Jesse Leon McCann
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Jesse Leon McCann (b. 1955 in Los Angeles, California) is an American comic book and children's book author. He wrote most of the stories for the Pinky and the Brain comic series, edited two out of the four Simpsons episode guides, and wrote all of the Smiley the Psychotic Button comics for Chaos! Comics. McCann's Shrek II movie adaptation novel made the New York Times Best Selling Children's Book list in 2005. While McCann mostly scribes comic books and children's books, he has written for a variety of genres in different forms (such as the Austin Powers trivia game).
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[edit] Background
McCann has had a long and creative career. He started writing in high school for the student newspaper and acted in stage productions there. He has performed in and directed plays, a portion of them at El Camino College, others at various venues in L.A. William Peter Blatty, author of The Exorcist, once called McCann his "theatrical Godson," after McCann wrote and directed a stage adaptation of Blatty's The Ninth Configuration. McCann was also involved with stand-up comedy group The Big Mac Theatre, (who opened for such groups as Oingo Boingo, Canned Heat and Cecilio & Kapono,) worked on independent films, designed sets, and did his own art on the side. In the early 1990s, McCann was an Editorial Director, artist, and writer for Cult Press, an independent comic book company.
McCann usually had to work the daily grind to support himself and his family, his creative aspirations becoming more of a hobby. But, while working at Diamond Comics in the mid-1990s, he was offered a writing job by former Cult Press owner Robert Graff, co-founder of Goldstar Events, who was then working as an editor for Warner Bros. Worldwide Publishing, which created, in addition to many other publications, children's comics for DC Comics. In February, 1996, Animaniacs #10 was published, with McCann's story "The Ice Cream Man Cometh." This story launched McCann's career as a professional writer. Eventually, McCann was able to quit Diamond Comics, to make a living by his writings alone.
McCann participates in many activities, encouraging youths to appreciate their own writing talents. He has taken part in the Alta Vista School's Student Writer's Conference since 2005, teaching workshops where he gives writing tips. He is known to reply to almost all of his fan mail.
He currently resides in El Segundo, California with his four cats, two children, and one wife.
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] BONGO COMICS GROUP
COMIC BOOKS
- Bart Simpson Comics #09, 12-15, 29, 32
- Futurama #03
- Radioactive Man #07
- The Simpsons Comics #41-43, 45, 47, 50, 53, 55, 69, 71, 83, 100, 125
TRADE PAPERBACKS
- Big Beefy Book of Bart
- Big Bratty Book of Bart
- Simpsons Comics Belly Buster
- Simpsons Comics Jam-Packed Jamboree
- Simpsons Comics Madness
- Simpsons Comics Royale
- Simpsons Comics Unchained
SIMPSONS TV EPISODE GUIDES
- Beyond Forever (Seasons 11-12)
- One Step Beyond Forever (Seasons 13-14)
SIMPSONS LIBRARY OF WISDOM BOOKS
- Comic Book Guy's Guide to Pop Culture
- The Bart Book
- The Homer Book
- The Ralph Wiggum Book
- The Lisa Book
- The Krusty Book
UPCOMING
- The Book of Moe
- Ned Flanders' Book of Faith
- The Simpsons Complete Guide Seasons 15-16 [No title announced]
[edit] CHAOS! COMICS
SMILEY THE PSYCHOTIC BUTTON
- Anti-Holiday Special
- Dream a Little Dream
- Movie Special Ashcan Bootleg
- Spring Break Special
- Whacky Wrestling Special
LADY DEATH
- Dragon Wars
- Retribution
INSANE CLOWN POSSE
- Hallowicked, Halls of Illusion
- Pendulum #01-12 & TPB
- Raze the Desertz of Glass
- The Amazing Jeckel Brothers
- The Upz & Downz 0f the Wicked Clowns TPB
MISC.
- Bad Kitty Mischief Night
- Nightmare Theater #03
- Pandemonium #01
- Purgatori #0
- Static-X #02
[edit] CULT PRESS
Wiindows, Raggedy Man, Doorman, Roadways, Billy Cole (Editorial Director, Writer, Artist)
[edit] DC COMICS
COMIC BOOKS
- Animaniacs #10, 16, 28, 52, 54, 55, 57
- Cartoon Cartoons #08, 22, 24, 29, 31, 32
- Cartoon Network #02, 08, 10, 16
- Cartoon Network Block Party #01, 04, 08, 09, 17
- Krypto the Superdog #1-6
- Looney Toons #66, 71, 74, 84, 88, 98, 102, 104, 106, 108, 121, 126, 136, 137
- Pinky & the Brain #02, 03, 06-09, 11-27
- Quest for Camelot Movie Adaptation
- Scooby-Doo #19
TRADE PAPERBACKS
- Cartoon Network Block Party #01: Name That Toon!
- Cartoon Network Block Party #02: Read All About It!
- Cartoon Network Block Party #03: Can You Dig It?
- Cartoon Network Block Party #04: Blast Off!
- Daffy Duck: You're Despicable
- Scooby-Doo: The Big Squeeze
[edit] SCHOLASTIC, INC. CHILDREN'S BOOKS
PICTURE BOOKS
- Looney Tunes Back in Action Movie Adaptation
- Scooby-Doo and ... Alien Invaders, Aloha Scooby-Doo!, Creepy Carnival, Creepy Chef, Cyber Chase, Eerie Ice Monster, Fantastic Puppet Factory, Fishy Phantom, Ghastly Giant, Halloween Hotel Haunt, Hanted Lab, Invisible Android, Jungle Jeopardy, Legend of the Vampire, Marsh Monster, Monster Bash, Monster of Mexico, Mummy's Curse, Mystery Mall, Mystery Mask, Opera Ogre, Phantom Cowboy, Samurai Ghost, Santa's Bake Shop, Scooby-Doo #2 Movie Adaptation, Secret Admirer, Snack-Tastic Storybook Treasury, Soccer Monster, Storybook Collection, The Werewolf, Tiki's Curse, Trick-or-Treat Thief, Weird Water Park
CHAPTER BOOKS
- Ace Ventura: The Case of the ... Hollywood Hound, Karate Kitty-Nappers, Lost Unicorn, Stolen Stalion
- Batman: Time Thaw
- Ed, Edd 'n Eddy: Lots of Laughs
- Jimmy Neutron: The Science Project
- Scooby-Doo and ... Creepy Camp, Freaky Oil Fiend, Lost Lumberjack, Mad Mermaid
- Looney Toons: Pesky Pirates, Royal Pain, Trailblazers
- Shrek 2 Movie Adaptation
ACTIVITY BOOKS
- Dragon Ball: How to Draw Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Collector's Sticker Book
- Extreme Scooby Trivia Book
- Fear Factor: The Fright Stuff!; Yuck! The Grossest Stunts Ever!; Yikes! Scariest Stunts Ever!
- MegaMan NT Warrior Handbook
- Teacher's Pets Series ... Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo, Taz, Tweety
- Scooby-Doo: Big Sticker Book
- Looney Toons: Back in Action Joke Book
- Looney Toons: What's Fun, Doc?
- Shark Tale Joke Book
[edit] TRIVA GAMES
- Ultimate Simpsons Trivia Game
- Simpsons Trivia Game 1: Springfield
- Simpsons Trivia Game 2: Homer
- Simpsons Trivia Game 3: Bart
- Simpsons Trivia Game 4: Family
- Austin Powers Trivia Game
[edit] MISC. PUBLISHERS
- The Cat in the Hat Movie Adaptation (Golden Books)
- PowerTouch series: Looney Toons: Carrot Quest;
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? (Fisher-Price)
[edit] Trivia
- McCann's father has been a professional musician (bass) for 60 years.
- In the comic Pinky and the Brain #20, "Mice in Pink", while the pair are involved in a music video montage, McCann makes a cameo as a poorly disguised mouse dancer.
- McCann played a small part as Brody the bartender in the movie Journeyman (2005).
