Ann Nocenti writer/editor
Ann Nocenti grew up in a household that discouraged comic book reading,
though she still managed to get her hands on some Archie and Dick Tracy collected digests, however no superhero titles.
When she was studying in Suny New Paltz she became enamored with Robert Crumb’s work.
Her first run-in with superhero comics was answering an ad in the Village Voice and being hired by Dennis O’Neil to write for Marvel.
Her first work was in
Bizzare Adventures #32 in 1982.
Nocenti was then given the already failing
Spider-Woman title and wrote the last four issues, killing off Jessica Drew in the process, and even posed in a Tigra costume for the painted photo cover of issue 50.
She always regretted killing off the character and was soon involved in her resurrection,
getting consulting credits in Avengers 240 and 241.
She continued writing, but did double duty as Carl Pott’s assistant editor on titles like
The Hulk,
The Defenders,
Doctor Strange and
The Thing.
She created
Longshot with Arthur Adams with the character
Ricochet Rita being drawn to resemble her by Adams, and wrote the 8 issue Fallen Angels mini-series which expanded the New Mutants universe.
Then, after doing a fill-in issue of
Daredevil with Barry Windsor Smith,
Nocenti began a 4-year, 51-issue run on Daredevil.
Her run was noted for its realism and grittiness, dealing with real world problems like domestic abuse, child abuse, mental illness, nuclear war, and women’s rights all within the backdrop of superhero adventures.
Noted artist John Romita, Jr. joined Nocenti for 30 issues of
Daredevil, famously co-creating
Typhoid Mary and
Blackheart, Mephisto’s demon son.
She briefly moved over to DC’s Vertigo line to write a 16-issue Kid Eternity Run before returning to Marvel to write a
Typhoid mini-series and a mini-series starring
Nightmare, the Doctor Strange villain.
Nocenti then left the field of comics to pursue a career in journalism. She edited High Times Magazine for a year and had her writing published in numerous publications.
She returned to comics after DC’s New 52 re-launch, taking over writing chores on
Green Arrow from Dan Jurgens, and followed up scribing
Catwoman after Judd Winnick left.
She also launched the
Katana series tied into
Justice League America and
Green Arrow.