Ivan Velez, Jr.

Ivan Velez Jr. (born 1961) is an openly gay Latino American cartoonist, writer, museum educator, and teaching artist, known for creating the comic book series Tales of the Closet, and for his work with the DC Comics imprint Milestone Media, and with Marvel Comics.

Early life Ivan Velez Jr. was born in the Bronx, New York in 1961 to parents of Puerto Rican descent.

Career Velez created one of the first narratives about queer youth in his series Tales of the Closet (1987-1993). The author notes that he struggled watching people in the gay community die from a lack of education and communication about AIDS. So, he created a comic to educate both straight and queer teens.

This brought him to Milestone Media in the early 1990s, where he expanded Latino representation to include queer, straight, and multicultural Latino characters in Milestone Media's series Blood Syndicate. Notably, Velez's characters portrayed more than one type of Latino identity; such as Dominican, Puerto Rican, Afro-Hispanic. Velez brought Latino and Afro-Caribbean characters to Marvel Comics, as during his work on Vol 3, issues 70-93 and -1 of Ghost Rider, when he depicted supporting characters of color.

Following the cancellation of the Milestone line, Velez worked as a freelance writer for DC's other imprints and for Marvel Comic, where he was the company's second Latino writer, after George Pérez. These assignments included Ghost Rider, Venom, and Abominations for Marvel; Eradicator and Extreme Justice for DC's main superhero line; Flinch for Vertigo; and Scooby-Doo, Dexter's Laboratory, Ben 10, and The Powerpuff Girls for DC's Johnny DC imprint. and the anthology Qu33r. Velez edited graphic novels for Dutton Books (Dead High Yearbook), earning an award from the American Library Association.

Personal life As of 2017, Velez resides in the Bronx.

Printed publications 1987 to 1994, Hetrick Martin Institute, Tales of The Closet 1 – 9 (ongoing series) by Ivan Velez 1994 to 1997, Milestone Media: Blood Syndicate, Static, My Name Is Holocaust (ongoing monthlies) by Ivan Velez 1996 to 1998: Marvel Comics: Ghost Rider, Venom: Sign Of The Cross, and Abominations (ongoing monthlies) 1996 to 2009: DC Comics: Adventure Comics, Flinch, Power Puff Girls, Scooby Doo, Ben 10, and Eradicator (one-shots and mini-series) date 2004/2007, Juicy Mother 1 & 2 (short stories, Published by Jennifer Camper, Story and art by Ivan Velez Jr. 2005, Tales of The Closet: ONE TWO THREE, The Collected Tales Volume 1 (stand-alone, By Ivan Velez Jr. 2007, Dead High Yearbook (standalone), Published by Dutton/Penguin, Edited, co-written and co-designed by Ivan Velez Jr.

Awards 2004 Xeric Grant