J.W. Rinzler was born in Lakewood, New Jersey; grew up in Manhattan/NYC and Berkeley, CA. J W Rinzler fell in love with old monster films, such as Dracula and Frankenstein, as well as Robin Hood and other adventure movies.

Former executive editor for 15 years at Lucasfilm, Rinzler wrote and directed an animated short 'Riddle of the Black Cat', which was shown at numerous film festivals, including the Montreal World Film Festival. His adaptation of George Lucas's original rough draft became 'The Star Wars' graphic novel and was a #1 New York Times best-seller.