James Robinson was born in Manchester, England, and is a of collector pop culture antiques and memorabilia. He has a degree in filmmaking, which he puts to work in screen writing for various productions, which is where he met his current writing collaborator, David Goyer.
Robinson states that his comics writing was inspired by the work of Archie Goodwin, as well as influenced by the work of Frank Miller, Matt Wagner, and the Hernandez Brothers.
James broke into comics writing in 1988 with the critically acclaimed graphic novel London's Dark. That work was followed by the limited series "Four Devils, One Hell," written for Grendel Tales, which didn't see print until years after it was written.
Robinson's style tends to emphasize a more realistic way of looking at comic hero's, and tends to focus on the actual characters involved, rather than so much the action or plot around them. Thus, a great deal tends to occur off screen, but the story is often more satisfying simply because you can really believe in the characters. His rendition of Starman, for instance, is particularly believable, because the main character isn't some angst ridden vigilante or heroic uber-dude, but instead is just a junk-dealer caught up in the family business despite his best efforts.
Robinson recently was hit hard by the death of Archie Goodwin, but the discovery of screenwriter David Goyer helped him recover his momentum and finish off the Starman series smoothly.
Robinson's works include:
Robinson may currently be adapting "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" to the big screen, though there have been quibbles about it due to too much character development, not enough action...
Sources:
Starman: A Wicked Inclination
http://www.popmatters.com/comics/starman.html
http://www.corona.bc.ca/films/details/loeg.html
http://members.aol.com/nachro2/writers.htm
http://members.aol.com/nachro2/robinson.htm
http://www.lambiek.net/robinson_j.htm