[Header image from “Legion of Super-Heroes” #270 (December 1980)]
Details on Janes’s life are scarce: according to his Facebook page, he was from Staten Island, and attended New York’s High School of Art & Design from 1962 to 1966, as well as the city’s School of Visual Arts. He broke into comics in 1972 with the second issue of George DiCaprio’s underground comic book “Greaser Comics,” and contributed a story to the Charlton Comics series “The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves” the following year. He also worked on the Warren magazines “Eerie,” “1984,” and “The Rook.”
In the early ’80s, he illustrated DC titles like the main “Legion of Super-Heroes” title, as well as “Superman,” “The Superman Family,” “The Unexpected,” “Ghosts,” and “House of Mystery.” By 1985, he had transitioned to animation, working as a character designer and storyboard artist on InHumanoids, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Swamp Thing, G.I. Joe, Batman, X-Men, Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Biker Mice from Mars, Extreme Ghostbusters, RoboCop: Alpha Commando, Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, and even Dilbert. His most recent credits were at Mexican production company Ánima Estudios, and the indie film Captain Cosmos and the Gray Ghosts, written by Nick Cuti.
On his Twitter account, which he only ever used once, Janes also described himself as a writer, songwriter, and filmmmaker, as well as lover of sci-fi, kung fu, and film. His sole tweet recommended readers listen to the music of Japanese-American singer Ai.