Pia Jasmin Guerra is an American-born Canadian comic book artist and editorial cartoonist, best known for her work as co-creator and lead penciller on the Vertigo title Y: The Last Man.[1] She has worked in the comics industry since the 1990s, and has also contributed to Doctor Who: The Forgotten, along with DC and Marvel comics.[2][3] Guerra regularly does cartoons for The New Yorker, MAD Magazine and The Nib. She is the author of the Image Comics editorial cartoon book, Me The People.
Early life
Guerra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to a Finnish mother and Chilean father.[4] At the age of 10, Guerra's cousin visited from Queens and introduced her to comics by leaving his issue of The Uncanny X-Men #129 on a coffee table in her house. After reading the comic, Guerra continued to read comics thereafter. As a self-taught artist, Guerra was always interested in art, but she planned to pursue other careers, such as medicine.[5]
In high school, Guerra attended comic conventions and began to consider pursuing a career in comics. As her plans shifted, Guerra made the decision to forgo secondary education and instead focus on pursuing a career in comics.[5]
Guerra's first major project was the Vertigo title Y: The Last Man, which she co-created with Brian Vaughan and pencilled for.[2] Guerra has worked on various independent titles since the mid-1990s, though Y: The Last Man is known as her "big break" in the comics industry.[6]
In April 2022, Guerra was reported among the contributors to Operation USA's benefit anthology book, Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds, a project spearheaded by IDW Publishing Special Projects Editor Scott Dunbier, whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees resulting from the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[11]
Guerra was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in the category Illustrated Reporting and Commentary in 2023
Personal life
Guerra currently resides in Vancouver, Canada, and is married to writer and comedian Ian Boothby, with whom she does cartoons for Go Comics, Instagram and the New Yorker.[12] Since February 2021, they have collaborated on the daily, one panel comic Mannequin on the Moon.[13]
