Ted Naifeh first caught the attention of the independent comics scene in 1999 as the artist for Gloomcookie, the goth romance comic he co-created with beloved author Serena Valentino. After a successful run, Ted struck out on his own, writing and drawing Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things, a spooky children’s fantasy series about a grumpy little girl and her adventures with her Warlock uncle. Nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Limited Series, Courtney Crumrin's success paved the way for Polly and the Pirates, another tween adventure series, this time about a prim and proper girl who’s secretly the daughter of a long-lost queen. Over the next few years, Ted wrote four volumes of Courtney Crumrin, plus a spin-off book about her uncle Aloysius. Since then, Ted has worked with many great co-creators. He illustrated Death Junior with famed screenwriter Gary Whitta. For world-renowned fantasy author Holly Black, he illustrated TheGood Neighbors, a three volume graphic novel series, published by Scholastic. And he teamed with Spider-Gwen co-creator Robbi Rodriguez for a sequel to Polly and the Pirates. In 2012, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Courtney Crumrin, Ted wrote and illustrated the final two volumes of the series. He’s since authored Princess Ugg, the tale of a barbarian princess going to princess finishing school. And in a radical departure from his previous work, he created Night’s Dominion, an experimental project blending high fantasy with superheroes. But unable to stay away, Ted returned to Courtney’s world with The Crumrin Chronicles, a new three-volume series in the eponymous heroine’s magical world. Ted lives in San Francisco, where he enjoys the dreary weather.
