Jim Demonakos (born 1977) is an American director, graphic novelist, and event organizer noted for his work in comic books, conventions, and documentary films. He is most often noted as the founder of

Emerald City Comic Con The Emerald City Comic Con (ECCC), formerly the Emerald City Comicon, is an annual comic book convention taking place in Seattle, Washington. Originally taking place at the city's Qwest Field (first at West Field Plaza, then at the Event Center) ...

and LightBox Expo, as well as the director and producer of the award-winning documentary film, '' Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters''.

Early life

The child of Greek immigrants, Demonakos was born in Montana and moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, WA when he was six years old. He grew up in the food service world, working from his early teens in his parents' restaurants. After graduating high school, he enrolled at The University of Washington, and then transferred to The Art Institute of Seattle, where he graduated with a degree in computer animation.

Career

Jim opened his first comic book store, The Comic Stop, in March 2000, followed by a second store in 2002. Eventually the stores expanded to a total of four locations, making The Comic Stop the largest chain of comic book shops in the Pacific Northwest. He also served as PR & Marketing Coordinator for

Image Comics Image Comics is an independent American American comic book, comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include ''Spawn (comics) ...

from 2005-2006. He founded Seattle's

(ECCC) as a one-day event in 2003, with an attendance of 3,000 people. He then spent over a decade growing and developing ECCC into the largest independent comic convention in the United States. Emerald City Comic Con was acquired by ReedPOP (

RELX RELX plc (pronounced "Rel-ex") is a British Multinational corporation, multinational information and analytics company headquartered in London, England. Its businesses provide scientific, technical and medical information and analytics; legal i ...

) in 2015 and Demonakos ceased being involved in the event as of 2017. Alongside Mark Long, he wrote the New York Times Best Selling graphic novel
The Silence of Our Friends
which was illustrated by National Book Award winner

Nate Powell Nathan Lee Powell (born 1978) is an American graphic novelist and musician. His 2008 graphic novel ''Swallow Me Whole'' won an Ignatz Award and Eisner Award for Best Original Graphic Novel. He illustrated the ''March'' trilogy, an autobiographical ...

. The graphic novel was awarded a Great Graphic Novel for Teens by

YALSA 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 ...

. Jim is a founding member of the pioneering nerd rock band Kirby Krackle, where he was the songwriter and lyricist from the bands start in 2009 until 2014, when he left the band. He launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to bring back The Classic Comic Book Spinner Rack, including creating a variant which was specially designed to hold Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) graded comic books, which he manufactured and distributed from 2018 to 2021. Demonakos co-founde
LightBox Expo
which debuted in 2019 and has already become a must-attend event among animation, illustration and concept art creators and fans. Most recently, he produced and directed (alongside Kevin Konrad Hanna) '' Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters'', an award-winning feature-length documentary about

Mike Mignola Michael Mignola (; born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer best known for creating ''Hellboy'' for Dark Horse Comics, part of a Hellboy Universe, shared universe of titles including ''B.P.R.D.'', ''Abe Sapien'', ''Lobster Johns ...

and the creation of his comic book universe centered around

Hellboy Hellboy is a superhero created by Mike Mignola and appearing in comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various miniseries, one-shots ...

Filmography

* '' Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters'' (2022) – director/producer

Bibliography

*''The Silence of Our Friends'' (art by

, written by Mark Long and Jim Demonakos. 1/12,

First Second Books First Second Books is an American publisher of graphic novels. An imprint (trade name), imprint of Roaring Brook Press, part of Holtzbrinck, Holtzbrinck Publishers, First Second publishes fiction, biographies, personal memoirs, history, visual e ...

- ISBN 978-1250164988) *''The Complete Tales From The Con'' (created and edited by Jim Demonakos, art by Chris Giarrusso, written by Brad Guigar. 8/18, Image Comics - ISBN 978-1534302907) *''The Lion and the Aardvark: Aesop's Modern Fables'' (edited by Robin D. Laws, short story written by Jim Demonakos. 8/13, Stone Skin Press - ISBN 978-1908983022) *''Skullkickers #12'' backup story (art by Joel Carroll, written by Jim Demonakos, Kyle Stevens. 11/11,

) *''Savage Dragon #12''9 backup story (art by Joe Largent, written by Jim Demonakos. 10/06,

) *'' Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising'' and '' Shrapnel: Hubris'' (edited by Jim Demonakos. 01/09, Radical Comics)

Awards

* 2022: FilmQuest Film Festival: Best Documentary for '' Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters'' * 2022:

Gen Con Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing ...

Film Festival: Best Documentary for '' Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters'' * 2022: Chagrin Documentary Film Festival: Best Documentary for '' Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters'' * 2022: Fantasmagoria: Best Documentary for '' Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters'' * 2022:

Prague Independent Film Festival Prague Independent Film Festival (PIFF) () is an international film festival held annually in August in Prague, the capital of Czech Republic. The festival focuses on independent cinema. Festival founder and director is Diana Ringo. History 20 ...

: Best Documentary for '' Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters'' * 2022: Hamilton Film Festival: Best Documentary for '' Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters'' * 2022: Shockfest Film Festival: Best Documentary for '' Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters'' * 2022: Oniros Film Awards: Best Documentary for '' Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters'' * 2022: Fantasmagoría - Festival de Cine Fantástico y de Terror de Medellìn: Best Documentary for '' Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters''

References

External links

LightBox Expo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demonakos, Jim American comics writers 1977 births American graphic novelists American male novelists Comics retailers (people) Comic book publishers (people) Living people Artists from Seattle Filmmakers from Seattle Musicians from Seattle Writers from Seattle American songwriters