Short bio

by John | Jan 19, 2009 | Blog

Introductions are like first dates—only without the sloppy goodnight kiss. But here goes for those of you who’ve never heard of me: I’m a former newspaper reporter and columnist who never got over his love of comics. So one day I stopped being a low-paid journalist and became a low-paid comic book writer. I’ve been writing Disney comics since 1988. (Yes, I’m old enough to be your father’s older, better-looking brother.) I’ve also written for Viz (Ultra Maniac); Marvel (Marvel Romance Redux) and others. Oddest gig? I worked on the Eek! The Cat comic book series.

But most people know me these days for Last Kiss. The idea for the series began way back in 1987 when I bought the publishing rights to an old romance comic book series, First Kiss. Charlton Comics was going out of business and I picked up the First Kiss series (and others later on) cheap with the vague idea that I might re-write some of the dialog and put the old art to new use.

I’ve been doing that steadily since 2000—first as a comic strip in the pages of Comics Buyer’s Guide (where it still appears), then in a comic book series, various lines of merchandise, newspapers and, of course, the web.

I’ve lived forever (my entire life!) in Seattle. I currently have one daughter. One cat. And (I’m pretty sure) only one wife.

What took me so long?

by John | Jan 18, 2009 | Blog

In an age when everybody and their brother (and their dog) has a blog, why has it taken me so long to start? Well, maybe I’ve been busy. Or maybe I’ve been afraid I’d run out of things to say. Or maybe…I’m just shy.

Yes, that’s it. I’m a shrinking violet.

Now, that’s going to sound silly to anyone who’s been reading my comics over the years. But I can say things in comics that I can’t say in real life. On the other hand, are blogs real life? Beats me.

Of course, I’ve shared bits of my life over the years with the readers of my mailing list. And I used to be a newspaper columnist several thousand years or so ago. So I’m not going to pretend I’m completely tongue-tied.

But writing a blog seems different. It’s more like keeping a journal. So now my life and work need to be interesting—on a regular basis. No pressure. I think I’ll take up sky diving. That should be worth at least one blog entry. Two if my parachute doesn’t open…and I survive.