Marguerite Bennett (born 1988) is an American comic book writer. She has worked on Bombshells, Angela, Josie and the Pussycats, and her creator-owned books InSeXts and Animosity. Her work has been recognized for her depiction of female relationships, and her representation of LGBTQ stories and characters earned nominations for a GLAAD Media Award in 2016 and 2017. She is one of the head writers for Ark: The Animated Series.
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Early life
Marguerite Bennett was born October 21, 1988, in Virginia, and graduated Maggie L. Walker Governor's School in 2006, the University of Mary Washington in 2010, and Sarah Lawrence College, completing a two-year MFA writing program, where her work included working on prose, including children's literature and horror and left with a "couple of finished novels and a collection of short stories".
Her first exposure to comics was through Batman: The Animated Series which she saw in daycare, aged around 6, and recalls it had a 1930s feel with Batman looking like a villain who "had been a bad guy and so was now catching other bad guys in order to be a good guy again" and for her, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy were her "favorite heroines."
As she grew up, she also drew on characters' depictions in video games and books she obtained through relatives and others and continued to dip in and out of comics while juggling academic study and other commitments as she grew up and moved into college. Bennett states she developed a deep appreciation from an early age of how text and art work together in comics and how they enable storytelling to take risks and developed powerful stories which leave "lasting impressions on readers".
She has stated that Batwoman is her favorite DC character, Quasimodo is her favorite literary character, Belle is her favorite Disney character, and The Fall is her favorite movie.
Career
While at Sarah Lawrence College, she took Scott Snyder's graphic novel writing course during her second semester in 2013. This led to her debut in comics, after being approached by Snyder to ask if she wanted to work with him on a Batman Annual. After completing this, while finishing her MFA and working two jobs, she continued to work with DC and wrote single issue stories for Lobo, Batgirl and Talon in 2013 and 2014. This led to being part of the writing team for the 26-issue weekly Earth 2: World's End, starting at the end of 2014, with Daniel H. Wilson and Mike Johnson, with art by Ardian Syaf, Danny Miki, and Jorge Jimenez.
At Marvel Comics, Bennett completed single stories in the Amazing X-Men Annual, the Death of Wolverine series, and Nightcrawler. Her first ongoing series was Angela: Asgard's Assassin in 2015, followed by two limited series starring the same character, one of which was in the 1602 Universe as part of the "Secret Wars" storyline. Also tying in with that story, Bennett wrote the five-issue limited series Years of Future Past with artist Mike Norton.
Bennett worked with writer G. Willow Wilson and artist Jorge Molina to launch A-Force in 2015, featuring Marvel's first all-female team of Avengers. Bennett said there was no validation or event as to how the women were in charge, but that "they were the best fit for these roles and demands of their world".
Back at DC, Bennett was a vocal fan of the DC Bombshells character designs – and following the positive reaction to the 2014 variant covers used across DC titles, she was approached by editor Jim Chadwick about the possibility of making a comic. The resulting series, DC Comics Bombshells, is set in an alternate history around World War II. Bennett explored traditional genres and mediums of the 1940s such as radio shows and propaganda films to provide a realistic history for the Bombshells franchise. Key to the characters is that none of the women are derived from a male version or counterpart and states that she wanted a cast representing the experiences of all women – "queer characters, women of color, women of different faiths, women of different nations, women of all ages and from all places in life" – but without overt or tokenistic labelling. Acknowledging the importance of these aspects, she explains that "We were able to complete this whole new world that wasn't just one thing because no woman is just one thing. So they each got to have a distinct voice, a distinct personality".
Creator-owned work
Bennett has also moved into creator-owned comics work. InSeXts was launched by Aftershock Comics in 2015 and saw Bennett collaborating with artist Ariela Kristantina. Building on a story she contributed to Rachel Deering's 2014 anthology In The Dark, Bennett describes it as erotic horror involving a pair of lovers, with insectoid transformations and body horror themes. It is set during Victorian times, a period she states she is preoccupied and fascinated with, albeit without a love of the period. The series is ongoing and has multiple arcs planned.
Bennett's second creator owned work, Animosity, launched in 2016. It explores the effects of animals gaining the intelligence of humans, centered on a young girl and a dog. This ongoing features art and colour by Rafael de Latorre, Juan Doe and Rob Schwager. An associated limited series, Animosity: The Rise started in early 2017 and with art by Juan Doe. A companion series, Animosity: Evolution launched in October 2017 with art by Eric Gapstur.
Personal life
Bennett came out as queer in June 2016, calling herself a "queer comic writer" on social media, and is described elsewhere as such, told Richmond Magazine she "grew up queer." She also told CBR that she had known she was "queer since I was a little kid." and called herself a "big lesbian lead writer" of Ark: The Animated Series on social media, in June 2022. She currently lives in Los Angeles.
Works
DC Comics
Batman Annual #2, 2013, with Scott Snyder and Wes Craig
Lobo: The Last Paycheck #23.2, with Ben Oliver and Cliff Richards
Superman: Lois Lane one-shot, 2013, with Emmanuella Lupacchino
Batgirl #25, 2014, with Fernando Pasarin and Jonathan Glapion
Batgirl #30, 2014, with Robert Gill
Batman: Joker's Daughter one-shot, 2014, with Meghan Hetrick and Michelle Stewart.
DC Comics: Bombshells #1–33 / Digital First #1–100, 2015–17, with Laura Braga, Ming Doyle, Marguerite Sauvage, Mirka Andolfo and Matias Bergara
American Vampire Anthology #2, 2016 (one story)
Batwoman vol. 3, #1–18, 2017–18, with James Tynion IV, Steve Epting, Jeromy Cox, et al.
RWBY #1–7, August 2019–20 with Mirka Andolfo (collaboration with Rooster Teeth)
Marvel Comics
Nightcrawler #7, 2014, with Chris Claremont, Todd Nauck and Rachelle Rosenberg
Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy #4, 2015, with Juan Doe
Angela: Asgard's Assassin #1–6, 2014–15, with Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans and Phil Jimenez
1602: Witch Hunter Angela #1–4 with Neil Gaiman, Kieron Gillen, Kody Chamberlain, Stephanie Hans, Frazer Irving, Irene Koh, Andy Kubert and Marguerite Sauvage
A-Force #1–6, 2015, with G. Willow Wilson and Jorge Molina
James Patterson's Max Ride – First Flight #1–5, 2015, with Stephanie Hans
X-Men: Years of Future Past #1–5, 2015, with Mike Norton
Angela: Queen of Hel #1–7, 2015–16, with Stephanie Hans and Kim Jacinto
Aftershock Comics
InSeXts #1-13, 2016–2017, with Ariela Kristantina, Bryan Valenza and Jessica Kholinne
Animosity #1-28, 2016–2020, with Rafael de Latorre and Rob Schwager
Animosity: The Rise #1–3, 2017, with Juan Doe
Animosity: Evolution #1-10, 2017–2019, with Eric Gapstur and Rob Schwager
Archie Comics
Josie and the Pussycats, #1-9, 2016–17, with Cameron DeOrdio and Audrey Mok
Dynamite
Swords of Sorrow: Red Sonja & Jungle Girl, #1–3, 2015, with Mirka Andolfo, Elisa Ferrari and Vincenzo Salvo
Red Sonja, (#1–6), 2016, with Aneke and Diego Galindo
Emet
Beauties one-shot, 2015, with Trungles
Other publishers
Into The Dark, 2013: contribution to anthology edited by Rachel Deering
Ghastly Tales, 2016: 3 short horror stories with art by Varga Tomi, published by A Wave Blue World
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, 2018-2019: Beyond the Grid arc in issues #31-39, published by Boom! Studios
The Lot, 2021: #1-4 with art by Renato Guedes, published by BAD IDEA
M.O.M.: Mother of Madness, 2021: #1-4 co-created and co-written with Emilia Clarke with art by Leila Leiz, published by Image Comics
Witchblade, 2024: #1-present