Jeremy Whitley is an American

comic book writer and artist developed specialized terminology. Some several attempts have been made to formalize and define the terminology of comics by authors such as Will Eisner, Scott McCloud, R. C. Harvey and Dylan Horrocks. Much of the terminology in English is un ...

, known as the creator and writer of the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

series ''

The Unstoppable Wasp ''The Unstoppable Wasp'' is an ongoing American comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring Nadia van Dyne, Nadia van Dyne (née Pym). The solo series initially debuted in January 2017 and ran for 8 issues as a part of Marvel NOW! 2.0 ...

'', centred on

Nadia van Dyne Nadezhda "Nadia" van Dyne (née Pym) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Mark Waid and Alan Davis, the character first appeared in ''Free Comic Book Day 2016 Civil War II'' (July ...

, of the

Glyph A glyph () is any kind of purposeful mark. In typography, a glyph is "the specific shape, design, or representation of a character". It is a particular graphical representation, in a particular typeface, of an element of written language. A g ...

-winning, Eisner-nominated series ''

Princeless ''Princeless'' is an American all-ages comic book series by Jeremy Whitley. It was nominated for two Eisner Awards, "Best Single Issue" and "Best Comic for Kids Ages 8-12", and five Glyph Comics Awards, winning the categories "Best Female Char ...

'', and as a major writer of

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

, especially the ''My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'' comic franchise.

Early life

Jeremy Whitley was born in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and raised in

Livermore, California Livermore (formerly Livermorès, Livermore Ranch, and Nottingham) is a city in Alameda County, California. With a 2020 population of 87,955, Livermore is the most populous city in the Tri-Valley. It is located on the eastern edge of Californ ...

and in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

.Cunningham, Keith (November 2, 2011)
"Interview With Jeremy Whitley: The Genesis of 'Princeless.'"
Action Lab.Jeremy Whitley

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

. Retrieved October 5, 2015 He became interested in comics through his father, who would walk him to their local Livermore comic book shop, Fact, Fiction, and Fantasy. From an early age Whitley began collecting both comics and the

Marvel Masterpieces Marvel Masterpieces is the name of several subsequent sets of trading cards, printed during 1992-2008, depicting characters and events from Marvel Comics. Featuring large, vividly drawn card fronts and backs detailing trivia, each card showcased a ...

trading cards, and wrote and illustrated his first comic when he was in the third grade. He attended the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

in Chapel Hill, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

Career

In 2011, Whitley created the comic series, ''

'', a series about a young black princess determined to break the norms of what a princess should be. According to Whitley, ''

'' was conceived thus: :"''Princeless ''came from a confluence of issues I had. I’ve always had a lot of close geek girl friends and I’m always looking for strong female characters in comics to share with them. I think there just aren’t enough. When I married my wife, I got to know her younger sisters and some of her cousins. As young girls of color none of them had ever picked up a comic book (except my wife) and why should they? I can count on one hand the number of black women you can find on your comic book stand right now, not to mention the number who are positive portrayals. The same holds true for women of color in fantasy stories. I wanted my daughter to have comic books she could love the same way I’ve loved mine. Not to mention, I’m a little leery about the princess culture and what it actually teaches girls." Also in 2011, Whitley was hired as the Director of Marketing and Public Relations at Action Lab Entertainment, focusing on the solicitations, reviews, press releases, and interviews for new releases. Whitley has also acted as a co-writer for 2012 digital mini-series "GlobWorld" and the current series "NFL RushZone". In addition, Whitley has also been a regular writer for IDW's '' My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'' and ''My Little Pony: Friends Forever''. From 2016 to 2019, Whitley was the principal creator and writer of the

series ''

'', across two runs of eight and ten issues respectively. His work on ''The Unstoppable Wasp'' received attention for "bringing a nuanced understanding understanding of mental health, and

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

in particular" to Marvel comics, also drawing praise from bipolar advocates and mental health professionals.

Personal life

Whitley currently lives with his wife Alicia and daughters Zuri and Amara in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

. He identifies as being on the asexual spectrum.

Awards and honors

Whitley's ''Princeless'' won three

Glyph Comics Awards The Glyph Comics Awards is for the best comics made by people of color from the last calendar year. The goal is to award the People of Color for their awesome work in the comics industry and also to inspire young writers from diverse backgrounds t ...

in 2012, and it was also nominated for two Eisner awards. , - ! scope="row" , 2012 , ''Princeless'' , Story of the Year ,

, , with M. Goodwin , , - , 2012 , ''Princeless'' , Writer of the Year ,

, , , , - , 2012 , Adrienne, ''Princeless'' , Best Female Character ,

, , with M. Goodwin , , - , 2012 , ''Princeless #3'' , Best Single Issue or One-Shot ,

Eisner Awards The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

, , with M. Goodwin , , - , 2012 , ''Princeless'' , Best Publication for Kids (Ages 8–12) ,

, , with M. Goodwin , , - , 2019 , ''The Unstoppable Wasp: Unlimited, vol. 1: Fix Everything'' , Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2019 ,

Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of l ...

, , with Gurihiru , , - , 2020 , ''The Unstoppable Wasp: Unlimited, vol. 2: Unstoppable!'' , Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2020 ,

, , with Elsa Charretier, Veronic Fish, Ro Stein, Ted Brandt , , -

References

External links

*Thompson, Kelly (January 30, 2012)
"She Has No Head! – An Interview With Princeless Creator Jeremy Whitley"

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

.
Official Website of Jeremy Whitley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitley, Jeremy Living people Marvel Comics writers American comics writers 1983 births Asexual men