Eric Trautmann is a comic book writer, editor, and graphic designer. He splits his time between Raymond, Wa (where he resides) and Lacey, WA (where his wife runs the best comic shop ever).

ROLEPLAYING GAMES

For several years, Eric was a writer and editor (and very occasional graphic designer) for West End Games' acclaimed STAR WARS roleplaying game line (with forays into the company’s INDIANA JONES and NECROSCOPE lines).

After leaving dice-and-paper gaming behind, Eric then moved into videogames, an early recruit into Microsoft Game Studios' nascent entertainment licensing apparatus.

Recently, Eric contributed maps/floor plans to Catalyst Game Labs’ SHADOWRUN fantasy/cyberpunk line.

VIDEOGAMES

While at Microsoft, Eric wrote and edited in-game dialogue, story bibles, marketing materials, and original fictional content for the web.

Among the titles that Eric helped develop were the smash-hit HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED (including editing chores on the first three HALO novels for Ballantine / Del Rey, as well as writing THE ART OF HALO, also for Del Rey); CRIMSON SKIES (creating a strongly immersive in-universe website for the pulpy, two-fisted adventure setting; editing weekly serialized online pulp novellas; and editing and contributing to Del Rey's mass-market paperback fiction anthology based on the setting); MECHWARRIOR 4; and PERFECT DARK ZERO, acting as a story consultant to the property and helping to develop a fiction publishing program in support of the game.

In addition, Eric has consulted on videogame properties for EPIC (drafting a story bible for the GEARS OF WAR franchise), story development for Radical Entertainment, and delivering talks on the craft of writing in games to various publishers (notably, Blizzard Entertainment).

COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS

After leaving Microsoft, Eric wrote a six-issue miniseries for the PERFECT DARK franchise, (titled PERFECT DARK: JANUS’ TEARS), published by Prima Games, as well as editing and lettering an original graphic novel prequel to the hyperviolent videogame ARMY OF TWO, titled ARMY OF TWO: DIRTY MONEY (written by John Ney Rieber and illustrated by Brandon McKinney).

While developing PERFECT DARK ZERO’s novel program, he edited PERFECT DARK: INITIAL VECTOR and PERFECT DARK: SECOND FRONT, scribed by Greg Rucka (and published by TOR). The collaboration proved fruitful, and Eric was later invited to write a fill-in issue of Greg's DC Comics superhero/espionage title, CHECKMATE (which led to a half-year stint as co-writer on the title, ending his run with issue #25).

CHECKMATE in turn led to several other DC Comics projects (as both writer or co-writer), including FINAL CRISIS: RESIST, JSA VS KOBRA: ENGINES OF FAITH, THE SHIELD, THE MIGHTY CRUSADERS, ADVENTURE COMICS, and others.

Eric wrote the continuing adventures of classic sword-and-sorcery heroine, RED SONJA from issues #51 through #75 (at the time, the longest uninterrupted solo writing tenure in the character’s history), for Dynamite Entertainment.

In November 2010, Eric's debut issue of a revitalized VAMPIRELLA (also published by Dynamite Entertainment) was released to widespread critical praise and excellent sales (VAMPIRELLA #1 was the best selling non-premier publisher title for Diamond Comics Distribution in the month of its release).

On November 30, 2011, Eric once again launched a major title for Dynamite Entertainment: a new FLASH GORDON comic series developed with legendary artist Alex Ross and drawn by Daniel Indro.

A long-awaited original graphic novel, SHOOTERS, was released by DC/Vertigo on April 18, 2012. Written by Eric and frequent collaborator Brandon Jerwa, and illustrated by Eisner Award winner Steve Lieber (of WHITEOUT and ROAD TO PERDITION: SANCTUARY fame), SHOOTERS is a contemporary military drama following a soldier's exit from the Army and entry into the world of the private military contractor. The following April, SHOOTERS won a PRISM award for its accurate portrayal of PTSD.

At Emerald City Comicon 2013 in Seattle, WA, Trautmann and Jerwa launched their first creator-owner digital comic, FROST: ROGUE STATE, published by Monkeybrain Comics via the ComiXology platform. Frost returns them to the genre of military fiction, this time an action-thriller.

In August of 2013, Eric scripted a Western adventure miniseries featuring the character LADY RAWHIDE, a spinoff of the ZORRO property.

GRAPHIC DESIGN & MARKETING

In addition to writing comics, Eric is a graphic designer and marketing consultant, through his Fedora Monkey Studio, which offers (among other services) logo and branding design, intellectual property development, and viral marketing (such as the infamous "Montoya Journal" to promote the DC Comics' series THE QUESTION: THE FIVE BOOKS OF BLOOD.

Currently, Eric is the designer on the acclaimed Image Comics series LAZARUS, handling layout and design chores from the comic’s letter column to the creation of numerous signs, family crests, and other graphic elements featured in the book. Read Less