John Semper Jr. is an African-American screenwriter, producer and story editor with numerous credits in animation for television. He has worked for miscellaneous companies as Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros. Animation and Hanna-Barbera Productions during a career which has involved the development of projects for

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) an ...

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Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which w ...

, Rob Minkoff and others. Semper created the English-language dialogue for two of

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

's anime feature films '' Castle in the Sky'' and '' Kiki's Delivery Service'', and co-wrote the screenplay for the live-action comedy '' Class Act''. During the 1990s, Semper was producer/story editor of '' Spider-Man: The Animated Series''. which ran from 1994 to 1998. In 2016, he began writing a

Cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

series for

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

drawn by Brian Stelfreeze.REBIRTH CYBORG's Greatest Danger: ‘Being a Black Man Living in Detroit’
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''Creeporia''

Semper's most recent creation is the family comedy-horror webseries ''Creeporia''. The character of Creeporia was first introduced in the webseries titled ''Crypt of Creeporia'', a live-action/animated blend of humor and horror. The title role in the original webseries was played by Kommerina DeYoung.

Books

His books include ''The Singular Affair of the Missing Ball: A Sherlock Whippet Mystery'' (Lulu Press, 2005), as well as several books based on his scripts for the PBS preschool series ''Jay Jay the Jet Plane'', and Kids' WB action/adventure series ''Static Shock''.

Awards

"Day of the Chameleon", an episode Semper wrote for ''Spider-Man: The Animated Series'', earned him a 1995

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally d ...

nomination for Best Individual Achievement for Writing in the Field of Animation. In 1996, the series was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the category Outstanding Animated/Live Action/Dramatic Youth or Children's Series/Special. In 2004, Semper was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for his work on '' Static Shock''.

Screenwriting credits

* series head writer denoted in bold

Television

* '' Shirt Tales'' (1983) * ''

The Biskitts ''The Biskitts'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1983 to 1984 and aired on CBS. The series lasted for only one season; only 13 episodes were produced. '' Shirt Tales'' replaced the show in i ...

'' (1983) * '' The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show'' (1983-1984) * '' Pink Panther and Sons'' (1984) * '' Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show'' (1984) * '' The Smurfs'' (1984) * ''

Snorks ''Snorks'' is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera and ran for a total of four seasons (consisting of 65 episodes) on NBC from September 15, 1984, to May 13, 1989. The program continued to be available in syndication from 19 ...

'' (1984-1985) * '' The Jetsons'' (1985) * '' The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo'' (1985) * '' Kissyfur'' (1985) * '' MoonDreamers'' (1986) * '' Bionic Six'' (1987) * ''

DuckTales ''DuckTales'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. The original cartoon series premiered on syndication and on Disney Channel on September 18, 1987 and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four ...

'' (1987) * '' Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series'' (1987) * '' The Jim Henson Hour'' (1989) * '' Kid 'n Play'' (1990) * '' Spider-Man'' (1994-1998) * '' The Puzzle Place'' (1995) * ''

Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently—Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, an ...

'' (1996-1998) * '' Extreme Ghostbusters'' (1997) * '' The Incredible Hulk'' (1997) * ''

Clifford the Big Red Dog ''Clifford the Big Red Dog'' is an American children's book series about the adventures of a precocious girl named Emily Elizabeth and her titular pet: a giant, red-furred dog named Clifford. It was first published in 1963 and was written by No ...

'' (2000) * ''

Jay Jay the Jet Plane ''Jay Jay the Jet Plane'' is an American live-action/CGI-animated musical children's television series which aired on The Learning Channel, PBS Kids, TBN and Smile. The series aired for a total of 4 seasons and has 62 episodes. The series is c ...

'' (2001) * '' Kong: The Animated Series'' (2001) * '' Static Shock'' (2003-2004): season 3-4 head writer * '' Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures'' (2008) * '' Pink Panther and Pals'' (2010) * '' The Adventures of Chuck and Friends'' (2010-2011) * ''Creeporia'' (2014) * ''

Justice League Action ''Justice League Action'' is an American superhero animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero team Justice League. The series is produced by Jim Krieg, Butch Lukic, and Alan Burnett. The show debuted on Cartoon Network UK on ...

'' (2017)

Films

* '' Class Act'' (1992) * '' Green Lantern: Beware My Power'' (2022)

Spider-Man website

As of November 2014, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the '' Spider-Man: The Animated Series'', Semper started cartoonspiderman.com, which includes behind-the-scenes content, a Facebook page, podcasts about the show, and more information about his work related to the 1994 animated series.

References

External links

John Semper official siteMarvel Animation Age: John Semper interviewsJohn Semper Talks ''Static Shock''

John Semper
at ComicBookDB.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Semper, John American comics creators African-American film directors African-American screenwriters African-American comics creators American television producers American television writers Place of birth missing (living people) American film directors American male screenwriters Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American male television writers 21st-century African-American writers African-American male writers African-American television writers 20th-century African-American writers