Paul Dini was born on August 7, 1957[1] in New York City to Patricia (McClaran) and Robert Dini, an advertising executive. He is of Italian descent through his father.[2] Dini attended Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, California on an art scholarship. He attended Emerson College in Boston, where he earned a BFA degree in creative writing.[3]
During college, he began doing freelance animation scripts for Filmation,[4] and a number of other studios. In 1984, he was hired to work for George Lucas on several of his animation projects. Dini later returned to the Star Wars universe in 2007 to script several episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.[5]
Career
1980s
Dini wrote episodes for the 1983–1985 animated TV series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, as well as contributing to interviews on the released box sets of the series. He wrote an episode for the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon in 1983, an episode of the Generation One Transformers cartoon series, "The Dweller in The Depths," an episode of the 1985 G.I. Joe cartoon called "Jungle Trap", and contributed to various episodes of the Star Wars: Ewoks animated series,[6] several of which included rare appearances from the Empire.[7]
He has earned five Emmy awards for his animation work. In a related effort, Dini was the co-author with Chip Kidd of Batman Animated, a 1998 non-fiction coffee table book about the animated Batman franchise.[13]
In 2002, Dini created Sheriff Ida Red, the super-powered cowgirl star of a series of books set in Dini's mythical town of Mutant, Texas.[25] He collaborated with Kevin Smith on Clerks: The Animated Series.[26] He and Bruce Timm collaborated on the Harley and Ivy limited series for DC in 2004.[27] Dini became the writer for DC Comics' Detective Comics as of issue #821 (Sept. 2006)[28] and created a new version of the Ventriloquist in #827 (March 2007).[29] While Grant Morrison was starting a seven-year Batman story on the Batman title composed of long, interlinking arcs, Dini wrote a number of single-issue stories over the following year as well as two crossovers with Morrison's Batman, one focusing on the resurrection of Ra's al Ghul and another on the return of Hush.[30] After Morrison's "Batman R.I.P." storyline in 2009, creators were moved around titles and Dini started writing two new Batman titles Batman: Streets of Gotham[31][32] and Gotham City Sirens.[33][34]Streets of Gotham started and ended with story arcs about Hush while Gotham City Sirens focused on the women of Gotham; he wrote the bulk of both titles during their existence including the first and last issue of both.[35]
In 2006 he announced that he was writing a hardcover graphic novel starring Zatanna and Black Canary. In 2006, Dini was on the writing staff for the first season of the ABC adventure series Lost.[36] The Lost writers were awarded at the 2006 Writers Guild of America Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Writing for a Dramatic Television Series.[37] The following year he was the head writer of DC's weekly series, Countdown.[38] Dini co-wrote a draft script for the ill-fated Science Ninja Team Gatchaman movie, which never saw the light of day and resulted in him leaving the project.[39] Dini wrote a series for Top Cow Productions, based in a character he created, Madame Mirage.[40] In July 2008, Dini started a partnership with GoAnimate to launch his Super Rica & Rashy series on the platform.[41]
Dini returned to Batman animated adaptations to write the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Legends of the Dark Mite". In the same episode, he appeared in an animated form wearing Harley Quinn's costume in a comic book convention parody scene, along with Bruce Timm wearing Joker's costume next to him.[42] He would go on to write several additional episodes for the series, including "Chill of the Night!", the teaser of which contained a team-up between Batman and Zatanna, one of Dini's favorite characters. Dini penned the storyline for the Rocksteady Studios video game Batman: Arkham Asylum, released on August 25, 2009.[43] He wrote three episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars: "Cloak of Darkness,"[44] "Holocron Heist,"[45] and "Voyage of Temptation."[46] On February 14, 2008, the first edition of Dini's column, "200 Words with Paul Dini" was released on the iFanboy site.[47]
2010s
Dini is the main creator of the live action drama Tower PrepCartoon Network series.[48] On August 4, 2010, it was confirmed that Dini will be involved in Marvel Comics' upcoming animated series Ultimate Spider-Man, which aired on Disney XD in 2012.[49] He worked on Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., an animated series centered around the Hulk and his supporting cast.[50] Dini worked with Rocksteady studios once again to create Batman: Arkham City, which was a sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum.[51] He wrote a five-issue comic series set in the game continuity.[52] A building in Arkham City is named Dini Towers in tribute.[53] He did not write the storyline of the third Rocksteady game in the series, Batman: Arkham Knight, due to the company not wanting to hire freelance writers for future games.[54]
Paul Dini and his wife, magician Misty Lee, created an online interview feature called "Monkey Talk" on Kevin Smith's website, Quick Stop Entertainment.com.[61] Dini and Misty Lee appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor podcast on April 6, 2016.[62]
2020s
In September 2020, DC Comics announced that Dini would be among the creators of a revived Batman: Black and White anthology series to debut on December 8, 2020.[63] Dini wrote the prequel to Scoob!, Scoob! Holiday Haunt, set to release through HBO Max.[64] It was canceled in August 2022 by Warner Bros. Discovery.[65]
Personal life
Dini and his wife Misty Lee,[66] a magician and voiceover actress, live in Los Angeles.[67] Their two Boston terriers, Mugsy and Deuce, were featured in "Anger Management", a 2012 episode of The Dog Whisperer, in which they sought Cesar Millan's help with their dogs' behavioral problems. Around this time, Dini began an extensive weight loss and exercise regimen which combined dog obedience training.[68][69]
He received the Writer's Guild Animation Writing award in 1999,[75] and a second WGA award for Outstanding Achievement in Writing for a Dramatic Television Series in 2006 as a member of the writing team for Lost.[37]
^Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1990s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 265. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. Writer Paul Dini and artist Bruce Timm partnered for a special set in the animated world of the Dark Knight. Revealing the origin of the Joker's lover, popular made-for-TV character Harley Quinn, the storytelling duo crafted a sweetly disturbing award-winning tale.
^Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 289: "Harley Quinn finally made her way into the DC Universe in her own one-shot prestige-format special by writer Paul Dini alongside artist Yvel Guichet."
^Smith, Zack (December 2012). "Paul Dini & Alex Ross Discuss a Treasured Format". Back Issue! (61). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 69–77. From 1998 to 2003, [Paul Dini and Alex Ross] produced a series of fully painted oversized books featuring DC's biggest heroes.
^Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 286: "Alex Ross teamed up with writer Paul Dini...to tell a powerful story of the Man of Steel. In this beautiful sixty-four-page oversized one-shot...Superman fought a battle even he couldn't truly win: the war on poverty and hunger."
^Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 289: "The second in the oversized prestige-format tabloid collaborations between writer Paul Dini and painter Alex Ross, Batman: War on Crime was just as successful as its predecessor, and just as beautiful."
^Manning, Matthew K. (2014). "2000s". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). Batman: A Visual History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 274. ISBN978-1465424563. Writer Paul Dini and artist Bruce Timm crafted this tale set in the DC Animated Universe and starring the odd couple of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.
^Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 290: "Paul Dini came aboard Detective Comics as its new ongoing writer as of this issue."
^Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 293: "Paul Dini and artist Don Kramer introduced a new Ventriloquist in this self-contained issue."
^Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 300: Detective Comics #846 "This issue began writer Paul Dini and artist Dustin Nguyen's 'Heart of Hush' story."
^Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 305: "Paul Dini and artist Dustin Nguyen introduced this ongoing series."
^Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 306: "The villainous version of the Birds of Prey premiered in this new ongoing 'Batman: Reborn' series by writer Paul Dini and artist Guillem March."