Biography
Steven T. Seagle is an American professional writer from Biloxi, Mississippi, who has worked extensively in the fields of animation and comics. He was a founding member of the writer collective "Man of Action Entertainment", joining forces with fellow writers Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Duncan Rouleau. They were the creators of the popular animated series "Ben 10" (2005-2008), which has spawned several sequel series. Seagle has served as a college instructor for Ball State University, Pasadena City College, and Mt. San Antonio College.
In 1965, Seagle was born in Biloxi, Mississippi. The city houses the Keesler Air Force Base, and serves as a base for both the 81st Training Wing and the 403d Wing of the U.S. Air Force Reserve. Seagle's father was Jack Seagle, a member of the United States Air Force. Due to his father's military career, the Seagle family moved frequently. Seagle was partially raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as his father was twice transferred to the nearby United States Air Force Academy.
Seagle was introduced to comic books c. 1971, when his mother purchased an issue of "Spider-Man" as a gift for Seagle's brother and an issue of the "Avengers" for Seagle himself. By chance, Seagle's introduction to Marvel Comics' stories was the "Kree-Skrull War" story-line, a space opera story depicting conflict between two rival space-faring races of aliens. By 1978, Seagle started collecting comics as a hobby. His favorite title were the "X-Men", where he enjoyed stories by Chris Claremont and John Byrne.
Following his father's retirement from the Air Force, Seagle and his family moved back to Colorado Springs. Seagle received his secondary education at Coronado High School, within Colorado Springs. During his high school years, Seagle was an amateur musician. He participated in a marching band, an orchestra, a jazz band, and a group of chamber singers. As a summer job, Seagle worked at Flying W Ranch. It was a working cattle ranch, active from 1953 to 2012.
Seagle started working as a comic book writer in the late 1980s. His first notable work was the black-and-white mini-series "Kafka" (1987) for the short-lived publisher Renegade Press (1984-1989).The series was well-received, and was nominated for an Eisner Award. He subsequently created the unrelated mini-series "The Amazon" (1989) for Comico. In 1991, Seagle published the one-shot comic book "In Thin Air: The Mystery of Amelia Earhart ". It was inspired by the mysterious disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart in 1937.
Following a hiatus of a few years, Seagle emerged as a new writer for Wildstorm in 1994. He wrote stories for the team books "WildC.A.T.s" and "Stormwatch", at a time when "WildC.A.T.s" was a flagship title for the company. He also wrote solo stories for popular characters from WildC.A.T.s, in particular the telepath Voodoo/Priscilla Kitaen, the immortal warrior Zealot/Lady Zannah, and the renegade spy Grifter/Cole Cash.
Also in 1994, Seagle started contributing stories to DC Comics, one of the dominant publishers of American comic books. His early contributions included a two-part story for the Justice League and two stories for a revamped version of Hawkman. He found more success as one of the main writers for the retro series "Sandman Mystery Theatre" (1993-1999), chronicling the early adventures of vigilante Sandman/Wesley Dodds in the late 1930s. Seagle remained as one of the series' main writers from 1994 to 1999. The series often took inspiration from real social problems and political issues of the interwar period, and was praised for its mature storytelling. Seagle was twice nominated for Eisner Awards for his work in the series, raising his reputation in the industry.
Seagle soon had the opportunity to work for Marvel Comics as well. In the winter of 1997, Seagle replaced Scott Lobdell as the main writer of the "Uncanny X-Men". His debut issue was #350, featuring a trial of Gambit/Remy LeBeau for past crimes. With his teammates shocked to learn that he had once served their archenemy Mister Sinister/Nathaniel Essex, and that he had unwittingly served as an associate member of the villainous Marauders in a massacre. Seagle thus concluded Lobdell's long-running story-line concerning Gambit's shady past. Seagle continued writing the series from 1997 to 1999, though he was not able to conclude some of the subplots which he had introduced.
In 2000, Seagle co-founded the writer collective "Man of Action Entertainment", with other experienced comic book writers. Their first major assignment was writing the script for the role-playing video game "X-Men Legends" (2004) which made use of several major and minor characters of the X-Men franchise. The co-writers chose Magma/Alison Crestmere as the game's lead character, because they wanted a chance to flesh out an underused character from the comics. The game sold well, soon receiving its own sequel. It was also cited as an inspiration for another video game project y Marvel, "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance".
In 2005, Seagle and his writing partners concluded their years of work on the basic premise and script for their first animated series "Ben 10" (2005-2008). The series was produced by Cartoon Network, with animation provided by the Cartoon Network Studios. It introduced the character of Benjamin "Ben" Tennyson as a young human boy who could shape-shift into powerful alien forms. The de facto co-protagonist was Ben's cousin Gwendolyn "Gwen" Tennyson, a highly intelligent girl with innate magical powers. The series was a hit of its era, lasting for 4 seasons and 52 episodes. A number of sequel series introduced various different incarnations of Ben and Gwen over the following decade. Seagle has often provided input for the sequels, though other writers were credited with their development.
Seagle and his writing partners had another chance to work with Marvel characters, scripting several episodes for the animated series "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" (2010-2012). Man of Action served as supervising producers and frequent writers for "Ultimate Spider-Man" (2012-2017), a show which featured adolescent Spider-Man/Peter Parker as an operative of SHIELD instead of a solo hero.
Seagle and Man of Action were credited for the development of the animated series "Avengers Assemble" (2013-2019), which introduced a large cast of Marvel's classic heroes and villains. The series lasted for 5 seasons and 127 episodes. It introduced (among others) animated versions of HYDRA, AIM, the Black Order, the Squadron Supreme, the Inhumans, and the Thunderbolts.
In 2014, Man of Action were credited as creators for the team Big Hero 6 in the characters' eponymous animated film. Seagle and Duncan Rouleau had created the comic book version of this team in 1998, but Marvel Comics had only made sporadic use of this concept over the following years. Disney found that the concept had potential, and the team became the focus of a new animated franchise.
Man of Action co-produced the computer-animated series "Zak Storm" (2016-2018), which featured a misfit crew of adventurers sailing on a sentient ship. The series was syndicated for broadcast in multiple countries, and its first season was well-received. Plans for a second season ended in development hell. Man of Action next developed the video game adaptation "Mega Man: Fully Charged" (2018-2019), based on a Japanese franchise by Capcom. The series lasted a single season and 52 episodes, with its finale concluding the stories of several characters.
Seagle has been less active as a writer in the 2020s, but has never fully retired. By 2022, he was 57-years-old. He has entertained audiences across several mediums for 35 years, and created several characters with enduring popularity. And he has introduced modern audiences to fresh takes on the superhero genre.
