J. Torres

Picture a kid in Montreal, fresh off a plane from Manila, teaching himself English by devouring Peanuts and Family Circus strips in the newspaper. That kid was J. Torres—and decades later, he’d be writing Batman, winning a Joe Shuster Award, earning an Eisner nomination, and becoming one of the most prolific Filipino-Canadian voices in the history of comics. His origin story is as compelling as any superhero’s: a young immigrant who fell in love with the power of pictures and words, then spent a career proving that all-ages comics can be every bit as thrilling, moving, and award-worthy as anything on the shelf.

After studying at McGill University and working as an ESL instructor—a job that would later inspire one of his most beloved comics—Torres broke into the industry the hands-on way: he made his own books. His debut, Copybook Tales (1996), a semi-autobiographical mini-comic co-created with childhood friend and artist Tim Levins, was literally photocopied and stapled by hand. It caught the attention of Slave Labor Graphics, and soon he and Levins were unleashing Siren , a three-issue Image Comics miniseries (1998) that put the industry on notice. “Tim eventually went to work on a Batman book, I went to work on an X-Men miniseries, and our careers took off from there,” Torres told the Philippine Canadian Inquirer . That is how an empire of imagination begins: one stapled comic at a time.

Eisner Nomination and All-Ages Excellence

In 2000, Torres unleashed Alison Dare , a whip-smart all-ages adventure series from Oni Press with effervescent art by J. Bone. Starring the daughter of a globe-trotting explorer and a masked superhero, the series crackles with wit and heart—and earned an Eisner Award nomination in 2002 for Best Title for Younger Readers. It was a thunderclap: here was a writer who could make kids’ comics smart, funny, and irresistible. Torres followed with a string of celebrated all-ages gems: Sidekicks (with Takeshi Miyazawa), Jason and the Argobots (with Mike Norton), and Days Like This (with Scott Chantler), which landed on the YALSA Great Graphic Novels list.

In 2010, Torres teamed with Mayday Trippe to cook up Power Lunch: First Course , a riotous Oni Press graphic novel about a kid who gains superpowers by eating colored food. Publishers Weekly praised its “cartoonlike images and snappy dialogue,” and readers devoured it—it proved so popular that a sequel followed fast.

DC Comics and Teen Titans Go!

The 2000s saw Torres writing for the biggest heroes on the planet. He tackled X-Men for Marvel and then landed the gig that would rocket him into pop culture ubiquity: the original Teen Titans Go! monthly series for DC Comics. Running an electrifying 55 issues (2004–2008) with art by Todd Nauck, the series bottled the manic energy of the hit animated show and became Torres’ most widely read work. That success flung open the doors to Gotham and beyond: he wrote pulse-pounding arcs on Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, The Batman Strikes!, Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century, and the creator-owned The Family Dynamic (with Tim Levins).

In 2006, the Canadian comics establishment delivered its highest honor: the Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Canadian Writer, recognizing Torres’ work on Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #190–191, Love as a Foreign Language #2–3, and Teen Titans Go! #15–26. A Shuster Award winner. An Eisner nominee. And he was just getting started.

A Prolific Career Across Every Format

Torres’ bibliography reads like a victory lap through modern comics. He’s written Archie and Avatar: The Last Airbender for Nickelodeon Magazine, The Simpsons, Rick and Morty Presents: The Vindicators, WALL-E for Boom Studios, and Yo Gabba Gabba comics. He was a staff writer on the Rugrats daily newspaper strip and contributed webisodes to Degrassi: The Next Generation. Name a beloved franchise—he’s probably written it.

But his original graphic novels are where his Filipino-Canadian soul truly shines. Lola: A Ghost Story —a haunting, tender tale rooted in Filipino folklore about a boy who sees ghosts—earned an Aesop Accolade from the American Folklore Society. The Brobots series scooped up both a Parents’ Choice Award and a Kids Read Comics Award, and was shortlisted for the Shuster Awards. Bigfoot Boy was chosen by the Junior Library Guild and the TD Summer Reading Club. Planet Hockey and Stealing Home were named Forest of Reading Honour Books. The Mighty Zodiac made the “Best Books for Kids & Teens” list from the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.

In 2024, Torres was named one of Canada’s Top 25 Immigrants—a deeply fitting tribute to a creator whose journey from Manila to Montreal to the summit of the comics industry embodies the immigrant story at its finest. That same year, the 20th anniversary deluxe edition of his beloved romantic comedy Love as a Foreign Language—a K-drama-inspired tale of an ESL teacher finding love in Seoul—returned to captivate a whole new generation.

Recent and Upcoming Work

Torres shows no signs of slowing down. 2025 brought Paisley & Peck: Jurassic Farm , a laugh-out-loud all-ages romp about a pig with culinary ambitions and a chick who dreams of being a Ty-rooster-saurus rex. He’s also writing for Batman: Knightwatch and continues his run on the ongoing Teen Titans Go! (2025) series for DC Comics.

Three decades into a career that spans Marvel, DC, Image, Oni Press, BOOM! Studios, Scholastic, Kids Can Press, and Simon & Schuster, Torres is still doing what he’s always done: crafting stories that make readers of every age feel seen, delighted, and hungry for the next page. He lives in the greater Toronto area with his wife and two sons.

Perfect for fans of all-ages adventure comics like Bone, superhero storytelling with genuine heart, and anyone who believes the best superpower is a story well told.