DEAN PLAKAS is a first-generation American whose childhood heroes, ranging from historical figures, heroes in classical literature to pulp heroes, influenced him greatly in his developmental years.

At age 14 he was awarded The JFK Character Award from NYC for saving over 60 of his fellow classmates and his teachers from a gang in Central Park. He tends to be the right guy at the right place, whether driving by a burning building and saving the elderly grandmother of a children’s book author and illustrator in the middle of the night, to getting a robbery ring wanted in two states locked up the night he walked in on a robbery where he was held at gunpoint.

He’s won over 35 awards in academics, including a couple in sports, and after being inducted into the Hall of Fame of his school he went on to study at NYU. He has worked in the legal and banking fields and worked as a teacher of all subjects at a Brooklyn High School for five years.

Dean was called “best new cartoonist “ at a local NY newspaper and went on to write and edit articles for various online entertainment and comics sites. He has appeared on a few online videocasts as a regular commentator and co-hosted panels on science fiction in all genres at the New York City Comic-Con in 2015 and 2016.

In 2016 he cohosted and worked as a panelist at the inaugural Comic-Con for the US troops and their families at Fort Hamilton. He’s been part of security details for pro wrestlers, been an extra in Hollywood films, done stand up comedy, and worked on political campaigns.

In late 2019, he collaborated on a new book on comic book legend Jack Kirby called Jack Kirby: Variations on a Theme and has recently written the foreword to a non-fiction book he edited called Rapa Nui (Easter Island). He resides in Upstate New York, The Hamptons and on the isles of the Mediterranean with his wife and children.