Scott Beatty

American writer
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Scott Beatty

Scott Beatty is an American author, comic book writer, and superhero historian actively published since the late 1990s. He is an alumnus of Juniata College and Iowa State University.

Biography

Scott Beatty (also credited as "Scott M. Beatty", "Scott Matthew Beatty", and "Scotty Beatty") has authored hundreds of adventures for many of comics' most iconic characters including Batman and Robin tales for DC Comics, as well as The Phantom, Buck Rogers, and Sherlock Holmes for Dynamite Entertainment.

Beatty has also contributed comic book stories to Antarctic Press, Crossgen Comics, Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing, and Marvel Entertainment.

With Chuck Dixon, Beatty co-wrote the critically acclaimed and bestselling Robin: Year One, Batgirl: Year One, Nightwing: Year One, and Joker: Last Laugh miniseries for DC. Beatty's and Dixon's Batgirl: Year One—the middle arc of their Batman "Sidekick Trifecta" at DC—was named Best Miniseries of 2003 by Wizard: The Comics Magazine and is considered the definitive Batgirl origin story. In 2009, Batgirl Year One was adapted into a nine-episode Motion Comic featuring animation voiceover actress Kate Higgins in the role of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl. It was later made available as a DVD alongside a Motion Comic of Batman Adventures: Mad Love featuring Harley Quinn. On its 20th anniversary, DC Comics will release an all-new softcover collection of Batgirl: Year One on September 26, 2023.

Beatty's "Regnum Defende"—a two-part *Year One* styled origin of Batman's valet Alfred Pennyworth as an agent of the British Secret Service—was one of the stories which inspired the recent Pennyworth streaming television series that lasted three seasons beginning on Hulu and concluding its run on HBOMax.

In addition to his comics work, Beatty has authored more than a dozen encyclopedic books about superheroes including DC Comics' Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Justice League of America, and Marvel's Avengers. Beatty's "Ultimate Guides" for UK publisher Dorling-Kindersley in the early 2000s defined the standard for all genre character and movie guidebooks to follow. Beatty's technically accurate The Batman Handbook, a literal guidebook on how to be the Dark Knight, was a top-selling title for Quirk Books.

Outside of comic books, Beatty has written G.I. Joe and Transformers animation for Hasbro, Inc.

Before he became a full-time freelance writer, Beatty launched ToyFare magazine as its founding Editor for Wizard Entertainment and guided it through its first two years of publication.

Beatty's novels have included prose adaptations of his own Sherlock Holmes: Year One (Dynamite), in addition to the young readers hardcover Batman: Scarecrow's Panic Plot (DC/Capstone) and Tron Uprising: The Junior Novel (Disney).

More recently, Beatty's Loot Crate exclusive Star Wars Adventures: Destroyer Down graphic novel was the top selling comic book of 2017 with nearly a half-million copies shipped to LC subscribers.

In his role as superhero and pop culture scholar, Beatty has appeared on E! Entertainment Television and Prism Films documentaries, and is a frequent guest on comic book, graphic novel, and superhero podcasts. He is frequently called upon to write introductions and essays for superhero books and collected editions. Beatty wrote the forewords for DC Comics' The Brave and the Bold – The Bronze Age Omnibus Volume 3 and Batman in the Silver Age Omnibus Volume 1.

On September 3, 2024, DC Comics will publish Beatty's Robin: Year One, Batgirl: Year One, and Nightwing: Year One in The Batman Family Year One Box Set, collecting all three popular graphic novels in a single set for the first time.

Animation

Beatty's animation writing credits include the following webisodes first aired on Hasbro internet sites, including "The Hub":

Hasbro Inc.

Bibliography

Beatty's writing credits include a variety of superhero encyclopedias, children's books, and young adult offerings:

Capstone

Chronicle Books

Disney Press

Dorling Kindersley

Dorling Kindersley Foreign Editions

Dynamite Entertainment

Insight Editions

Insight Editions Foreign Editions

Quirk Books

Comicography

Beatty's writing credits include hundreds of stories from the following publishers:

Antarctic Press

Beatty's writing credits for Antarctic Press include the following:

Crossgen Comics

Beatty's writing credits for Crossgeneration Comics include the following:

Crossgen Comics Collected Editions

Crossgen Comics Deutschland (German Language Reprints)

Dark Horse Comics

Beatty's writing credits for Dark Horse Comics include the following:

Dark Horse Comics Collected Editions

DC Comics

Beatty's solo and collaborate writing credits for DC Comics and its Wildstorm imprint include the following:

DC Comics Collected Editions

DC Comics Foreign Language Editions

Dynamite Entertainment

Beatty's writing credits for Dynamite Entertainment include the following:

Dynamite Entertainment Collected Editions

Dynamite Entertainment Foreign Language Editions

IDW Entertainment

Beatty's writing credits for IDW Entertainment include the following:

IDW Entertainment Collected Editions

Marvel Entertainment

Beatty's writing credits for Marvel Entertainment include the following:

Comic Book Character Creations

During his comic book career, Beatty has co-created the following characters listed A to Z with writing collaborators and artist co-creators noted in parentheses following each:

DC Comics Characters

STAR WARS Comic Book Characters & Concepts

References

  • Scott Beatty at the Grand Comics Database
  • Scott Beatty at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)

External links

Articles & interviews
Preceded by
Devin Grayson
 Batman: Gotham Knights writer
2002–2004 		Succeeded by
A.J. Lieberman
Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata
International
  • ISNI
  • VIAF
National
  • France
  • BnF data
  • Germany
  • United States
  • Czech Republic
  • Korea
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
Other
  • IdRef