Mark Cotta Vaz is an American author, editor, and film historian. He was born on September 16, 1954, in San Francisco, California. Vaz has authored over thirty books, including four New York Times bestsellers. In 1989, he wrote Tales of the Dark Knight: Batman's First Fifty Years: 1939–1989, a work praised by the Los Angeles Times for delighting comics fans.

His work primarily focuses on documenting film special effects and behind-the-scenes aspects of visual presentation, having written extensively about Star Wars and Star Trek. Vaz has also produced numerous movie companion books, including those for The Spirit, Beautiful Creatures, and four for the Twilight series.

Publishers Weekly commended his biography of Merian C. Cooper, describing Cooper as 'a man living his own movie,' and noting Vaz's exhaustive research and skillful writing in making Cooper a well-known figure.