Jess Nevins | |
|---|---|
 Nevins in 2018 | |
| Born | 1966 (age 59–60) |
| Occupation | Author and librarian |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 2003–present |
| Genre | Victoriana,Pulp |
| Website | |
jessnevins | |
Jess Nevins (born 1966) is an American author and research librarian best known for annotated guides and encyclopedias coveringVictoriana,comic books,genre fiction andpulp fiction.[1] Among Nevin's books areEncyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana,Horror Fiction in the 20th Century andEncyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes. He has been a recipient and finalist for a number of honors, including theWorld Fantasy,Sidewise, andLocus Awards.
Nevins is married with one son[2] and is a life-long fan of comic books.[3] Nevins received hisMaster of Library and Information Science from Simmons College in 1996[4] and has previously worked as a research librarian atSam Houston State University inHuntsville, Texas[3] and at theUniversity of California at Riverside.[2] He is currently employed as a reference librarian atLone Star College-Tomball.[5][6]
Nevins has annotated a number ofcomic books, starting with severalElseworlds published byDC Comics includingKingdom Come andJLA: The Nail.[2] He first encountered literary annotation in college, with the footnotes inT. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" making a big impact on him.[3]
Nevins has annotated many ofAlan Moore's comics, including spending four years creating notes forThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.[3][7][8] Nevins published his notations toThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen online, with his work called "an excellent guide" that "highlights Moore's homage to Victorian style."[9]
Moore said of Nevins' work, "It was only when someone finally conveyed these internet postings to me... that I began to understand the invaluable asset that Jess represented... I realised that if we had [him] tracking down all of the references for the readers, then we could be as obscure and far-reaching as we wanted...",[10] Moore later said Nevins' work helped informThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II: "The New Traveller's Almanac": "The patient work contained within this current volume [Heroes & Monsters] has played an important part in the construction of this vast, imaginary global edifice that we're constructing... [the Almanac]",[10] Moore sees "these companion volumes as having a necessary organic place in the body of the work itself."[11]
In-between volumes ofLoEG, Nevins has tackled Moore andGene Ha'sTop Ten. He subsequently provided annotations on Moore and Ha's 2005Top Tengraphic novelThe Forty-Niners andPaul Di Filippo andJerry Ordway's 2005 sequel miniseriesBeyond the Farthest Precinct.[12] Nevins also annotatedNeil Gaiman andAndy Kubert's 2003 mini-series1602 fromMarvel Comics.[13]
Nevins initially compiled several reference guides on his website includingThe Golden Age Heroes Directory, thePulp and Adventure Heroes Directory, andFantastic, Mysterious, and Adventurous Victoriana.[14][15] He later expanded some of these online resources into print, including inThe Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana.
In May 2007,McFarland & Company published hisPulp Magazine Holdings Directory, a listing of which issues of pulp magazines are held in American, Canadian, British, and European libraries. In 2016, McFarland released his bookThe Victorian Bookshelf: An Introduction to 61 Essential Novels. In 2013, he wroteFables Encyclopedia withBill Willingham forVertigo Comics, with each entry examining the historical origins of characters along with howFables reworked them.[16][17]
Nevins's books have also been released byPraeger Publishing,Flame Tree Publishing, andMonkeyBrain while he still self-publishes some titles, such asThe Encyclopedia of Pulp Heroes.[6] For this guide, released in 2017, Nevins spent 10 years researching early 20th century genre literature from across the world.[6] He also created a companion superhero reference work, theEncyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes released by High Rock Press.
Nevins has also written fictional stories appearing in theTales of the Shadowmen anthology series: "A Jest, To Pass The Time" from volume 2, "Red in Tooth and Claw" in volume 4, and "A Root That Beareth Gall and Worms" in volume 5.
Since September 2024 Nevins had been releasing a bi-weekly podcastThe History of Comics in 500 issues. This covers comics as a global medium, rather than just anglophone superhero stories.[18]
InAsimov's Science Fiction,Paul Di Filippo described Nevins as a "fount of erudition and charm" and said thatEncyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana is an "instantly indispensable part of any serious fan's reference shelf."[19]Elizabeth Hand inThe Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction called the encyclopedia "one of the best books of the year."[20]
Writing inThe Washington Post,Michael Dirda praisedHorror Fiction in the 20th Century for containing "groundbreaking chapters" pointing to important horror writers outside the Anglo-American tradition while also criticizing the book for not containing specific titles for well-known horror authors.[21]
Midwest Book Review calledThe Victorian Bookshelf: An Introduction to 61 Essential Novels "impressively well written, organized and presented, making it an ideal and highly recommended addition to both community and academic library."[22]
Matthew David Surridge inBlack Gate calledThe Evolution of the Costumed Avenger a "tremendous resource in not just the historical development of the superhero, but the analysis of the superheroic idea"[1] while John DeNardo inKirkus Reviews said it is "a well-researched and utterly captivating book offering the complete history of the superhero and how the concept has evolved over time."[23]The Wall Street Journal also praised the book, calling Nevins a "super-researcher" for mapping "the DNA that links ancientEnkidu to our ownWolverine. He convincingly shows that the superheroes of today's page and screen got their start long before baby Kal-El was sent rocketing toward Earth as the planet Krypton exploded.[24]
Nevins's bookHorror Fiction in the 20th Century: Exploring Literature's Most Chilling Genre (2020) won aReference and User Services Association award from theAmerican Library Association as one of the 10 most outstanding reference works of the year.[25] The book was also a finalist for theLocus Award.
He has also been a finalist for theInternational Horror Guild Award forHeroes & Monsters: The Unofficial Companion to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, theWorld Fantasy Award forEncyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana,[26] and theSidewise Award for "An Alternate History of Chinese Science Fiction."[27]
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