Jonathan Vankin is an American author, journalist and comic book writer/editor.

Biography

Vankin is best known for his books '' Conspiracies, Cover-Ups and Crimes'' and, with co-writer John Whalen, the '' Greatest Conspiracies'' series, beginning in 1995 with '' The 50 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time''. The latter has now been through four updated editions in addition to the original, the latest being '' The World's Greatest Conspiracies'' in 2010. In 2005 Vankin and Whalen co-authored a second book, '' Based on a True Story (But With More Car Crashes)'', a comparison of 100 films that purported to be "based on a true story," with the actual events that inspired the fictionalized screenplays. Most recently, Vankin wrote the book ''Close To Zero: How Donald Trump fulfilled his apocalyptic vision and paid his debt to Putin with a devastating biological warfare attack on America,'' an account of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's response to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic. The

Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party and Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal American politics. The site publishes blog posts, polls, election and cam ...

said of the book "If that makes it seem as if this book is going to pull no punches, that's right. And it shouldn't. Because, as the contents make clear, Trump didn't just fail to provide for the nation in the face of a deadly pandemic, he ''deliberately'' failed. Making this the greatest crime in modern American history." Vankin co-wrote the book for the Off Broadway musical '' Forever Dusty'', based on the life of British pop star

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

. His co-writer in this case was Kirsten Holly Smith who also performed the lead role of Dusty Springfield in the Off Broadway production. Vankin has also written comic books. His graphic novel, '' Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights'' was published in January, 2009. Also in 2009, he collaborated with co-writer and illustrator Arnold Pander on the graphic novel '' Tasty Bullet'', published by Image Comics. He wrote the

Vertigo Comics DC Vertigo, also known as Vertigo Comics or simply Vertigo, is an Imprint (trade name), imprint of the American comic book publisher DC Comics. Vertigo publishes comics with adult comics, adult content, such as nudity, drug use, profanity, and ...

series '' The Witching'' in 2004-2005 and the

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

series '' Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search For Swamp Thing'' in 2011. The latter series is notable for featuring the first appearance by Vertigo Comics character

John Constantine John Constantine (), also known as Hellblazer, is an antihero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben, and first appeared in ''Swamp Thing'' #37 (June 1985). I ...

outside of a Vertigo-branded comic since the early 1990s. Again collaborating with Whalen, Vankin has written for the 1999 TV series '' The Crow: Stairway to Heaven''. Vankin was senior editor at

, concentrating on original graphic novels from 2004 - 2011. He was responsible for the graphic novel '' The Quitter'' which brought

Harvey Pekar Harvey Lawrence Pekar (; October 8, 1939 – July 12, 2010) was an American underground comic book writer, music critic, and media personality, best known for his autobiographical ''American Splendor'' comic series. In 2003, the series inspired ...

to Vertigo Comics. He later edited two new volumes of Pekar's ''

American Splendor ''American Splendor'' is a series of autobiographical comic books written by Harvey Pekar and drawn by a variety of artists. The first issue was published in 1976 and the last one in September 2008, with publication occurring at irregular interv ...

'' series. He also acquired and shepherded the critically acclaimed graphic novel '' Incognegro'' written by

Mat Johnson Mat Johnson (born August 19, 1970, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American fiction writer who works in both prose and the comics format. In 2007, he was named the first USA James Baldwin Fellow by United States Artists. Life and career Jo ...

as well as '' The Green Woman'' written by renowned horror author

Peter Straub Peter Francis Straub (; March 2, 1943 – September 4, 2022) was an American novelist and poet. He had success with several horror and supernatural fiction novels, among them ''Julia'' (1975), ''Ghost Story'' (1979) and ''The Talisman'' (198 ...

and actor/writer

Michael Easton Michael Easton (born February 15, 1967) is an American film, television and voice actor, writer, and director. Although the Emmy-nominated actor may be best known for his work on the series ''Ally McBeal'', '' VR.5,'' ''Total Recall 2070, One Li ...

. Vankin, formerly a news editor of

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

's ''Metro'' newspaper, is a graduate of

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

Bibliography

* ''Close To Zero: How Donald Trump fulfilled his apocalyptic vision and paid his debt to Putin with a devastating biological warfare attack on America'' Twilight of the Idols Inc., 2021, ) * ''The Fifty Greatest Conspiracies of All Time: History's Biggest Mysteries, Coverups, and Cabals'' (with John Whalen,

Citadel Press Kensington Publishing Corp. is an American, New Yorkbased publishing house founded in 1974 by Walter Zacharius (1923–2011)Grimes, William''New York Times'' (MARCH 7, 2011). and Roberta Bender Grossman (1946–1992). Kensington is known as "Am ...

, 1994, ) * ''Conspiracies, Cover-Ups and Crimes'' ( Illuminet, 1996, ) * ''

The Big Book of ''The Big Book Of'' is a series of graphic novel comics anthology, anthologies published by American company DC Comics imprint (trade name), imprint Paradox Press. Publication history The ''Big Books'' were published between 1994 and 2000. Just o ...

'' (with various artists,

Paradox Press Paradox Press was a division of DC Comics formed in 1993 after editor Mark Nevelow departed from Piranha Press. Under the initial editorship of Andy Helfer, Andrew Helfer and Bronwyn Carlton, the imprint was renamed. Paradox was best known for pu ...

): ** ''The Big Book of Scandal: Trashy but True Tales from the Tawdry Worlds of Celebrity, High Society, Politics, and Big Business!'' (1998, ) ** ''The Big Book of Grimm'' (1999, ) ** ''The Big Book of the 70's'' (2000, ) * '' Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights'' trade paperback (with artists Seth Fisher, Giuseppe Camuncoli & Shawn Martinbrough, Vertigo/DC Comics, January 2009, ) * ''The 80 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time'' (with John Whalen,

, 2004, ) * '' The Witching'' #1-10 (with Leigh Gallagher, Vertigo, 2004–2005) * ''Based on a True Story: Fact and Fantasy in 100 Favorite Movies'' (with John Whalen,

Chicago Review Press Chicago Review Press, or CRP, is a U.S. book publisher and an independent company founded in 1973. Chicago Review Press publishes approximately 60 new titles yearly under eight imprints: Chicago Review Press, Lawrence Hill Books, Academy Chicago, ...

, 2005, )

Notes

References

''Aspire to Conspire: Author Jonathan Vankin has a theory''

David Templeton David Cooper Templeton (born 7 January 1989) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Glasgow United. Templeton played for Stenhousemuir, Raith Rovers, Heart of Midlothian, Hamilton Academical, Rangers, Burton ...

Metro Silicon Valley ''Metro'', also known as ''Metro Silicon Valley'', is a free weekly newspaper published by the San Jose, California-based Weeklys media group for four decades, a period during which its readership area became known as Silicon Valley. Metro was ...

, August 14, 1997 (originally from the August 14–20, 1997 issue of the '' Sonoma County Independent'') *

External links

*
''Forever Dusty'' web site

''Forever Dusty'' Facebook page

Conspirearchived at Internet Archive

''Vertigo Pop! Tokyo - An Interview with Jonathan Vankin''
Adam Arnold, AnimeFringe, October, 2002 * , Keith Dallas,

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin is a daily website covering the comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks In January 2000, New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice founded then named Silver Bullet Comicbooks. During this period, the site ...

, February 11, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Vankin, Jonathan American writers American journalists American comics writers American print editors American comic book editors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Brandeis University alumni