Gerard Jones (born July 10, 1957) is an American writer, known primarily for his non-fiction work about American entertainment media, and his comic book scripting, which includes co-creating the superhero Prime for Malibu Comics, and writing for the Green Lantern and Justice League lines for DC Comics. In 2018, Jones was convicted of possession of child pornography, and sentenced to six years in prison.

Early life

Jones was born in Cut Bank, Montana, and raised in the California towns of Los Gatos and Gilroy.

Career

From 1983 to 1988, Jones and his writing partner Will Jacobs were contributors to National Lampoon magazine. From 1984 to 1986, Jones and Jacobs wrote articles about the Silver Age of Comics for the hobbyist publication Comics Feature. They also wrote The Beaver Papers – a book parodying the TV series Leave It to Beaver – and The Comic Book Heroes: From the Silver Age to the Present. He and Jacobs returned to humorous fiction in 2014 with The Beaver Papers 2 and My Pal Splendid Man. From 1987 to 2001, Jones wrote comic books for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Viz Media, Malibu Comics, and other publishers, including such series as Green Lantern, Justice League, Prime, Ultraforce, El Diablo, Wonder Man, Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, The Shadow, Pokémon Adventures, Dragon Ball, Batman, and – with Jacobs – The Trouble with Girls. Since 1993, Jones has written primarily non-fiction books, mainly concerning American culture and media, including television comedy (Honey I'm Home), violence in entertainment (Killing Monsters), and comic-book history (Men of Tomorrow). He appears in documentaries, including Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, American Masters: Lucille Ball, and Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America.

Personal life

The residence of Jones and his wife is in San Francisco.

Possession of images of child sexual abuse

Jones was arrested in December 2016 on charges of distributing and possessing images of child sexual abuse. His lawyer first entered a plea of "not guilty", but in April 2018 Jones changed his plea to "guilty", admitting that the police had found "numerous electronic devices containing tens of thousands of images and hundreds of videos of child pornography" in his home. In August 2018, Jones was sentenced to six years in prison, followed by a five-year period of supervised release, with an unspecified amount of restitution to be paid to his victims. Jones subsequently began writing about his experiences in prison, and about the life events that led him to commit his crimes; these writings were collected by his friends and former colleagues, and posted online. Jones was released from prison in December 2022.

Awards

Books

Comics