J. Torres
Encyclopedia
Joseph Torres, better known as J. Torres, is an award-winning Filipino
-born Canadian
comic book
writer
. He is perhaps best known for his run on DC Comics' Teen Titans Go!
. He has also done some writing for animation and television.
and raised in Montreal
, Quebec
where he was educated at McGill University
. Before writing comic books, Torres was an ESL
instructor. He is married, has a son, and currently resides in Toronto
, Ontario
.
in the early 90s and then later collected and reprinted by Oni Press
. Next came Siren
, a three-part miniseries published by Image Comics. Both titles were co-created with artist Tim Levins
who Torres had first met in high school.
In 2002, Oni published Alison Dare, co-created by J. Bone
, the first of a number of critically acclaimed all-ages titles for both the writer and publisher. Sidekicks with Takeshi Miyazawa
came next, followed by Jason and the Argobots with Mike Norton
, and Days Like This with Scott Chantler.
After some short assignments at Marvel Comics on titles like Black Panther
, X-Men: Ronin, and X-Men Unlimited
, Torres then went on to write the fan-favorite Teen Titans Go for DC Comics
until the series was canceled after a 55-issue run (it was initially scheduled to end with issue #48 but a fan-driven campaign to save the title got it a temporary stay of execution).
titles including Cartoon Network Block Party, Batman Strikes, Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century
, and the short-lived creator owned Family Dynamic.
However, during this time he also contributed to some decidedly more mature titles such as Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Blue Beetle
, Ninja Scroll
, Wonder Girl
, and Wonder Woman
.
(Alison Dare, "Best Title for Younger Readers" 2003), Harvey Award
(Sidekicks, 2001), and Shuster Award for which he has been nominated six times. He won the Shuster for "Outstanding Canadian Writer" in 2006 for his work on Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Love as a Foreign Language, and Teen Titans Go). His graphic novels Days Like This and Lola: A Ghost Story were also listed by YALSA in 2004 and 2010 respectively.
series of graphic novels from Simon & Schuster
as well as contributed writing to the Degrassi: The Next Generation
animated and live action webisodes. Although the Extra Credit series underperformed, despite being the first graphic novel advertised on Canadian network television, they helped increase Torres' profile especially in the book industry.
Torres has also written chapter books and activity books for Scholastic and Simon Says
, short stories and comic strips for magazines including Kayak, YTV's Whoa, and Nickelodeon Magazine (to which he contributed Avatar: The Last Airbender comics). He was also a staff writer on the Rugrats
daily syndicated newspaper comic strip.
His animation credits include Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi, Edgar & Ellen
, and League of Super Evil.
for DC, WALL-E
for Boom Studios, and Lola: A Ghost Story for Oni Press.
Torres' upcoming projects include the graphic novels Dead Goombas and Power Lunch for Oni, as well as new collected editions of Alison Dare from Tundra Books
.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
-born Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. He is perhaps best known for his run on DC Comics' Teen Titans Go!
Teen Titans Go!
Teen Titans Go! is a comic book series that was published by DC Comics. It is based on the 2003 animated TV series Teen Titans which is itself loosely based on the team that starred in the popular 1980s comic The New Teen Titans. The series was written by J...
. He has also done some writing for animation and television.
History
Torres was born in ManilaManila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
and raised in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
where he was educated at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
. Before writing comic books, Torres was an ESL
ESL
ESL is a common abbreviation for English as a Second Language, see English language learning and teaching.ESL may also refer to:-Companies:...
instructor. He is married, has a son, and currently resides in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
Early work
The writer debuted with the semi-autobiographical Copybook Tales, first published by Slave Labor GraphicsSlave Labor Graphics
Slave Labor Graphics is an independent American comic book publisher, well-known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat comics.-Company history:...
in the early 90s and then later collected and reprinted by Oni Press
Oni Press
Oni Press is an American independent comic book publisher based in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1997 by Bob Schreck and Joe Nozemack with the goal of publishing the kinds of comics and graphic novels they themselves would want to read...
. Next came Siren
Siren
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous mermaid like creatures, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on an island called Sirenum scopuli...
, a three-part miniseries published by Image Comics. Both titles were co-created with artist Tim Levins
Tim Levins
Tim Levins is a Canadian comic book artist who co-created The Copybook Tales with writer J. Torres. In 1998, he and Torres created Siren, a miniseries for Image Comics, and in 2008 they created The Family Dynamic for DC Comics...
who Torres had first met in high school.
In 2002, Oni published Alison Dare, co-created by J. Bone
J. Bone
J. Bone is an Eisner Award nominated Canadian comic book artist and writer who has worked on such titles as DC Comics' Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Super Friends...
, the first of a number of critically acclaimed all-ages titles for both the writer and publisher. Sidekicks with Takeshi Miyazawa
Takeshi Miyazawa
Takeshi Miyazawa is a comic book artist who was born in Canada and attended Queen's University in Ontario to study art. His art style incorporates a manga sensibility.-Bibliography:Incomplete comic book checklist:...
came next, followed by Jason and the Argobots with Mike Norton
Mike Norton
Mike Norton is an American comic book artist and writer, known for his work on Runaways and Gravity. In February 2007, Norton signed an exclusive contract with DC and has worked on the All New Atom, written by Gail Simone...
, and Days Like This with Scott Chantler.
After some short assignments at Marvel Comics on titles like Black Panther
Black Panther (comics)
The Black Panther is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and penciller-co-plotter Jack Kirby, he first appeared in Fantastic Four #52...
, X-Men: Ronin, and X-Men Unlimited
X-Men Unlimited
-Volume 1:The purpose of this title was to run stories that fit between the main X-Men comics. The stories included all characters from the X-titles, and the issues were collections of short stories...
, Torres then went on to write the fan-favorite Teen Titans Go for DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
until the series was canceled after a 55-issue run (it was initially scheduled to end with issue #48 but a fan-driven campaign to save the title got it a temporary stay of execution).
DC Comics
With Teen Titans Go, Torres began to carve out a niche for himself as a popular and successful writer of kids comics. He went on to contribute to a handful of Johnny DCJohnny DC
Johnny DC is a character that DC Comics has used at various times as a mascot for its lines of comic books, and occasionally as metafictional character who comments on the comics in which he appears.-History:...
titles including Cartoon Network Block Party, Batman Strikes, Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century
Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century
Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century is a DC Comics comic book based on the Warner Bros. Animation-produced TV series Legion of Super-Heroes airing since fall 2006 on The CW, which in turn is based on the original DC super-team of the same name appearing in various DC titles since 1958...
, and the short-lived creator owned Family Dynamic.
However, during this time he also contributed to some decidedly more mature titles such as Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes that appear in American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939.-Publication history:...
, Ninja Scroll
Ninja Scroll
is a 1993 Japanese animated action thriller film set in feudal Japan, written and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri who was best known for his previous thriller Wicked City . The character designs were done by Yutaka Minowa. The movie is in homage to the Ninpōchō series, ninja novels by Futaro Yamada...
, Wonder Girl
Wonder Girl
Wonder Girl is the name of three fictional characters featured as superheroes in comic books and other media produced by DC Comics. The original was a younger version of Wonder Woman...
, and Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
.
Accolades
The comics Torres has worked on have earned nominations for the prestigious Eisner AwardEisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
(Alison Dare, "Best Title for Younger Readers" 2003), Harvey Award
Harvey Award
The Harvey Awards, named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman and founded by Gary Groth, President of the publisher Fantagraphics, are given for achievement in comic books. The Harveys were created as part of a successor to the Kirby Awards which were discontinued after 1987.The Harvey Awards are...
(Sidekicks, 2001), and Shuster Award for which he has been nominated six times. He won the Shuster for "Outstanding Canadian Writer" in 2006 for his work on Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Love as a Foreign Language, and Teen Titans Go). His graphic novels Days Like This and Lola: A Ghost Story were also listed by YALSA in 2004 and 2010 respectively.
Other media
In 2006, Torres penned the Degrassi: Extra CreditDegrassi: Extra Credit
Degrassi: Extra Credit is the name of a series of graphic novels based upon the teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation. The series is written by J. Torres and illustrated by Ed Northcott, and it is the basis for a set of Degrassi mangasodes....
series of graphic novels from Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
as well as contributed writing to the Degrassi: The Next Generation
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. Degrassi is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, and follows The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and...
animated and live action webisodes. Although the Extra Credit series underperformed, despite being the first graphic novel advertised on Canadian network television, they helped increase Torres' profile especially in the book industry.
Torres has also written chapter books and activity books for Scholastic and Simon Says
Simon says
Simon says is a children's game for three or more players where one player takes the role of 'Simon' and issues instructions, to the other players, which should only be followed if prefaced with the phrase 'Simon says', for example 'Simon says jump in the air'...
, short stories and comic strips for magazines including Kayak, YTV's Whoa, and Nickelodeon Magazine (to which he contributed Avatar: The Last Airbender comics). He was also a staff writer on the Rugrats
Rugrats
Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series premiered on August 11, 1991, and aired its last episode on June 8, 2004....
daily syndicated newspaper comic strip.
His animation credits include Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi, Edgar & Ellen
Edgar & Ellen
Edgar & Ellen created by Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, is based on two twelve-year old twins who cause mischief and mayhem in their sickly sweet town, Nod's Limbs. The series currently contains seven books, a new companion guide: The Mischief Manual, and plans for more in the works...
, and League of Super Evil.
Recent work
His most recent comic book credits include Batman: The Brave and the BoldBatman: The Brave and the Bold
Batman: The Brave and the Bold is an American animated television series based in part on the DC Comics series The Brave and the Bold which features two or more super heroes coming together to solve a crime or foil a super villain...
for DC, WALL-E
WALL-E
WALL-E, promoted with an interpunct as WALL•E, is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton. The story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future...
for Boom Studios, and Lola: A Ghost Story for Oni Press.
Torres' upcoming projects include the graphic novels Dead Goombas and Power Lunch for Oni, as well as new collected editions of Alison Dare from Tundra Books
Tundra Books
Tundra Books is the oldest children's book publisher in Canada.Tundra Books was founded in 1967 by May Cutler, a Montreal-based writer and editor. Cutler established the publishing company in the basement of her home, becoming the first woman to publish children's books in Canada. The U.S...
.