Please welcome back one of our very favorite people to NDK! Steve has long been part of the NDK family, and it would not be the same without him!!

Stephen Robert Bennett IV was born *&#@?! years ago at
Tachikawa Air Force Base in Japan. Being an Army brat,
Steve moved all over the place in his younger days, He
spent his early years in Alaska and Colorado, and lived for
almost eight years in Germany during elementary and junior
high. The family moved back to Japan when Steve was in his
teens, and while he was there he was lucky enough to land a
job with Studio Aoehyma, and work under the great Japanese
animator, Noboru Furusei (New Dominion Tank Police, Lupin
III, etc.) During his time at Studio Aoehyma, Steve learned
quite a bit about anime, and worked on such titles as
Cat's Eye, the Urusei Yatsura TV Series and Only You,
as well as others.

But finally, the family moved back to the States and
settled in Virginia. Steve finished up high school, took
some college courses, and ended up working at a bunch of
different jobs. He worked at King's Dominion amusement
park (where he met his future wife Nikki), and he also
worked in a Japanese restaurant, a video store, and ended
up working in construction.

About the time Steve and Nikki tied the knot (1994), Steve
attended his first anime convention as a guest and finally
remembered his true calling. He started up Studio Ironcat,
a Japanese manga publisher, in 1997 and quit his
construction job. Ironcat ran until 2004. Although Steve
enjoyed his time with Ironcat, the job kept him too busy to
focus on his own art. With the close of Ironcat, Steve was
finally free to create his own comics, and get back into
the artistic side of the industry. Today, Steve is busier
than ever at conventions, and is currently working on
several projects, including art design for the web comic
ANGEL OF ST. THOMAS, illustrating Nikki's first book
THE LOST KINGDOM, and working on his own web comic, ALIENS
OF EXTRAORDINARY ABILITIES. And of course, he always has
time for fan commissions!

Steve has been to numerous anime conventions over the years
(too many to mention here!) and has also lent his talents to
other venues, such as Loyola University in Louisiana, the
Smithsonian Institution, and the Iowa Gallery of Art.