Joss Whedon: From Fanboy to Box-Office Superhero

May 18, 2012

Now that Joss Whedon has conquered the universe with his box-office-record-breaking juggernaut The Avengers, it's instructive to look back at his career. Here is the story of a comic book fanboy who is living the dream. Whedon's path to the top of the blockbuster movie world follows a career arc, from screenwriter to television creator/director to comic book author to movie director, culminating with his The Avengers joining the elite "Billion Dollar Club" of films that have grossed over $1 billion. Linked titles are available at MCPL.

Televison and Film

• Roseanne (1989-1990) Television, screenwriter
• Parenthood (1990) Screenwriter, co-producer
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) Film, screenwriter
• The Getaway (1994) Film, screenwriter
• Speed (1994) Film, screenwriter
• Waterworld (1995) Film, screenwriter
• Toy Story (1995) Film, screenwriter
• Alien Resurrection (1997) Film, screenwriter
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) Television, screenwriter, director, producer
• Angel (1999-2004) Television, screenwriter, director, producer
• Titan A.E. (2000) Film, screenwriter
• Atlantis, the Lost Empire (2001) Film, screenwriter
• X-Men (2000) Film, screenwriter
• Firefly (2002) Television, screenwriter, director, producer
• Serenity (2005) Film, screenwriter, director, producer
• The Office (2007) Television, director of episodes "Business School" and "Branch Wars"
• Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008) Web, screenwriter, director, producer
• Dollhouse (2009-2010) Television, screenwriter, director, producer
• Glee (2010) Television, director of episode "Dream On"
• Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Film, screenwriter
• The Cabin in the Woods (2012) Film, screenwriter, producer

Comic Books (Thank you, slayalive.com user Rupert Giles!)

• Fray: 2001-2003 (#1-8)
• Tales Of The Slayers: 2002 (First Slayer, Righteous & Tales)
• Angel: Long Night's Journey (with Brett Matthews): 2002 (#1-4)
• Tales of The Vampires. Part I-VI: 2003-2004 (in Tales of the Vampires #1-5)
• Astonishing X-Men vol. 3: 2004-2008 (#1-24 & Giant Size Astonishing X-Men #1)
• X-Men: Teamwork: 2005 (in Giant Size X-Men #3)
• Serenity. Those Left Behind (with Brett Matthews): 2005 (#1-3)
• Some Steves: 2006 (in Stan Lee Meets The Amazing Spider-Man #1)
• Superman/Batman #26 (only pages 20-21): 2006 (with other 25 contributors)
• Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eight: 2007 (#1-5); 2008 (#10, 11, 16-19); 2009 (Willow: Goddesses and Monsters -one-shot-/Always Darkest -Myspace Dark Horse Presents #24-); 2010 (#31, 36-39 (with Scott Allie)); 2011 (#40).
• Angel After The Fall (with Brian Lynch): 2007-2009 (#1-17)
• Runaways vol. 2: 2007-2009 (#25-30)
• Serenity. Better Days (with Brett Matthews): 2008 (#1-3)
• Sugarshock: Don't Be a Viking: 2009 (Myspace Dark Horse Presents #1-3)
• Serenity. The Shepherd's Tale (with Zakk Whedon): 2010
• Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Nine (with Andrew Chambliss): 2011-

Still hoping for one more trip with the Browncoats,

Jeff D.
Grandview Branch

Image credit: "Joss Whedon" by Flickr user Gage Skidmore via Flickr's Creative Commons.