Award-winning writer whose career has embraced forms ranging from graphic novels to live theater and journalism. His 1988 graphic novel Kings in Disguise (with artist Dan Burr) was honored with the Eisner and Harvey awards -the Oscars of their field- and its reissue in 2006 was hailed as one of that year's ten top comics events by Time.com. His other comics work includes the whimsical Mr. Hero adventure series, and stories for the Batman, Aliens and Predator franchises. A multiple winner of national awards for playwriting, he was commissioned to write the drama "Halls of Ivory" as an official event of the Bicentennial Celebration of the United States Constitution. His play "Stations" was chosen to represent the United States at the International Theater Festival in Monte Carlo. He was commissioned to write a monograph in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution touring exhibit "Climbing Jacob's Ladder," and his script for the related television documentary "Hope is the Last Thing to Die" was honored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews. In collaboration with his late wife Kate Worley, he has written a novel for the mystery market, and is presently at work on a new book in a similar vein. Working with artist Reed Waller, he is also shepherding Kate's all-new conclusion to the popular Omaha the Cat Dancer comics series into print. Once again working with Dan Burr, Vance is currently completing a sequel to Kings in Disguise. Titled On the Ropes, that sequel will be issued by W.W. Norton in the near future.

James O'Barr is an accomplished artist and writer, best known for creating The Crow. In 1978, O'Barr's fiancée, Beverly, was killed by a drunk driver, and he joined the Marines in an effort to cope with the loss. He was stationed in Germany and illustrated combat manuals for the military. While living in Berlin in 1981, O'Barr began work on The Crow as a means of dealing with his personal tragedy. O'Barr was further inspired by a Detroit newspaper account of the murder of a young couple over a $20 engagement ring. After his discharge from the Marines, O'Barr continued his painting and illustration as well as doing lots of odd jobs, including working for a Detroit body shop. The Crow sat on a shelf for seven years, but at last someone wanted to publish it: Gary Reed of Caliber Press. In The Crow, the protagonist and his fiancée are murdered by a gang of criminals. He then returns from the dead to hunt their killers. O'Barr's own hope that his project would result in a personal catharsis went unfulfilled, he told an interviewer in 1994, saying, "[A]s I drew each page, it made me more self-destructive, if anything....There is pure anger on each page". The Crow has sold more than 750,000 copies worldwide. The book was adapted into a successful film of the same name in 1994, but it resulted in further tragedy. Brandon Lee, who played the main character, was accidentally shot and killed during filming. O'Barr was the second American to be awarded the "Storyteller Award" by the International Comic Festival held annually in Angoulême, France.