Meet the Artists
Junji Ito
Junji Ito was born on July 31, 1963 in Nakatsugawa, Gifu, Japan. Since he was a child, Ito had a fascination with horror, reading horror manga from artists such as Kazuo Umezu and Shinichi Koga. He also enjoyed notable horror movies such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Exorcist. Influenced by the manga he would read in his free time, a 5-year-old Ito would copy the manga panels he would see, starting his journey into creating manga. In 1984, Ito would start creating his own works, with his first short story published in 1987, this work would later become serialized as the work, Tomie. Ito explores many different topics within his works from abstract concepts such as spirals and immortality, to walking sharks and giant floating heads. He has many experiences and inspirations fueling his works, such as the spider crickets in his childhood home, the passing of a junior high classmate, dreams he has had, the movie Jaws, moving tongues resembling slugs, and his job as a dental technician. Junji Ito currently has a new story collection that will be published on March 24, 2026, called Statues.
Jhonen Vasquez
Jhonen Vasquez was born on September 1,1974 in San Jose, California. He had many interests that strongly influenced his future works, such as dinosaurs, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comics, and the films Aliens, Flight of Dragons and The Plague Dogs. Vasquez enjoyed drawing as a child, and would eventually create the titular character, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, that would go on to feature in comic strips in his high school newspaper. Eventually, he would submit his drawings of Johnny to the publisher, Slave Labor Graphics, who would publish Johnny the Homicidal Maniac in 1995. In 2001, Vasquez would go on to create his first animated TV show with Nickelodeon called Invader Zim. The show ran from March 30, 2001-December 10, 2002, and although short, the series accumulated a large fan base that enjoyed its grotesque and dark humor. Vasquez’s most recent works include an Invader Zim animated movie released in 2019, and the Invader Zim comics running from 2015-2021.
Bernie Wrightson
Bernie Wrightson was born on October 27,1948 in Dundalk, Maryland. As a child, Wrightson was drawn towards horror. It started when he would rent horror comics published by EC Comics at the cigar store for two cents. If he came across a story particularly scary to him, he would buy it. He learned how to draw from the comics he would read, but had some further learning by taking a correspondence course with the Famous Artist School. Wrightson would get a job as an illustrator for the Baltimore Sun in 1966. During this time, he would visit a comic convention and meet his favorite comic artist Frank Frazetta, along with other notable comic artists, Michael Kaluta, and Jeffrey Catherine Jones. In 1968, Wrightson would show his work at another Comic-Con to Al Williamson, Dick Giordano, and Carmine Infantino, comic artists and editors for DC Comics. This jumpstarted Wrightson’s comic career, where he became most well-known for his work in House of Mystery and House of Secrets, along with being the co-creator of DC’s Swamp Thing. Wrightson would also create illustrated adaptations of “Cool Air” by H.P. Lovecraft, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allen Poe through Warren Publishing and Marvel Comics. Wrightson would go on to help produce concept art for films, album covers, and graphic novels before retiring in 2017. On March 18, 2017, Wrightson would pass away at the age of 68, leaving behind a vast and influential legacy within the comic world.