John Paul Leon was born on April 26, 1972 and passed away on May 2, 2021. He was an American comic book artist best known for his work on the Milestone Comics series Static, and the Marvel Comics limited series Earth X.

John Paul started working at 16 years old, designing a series of illustrations for TSR's Dragon and Dungeon magazines. He attended New York's School of Visual Arts, and while still earning his degree in illustration, he got a job illustrating the Dark Horse Comics miniseries RoboCop: Prime Suspect. By his junior year he was the inaugural artist on the DC Comics/Milestone ongoing series Static.

John Paul became more and more sought after as he came out with more work. His drew the miniseries Logan: Path of the Warlord and The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix (both in 1996), and the 12-issue miniseries Earth X (1999), written by Jim Krueger and Alex Ross, another signature work of John Paul's that depicted a dystopian future of the Marvel Universe, and which spawned multiple sequels. John Paul also contributed to regular ongoing series such as multiple Batman-related books, Superman, and Challengers of the Unknown (1997).

By the 2000s, Warner Bros tasked John Paul to create a number of style guides for the studio's feature film adaptations of DC properties, including Superman Returns, Batman Begins, Green Lantern, and The Dark Knight.

John Paul passed away after a 14-year battle with colorectal cancer, leaving behind a loving wife and daughter.