John Ostrander

"It's a myth... It's not science fiction."

- John Ostrander on Star Wars

John Ostrander is a prolific comic book author who has written several titles set in the Star Wars universe, often with Jan Duursema as his artist.

Ostrander is currently the writer on Star Wars: Legacy for Dark Horse Comics. He also contributed greatly to Star Wars: Republic series, and many of his story arcs, such as "Twilight", "Darkness", and "The Clone Wars" stories, are available in trade paperbacks. He is also working on a new Dark Horse project titled Star Wars: Vector. He was considered as a writer for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but not hired because the producer wanted writers with experience in TV animation. Ostrander would have written an episode involving Quinlan Vos.

Biography
Originally an actor in a Chicago theatre company, he moved into writing comics in 1983. His first published works were stories about "Sargon, Mistress of War" published in the First Comics series "Warp", based on a series of plays by that same Chicago theatre company. He is co-creator of the character GrimJack with Timothy Truman, published originally as a back up story in the First Comics title, Starslayer, before going on to appear in a comic of the same name, again published by First Comics in the mid 1980s. First Comics ceased publication in 1991, and Ostrander went on to work at other comics companies.

Prior to his career in comic books, Ostrander studied theology with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest. His in-depth explorations of morality were later used in his work writing The Spectre, a DC Comics series about the manifestation of the wrath of God. His focus is on the character's human aspect, a dead cop named Jim Corrigan, and his exploration of moral and theological themes brought new life to a character often thought of as impossible to write. He has also worked on Firestorm, Justice League, Martian Manhunter, Manhunter, Suicide Squad, and Wasteland for DC.

Ostrander frequently co-wrote with his wife Kim Yale from the mid-1980s until her death from breast cancer in 1997. It was while working with her that he made what is probably his most lasting contribution to the DC Universe: the recasting of Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl, into the information and computer specialist Oracle.

At Marvel comics, Ostrander has also worked on X-Men, Bishop, Quicksilver, Heroes for Hire and the Punisher.

Ostrander has also written for other comics companies: Hotspur for Eclipse Comics; Lady Death for Chaos! Comics; Magnus, Robot Fighter, Rai and the Future Force, and Eternal Warrior for Valiant Comics.

Ostrander has also written a Doctor Who audio drama for Big Finish Productions. Titled Deadman's Hand, the story was originally announced for release in 2004; it has since been delayed twice, and now appears on Big Finish's pages in a Future Releases section without any scheduled release date. As announced, the story was to feature the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Hex.

His work has won him a good deal of recognition in the comics field, including nominations for the Comic Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000.

Cameo
Ostrander actually made a cameo in the Daring New Adventures of Supergirl 1, when the heroine, Linda Danvers, meets her new neighbour. John Ostrander himself described the curiosity as follows:

''It's true. Paul Kupperberg, who was writing Supergirl at the time, lived across the street from me. We're friends. So he popped me into the cast without telling me. This was just before or just as I was starting my own comics' writing career. I don't remember what happened to my alter-ego. Maybe I should have killed him off in Suicide Squad. Might've been appropriate.''

Boba Fett

 * Boba Fett: Agent of Doom (2000)

Tales

 * Deal With a Demon in Star Wars Tales 3 (2000)
 * Bad Business in Star Wars Tales 8 (2001)

The Clone Wars

 * Star Wars The Clone Wars Volume 3: The Wind Raiders Of Taloraan (2009)

Republic

 * Star Wars Republic 19: Twilight, Part 1 (2000)
 * Star Wars Republic 20: Twilight, Part 2 (2000)
 * Star Wars Republic 21: Twilight, Part 3 (2000)
 * Star Wars Republic 22: Twilight, Part 4 (2000)


 * Star Wars Republic 32: Darkness, Part 1 (2001)
 * Star Wars Republic 33: Darkness, Part 2 (2001)
 * Star Wars Republic 34: Darkness, Part 3 (2001)
 * Star Wars Republic 35: Darkness, Part 4 (2001)


 * Star Wars Republic 36: The Stark Hyperspace War, Part 1 (2001)
 * Star Wars Republic 37: The Stark Hyperspace War, Part 2 (2001)
 * Star Wars Republic 38: The Stark Hyperspace War, Part 3 (2002)
 * Star Wars Republic 39: The Stark Hyperspace War, Part 4 (2002)


 * Star Wars Republic 40: The Devaronian Version, Part 1 (2002)
 * Star Wars Republic 41: The Devaronian Version, Part 2 (2002)


 * Star Wars Republic 42: Rite of Passage, Part 1 (2002)
 * Star Wars Republic 43: Rite of Passage, Part 2 (2002)
 * Star Wars Republic 44: Rite of Passage, Part 3 (2002)
 * Star Wars Republic 45: Rite of Passage, Part 4 (2002)


 * Star Wars Republic 46: Honor and Duty, Part 1 (2002)
 * Star Wars Republic 47: Honor and Duty, Part 2 (2002)
 * Star Wars Republic 48: Honor and Duty, Part 3 (2003)


 * Star Wars Republic 49: Sacrifice (2003)
 * Star Wars Republic 50: The Battle of Kamino (2003)
 * Star Wars Republic 54: Double Blind (2003)
 * Star Wars Republic 59: Enemy Lines (2003)
 * Star Wars Republic 61: Dead Ends (2004)
 * Star Wars Republic 63: Striking from the Shadows (2004)
 * Star Wars Republic 64: Bloodlines (2004)
 * Star Wars Republic 65: Show of Force, Part 1 (2004)
 * Star Wars Republic 66: Show of Force, Part 2 (2004)
 * Star Wars Republic 68: Armor (2004)
 * Star Wars Republic 69: The Dreadnaughts of Rendili, Part 1 (2004)
 * Star Wars Republic 70: The Dreadnaughts of Rendili, Part 2 (2004)
 * Star Wars Republic 71: The Dreadnaughts of Rendili, Part 3 (2004)
 * Star Wars Republic 72: Trackdown, Part 1 (2004)
 * Star Wars Republic 73: Trackdown, Part 2 (2005)
 * Star Wars Republic 74: The Siege of Saleucami, Part 1 (2005)
 * Star Wars Republic 75: The Siege of Saleucami, Part 2 (2005)
 * Star Wars Republic 76: The Siege of Saleucami, Part 3 (2005)
 * Star Wars Republic 77: The Siege of Saleucami, Part 4 (2005)
 * Star Wars Republic 78: Loyalties (2005)
 * Star Wars Republic 81: The Hidden Enemy, Part 1 (2005)
 * Star Wars Republic 82: The Hidden Enemy, Part 2 (2005)
 * Star Wars Republic 83: The Hidden Enemy, Part 3 (2005)

Jedi

 * Jedi: Mace Windu (2003)
 * Jedi: Shaak Ti (2003)
 * Jedi: Aayla Secura (2003)
 * Jedi: Dooku (2003)
 * Jedi: Barriss Offee (cancelled)

Legacy

 * Star Wars Legacy 0 (2006)
 * Star Wars Legacy 0½ (2008)
 * Star Wars Legacy 1: Broken, Part 1 (2006)
 * Star Wars Legacy 2: Broken, Part 2 (2006)
 * Star Wars Legacy 3: Broken, Part 3 (2006)
 * Star Wars Legacy 4: Noob (2006)
 * Star Wars Legacy 5: Broken, Part 4 (2006)
 * Star Wars Legacy 6: Broken, Part 5 (2006)
 * Star Wars Legacy 7: Broken, Part 6 (2007)
 * Star Wars Legacy 8: Allies (2007)
 * Star Wars Legacy 9: Trust Issues, Part 1 (2007)
 * Star Wars Legacy 10: Trust Issues, Part 2 (2007)
 * Star Wars Legacy 11: Ghosts, Part 1 (2007)
 * Star Wars Legacy 12: Ghosts, Part 2 (2007)
 * Star Wars Legacy 13: Ready to Die (2007)
 * Star Wars Legacy 14: Claws of the Dragon, Part 1 (2007)
 * Star Wars Legacy 15: Claws of the Dragon, Part 2 (2007)
 * Star Wars Legacy 16: Claws of the Dragon, Part 3 (2007)
 * Star Wars Legacy 17: Claws of the Dragon, Part 4 (2007)
 * Star Wars Legacy 18: Claws of the Dragon, Part 5 (2007)
 * Star Wars Legacy 19: Claws of the Dragon, Part 6 (2008)
 * Star Wars Legacy 20: Indomitable, Part 1 (2008)
 * Star Wars Legacy 21: Indomitable, Part 2 (2008)
 * Star Wars Legacy 22: The Wrath of the Dragon (2008)
 * Star Wars Legacy 23: Loyalties, Part 1 (2008)
 * Star Wars Legacy 24: Loyalties, Part 2 (2008)
 * Star Wars Legacy 25: The Hidden Temple, Part 1 (2008)
 * Star Wars Legacy 26: The Hidden Temple, Part 2 (2008)
 * Star Wars Legacy 27: Into the Core (2008)
 * Star Wars Legacy 28: Vector, Part 9 (2008)
 * Star Wars Legacy 29: Vector, Part 10 (2008)
 * Star Wars Legacy 30: Vector, Part 11 (2008)
 * Star Wars Legacy 31: Vector, Part 12 (2008)
 * Star Wars Legacy 32: Fight Another Day, Part 1 (2009)
 * Star Wars Legacy 33: Fight Another Day, Part 2 (2009)
 * Star Wars Legacy 34: Storms, Part 1 (2009)
 * Star Wars Legacy 35: Storms, Part 2 (2009)
 * Star Wars Legacy 36: Renegade (2009)
 * Star Wars Legacy 37: Tatooine, Part 1 (2009)
 * Star Wars Legacy 43: Monster, Part 1 (2009)