John Pirtel was born in New Haven, Connecticut and raised on a farm in North Branford where he avoided farm work and took to reading, drawing and watching TV. He wasn't allowed to watch Superman or Batman because once when he was about seven or eight he decided to fly off the back of the couch onto the slate floor, so he drew them instead... along with everything, especially the images found on the funny pages of the newspaper. Self-taught, with the exception of high school classes, John attended the prestigious Kubert School where he honed his craft under the watchful eye of some of the industry's greatest. Upon leaving school John spent several years designing toy premiums for cereal companies as well as illustrating comics and images for licensing. Recently, John took some time to do some classroom teaching and develop a not for profit after-school program in the New Haven area (all while keeping up his illustration work). Aside from his Kubert School education, he holds a Bachelor's degree in Youth Development and a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education. In his spare time, John enjoys genealogy, playing tennis, reading and collecting original comic strip art.