Jim Valentino aka valentino (born October 28, 1952 in the Bronx, New York City, New York) is an American writer, penciler and editor of comic books.

He started his career in the late 1970s creating small press comics. In the late 1980s he began to work for Marvel Comics on their super-hero titles. His most notable work for the company was as writer and artist on the future-set super-hero series Guardians of the Galaxy.

Of these the titles the most notable was the super-hero series ShadowHawk, which initially he wrote and drew himself.

In the late 1990s, he became the executive director of Image Comics. Under his directorship the company moved away from super-hero centric books, shifting focus towards independent properties. The results were mixed. On one hand, Valentino's efforts led to the discovery of a number of talented creators, including David Mack and Brian Michael Bendis. On the other hand, under Valentino Image Comics saw a significant drop in overall sales.

In 2003, Valentino was replaced as director of Image by Erik Larsen, another co-founder of the company. Since then Valentino has returned to writing and illustrating his own comics, and serves on the board of directors of comic industry charity A Commitment To Our Roots.

External links

• Jim Valentino website

1952 births | Comics artists | Comics writers | Living people | People from New York

Jim Valentino