrying noir storytelling to superhero comics currently working.
 * Cool Hat
 * Darker and Edgier
 * Retcon: It's debatable whether he does this more than other writers, but he's become known for daring to challenge some fairly well-established history, most notably with the return of Bucky. Given how successful that story was, it would be a case of Tropes Are Not Bad.
 * Signature Style: For superheroes, street-level stories that incorporate espionage and noir elements, but also frequently techno-thriller stuff.
 * Oh, and his hat.