Sterling Gates

Sterling Gates
Gates signing Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost #1 at Midtown Comics in Manhattan
Born	(1981-03-01) March 1, 1981 Tulsa, Oklahoma
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Writer
Notable works	Supergirl

Sterling Gates (born March 1, 1981 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American comic book writer currently writing for the CW's The Flash.

Early life

Sterling Gates was a comic fan from a young age. His father owned a comic book store in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and remembered that, "We had a garage full of comics for as long as I could remember and I would sit and read them for hours, then sneak them under the covers and read them in bed." When he started college, he also worked part-time in a local comic shop.

Gates attended the University of Oklahoma and earned a degree in Fine Arts with a specialization in film and television production. His professors used to get annoyed due to his desire to relate all of his schoolwork to comics in some way, shape, or form. His capstone thesis was about sequential art theory and relating time theory in comics to training in film and television. He went on to say that he, "must've referenced Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics a hundred times in that paper!" After moving out to Los Angeles, California to "do something with his life," he and a friend attended WonderCon in San Francisco where he met writer Geoff Johns.

Career

One night in San Francisco, Gates and a friend went out to dinner and then to a bar. Afterwards, upon returning to their hotel, Gates and his friend spotted Johns and editor Steve Wacker in the lobby. After going to a nearby diner, Johns and Wacker had arrived there as well. After striking up a conversation, Gates, "...told them about how I just moved to L.A., and it turned out that Geoff and I shopped at the same comics shop, DJ's Universal, so we talked about that. We said our 'good-byes' and our 'nice-to-meet-you's' and then the host sat them, and then came back and sat us at the table literally right next to theirs. A table maybe five inches from their table. And we kind of all looked at each other and I thought, 'Can this get more awkward? I doubt it.'"

When Gates' friend, who was a rabid Johns fan, was not making the best first impression, Gates paid for Johns' and Wacker's meal as an apology. Gates hoped the meal would make up for his friend's behavior and after the generous act, Johns asked Gates directly, "Do you want a job?" Gates then interviewed with the writing staff for Blade: The Series on Johns' recommendation and was hired. After the series' cancellation, Gates discussed his history of writing comics with Johns, which was previously unbeknownst to him. Johns asked to read Gates' early comics work. Johns was impressed, and after Gates submitted outlines to Johns inspired by the Sinestro Corps War, Gates was interviewed by editor Eddie Berganza and was hired by DC Comics.

Gates told a back-up story about Sinestro Corps member Kryb with artist Jerry Ordway in Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman Prime. He went on to write a two-part story about Alpha Lantern Boodikka in Green Lantern Corps #21-22. He then took over full writing duties of the Supergirl title featuring Kara Zor-El, starting with issue #34 of volume 5, in October 2008. Gates also contributed to the Superman: New Krypton story arc.

Other projects include the "Prometheus" Faces of Evil one-shot with artist Federico Dallocchio.

Gates co-wrote the "War of the Supermen" storyline alongside Superman writer James Robinson.

As part of the DC Comics "The New 52" relaunch, Gates initially wrote the Hawk & Dove series drawn by Rob Liefeld but left the series after issue 5.

Gates took over the DC title Justice League's Vibe with issue 4, replacing Andrew Kreisberg on writing duties. He was also brought in to pen the final issue of Stormwatch.

Personal life

Gates lives in Los Angeles, where he is good friends with fellow writers and collaborators James Robinson and Geoff Johns.

Bibliography

DC Comics

• Green Lantern:
  • Green Lantern: Tales of the Sinestro Corps (hc, 200 pages, 2008, ISBN 1-4012-1801-6; tpb, 2009, ISBN 1-4012-2326-5) includes:
    • Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman-Prime: "Fear is a Baby's Cry!" (with Jerry Ordway, co-feature in one-shot, 2007)
    • Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps Secret Files & Origins: "Lessons in the Sand" (with Joe Prado, co-feature in one-shot, 2008)
  • Green Lantern Corps vol. 2 #21–22: "The Curse of the Alpha-Lantern" (with Nelson DeCastro, 2008) collected in Green Lantern Corps: Revolt of the Alpha-Lanterns (hc, 176 pages, 2011, ISBN 1-4012-3139-X; tpb, 2012, ISBN 1-4012-3140-3)
  • Adventure Comics vol. 2 #4–5: "He Primed Me" (with Jerry Ordway, anthology, 2010) collected in Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps (hc, 176 pages, 2010, ISBN 1-4012-2790-2; tpb, 2011, ISBN 1-4012-2807-0)
• Superman:
  • Superman: New Krypton Special (co-written by Gates, Geoff Johns and James Robinson, art by Gary Frank, Pete Woods and Renato Guedes, 2008) collected in Superman: New Krypton Volume 1 (hc, 176 pages, 2009, ISBN 1-4012-2329-X; tpb, 2010, ISBN 1-4012-2330-3)
  • Supergirl vol. 4 (with Jamal Igle, Fernando Dagnino (#41, 48, Annual #1), Matt Camp (#47, 49, Annual #2), Ivan Rodriguez (#52) and Bernard Chang (#57), 2008–2011) collected as:
    • Daughter of New Krypton (collects #34–43, tpb, 248 pages, 2018, ISBN 1-4012-7482-X)
    • The Hunt for Reactron (collects #44–50 and Annual #1, tpb, 304 pages, 2019, ISBN 1-4012-8574-0)
      • Includes the "Blood-Sisters" short story (co-written by Gates and Greg Rucka, art by Fernando Dagnino) from Superman Secret Files 2009 (one-shot, 2009)
      • All issues of The Hunt for Reactron crossover — Supergirl vol. 4 #45–46 and Action Comics #881–882 — are co-written by Gates and Greg Rucka.
    • Bizarrogirl (collects #53–59 and Annual #2, tpb, 224 pages, 2011, ISBN 1-4012-3169-1)
  • World's Finest vol. 2 #1–4 (with Julian López, Ramon Bachs, Jamal Igle and Phil Noto, 2009–2010) collected as World's Finest (tpb, 144 pages, 2010, ISBN 1-4012-2797-X)
  • Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton:
    • Volume 1 (hc, 168 pages, 2010, ISBN 1-4012-2932-8; tpb, 2011, ISBN 1-4012-2933-6) includes:
      • "Prologue, Part One: The Future is Prologue" (with Travis Moore, in Adventure Comics #8, anthology, 2010)
      • "Part One: Invaded" (co-written by Gates and James Robinson, art by Pete Woods, in #1, 2010)
      • "Part Two: Leaders" (with Jamal Igle, in Supergirl vol. 4 #51, 2010)
      • "Superboy, Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes in: Unify" (with Eduardo Pansica, in Adventure Comics #9, anthology, 2010)
      • "Part Five: Bottles and Battles" (co-written by Gates and James Robinson, art by Travis Moore and Pete Woods, in #2, 2010)
    • Volume 2 (hc, 128 pages, 2011, ISBN 1-4012-3036-9; tpb, 2012, ISBN 1-4012-3037-7) includes:
      • "Part Six: Divided, Conquerable" (co-written by Gates and James Robinson, art by Travis Moore and Eduardo Pansica, in Adventure Comics #10, anthology, 2010)
      • "Part Seven: Distractions" (with Ivan Rodriguez, in Supergirl vol. 4 #52, 2010)
      • "Part Nine: This is the Way the World Ends" (co-written by Gates and James Robinson, art by Pete Woods, in #3, 2010)
      • "The Epilogue is the Future" (with Travis Moore, in Adventure Comics #11, anthology, 2010)
  • Superman: War of the Supermen #0–4 (co-written by Gates and James Robinson, art by Eddy Barrows, Jamal Igle, Eduardo Pansica and CAFU, 2010) collected as Superman: War of the Supermen (hc, 144 pages, 2010, ISBN 1-4012-2967-0; tpb, 2012, ISBN 1-4012-3187-X)
  • Man of Steel Prequel: Special Edition (script by Gates from a story by Geoff Johns, David S. Goyer and Zack Snyder, art by Jerry Ordway, free digital one-shot, 2013)
  • Adventures of Supergirl #1–13 (with Bengal, Jonboy Meyers (#4), Pop Mhan (#5), Emanuela Lupacchino (#6–7), Carmen Carnero (#8–9), Cat Staggs (#10) and Emma Vieceli, digital, 2016) collected as Adventures of Supergirl (tpb, 144 pages, 2016, ISBN 1-4012-6265-1)
• DCU Holiday Special (anthology one-shots):
  • DCU Holiday Special: "Introduction" (with Karl Kerschl, 2009)
  • DCU Holiday Special '09: "The Christmas of Doom" (with Jonboy Meyers, 2010)
• Faces of Evil: Prometheus (with Federico Dallocchio, one-shot, 2009) collected in Justice League: Cry for Justice (hc, 232 pages, 2010, ISBN 1-4012-2567-5; tpb, 2011, ISBN 1-4012-2564-0)
• Flashpoint: Kid Flash Lost #1–3 (with Oliver Nome and Scott Kolins (#3), 2011) collected in Flashpoint: The World of Flashpoint Featuring the Flash (tpb, 256 pages, 2012, ISBN 1-4012-3408-9)
• Hawk and Dove vol. 5 #1–5 (with Rob Liefeld and Marat Mychaels (#5), 2011–2012) collected in Hawk and Dove: First Strikes (tpb, 192 pages, 2012, ISBN 1-4012-3498-4)
• Justice League of America's Vibe #3–10 (with Pete Woods, Fabiano Neves (#3–4), Andres Guinaldo (#7–8) and Derlis Santacruz (#9–10), 2013) collected as Justice League of America's Vibe: Breach (tpb, 232 pages, 2014, ISBN 1-4012-4331-2)
• General Mills Presents: Justice League #9: "Swap Meet" (with Neil Edwards, 2013)
• The New 52 Villains Omnibus (hc, 1,184 pages, 2013, ISBN 1-4012-4496-3) include:
  • Justice League #23.4: "Secret Society" (with Szymon Kudranski, 2013)
  • Justice League of America #7.2: "Freezing to Death" (with Derlis Santacruz, 2013)
  • Justice League of America #7.4: "Freedom Fighter" (with Edgar Salazar, 2013)
• Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. #1–6 (with Neil Edwards, 2013–2014) collected as Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. (tpb, 144 pages, 2014, ISBN 1-4012-4939-6)
• Stormwatch vol. 5 #30: "Earthquake Weather" (with Jeremy Roberts, 2014) collected in Stormwatch: Reset (tpb, 272 pages, 2014, ISBN 1-4012-4841-1)
• The Flash: Season Zero #23–24: "Mentors and Meltdowns" (with Ibrahim Moustafa, digital anthology, 2015) collected as The Flash: Season Zero (tpb, 264 pages, 2015, ISBN 1-4012-5771-2)

Other publishers

• GrayHaven:
  • The Gathering #6: "The Mistress" (with Cassandra James, anthology, 2010)
  • Tales from the Abyss #1–3: "The Dat I Lost Wallace" (with Amanda Rachels, anthology, 2012–2013)
• Unite and Take Over: Stories Inspired by the Songs of the Smiths Volume 1: "William, It Was Really Nothing" (with Ernie Najera, anthology graphic novel, 172 pages, SpazDog Press, 2011, ISBN 0-9839-8280-5)
• Kirby: Genesis — Captain Victory #1–6 (with Wagner Reis, Steve Scott (#3), Dennis Calero (#5) and Joe St. Pierre (#6), Dynamite, 2011–2012) collected as Kirby: Genesis — Captain Victory (tpb, 144 pages, 2013, ISBN 1-6069-0330-6)
• Love is Love: "Why" (with Matthew Clark, anthology graphic novel, 144 pages, IDW Publishing, 2016, ISBN 1-6314-0939-5)

References

• Sterling Gates at the Grand Comics Database

External links

• Sterling Gates at IMDb
• Sterling Gates at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)