James Axler

James Axler is a house name used by the publishing company Gold Eagle Publishing, the action adventure series published by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd.

The name was first used for the "Deathlands" series, which began in 1986 with Pilgrimage to Hell, co-written by Christopher Lowder (under the pseudonym Jack Adrian) and Laurence James. James went on to write the next 32 novels before dying on 9 February 2000. Under his own name and under the pen names James Darke, James McPhee, and James Axler, he also wrote books for the series "Dark Future," "Earth Blood," "Galactic Security Service" and "Survival 2000," as well as a number of independent novels and short stories.

The second writer to work under the Axler pen name was prolific author Mark Ellis. A comics creator and writer, Ellis created the cult-favorite character Death Hawk as well as adapting popular properties such as Doc Savage and The Wild Wild West.

Ellis contributed to Gold Eagle's The Executioner series and wrote three novels in the Deathlands series, with uncredited contributions to two others. In 1996 he created the popular Outlanders series. He has produced more books as "James Axler" than any other writer.