| Paul & Anina's author biographies | |
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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. 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 currently serves on the Board of Directors for Stumptown Comics in Portland, Oregon. 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 also co-created Chronos for DC Comics and was lead background artist on the animated series Stan Lee’s Stripperella. 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. He collaborated with Anina on Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel, a unique illustrated hardcover that’s been optioned by producer J.J. Abrams, and their most recent book, Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention. 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, and in 2012 she joined the Board of Directors for Stumptown Comics. She teaches comics writing workshops for students of all ages. She and Paul have known each other for an astoundingly long time. They still live in Portland, near a reputedly extinct volcano. 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 and was lead background artist on the animated series Stan Lee’s Stripperella. In 2000 he created Boilerplate, a web site 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 for J.J. Abrams to produce as a feature film. 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. |
COMBINED BIO
for their latest book Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention is by husband-and-wife team Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett, a follow-up to their acclaimed book Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel. The couple has been collaborating in print since 1989, when they created the groundbreaking science fiction comic Heartbreakers, an action series that explores the personal and political ramifications of cloning. Their 2005 graphic novel Heartbreakers Meet Boilerplate stars Anina as the main characters and was nominated for an Eisner Award for Paul’s innovative art. In 1998 they launched their web site, www.BigRedHair.com, which became the birthplace of Boilerplate. 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 nineteenth-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 serves on the Board of Directors for Stumptown Comics. Paul and Anina were raised in Chicago and have known each other since before the Internet existed. They now reside in Portland, Oregon with their weimaraner, Bowie. PAUL'S PORTFOLIO
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