Jason Conlan
Jason Conlan (born 1971) is a New Zealand cartoonist, best known under the pseudonym Mister J, who is the creator of Pro Wrestling Illustrated's monthly cartoon strip "On the Mat". He has also contributed to the similar Australian wrestling publication Piledriver and long-running newsletter Wrestling Then and Now as well as professional wrestling websites ProWrestlingDaily.com and Bill Apter's 1wrestling.com. Conlan has also done work for the online version of The Sun, the most-read daily newspaper in the United Kingdom.
Jason Conlan
- Name
- Jason Conlan
- Born
- 1971
- Birthplace
- New Zealand
- Field
- Cartoonist
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Jason Conlan (born 1971) is a New Zealand cartoonist, best known under the pseudonym Mister J, who is the creator of Pro Wrestling Illustrated's monthly cartoon strip "On the Mat". He has also contributed to the similar Australian wrestling publication Piledriver and long-running newsletter Wrestling Then and Now as well as professional wrestling websites ProWrestlingDaily.com and Bill Apter's 1wrestling.com. Conlan has also done work for the online version of The Sun, the most-read daily newspaper in the United Kingdom.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Jason Conlan. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q6162249 · wikipedia · Jason Conlan
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Jason Conlan • Born — 1971 • Birthplace — New Zealand • Field — Cartoonist • Works — "On the Mat" comic strip 1995–present
Early life and influences
Early life and influences
Jason Conlan developed an interest in drawing and professional wrestling as a child. As early as the age of six, he began watching Steve Rickard's NWA-affiliated promotion All Star Pro-Wrestling and its wrestling programme On the Mat. He became an avid fan of the show and was encouraged to begin drawing some of the wrestlers he saw such as Baron Von Krupp. After On the Mat was cancelled in 1984, Conlan started reading Pro Wrestling Illustrated and began following professional wrestling in the United States. Though he enjoyed WWF Superstars of Wrestling when it debuted in New Zealand in 1987, the country's first regular American wrestling show, Conlan favoured the National Wrestling Alliance, specifically Jim Crockett Promotions, partly due to being a fan of the NWA-friendly "Apter mags" and found its wrestlers more interesting to draw. Conlan continued developing his artistic talent, carefully studying comic book art, newspaper comic strips, and political cartoons, and started selling his own drawings while a high school student. Conlan also had a regular spot in his local newspaper. He considered attending art school but found it "to be boring and expensive".
Recent years
Recent years
A member of the Australian Webcomics Collective, Conlan has also drawn art for the long-running Australian comic anthology series DeeVee. In July 2007, his comic strip "Mister J and the Pirates" appeared in DeeVee 2007 alongside work from Eddie Campbell, Jeffrey Brown, Mandy Ord, Jason Paulos, Daren White, David Tang, Matt "Stikman" Huynh, Daniel Best, Andy Finlayson, Daniel Gibbs and Lee Slattery.
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Conlan was working part-time in a comic book store when he first contacted the offices of Pro Wrestling Illustrated via cold calling in 1995. His first call was "politely declined" but had better luck two weeks later and was put through to then editor Bill Apter. He had previously worked on the Australian wrestling magazine Piledriver and the Wrestling Then and Now newsletter, however, it was his work for PWI which would give him his first big break. After two months of negotiations, he accepted an offer from publisher Stu Saks to draw a monthly cartoon in addition to 30 full-page cartoons for their wrestling annual. He would eventually go on to illustrate all of Saks' wrestling magazines. His comic strip On the Mat, named in honour of the wrestling programme Conlan watched as a child, debuted later that year and continues to appear in PWI as of 2010. Conlan, also employed at a bookstore, is also a contributing artist for professional wrestling websites ProWrestlingDaily.com and 1wrestling.com, the latter owned by Bill Apter. He has also contributed to the online version of The Sun, the most widely read daily newspaper in the United Kingdom, which also carries artwork from On the Mat for its sports columns.
Reception
Conlan's work has garnered some interest from within the wrestling industry. When World Championship Wrestling was touring New Zealand during its final years, he sent some of his artwork to their office and was invited to meet some of the wrestlers during the tour. Scott Steiner, he was told, had expressed some negative comments towards a caricature he had done of Steiner and was warned to stay away from him during the tour. The popular Mexican luchadore Puma had the opposite reaction praising Conlan and commenting "When I saw myself [in the PWI comic strip] I thought I might as well just retire right there. It just doesn't get any better than that." In recent years, Conlan has expressed an interest in having his artwork commissioned by World Wrestling Entertainment, as many of his favourite caricatures are of WWE superstars, such as illustrating a daily cartoon for WWE.com.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Jason Conlan”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q6162249: Jason Conlan
General reference · Wikidata
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Comics and comic art
9,920 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- JasonArtist
- Jason AaronArtist
- Jason BrashillArtist
- Jason ChatfieldArtist
- Jason CraigArtist
- Jason FabokArtist
- Jason HowardArtist
- Jason LatourArtist
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Jason Conlan?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.