Paul & Anina's author bios(last updated July 2013) |
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SHORT BIOS (INDIVIDUAL)
Writer Anina Bennett is the co-author (with her husband, Paul Guinan) of the steampunk sensation Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel and Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention. She and Paul also created the Eisner-nominated science fiction series Heartbreakers, one of the first comics to feature clones and female action heroes, which debuted in Dark Horse Presents in 1989. Anina is a recovering comic book editor, having previously shepherded titles such as Nexus, GrimJack, and Harlan Ellison’s Dream Corridor for First Comics and Dark Horse Comics. She and Paul live in Portland, Oregon, where in 2012 they played Spock's parents on stage in the city's beloved Trek in the Park production. The creative couple was honored with Inkpot Awards in 2011 at Comic-Con International. Visit them online at www.BigRedHair.com, and follow Anina on Twitter @bigredhair. Multimedia artist Paul Guinan started out at First Comics, retouching the first manga translation published in the U.S., Lone Wolf and Cub. While at First, he co-created Cargonauts, a precursor to Firefly. Paul later co-created Chronos for DC Comics. With his wife, Anina Bennett, he created the groundbreaking science fiction series Heartbreakers. Paul’s art for their graphic novel Heartbreakers Meet Boilerplate was nominated for an Eisner Award, and in 2011 the couple was honored with Inkpot Awards. Most recently, he and Anina collaborated on the unique illustrated hardcover books Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel (in development as a feature film from producer J.J. Abrams) and Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention. Follow Paul on Twitter @Boilerplate1893. MEDIUM BIOS (INDIVIDUAL) Writer Anina Bennett is the co-author (with her husband, Paul Guinan) of the steampunk sensation Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel, hailed as “a masterpiece of fictional reality” by The Telegraph UK. Anina also collaborated with Paul to create the Eisner-nominated science fiction series Heartbreakers, one of the first science fiction comics to feature clones and female action heroes. Their new book, Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention, is a generation-spanning tale about a family of inventors, which Publishers Weekly predicts will "satisfy even the hardest to please of readers." A recovering comic book editor, Anina cut her teeth at First Comics in Chicago, where she shepherded titles such as Nexus and GrimJack. After moving to Portland, Oregon, to join Dark Horse Comics in 1991, she worked on everything from Nexus (again) to Classic Star Wars and Harlan Ellison’s Dream Corridor. Her career also took her to Denmark, where she edited Disney stories for Egmont. Anina has served as a judge and a presenter for the Eisner Awards, as well as on the boards of several nonprofits. She and Paul teach comic book workshops for students of all ages. They've known each other for an astoundingly long time and still live in Portland, near a reputedly extinct volcano. Visit them online at www.BigRedHair.com, and follow Anina on Twitter @bigredhair. Multimedia artist Paul Guinan’s comic book career is a series of firsts. He began at First Comics, retouching the first manga translation published in the United States, Lone Wolf and Cub. While at First, he co-created Cargonauts, a precursor to Firefly. With his wife, Anina Bennett, Paul created the first female action hero series in comics, Heartbreakers, which became the first comic to be supplemented by an interactive computer database. His innovative digital art, which Paul dubbed “paintography,” in Heartbreakers Meet Boilerplate was nominated for an Eisner Award. Paul also co-created the monthly title Chronos for DC Comics. In 2000 he created Boilerplate, a website about a mechanical soldier invented in 1893. In 2009 Paul again joined forces with Anina to produce a coffee-table book about the robot’s exploits. Universally praised by international media, its innovative format and unique concept have been described as a “graphic novel/picture book hybrid.” Boilerplate has been optioned by Paramount Pictures and is in development as a feature film produced by J.J. Abrams. Paul and Anina followed that up in 2012 with Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention, a steampunk historical adventure that resurrects and re-imagines a vintage dime novel hero. Frank Reade has been praised as “a rollicking retrofuturist visual feast” by The Wall Street Journal, and as “meticulously crafted” by The Atlantic. Follow Paul on Twitter @Boilerplate1893. |
COMBINED BIO Anina and Paul's most recent books are two unique--and critically acclaimed--illustrated hardcovers. Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel, the biography of a 19th-century robot soldier, is currently in development as a feature film produced by J.J. Abrams. Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention is a steampunk historical adventure that resurrects and re-imagines a vintage dime novel hero, complete with restored 19th-century retrofuturist images. Paul is a multimedia artist and recovering Chicago television personality. He combined his skills in illustration, photography, and model-making with his love of history when he created Boilerplate, the Victorian-era robot. Paul also co-created Chronos, a time travel series from DC Comics, and is internationally renowned as an authority on 19th-century automatons. With Anina at his side, he has lived with the Apache in traditional fashion, sailed the Pacific on a square-rigged brig, and walked the sands of the Roman Coliseum. Anina, first published at age 15, has written five Heartbreakers graphic novels and edited everything from Star Wars comic books to Supreme Court briefs. It’s a good thing she loves to travel, because her career has taken her from Chicago, where she cut her teeth at First Comics; to Dark Horse Comics in Oregon, where she collaborated with renowned author Harlan Ellison; and to Denmark, where she handled Mickey Mouse tales for multimedia giant Egmont. Anina also teaches writing workshops for students of all ages and has served on the Board of Directors for several nonprofit organizations. Paul and Anina were raised in Chicago and have known each other since before the Internet existed. They now reside in Portland, Oregon, where in 2012 they played Spock's parents on stage in the city's beloved Trek in the Park production. Visit them online at www.BigRedHair.com, and follow them on Twitter @bigredhair and @Boilerplate1893. PAUL'S PORTFOLIO |
