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Judd Winick (born February 12, 1970 on Long Island, New York) is an American cartoonist most famous for his appearances on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco.
His works include writing for DC Comics' Green Lantern, short-lived syndicated comic strip Frumpy the Clown, and the award-winning graphic novel Pedro and Me, chronicling his friendship with Real World costar, activist Pedro Zamora.
One of Winick's first projects after the end of Frumpy was a 3-part comic series called The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius, which has been described on more than one occasion as a twisted cross between South Park and Dexter's Laboratory. Chronicling the trials and tribulations of Barry Ween, a ten-year-old superbrain who once built an atom smasher that fits under his bed, and his best friend Jeremy Ramirez, the comic was published by Oni Press in 1999, and Winick subsequently created additional series of Ween comics.
Winick has continously courted controversy in his career at DC Comics and Marvel comics. He has added homosexual and HIV positive characters to many of his comic books. Examples include Sunfire, a lesbian superheorine in Exiles (comics), or Terry Berg, a young gay teenager in Green Lantern.
Terry emerged as a gay character in 2001 in Green Lantern issue No. 137, which was cited by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation as the year's best comic book. Judd Winick gained media recognition when he subjected the character Terry to a homophobic attack in Green Lantern. In Green Lantern issue No. 154, Terry and his boyfriend were walking down the street when three men start yelling out a derogatory anti-gay word and chasing them. They caught up with Terry, who was brutally beaten.
In 2004 Judd Winick gained more media recognition in his DC book Green Arrow; when he wrote Green Arrow's sidekick, Mia Dearden (code name: Speedy), into a HIV positive character.
Judd Winick has been criticized by fans and comic book professionals for sensationalism, and adding homosexual or HIV positive characters to his books to further his own social agenda. Some fans have accused him of milking his relationship with Pedro Zamora to further his career.
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