Paul Castiglia is a comic book writer and editor known for his work for Archie Comics, including his work on ''
Sonic the Hedgehog
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
'', '' Archie's Weird Mysteries'' and his editing work on the '' Archie Americana Series''. He has also written non-fiction text articles for magazines and books on pop culture, has recorded music under the name Paul Cast, is a documentary film producer, and the co-writer of an animated web series.
Early life
Paul Castiglia was born February 7, 1966, in
Passaic, New Jersey
Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,78 ...
.
Career
Paul Castiglia has been editor and writer on
comic books
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
including ''
Archie
Archie is a masculine given name, a diminutive of Archibald. It may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
*Archie Alexander (1888–1958), African-American mathematician, engineer and governor of the US Virgin Islands
* Archie Blake (mathematici ...
'', '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures'' and ''Sonic The Hedgehog''. He wrote or co-wrote all 34 issues of ''Archie's Weird Mysteries''/''Archie's Mysteries'' and wrote stories for several issue of ''The New Little Archie Comics Digest Magazine''.
Castiglia had an editorial hand (billed variously as "Americana Series Editor", "Assistant Editor", and "Compilation Editor") in all 12 volumes of the ''Archie Americana Series'' including the final volume ''Best of the Nineties Book 2'' which was released in 2011.
In September 2014 it was announced that Castiglia would be one of the leading editors and researchers on a new series of vintage reprint collections from Archie Comics called '' Archie's Favorites'' which began with the first volume, '' Archie's Favorite Christmas Comics'' in October 2014.
Archie
Archie is a masculine given name, a diminutive of Archibald. It may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
*Archie Alexander (1888–1958), African-American mathematician, engineer and governor of the US Virgin Islands
* Archie Blake (mathematici ...
Sonic the Hedgehog
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...
''
* Contributing writer to ''
Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.
Dark Horse
A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might.
Origin
Th ...
War of the Independents
War is an intense armed conflict between State (polity), states, governments, Society, societies, or paramilitary groups such as Mercenary, mercenaries, Insurgency, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violenc ...
'' from Red Anvil Press
* Guest-Writer for '' KING!'' from Blacklist Studios
As recounted in his introduction to ''The Love Showdown Collection'' ("A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to San Diego"), Castiglia conceived the idea of a storyline that would have Archie choose between Betty and Veronica "once and for all" as well as the denouement of the story in which Castiglia suggested the company revive Cheryl Blossom as the "wild card" character that Archie actually ends up with at story's end. The story, which ran in 1994 across four different Archie published comic book titles, was called the
Love Showdown (Archie Comics)
"Love Showdown" is a four-part comic book story arc, first published in 1994, featuring the characters from Archie Comics. Publicized as a possible resolution to the decades-long love triangle between Archie Andrews and his longtime sweethearts B ...
. Castiglia promoted the storyline to mass media news outlets resulting in worldwide coverage. This made the "Love Showdown" the most notable and talked-about Archie Comics story of the 1990s. The company would not achieve the same level of publicity again until 14 years later with the '' Archie Marries Veronica/Archie Marries Betty'' storyline created by Michael Uslan.
Film and television projects
Castiglia is an Executive Producer, Writer, Creative Consultant, Casting Producer and Music Supervisor on an upcoming documentary ''Bowery Rhapsody: the Rise and Redemption of Hollywood's Original Brat Pack''. According to the film's imdb page, the documentary from Handshake Away Productions takes a look at the key actors comprising The Dead End Kids, The Little Tough Guys, The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys movie acting teams.
Castiglia is the co-writer of the animated web series, '' Thomas & Friends Adventures'' which launched on YouTube in early 2017. The series takes the familiar Thomas train engine characters and puts them into fantastical stories where anything can happen.
Books
Castiglia has written non-fiction text articles for magazines and books on pop culture, including a chapter in ''Midnight Marquee Actors Studios: Vincent Price''. He has announced an upcoming book, ''Scared Silly: Classic Hollywood Horror-Comedies'', that will include a foreword by actor Daniel Roebuck.
In 2013, Castiglia contributed pieces to two comics-related books. For '' With Great Power'' Castiglia was one of several who wrote tales about the same copy of '' Amazing Fantasy#15'' (the comic book that featured Spider-Man's first appearance) being passed along from owner-to-owner. For '' Hey Kids, Comics!'' Castiglia wrote an essay about growing up discovering, collecting and reading comic books.
In 2014, Castiglia wrote an introduction for a volume of '' Felix the Cat Paintings'' by Don Oriolo from
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 ...
.
Castiglia has co-written and co-edited the '' MLJ Comics Companion'' book from TwoMorrows Publishing. The book explores the history of
Archie Comics
Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Broadcast Music, Inc., with four songs published by Scott Lea Productions: "Comic Book Heart of Mine," "Cuttin' Loose," "How Does Your Heart Feel?" and "The FriendFish Theme." "Cuttin' Loose" was released as a 12-inch single by Scamp Records. "How Does Your Heart Feel?" appeared on ''What Exit?'', a compilation of New Jersey recording artists. "The FriendFish Theme" was written for an unproduced animated series.
Charitable projects
Castiglia has been a co-captain of the Kids Comic Con (KCC) initiative since 2008. The initiative is an outreach to children encouraging and engaging their imaginations through the reading and creating of comic books and other creative endeavors. The KCC initiative has teamed with Ronald McDonald House New York for several special events and benefits.
Since 2009, Castiglia has been active in charity work as the "Creator Coordinator" for Superheroes For Hospice, a charity that puts on comic book shows and mini comic conventions with the proceeds going toward the St. Barnabas Hospice in Livingston, New Jersey.
Castiglia provided editorial guidance to Shira Frimer for her graphic novel, '' Nistar'' which tells the story of a superhero for children with cancer. Frimer distributed the book for free to children's hospitals across the United States.
In October 2014 ( National Bullying Prevention Month), Castiglia was announced as a contributing writer to a graphic novel anthology called '' Rise: Comics Against Bullying'' which was released by Northwest Press in March 2015.