DINI, Paul 1957-

PERSONAL:

Born August 7, 1957.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Oni Press, 6336 Southeast Milwaukee Ave., PMB 30, Portland, OR 97202.

CAREER:

Writer, comic book writer, and producer. Warner Brothers, writer and producer, 1989—. Worked as freelance writer and for Lucasfilm on animated shows Droids and Ewoks. Producer of numerous television and theatrical films, including Duck Dodgers, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Batman Beyond: The Movie, Batman Beyond: The Batman/Superman Movie, Batman: Gotham Knights, Superman, Superman: The Last Son of Krypton, Batman, Droids, and Krypto. Actor in movie Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back; appeared as himself in Comic Book: The Movie.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Emmy Award, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences; Eisner Award and Harvey Award, both for Batman Adventures: Mad Love.

WRITINGS:

(Story developer) Melinda Luke, The Red Ghost: An Ewok Adventure, illustrated by Deborah Colvin Borgo, Random House (New York, NY), 1986.

(Story developer) Cathy East Dubowski, The Shadow Stone: An Ewok Adventure, illustrated by Deborah Colvin Borgo, Random House (New York, NY), 1986.

(Scriptwriter) Chip Lovitt, Batman and the Magician, illustrated by Brandon Kruse and Aluir Amancio, Western Publishing Company (Racine, WI), 1995.

(With Bruce Timm) Batman Adventures: Mad Love, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1995.

Batman: Harley's Holiday, art by Bruce Timm, Western Publishing Company (Racine, WI), 1996.

(With Mark Buckingham and Wayne Faucher) Batman: Mr. Freeze, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1997.

(With Joe Staton and Terry Beatty) The Official Comics Adaptation: Batman & Superman Adventures: World's Finest, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1997.

(With Chip Kidd) Batman Animated, HarperEntertainment (New York, NY), 1998.

(With Scott McCloud) Superman: Adventures of the Man of Steel, penciled by Rick Burchett and Bret Blevins, inked by Terry Austin, introduction by Scott McCloud, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1998.

(And story developer, with Alex Ross) Batman: War on Crime, art by Alex Ross, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1999.

(And story developer, with Alex Ross) Superman: Peace on Earth, art by Alex Ross, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1999.

Paul Dini's Jingle Belle, illustrated by Stephen DeStefano, lettered by Sean Konot and others, Oni Press (Portland, OR), 1999.

Batman: Harley Quinn, penciled by Yvel Guichet, inked by Aaron Sowd, DC Comics (New York, NY), 1999.

Jingle Belle: Naught and Nice, illustrated by Stephen DeStefano, Oni Press (Portland, OR), 2000.

Batman Beyond, Return of the Joker (screenplay; based on story by author, Bruce Timm, and Glen Murakmi), Watson-Guptill Publications (New York, NY), 2000.

(And story developer, with Alex Ross) Shazam!: Power of Hope art by Alex Ross, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2004.

(And story developer, with Alex Ross) Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth, art by Alex Ross, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2001.

(And story developer, with Alex Ross) JLA: Secret Origins, art by Alex Ross, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2002.

(And story developer, with Alex Ross) JLA: Liberty and Justice, art by Alex Ross, lettering by Todd Klein, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2003.

(With Bruce Timm) The Batman Adventures: Dangerous Dames and Demons, DC Comics (New York, NY), 2003.

Writer and story developer for numerous television series and films and theatrical releases, including The Incredible Hulk, 1982; He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Dungeons & Dragons, both 1983; Transformers, 1984; G.I. Joe, Jem!, Ewoks, Droids, all 1985; Monsters, 1988; Tiny Toon Adventures, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures, both 1990; Batman, Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation, both 1992; Batman: Mask of Phantasm, 1993; Freakazoid!, Tiny Toon Adventures: Night Ghoulery, both 1995; Superman: The Last Son of Krypton, Superman, both 1996; Batman: Gotham Knights, The New Adventures of Batman and Superman, both 1997; The Batman/Superman Movie, 1998; Batman Beyond, Batman Beyond: The Movie, both 1999; Clerks, Static Shock, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, all 2000; Justice League, 2001; Duck Dodgers, 2003; and Lost, 2004. Credited with writing additional material for Family Dog (animated television series), Columbia Broadcasting Service (CBS), c. 1993.

ADAPTATIONS:

The author's "Jingle Belle" graphic novels about Santa Claus's rebellious teenage daughter have been optioned for film by producer Steve Tish and GMG Films partner Gary Goodman.

SIDELIGHTS:

Paul Dini has written for animated television series, films, and comic books for more than two decades. He is especially known among comic aficionados for his contributions to television's animated Batman series beginning in the early 1990s and for writing DC Comics publications about the caped superhero. He also wrote about the mythical Batman in a futuristic setting for the Batman Beyond television series. In an interview on the Critical Eye Web site, Dini explained his career to Emru Townsend this way: "Well, I loved cartoons, I loved writing, I loved acting, I loved any sort of bizarre, goofy entertainment like that. I loved comic books … so basically I was devoting a lot of time towards things that would guarantee me a life of abject poverty. By luck, I was able to combine those things into a career choice, and use that to work in animation, first as a writer, then as a producer."

Dini began his career as a freelancer and then worked for George Lucas of Star Wars fame on the animated television shows Ewok and Droids. This work led to two illustrated publications, The Red Ghost: An Ewok Adventure and The Shadow Stone: An Ewok Adventure, both of which were based on story ideas by Dini. In addition to his extensive scripting for animated television shows and movies, Dini began writing for comic books at the request of DC Comics, which wanted him to extend his Batman television work with artist Bruce Timm to the comic book or graphic novel format. The Batman Adventures: Dangerous Dames and Demons collects many of the comic-book collaborations between Dini and Timm in one volume and features villains such as Roxy Rocket, Poison Ivy, and the Scarecrow. In one episode, Batman sets out to stop a host of demons who want to take over the world. Dini also tells the story of Harley Quinn, a character he created for the television series. In the tale "Mad Love," Dini tells how Quinn, the Joker's psychiatrist, ends up becoming the evildoer's girlfriend and partner in crime as she dresses in a harlequin costume and nearly brings about the fall of Batman. A Publishers Weekly contributor called "Mad Love" the "book's best, creating an entire history of romance and psychiatry for the Joker, as well as an inspired trap for Batman." Steve Raiteri expressed a similar view in Library Journal, noting that "'Mad Love' itself is a surprisingly deep and tragic tale of obsessive love." Gordon Flagg, writing in Booklist, thought that overall "these tales are better plotted than most of the 'serious' Batman titles" and added that "the stories effectively show how malleable an iconic character like Batman can be."

Dini has also written screenplays and comics for other superheroes, including Superman and the Justice League of America (JLA), which represents a banding together of several superheroes, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Green Lantern, and others. In JLA: Secret Origins, Dini provides information on the various superheroes' origins and, as noted by a Publishers Weekly contributor, "Condenses masses of trivia about each character into two-page spreads, while finding a distinctive voice for each one." The reviewer went on to note, "Most mainstream comics readers will crave this book." In JLA: Liberty and Justice the superheroes battle a threat from outer space in the form of an alien virus that threatens to wipe out Earth. In addition to trying to find a way to stop the disease's spread, the JLA must also deal with a panic-stricken populace who begin to riot. A PublishersWeekly contributor called the comic a "solid, entertaining story that will be particularly welcoming to newer readers." Raiteri, once again writing in Library Journal, noted that the comic was "a most impressive end to the series."

In an interview with Jayme Lynn Blaschke on the Revolution Science Fiction Web site, Dini commented on the differences writing for animation versus comics. He noted, "I change some things. I call a lot of shots in both, pretty much the same in comics as I would in an animated script." He also told Ben Fritz in an interview in Daily Variety, "I grew up loving comics as much as animation and being in both side by side, is just ideal."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 2003, Gordon Flagg, review of The Batman Adventures: Dangerous Dames and Demons, p. 112.

Daily Variety, May 9, 2003, Marc Graser, "Holiday Tale 'Jingle Belle' Set to Ring at Revolution," p. 3; July 17, 2003, Ben Fritz, "Comic-Con Characters: Paul Dini."

Library Journal, March 1, 2003, Steve Raiteri, review of JLA: Secret Origins, p. 74; September 1, 2003, Steve Raiteri, review of The Batman Adventures: Dangerous Dames & Demons, p. 140; May 1, 2004, Steve Raiteri, review of JLA: Liberty and Justice, p. 92.

Publishers Weekly, June 9, 2003, review of JLA: Secret Origins, p. 38; August 11, 2003, review of The Batman Adventures: Dangerous Dames & Demons, p. 258; February 23, 2004, review of JLA: Liberty and Justice, p. 53.

ONLINE

Critical Eye Web site,http://purpleplanetmedia.com/eye/inte/pdini.shtml (November 4, 2004), Emru Townsend, interview with Dini.

Revolution Science Fiction Web site,http://www.revolutionsf.com/ (August 14, 2004), Jayme Lynn Blaschke, interview with Dini.*