Jeremy Whitley

Early life

Jeremy Whitley was born in California and raised in Livermore, California and in North Carolina. He became interested in comics through his father, who would walk him to their local Livermore comic book shop, Fact, Fiction, and Fantasy. From an early age Whitley began collecting both comics and the Marvel Masterpieces trading cards, and wrote and illustrated his first comic when he was in the third grade. He attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English with a minor in Creative Writing.

Career

According to Whitley, Princeless was conceived thus:

"Princeless came from a confluence of issues I had. I’ve always had a lot of close geek girl friends and I’m always looking for strong female characters in comics to share with them. I think there just aren’t enough. When I married my wife, I got to know her younger sisters and some of her cousins. As young girls of color none of them had ever picked up a comic book (except my wife) and why should they? I can count on one hand the number of black women you can find on your comic book stand right now, not to mention the number who are positive portrayals. The same holds true for women of color in fantasy stories. I wanted my daughter to have comic books she could love the same way I’ve loved mine. Not to mention, I’m a little leery about the princess culture and what it actually teaches girls."

In 2011 Whitley joined Action Lab Entertainment as their official Director of Marketing and head of PR, where he handles solicitations, reviews, press releases, and interviews. Jeremy has also co-written licensed properties from the publisher including the 2012 digital mini-series "GlobWorld" and the ongoing series "NFL RushZone". In addition to his original creations, he has also been a regular writer for IDW's My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and My Little Pony: Friends Forever.

Personal life

Whitley currently lives with his wife Alicia and daughter Zuri in Raleigh, North Carolina.