Bill Willingham is a distinguished author and illustrator, well-known for his work in the comic book industry. In the late 1970s to early 1980s, he made a name for himself by providing fantasy ink drawings for the Dungeons & Dragons Basic and Expert game rulebooks. Willingham first gained significant attention for his 1980s comic book series Elementals, which he both wrote and illustrated. However, the series struggled to maintain a consistent schedule, and his standing in the industry remained uncertain for many years. Despite this, he continued to contribute stories to various publications, including Green Lantern, and even started his own independent, black-and-white comics series Coventry, which only lasted for three issues. In addition to this, he also produced the pornographic series Ironwood for Eros Comix.
In the late 1990s, Willingham reestablished himself as a prolific writer, producing the 13-issue Pantheon for Lone Star Press and writing a pair of short novels about the modern adventures of the hero Beowulf, published by the writer's collective, Clockwork Storybook, of which Willingham was a founding member. His career reached new heights in the early 2000s when he began writing extensively for DC Comics. During this time, he produced the limited series Proposition Player, a pair of limited series about the Greek witch Thessaly from The Sandman, and most notably, the popular series Fables.
Despite his many accomplishments, Bill Willingham is known for his humility and self-deprecating humor. He has often joked that he has never fought a desperate and losing battle in a good cause, never contributed to society in a meaningful way, and hasn't lived a life of adventure. However, he has had a few moments of near adventure. Willingham currently resides in the wild and frosty woods of Minnesota, where he continues to work on various projects.