Biography

Vankin was formerly a news editor of San Jose, California

San Jose, California

San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

's Metro newspaper and is the author of several books and comics. He has also written for the TV series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven

The Crow: Stairway to Heaven

The Crow: Stairway to Heaven was a 1998 Canadian television series created by Bryce Zabel based on The Crow comic by James O'Barr starring Mark Dacascos in the lead role as Eric Draven, reprising the role originally played by Brandon Lee in the 1994 film The Crow...

. His graphic novel, Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights was published in January, 2009. Also in 2009, he collaborated with co-writer and illustrator Arnold Pander on the graphic novel Tasty Bullet, published by Image Comics.

He wrote the Vertigo Comics series The Witching

The Witching

The Witching is a comic book series written by Jonathan Vankin and Leigh Gallagher, with Tara McPherson creating the cover art. This comic was published in the United States by the DC Comics imprint Vertigo. A total of 10 monthly issues were released in 2004 and 2005. Issue #5 featured a guest...

 in 2004-2005 and the 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...

 series Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search For Swamp Thing in 2011. The latter series is notable for featuring the first appearance by Vertigo Comics character John Constantine

John Constantine

John Constantine is a fictional character, an occult detective anti-hero in comic books published by DC Comics, mostly under the Vertigo imprint. The character first appeared in Swamp Thing #37 , and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch...

 outside of a Vertigo-branded comic since the early 1990s.

Vankin is best known for his books Conspiracies, Cover-Ups and Crimes and, with co-writer John Whalen, the Greatest Conspiracies series, beginning in 1995 with The 50 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time. The latter has now been through four updated editions in addition to the original, the latest being The World's Greatest Conspiracies in 2010.

Vankin was senior editor at Vertigo Comics, concentrating on original graphic novels from 2004 - 2011. He was responsible for the graphic novel The Quitter which brought Harvey Pekar

Harvey Pekar

Harvey Lawrence Pekar was an American underground comic book writer, music critic and media personality, best known for his autobiographical American Splendor comic series. In 2003, the series inspired a critically acclaimed film adaptation of the same name.Pekar described American Splendor as "an...

 to Vertigo Comics. He later edited two new volumes of Pekar's American Splendor

American Splendor

American Splendor is a series of autobiographical comic books written by the late Harvey Pekar and drawn by a variety of artists. The first issue was published in 1976 and the most recent in September 2008, with publication occurring at irregular intervals...

 series. He also acquired and shepherded the critically acclaimed graphic novel Incognegro

Incognegro (comics)

Incognegro is a black-and-white graphic novel written by Mat Johnson with art by Warren Pleece. It was published by DC Comics imprint Vertigo-Publication history:...

 written by Mat Johnson

Mat Johnson

Mat Johnson is an American writer of literary fiction.-Biography:Born and raised in the Germantown and Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Johnson writes primarily about the lives of African-Americans, using fiction, nonfiction and graphic novels as mediums...

 as well as The Green Woman written by renowned horror author Peter Straub

Peter Straub

Peter Francis Straub is an American author and poet, most famous for his work in the horror genre. His horror fiction has received numerous literary honors such as the Bram Stoker Award, World Fantasy Award, and International Horror Guild Award, placing him among the most-honored horror authors in...

 and actor/writer Michael Easton

Michael Easton

Michael Easton is an American television actor, poet, author and photographer.-Career:Easton has made appearances on television shows such as Ally McBeal and The Practice. He had a recurring role on the science fiction television series Mutant X...

.

Vankin is a graduate of Brandeis University

Brandeis University

Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...

.

Vankin will write the second issue of Godzilla Legends

Godzilla (comics)

Godzilla has appeared in a range of comic books that have been published in Japan and the United States.-Japanese Godzilla comics:In his native Japan, Godzilla has been featured in various comic books since his inception in 1954. These comics for the most part were black and white publications...

 for IDW

IDW

IDW may refer to:* IDW Publishing , a U.S. comic book publisher* Inverse distance weighting, a mathematical method for surface fitting* Investigative Data Warehouse, an FBI surveillance database...

.

External links

• Conspire (archived at Internet Archive)
• Vertigo Pop! Tokyo - An Interview with Jonathan Vankin, Adam Arnold
  Adam Arnold
  Adam Arnold is an American comic book creator. His works include the OEL manga/webcomic Aoi House and the upcoming supernatural comedy series Vampire Cheerleaders and Paranormal Mystery Squad.-Career:...
  
  , AnimeFringe, October, 2002
• http://www.comicsbulletin.com/vertigo/120335056928856.htmInterview with Jonathan Vankin and Simon Oliver of The Exterminators
  The Exterminators
  The Exterminators may mean:* The Exterminators , a Doctor Who audio drama* The Exterminators , a Vertigo comic book series* Billy the Exterminator, a reality series previously known as The Exterminators...
  
  ], Keith Dallas, Comics Bulletin
  Comics Bulletin
  Comics Bulletin is a website with an emphasis on the American comic book industry, updated daily with news, reviews, interviews, and editorial content. Coverage ranges from mainstream to independent/small press comic book and graphic novel publishers.-History:...
  
  , February 11, 2008