Photo courtesy of Billy Small, Jr.
Sterling Gates
Writer, Tulsa
Sterling Gates is a Tulsa native who is currently writing for some of DC Comics most popular titles. Since 2007 he has worked with DC Comics and has quickly made a name for himself writing stories for characters such as Superman, Green Lantern and Supergirl. Comic writer Mark Wade called him "one of the fastest rising young talents in the industry."
Growing up in Tulsa, Sterling's father owned the Sooner Books and Comic shop which gave Sterling access to comics at a young age. "They were just around our house everywhere. 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."
While attending the University of Oklahoma Sterling wrote and self-published comics while working at the Speeding Bullet comic book shop. His love of comics remained unabated, and he even managed to work comics into his fine arts film production thesis which he described as "sequential art theory and relating time theory in comics to our training in film and television."
In 2006, six months after graduation, Sterling left Norman, Oklahoma, and moved to Los Angeles, California, with "three months rent, a degree and a prayer." A chance encounter with television and comic book writer Geoff Johns at a San Francisco diner led to an on-the-spot job offer and the opportunity for Sterling to work at DC Comics. This meeting led to Sterling working on the Blade: The Series television writing staff, his first professional writing job.
Since his first writing job, Sterling has gone on to write for some of DC Comics' biggest-name characters including Superman, Green Lantern and Supergirl. He is currently the head writer for the Supergirl title and has co-written the War of the Supermen four-issue series that kicks off on May 1, 2010, on Free Comic Book Day.