Nocenti is noted for her outspoken political views, including but not limited to animal rights and alcoholism, which characterized her run on Daredevil.[3]
Early life
When Ann Nocenti was a child, her parents frowned upon comics, though there were some in her house, including Archie Comics, a Pogo anthology that Nocenti loved, and a Dick Tracy anthology whose grotesquely-rendered characters piqued Nocenti's curiosity, more so than the heroes.[4] Nocenti attended college at SUNY New Paltz,[5] during which she discovered the work of Robert Crumb.[4]
Career
Comics
After graduating from SUNY New Paltz,[5] she discovered the superhero genre when she answered an ad in the Village Voice, which led to her being given her first published comics job at Marvel Comics by editor Dennis O'Neil.[4] Nocenti made her comics writing debut with a six-page mythological story, drawn by Greg LaRocque, in the Marvel anthology Bizarre Adventures #32 (August 1982).[6] She got her first regular comics assignment with Marvel's superhero series Spider-Woman, starting with issue #47 (December 1982). It was not a promising assignment; Marvel had already decided to end the series with issue #50 (June 1983) due to flagging sales.[7] With heavy guidance from editor Mark Gruenwald (who had himself written the series for a time), Nocenti ended the series with the death of the titular character, a decision she came to regret. She recalled, "It was before I understood the intense, personal attachment the readers have to the characters. In retrospect, I realized it wasn't a nice thing to kill a character off. As I worked in the field for a while, I developed a strong personal attachment to a lot of characters and I realized how alive they were."[7] Shortly after, Nocenti lent a hand to Spider-Woman's resurrection in Avengers #240–241 as "story consultant".
Nocenti with Whilce Portacio and Arthur Adams at the 2015 East Coast Comicon, during the 30th anniversary year of their collaboration on Longshot, and the first time they had appeared in public together since publication of that miniseries
Nocenti and artist Arthur Adams created the character Longshot in a titular, six-issue miniseries (September 1985 – February 1986).[6][10] Explaining the concept of the character, which Nocenti borrowed from existentialist writers, she states, "Longshot is the idea of stripping someone of everything that they are. I never read comics, so the idea of a hero to me was different. I couldn't think of it in terms of a 'super hero' hero. I thought of it more as a conceptual hero. Not having a comic book background, I tend to come up with the metaphysics before I come up with the characters. I knew that I wanted to deal with the metaphysics of luck. It was a concept that interested me ... what luck is, what probability is, how you could shift probabilities towards yourself. What are the repercussions of that? So, I did a character centered around that idea.[11] At the time, Nocenti was pursuing her Master's degree at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, working at the magazine Lies of Our Times, and reading the work of writers such as Marshall McLuhan, Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman and Walter Lippmann. Longshot's archvillain, Mojo, a slaver and dictator who rules his dimension through the television programs he produces, was created as a direct result of these influences. A character named Manufactured Consent after the Chomsky book of the same name, who appeared in the Nocenti's 1990 book The New Mutants Summer Special in 1990, was also born of these works.[4]
After collaborating with Adams on the Spider-Man feature in Web of Spider-Man Annual #2 (September 1986), and with pencilerMike Mignola on a short backup story there, Nocenti teamed with artist Barry Windsor-Smith on Daredevil #236 (November 1986). Two issues later, she became the regular writer for a four-and-a-quarter year run from #238–291 (January 1987 – April 1991), minus issues #246 and #258. John Romita Jr. joined as penciler from #250–282 (January 1988 – July 1990), and was generally inked by Al Williamson. Nocenti specifically addressed societal issues, with Murdock, now running a non-profit urban legal center, confronting sexism, racism, and nuclear proliferation while fighting supervillains. Nocenti introduced the popular antagonistTyphoid Mary in issue #254 (May 1988).[12] as well as the demon Blackheart in #270 (September 1989).[13]
In Marvel Comics Presents #150 (1994), Nocenti introduced Jessie Drake, a teenaged mutant, who revealed in issue #151 that she was transgender, marking Marvel's first transgender mutant, and hero. After a 25-year absence, the character reappeared in Marvel's Voices: Pride #1, which Marvel published in June 2021 as part of Pride Month.[14][15]
For the DC ComicsimprintVertigo, Nocenti wrote the 16-issue run of Kid Eternity (May 1993 – September 1994). Later in the mid-1990s, for Marvel, she wrote a four-issue miniseries each starring Typhoid Mary and the supernatural supervillain Nightmare. After writing two issues of Marvel's The All New Exiles in 1996, plus the four-page dramatic story "Old Man", with artist Bolton, in the Dark Horse Comics anthology Strange Wink #3 (May 1998),[6] Nocenti left comics to pursue journalism. She returned briefly, in 2003 and 2004, writing four Batman stories for DC.
Nocenti was among the writers for Daredevil #500 published in August 2009.[16]
Nocenti wrote Green Arrow starting with issue #7 published in March 2012.[17][18] In September 2012, Nocenti became the writer of Catwoman with issue #0.[19][20] She launched a Katana series the following February.[21][22]
Nocenti's story "The Most Expensive Road Trip in the World" was collected in The Best American Travel Writing 2008, edited by Anthony Bourdain (Houghton Miifflin). She was an editor and writer for Stop Smiling, guest editing the "Gambling Issue". As editor of the screenwriting magazine Scenario,[24] Nocenti published the original versions of screenplays and interviewed directors and screenwriters.[citation needed]
In 2009, Nocenti taught screenplay writing at the Ciné Institute in Haiti[24] and in 2012 wrote a series for HiLobrow about the country.[27]
Nocenti made a short documentary film with Wendy Johnson called Disarming Falcons in 2014 which premiered at DOCNYC.[28][29]
In 2016 she was one of the producers and writers on MAGIC CITY: The Art of the Street, for SC Exhibitions in Dresden, Germany.[30] In 2018 she was an executive producer on MARVEL: Universe of Super-Heroes at MoPOP museum in Seattle, Washington.[31] In 2018 she wrote The Seeds (with artist David Aja) and in 2019 she wrote Ruby Falls (with artist Flavia Biondi), both for Karen Berger's new comic imprint Berger Books at Dark Horse Comics.[32][33][34]
Nocenti appears in The Avengers #215 (Jan. 1982) as a secretary at an advertising agency that Steve Rogers visits looking for work.
Nocenti, along with John Byrne, Ron Wilson, Jim Shooter and Roger Stern are featured in The Thing # 7 (January 1983). The issue features the titular character storming into a fictionalized Marvel Comics and encountering the creators behind his own strip.
Nocenti makes a cameo appearance in The Incredible Hulk #291 (January 1984). At the time Nocenti was assistant editor to Larry Hama on The Incredible Hulk and X-Men. She also appeared in a spoof comic strip in 1984's The Defenders #127.
Arthur Adams visually based the character Ricochet Rita in the Longshot limited series on Nocenti.[36]
In Ultimate X-Men, a re-imagination of the X-Men in the alternate universeUltimate Marvel imprint, the superhero Longshot has the civilian name Arthur Centino — his last name an anagram of "Nocenti" and his first name an homage to artist Arthur Adams, the original character's co-creators.[37]
Spider-Woman #47–50 (with Brian Postman, 1982–1983)
The Defenders #127: "Dreams of Glory" (with Marie Severin, humorous two-page story for Assistant Editors' Month starring Nocenti herself, 1984)
The Avengers #240–241 (as "story consultant"; written by Roger Stern, drawn by Al Milgrom, 1984) collected in The Avengers: Absolute Vision Book One (tpb, 432 pages, 2013, ISBN0-7851-8534-8)
What If...? vol. 2 #40: "What If Storm Stayed a Thief?" (with Steve Carr and Deryl Skelton, anthology, 1992) collected in X-Men: Alterniverse Visions (tpb, 144 pages, 1995, ISBN0-7851-0194-2)
Elektra #100: "Twisters" (with Sid Kotian, co-feature, 2022) collected in Daredevil: To Heaven Through Hell Volume 4 (hc, 232 pages, 2023, ISBN1-3029-5005-3)
Daredevil vol. 8 #2: "The Hand" (with Chip Zdarsky, co-feature, 2022) collected in Daredevil and Elektra: The Red Fist Saga Part One (tpb, 120 pages, 2023, ISBN1-30292-611-X)
Raw Periphery #1: "Jezebel's Virtue" (with James Romberger, an excerpt from the eponymous unreleased project intended for publication at Vertigo;[38][39] anthology, Slave Labor Graphics, 1997)
^ abcJohnson, Dan (August 2006). "Marvel's Dark Angel: Back Issue Gets Caught in Spider-Woman's Web". Back Issue!. No. 17. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. pp. 57–63.
^"Bullpen Bulletins," Marvel comics cover-dated February 1984.
^DeFalco, Tom; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "1980s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 222. ISBN978-0756641238. Ann Nocenti wanted to introduce a character who was a clean slate. One with no history, no past, and no prejudices. A man without a memory. With Arthur Adams and Whilce Portacio providing the art, Nocenti wrote the six-issue limited series Longshot.((cite book)): |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Ringgenberg, Steve (August 1985). Marvel Age #29. p. 13–15.
^DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 237: "Mary was first introduced in Daredevil #254 by Ann Nocenti and artist John Romita Jr."
^Manning, Matthew K.; Dougall, Alastair, ed. (2014). "2010s". Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 330. ISBN978-1465424563. Catwoman received a new origin in this flashback issue by writer Ann Nocenti and artist Adriana Melo.((cite book)): |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ abJohnston, Rich (November 14, 2011). "Ann Nocenti On Occupy Wall Street". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on August 18, 2012. Nocenti spent her downtime from the industry over the past decade working in decidedly more political realms, including doing work for MoveOn.org and for The Nation.
^ abc"Ciné Institute: Our Teacher — Annie Nocenti". Ciné Institute. n.d. Archived from the original on April 18, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2009. Annie Nocenti is a filmmaker and screenwriter. She was the Editor of Scenario, the magazine of screenwriting art. She has most recently shot two documentaries in Pakistan, The Baluch about the Baluch insurgency and Disarming Falcons about the ancient art of falconry.
^Khoury, George; Nolen-Weathington, Eric (2006). Modern Masters, Vol. 6: Arthur Adams. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 23. ISBN978-1893905542. The character, Rita...was based visually on the story's writer, Ann Nocenti.
^Cronin, Brian (August 18, 2005). "Comics Should Be Good". Comics Should Be Good. Archived from the original on May 7, 2006. Retrieved August 24, 2013. Centino is an anagram of...you guessed it, Longshot's OTHER creator, Ann Nocenti.
