About Jonathan
JONATHAN HENNESSEY is a writer of both nonfiction and fiction. American History is generally his muse.
Jonathan is the coauthor of The Comic Book Story of Beer (Random House), a nonfiction graphic novel telling the story of the world’s favorite alcoholic beverage from 7,000 B.C. to the present. On the writing side he was joined by longtime friend, professional brewer Mike Smith.
The Comic Book Story of Beer is Jonathan’s third collaboration with artist Aaron McConnell. Their first book release, The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation (2008; Macmillan), was an illustrated, graphic novel edition of the entire U.S. Constitution. It was chosen as a “Best Book of 2008” by The Village Voice and a 2009 “Great Graphic Novels for Teens” by the American Library Association.
A conceptual follow-up, The Gettysburg Address: A Graphic Adaptation (2013; HarperCollins), used the words of Abraham Lincoln’s immortal speech to tell the whole story of the Civil War from colonial times through to the Civil Rights Era. The book received starred reviews in Kirkus and Library Journal and was also chosen by Library Journal as a “Best Graphic Novel of 2013.”
In addition, Legendary Comics, the publishing arm of Legendary Pictures (Inception, The Dark Knight franchise, The Hangover, Godzilla), launched Jonathan’s first series of fiction comics. A dark and unique twist on time travel rooted in American History, Epochalypse began appearing in comic book stores in 2014. The first six issues were collected into a stand-alone graphic novel, also titled Epochalypse.
Jonathan has appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show, has guest-blogged for Fox News and the American Constitution Society; written for the Austin Chronicle; and has appeared at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, San Diego Comic Con, New York City Comic Con, as a featured guest at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., and the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum in Chicago.
A graduate of Syracuse University, Jonathan has also done extensive work in film and television. He has been on the production crews of several noted film directors, including Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, Richard Linklater’s Suburbia and The Newton Boys, and Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids. He has worked as a screenplay and story analyst for Phoenix Pictures (Shutter Island, Black Swan, Zodiac) and Jerry Bruckheimer Television.
A lover of illustration with next to no capacity for it himself, Jonathan has been drawn towards working in the graphic novel or comics medium. He also writes across other platforms, including prose for middle grade and adult audiences. He also blogs about ginger beer at ilovegingerbeer.com.
Jonathan was born on a U.S. Army base in Massachusetts, grew up in suburban Boston, and has lived in Texas and New York City. He currently resides outside Los Angeles.
