After graduating from art school in 2000, JAMES VINING spent four and a half years as a boatswain's mate in the US Coast Guard. Upon his release from active duty, he wrote and drew First in Space (Oni Press), the story of Ham, one of the chimpanzees trained by the Air Force for the Mercury Program. He currently lives in Indianapolis where he works for a small media company making game art while working on his next project.