Dan Vado (born September 9, 1959) Miller, John Jackson
"Comics Industry Birthdays"
, ''

Comics Buyer's Guide ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG''; ), established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1983 to circa 2010. The public ...

'', June 10, 2005. Accessed February 1, 2011. is an American comic book publisher and writer, and a fixture of the

independent comics Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which i ...

community. Vado is the owner, president, and publisher of

Slave Labor Graphics Slave Labor Graphics (SLG) is an independent American comic book publisher, well known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat comics. Creators associated with SLG over the years include Evan Dorkin, Roman Dirge, Sarah Dyer, Woodrow Phoenix, Jhon ...

, better known as SLG Publishing.

Biography

Vado started Slave Labor (SLG) in 1986 and is still its lone owner. The books Vado initially chose to publish were done by his personal friends, many of them acquaintances from high school.Kleid, Neil. "20 Questions for 20 Years of Slave Labor Graphics: The Dan Vado Interview
,"

Newsarama Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website GamesRadar+, also owned by FutureUS. History N ...

Blog, October 19, 2006 Even after more than twenty years in the business, Vado continues to publish books he "genuinely like rather than what he thinks the market is looking for. His writing credits include ''Barabbas'' (

Mirage Studios Mirage Studios was an American comic book company founded in 1983 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in Dover, New Hampshire. The company was best known for the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') comic book series and the subsequent franc ...

), ''Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'' (

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

), ''Bill The Clown'' (Slave Labor), ''Extreme Justice'' (DC), ''Haunted Mansion'' (Slave Labor), ''Hero Sandwich'' (Slave Labor), ''Justice League America'' (DC), and ''Universal Monsters: Dracula'' (Dark Horse Comics). He also founded the

Alternative Press Expo The Alternative Press Expo (APE) was a comic book festival and alternative comics convention that operated from 1994 to 2017. Founded by Slave Labor Graphics publisher Dan Vado, APE focused on self-published, independent, and alternative carto ...

, one of the first comics conventions dedicated to alternative comics and self-publishers. While it is presumed SLG Publishing has ceased operation, it has mainly just cut back and only publishes 2-3 books per year. Currently Dan runs The

Art Boutiki Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

Music Hall in San Jose, voted as one of the top 35 jazz clubs in the USA by

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

, and also does consulting for prospective comics publishers and creators. During the Covid lockdowns Vado began a book about fortune cookies which will also double as a memoir of sorts. The still untitled book will be released at the end of 2021.

Personal life

Vado is well known throughout the comics community for his opinionated, plain-spoken, and humorous nature. He is also an amateur cook with a predilection for "

beer can chicken Beer can chicken (also known as chicken on a throne, beer butt chicken, coq au can, dancing chicken) is a barbecued chicken dish and method of indirect grilling using a partially-filled can of beer that is placed in the chicken's cavity prior ...

." He lives in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, is married, and is the father of two sons.

Awards

Vado won an

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual c ...

in 2007."Comic-Con International's Inkpot Awards," Comic-con International official website.
Accessed August 9, 2009.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vado, Dan Slave Labor Graphics 1959 births Living people American comics writers American writers of Italian descent