Posted in: Avengers, Comics, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Spider-Man, X-Men | Tagged: Dennis hopeless, Ignition Press, Just Brutal

Dennis Hopeless Has Given Up On Marvel & DC Comics… It's Just Brutal

Comic book writer Dennis Hopeless has given up on Marvel and DC Comics going forward. Why? Well, it's Just Brutal...

Dennis Hopeless, writer of Cable & X-Force, Avengers Arena, All-New X-Men, Spider-Woman, Jean Grey, Avengers Undercover, Cloak And Dagger, Darth Vader, Cosmic Ghost Rider, and more has announced that he is stepping away from Marvel Comics. After nearly a decade of work on such titles, he announced, just as the Marvel Writers Retreat is happening in New York, to which we presume he has not been invited, that he's done pitching new ideas to the publisher. In a wide-ranging conversation on the Word Balloon Comics Podcast with host John Siuntres, Dennis Hopeless, also known as Dennis Hallum, detailed the burnout, pandemic disruptions, and personal realisations that led to his departure, while spotlighting his new creator-owned series Just Brutal from Ignition Press, which launched its first issue this week.

The struggle of writing superheroes and dealing with Tumblr

Hopeless described reaching a breaking point during the COVID-19 shutdowns. "I was at Marvel for almost ten years, and then when the pandemic happened and everything shut down, I had three projects paused… I was doing a graphic novel tie-in with the second Spider-Man PlayStation game that was going to ship special editions of the video game, when the pandemic happened, they changed their plans and ended up baking some of our backstory into the game, which cancelled that project and a couple of others got paused and then cancelled. I'm at home with two kindergarteners, and I realised, okay, this is a temporary job. Like, there's a reason we have charities that help ageing creators. There's no real retirement plan. So I can chase more of this work, I can go try to make inroads in DC… or I can figure out how to feed my kids."

He further explained the toll of constant superhero work, saying, "I realised how burned out I was on superheroes. I had been really on a hamster wheel, trying to do more books than I was comfortable with at Marvel for so long. And nine and a half years is a long time to write superheroes." Post-pandemic, Hopeless noted a shift in his approach: "I'm much more comfortable if I can take my time on this and do multiple drafts of outlines and like really talk about it with my collaborators before we get going. And it's been fantastic. And also, I don't have to worry about the next thing and how to keep my lights on."

Hopeless also opened up about the personal cost of his Marvel tenure, particularly the intense backlash to his teen-hero runs. "It was a very difficult time for me emotionally as I was killing people's beloved characters and getting absolutely savaged on the internet… after having done creator-owned books nobody read and I wasn't used to it… I started therapy… I can thank the Avengers Arena or the Avengers Academy fans for me getting into therapy… It's really difficult to have a bunch of strangers wanting you dead and your name like I'm not a real person to them."

He recalled Tumblr reaaders hostility saying "Tumblr just hated me with a fierce passion… I made the mistake of going in and trying to explain the story, and they were like, 'What are you doing here? You don't belong here.'" Hopeless compared it to backlash on his Darth Vader miniseries, where a story about a nurse's delusions was misinterpreted as mocking fanfiction, costing him further Lucasfilm opportunities. "It did prepare me… this is just them having emotions about something they can't control that I get to control for a living… and it's best to just leave it."

It's Just Brutal….

Now fully committed to independence, Hopeless is launching Just Brutal, an ongoing sword-and-sorcery series with a subversive twist. Described as "Mitchells vs. the Machines meets Masters of the Universe," it follows a modern family of adventurers, divorced parents and twin teens, battling ancient monsters while dealing with messy real-life dynamics like custody battles, teen aspirations, and emotional fallout. "It's like a slice of life/normal family drama where the parents don't get along. They're getting divorced and the kids are too much like the opposite parent… and then all of the sudden a big crazy monstrous thing from their past comes back," Hopeless explained. He also reflected on past near-misses with his current project: Originally titled Barbaric and with roots in a Shadowman pitch for Valiant that went nowhere, he said, "I've been trying to get this book published for fifteen years… I pitched it with Tai Walker. This book almost went so many different times… Image almost took it… then we almost got it at Vertigo… It got all the way up to like the last 'Are We Going to Go' and they decided that characters were too young for a Vertigo title."

And it was his former Vertigo editor, Jamie S Rich, now at Ignition Press, who brought it on board. After he and Jeremy Haun invited Hopeless for drinks, as they were meeting another creator in town, he expected to be asked to pitch, only for Jamie to say of the old project, "It's already greenlit if you want to do it."

The twins include Jordan, a teenage filmmaker creating John Wick-style comics, and his sister Winter, a volleyball player who embraces the chaos more readily. Their father is portrayed as an "alpha male" type, while the mother echoes classic fantasy warrior archetypes. Action blends humour and horror: "In the first issue, there's a snapping turtle dragon with a VW beetle for a shell that jumps through the dining room window and then tries to kill them… that push/pull of tone where it looks funny, and it looks like a Saturday morning cartoon, but it's terrifying for them." The series draws heavily from 80s cartoons like He-Man, Thundercats, and Silverhawks, with influences from Ninja Turtles and family D&D campaigns. A zero-issue cold open (set at the Iowa State Fair) is already available, with the series planned as monthly following an initial six-issue arc.

With Just Brutal now in stores, the interview serves as both a farewell to corporate superhero work and a celebration of creator-driven storytelling. Hopeless emphasised the joy of an invested team: "Having a team that's really invested in this and excited to get the next script is really fun… at other studios, especially work for hire, your editors are so overworked they're just happy you turn the damn thing in."

Just Brutal #1 by Dennis Hopeless and Brahm Revel is available in comic stores from Ignition Press now, #2 at the end of next month.

• Just Brutal #1 by Dennis Hopeless and Brahm Revel
  02/11/2026 $4.99
  Every family has problems – but the Savage Family has actual monsters.
  Jordan Savage is a normal 16-year-old kid barely holding it together after his parents' recent divorce. His twin sister Winter is his opposite in every way—including how she is coping with the changes in the Savage family's lives.
  And those changes are bigger than they could even imagine. They are about to find out that the boring, bickering parents they've lived with this whole time are secretly ancient death-dealing barbarian warriors. They have been living quietly for 3000 years, having defeated their nemesis—the evil sorcerer warlord Farklar the Fleshless—leaving the world safe for humanity. Only now, Farklar has returned, and his army of hideous Mordorks are about to devour Des Moines. Now the Savages are piled in Mom's minivan headed for Iowa to wage war against Black Magic Armageddon. Jordan is freaking out, Winter thinks it's all pretty cool, and no one is sure if Mom and Dad can get along long enough to save civilization from destruction.
  Just Brutal is an action-packed thrill ride that stacks the trauma of family against the challenge of saving the world. Written by Dennis Hopeless (Heart Eyes; Spider-Woman) with art by Brahm Revel (Guerillas; Marvel Knights: X-Men) and colorist Marissa Lousie (Mr. Terrific).

• Just Brutal #2 by Dennis Hopeless and Brahm Revel
  03/25/2026 $4.99
  Life is changing fast for the Savage twins. The sudden revelation that their parents are eternal warriors who have spent their immortality protecting the earth from Farklar the Fleshless was jarring enough, but now they're forced to take a family road trip to stop the evil warlord's latest scheme! Jordan hates everything about this.
  His twin sister Winter, on the other hand, thinks all of this is awesome! Too bad her connection with their monster-fighting father is driving a wedge between her and their mother. And just what is going on with their stepdad Gary Williams?
  Things are just getting started in Just Brutal, the kick-ass new comic from Dennis Hopeless (Heart Eyes; Spider-Woman), Brahm Revel (Guerillas; Marvel Knights: X-Men) and Marissa Lousie (Mr. Terrific).

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!