Official website of writer Aaron Johnston

Aaron Johnston

Preview Dragon Age #1 (Now Available)

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The biggest role-playing game of the year is now the biggest comic book of the year. Well, at least I hope it’s the biggest comic of the year. Dragon Age hits store shelves in just a few days, and I think fans of the game are going to love it. I can’t say enough how thrilled I am to be a part of this project. The game team at BIOWARE has created an incredible universe. The magic system, the creatures, the mythology, the history of the world. It’s all blow-your-mind type stuff. When they first handed Orson Scott Card and me the game bible to read, I was floored. It was like: Wow, these guys think of everything.

What’s great about the comics, from a writer’s point of view, is that the game team encouraged us to create our own story with our own heroes. So we didn’t have to build a story out of the characters they had designed for the game. We got to start anew. For a comic book writer, this is a dream come true. Most writers are given both the mythology and the hero, be it Spiderman or Batman or whatever. But we got to start over, hero-wise. We got to design our own. Granted, these heroes had to be possible within the established mythos. We had to be true to the rules of the universe. But that was fine by us; that made creating the stories that much easier. Once you know the rules of the universe, a story quickly emerges.

And I should also say that you don’t have to know a thing about the game to get into the comics. This is a totally new story, and we reveal the mythology as the story unfolds. So non-gamers, get out your comic-book money. You’re invited to this party too.

Our editor at EA Games, Rob Simpson, has been amazing. Super talented guy whose feedback has been invaluable throughout this process. I look forward to working with Rob for many issues to come.

I also can’t say enough about all the artists on this book. Mark Robinson. Jason P. Martin. Humbertos Ramos. Raul Trevino. Edgar Delgado. These guys drop your jaw with everything they do. It’s absolutely amazing looking. I couldn’t be happier.

So whether you’re a fan of the game or not, get off you toof on March 31 and head out to the nearest comic book shop.

Here’s a preview.


Writers: Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston

Penciler: Mark Robinson

Inker: Jason P. Martin

Colorist: Rul Trevino

Cover art: Humberto Ramos

Cover color: Edgar Delgado

Letterer: Richard Starkings

Ender’s Game: League War

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I’ve long been a fan of Ender’s Game, and working on the League War comic for Marvel was a real treat. Not only because I got to work in the Enderverse, but also because I got to help develop the story for this one.

As any fan of Ender’s Game will tell you, the League War was the five-day conflict that occurred within the International Fleet immediately after Ender destroyed the Formic home planet. Nations of the Earth were scrambling for power, and Peter and Valentine were mostly responsible for initiating the war and then bringing about its peaceful resolution. The details of this war and how it came to be have never been explored in the Enderverse until now!

Here’s the solicit text that went out to comic shops:

Ender Wiggin is not the only genius child to influence the course of Earth’s history. Not even the only one in his family. After the end of the final Formic War, the nations of the Earth are scrambling for power…and Peter and Valentine Wiggin, Ender’s older and equally intelligent siblings, will start and end a world war with nothing more than words. This ALL-NEW, action-packed followup to Ender’s Game fills in new detail between the pages of the multiple Hugo Award winning Ender Wiggin series by Orson Scott Card.

COVER BY: Pasqual Ferry

WRITER: Aaron Johnston

PENCILS: Timothy Green

INKS: Janice Parker

LETTERED BY: Jared Fletcher

Dragon Age #2 (Now available)

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IDW just released the cover of Dragon Age #2, which comes out in June. Cover art by Humberto Ramos. Pretty amazing, if you ask me. Color is top notch as well. That looks like real fire.

Solicit text reads:
From the game called “the best story-driven RPG in the world” (PC Gamer) and bestselling author Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game, Ultimate Iron Man) and Aaron Johnston, the epic tale of Dragon Age continues! Gleam, child of a powerful mage and a ruthless templar, is now grown with powers of her own. Can she stop the Darkspawn from murdering her adopted family?

Orson Scott Card, Aaron Johnston (writers)
Mark Robinson (pencils)
Humberto Ramos (cover)

Ender’s Game: Mazer In Prison (Now available)

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I’ve long been a fan of Ender’s Game. In fact, if I were I to list my top five favorite books of all time, I would be tempted to name Ender’s Game twice. I love and adore this book that much. I never knew it was possible to become so emotionally invested in a character until I read EG. I was Ender. Or at least I liked to think I was–as every other kid who has ever read this book has.

So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to work on this one-shot. Next to Ender, Mazer Rackham is my favorite character in the series, and “Mazer in Prison” is an incredible story. Scott Card allowed me to read it a few years ago before it was published, and I felt like I was holding a precious gem. “Mazer in Prison” takes place before the events of Ender’s Game as Mazer is hurtling through space at relativistic speeds. The International Fleet is cheating time and trying to preserve Mazer’s age so that he can lead the fleet when it reaches the Formic planet. The only problem: Mazer doesn’t want to lead the fleet. He wants to find his replacement, someone who exemplifies the characteristics of a true commander. Unfortunately, no one in the International Fleet currently fits that description, and if things continue as they are—under the rule of self-serving careerists—Mazer won’t have a replacement in time. So Mazer takes the appropriate action to ensure the search for his replacement begins in earnest.

The short story is mostly epistolary and takes place entirely in the cramped space of Mazer’s tiny starship. For the comic, however, we knew we needed to do something a little different; we couldn’t have all 22 pages take place inside this starship. The artists would go crazy. So to give the comic more visual diversity, we follow Graff’s point of view as well as he works on Eros, interacting with the bureaucrats who currently run the International Fleet.

Pop Mahn did an amazing job with the art. It looks incredible. What I enjoy most about this story is that it shows us what soldiers give up when they go off to war; we see the sacrifice that Mazer made, the family he left behind. Anyone who reads the short story—and hopefully the comic—will come away with a renewed sense of gratitude for those who sacrifice so much to keep us safe and free.

Creative Director & Executive Director: Orson Scott Card
Script: Aaron Johnston
Pencils: Pop Mahn
Inks: Norman Lee
Colors: Jim Charlampidis
Lettering: Cory Petit
Cover: Pasqual Ferry & Frank D’armata
Editor: Jordan D. White

Michelin. The Protector Brand becomes the Hero Brand

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Years ago, Michelin had one of the greatest taglines in advertising history: Because so much is riding on your tires. The line, with its obvious play on words, sent a clear message to parents. It said buying chintzy tires isn’t only cheap, it’s potentially dangerous. When the rain is falling and the bridge is icy, do you really want second-rate tires on your station wagon? No. You don’t. Because the family is too precious, your child’s safety too invaluable.


The line, coupled with that adorable Michelin baby, worked like gangbusters because it gave meaning to Michelin tires. It not only validated the higher price tag, it also validated parents. It said, Hey, I’m a good parent. I buy Michelin tires, therefore I care about my kids. I’m doing a good job at this raising a family thing.

In the book The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes, the authors argue that the “meaning of a brand is its most precious and irreplaceable asset.” And I agree. What a brand means to consumers is much more valuable than the sum of its many product attributes. People don’t want to know the chemical compound of rubber that gives those tires that icy-road grip. They want to know they’re good parents, that they’re making the best decision for their family.

It’s not a new concept of course. It’s the essence of branding. But Michelin’s most recent campaign is a perfect example of a brand searching for new meaning.

Since the Michelin baby (which people in focus groups still vividly remember) Michelin has kind of floundered in their advertising. In the ad below, Michelin strives to be the technologically advanced, environmentally friendly, all-things-to-all-people brand.

And it didn’t work.

Especially on the eve of an economic downturn, when premium priced items are the last things on anyone’s mind. It was a shotgun approach to giving the brand new meaning. There’s throw a bunch on things on the wall and hope something sticks.

But the new campaign by TBWA Chiat Day gives Michelin new meaning that feels like a step in the right direction.

The weakest aspect of the campaign is its line “The Right Tire Changes Everything.” Which feels a little . . . meh. The statement may be true, but it comes off flat when you hold it up to the line of yesteryear. Of course in its defense, it’s attempting something entirely different — a practical instead of an emotional strategy.


Right now, considering that most Americans are crying over their 401K, it’s probably safe to assume that people are less concerned about safe driving in a rain storm than they are about making the right economic decision. And that doesn’t necessarily mean taking the cheapest option. These are the days of the smart shopper, the one who can see the big picture. And that’s the campaign’s goal. Michelin tires are more expensive yes, but think long term, people. You’re going to save a boatload on gas with these babies.

Strategically is feels right.

But even if it wasn’t, I’d still love the first spot in the campaign, in which the Michelin Man quite literally adopts the mythological hero archetype and takes down a money-guzzling gas tank monster. The animation is fantastic. The voice over is great. And turning the Michelin Man into a tire-chucking superhero is two thumbs way up. Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before? I mean, the guy is made of tires, for crying out loud. Let’s use that, shall we.


So what used to be the Protector brand has now become the Hero, the answer to all your car-related needs. It’s a bold statement for a tire company to make. Can a tire change that knocking sound in my transmission? Don’t think so.

But I’m going to give Michelin the benefit of the doubt. For now. They’ve got me nodding along with the fuel-efficiency spot. But only time will tell is the right tire truly changes everything.

Smell that? That’s fresh brewed advertising.

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I’m a sucker for innovative ambient work, which used to be called guerrilla advertising — and probably still is in some circles. What’s great about ambient work is that it’s so unexpectedly disruptive. Advertising so saturates our society, so assaults us from every roadside, radio frequency and corner of the Internet, that are minds have a hard time processing it all. We go into cruise control and let most ads wash over us without their little seeds taking root in our subconscious. After awhile it all becomes noise. (I’ve probably been exposed to 50 web banners today, and I can’t remember a single one.)

But ambient work, with its grandiose scale and unexpected placements, jolts us from our ad-averse reverie and forces us to take notice.

Two perfect examples are these beauties from Cossette.

How do you advertise free coffee at McDonald’s? Well, you transform a light post into a pouring pot of coffee. Duh!

Seriously, in a thousand years I’m not sure I would have thought to do this. Brilliant.

And then there’s this one, which works just as well and has the added benefit of stressing to consumers that time is running out. Everyday the coffee bean count goes down. Again, brilliant. I only hope they don’t actually brew the coffee using these beans. Eck!

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