Rupert Bottenberg was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, to German and American parents, and has lived in Montreal since 1973. As a teen, he took private art lessons with one of Canada's leading private art instructors, Renate Heidersdorf of La Palette, and began avidly collecting comic books. After leaving school, he did freelance illustration work for Montreal-based bands and other clients, did some comic book artwork when he could, and established the Comix Jams, public events centered around collaborative, improvised comic art that would spawn imitations in several other North American cities.
Rupert's comics have been published in such anthologies as Cyclope, 106U, Drozophile, Real Stuff, The Jam, Legal Action Comics, Screw and MINI International. He has also illustrated a series of textbooks for teaching Pakistani-Canadian children the Urdu language, and contributed to Owl and Star Wars Kids magazines. In 1997, he became the music editor at the Montreal Mirror newsweekly. Bottenberg continues to draw, and also paint and sculpt, particularly since an inspiring stay in Berlin in 1999. He has made his first short film, 'Click Clack Clique', and a trio of Flash animation shorts, the 'Dr. Wigglepecker' cartoons. He also serves as creative director for comic book elements of Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival and Blue Metropolis Literary Festival.