Comics News
San Diego Comic Con Full Guest List
Aaron, Gillen, McKelvie, Robbins and Gibson Just A Few Of This Year’s Guests
♦in just over a week’s time, this year’s San Diego Comic Con will be starting so here is a handy list of its special guests …
Jason Aaron, Writer, Scalped, Star Wars, Thor
Jason Aaron is a comic book writer best known for his work on the New York Times bestselling crime series Scalped for Vertigo Comics and the critically acclaimed Southern Bastards from Image Comics, as well as for various celebrated projects with Marvel Comics. Aaron’s current work for Marvel includes the creation of the headline-grabbing female version of Thor and the launch of an all-new Star Wars series, the first issue of which sold over one million copies to become the bestselling American comic book in more than 20 years. Aaron was born in Alabama but currently resides in Kansas City. He enjoys many things but shaving is not one of them.
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Writer/producer, Afterlife with Archie, Riverdale
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is an award-winning playwright, comic book and screenwriter. He was brought in to overhaul Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and his adaption of American Psycho began its Broadway run in March 2016. Television credits include Big Love, Looking, Glee, and Supergirl. For Marvel Comics, he wrote the monthly adventures of the Fantastic Four (Harvey Award, Best New Talent), Sensational Spider-Man, Nightcrawler, and an adaption of Stephen King’s The Stand. As chief creative officer for Archie Comics Publications, he scripts Afterlife with Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and is producing Riverdale, a television pilot based on the Archie characters for the CW.
Sergio Aragones, Cartoonist, MAD, Groo
One of MAD magazine’s longest-running cartoonists (only Al Jaffee has been around longer) and the creator of dim-witted barbarian Groo the Wanderer, Sergio Aragonés is one of comics’ most popular creators. In addition to his continuing work for MAD, Sergio—the man some call the world’s fastest cartoonist—had his own comic book series at Bongo Comics, Sergio Aragonés Funnies. His most recent work includes a 12-issue maxi series from Dark Horse Comics, Groo and Friends.
Derf Backderf, Writer/artist, Trashed, My Friend Dahmer
Derf Backderf is the writer/artist of three graphic novels: Trashed, My Friend Dahmer, and Punk Rock & Trailer Parks .His comic strip The City appeared in over 140 weekly newspapers during its 24-year run. He won an Angoulême Prize and a Robert F. Kennedy Award and has been nominated for Eisner, Harvey, Ignatz, and Rueben Awards. He lives in Cleveland, for reasons he can no longer remember.
Mike Baron, Writer/co-creator, Nexus, Badger
Mike Baron is the creator of Nexus (with artist Steve Rude) and Badger, two of the longest-lasting independent superhero comics. Nexus is about a cosmic avenger 500 years in the future; Badger is about a multiple personality, one of whom is a costumed crime fighter. Baron has written The Punisher, Flash, Deadman, and Star Wars, among others. His novels include Whack Job, Skorpio, Biker, Helmet Head, and Banshees. Baron is adapting Biker into a graphic novel with artist ChrisCross, for Comicmix.
Michael Barrier, Author/comics and animation historian, Funnybooks, Hollywood Cartoons
Michael Barrier founded and edited Funnyworld, the first magazine devoted to serious examination of comic art and animated cartoons. He is the author of Funnybooks: The Improbable Glories of the Best American Comic Books (University of California Press, 2014), The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney (University of California Press, 2007), and Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age (Oxford University Press, 1999). He is co-author, with Harvey Kurtzman, of From Aargh! to Zap!: Harvey Kurtzman’s Visual History of the Comics (Prentice Hall, 1991) and co-editor, with Martin Williams, of A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics (Smithsonian/Abrams, 1981).
Kate Beaton, Writer/artist, Step Aside, Pops; Hark! A Vagrant!
Kate Beaton began her online work Hark! A Vagrant! in 2007. Since then, her illustrations have appeared in publications such as the New Yorker, Harper’s, and Marvel’s Strange Tales anthology. Her first collection, Hark! A Vagrant, spent five months on the New York Times bestseller list and topped best-of-the-year lists from Time, E!, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly. Beaton’s cartoons often display a wonderfully light touch on historical and literary topics. The jokes are a knowing look at history through a modern perspective, and a campaign against anyone with the idea that history is boring. Her most recent book is the September 2015 Hark! A Vagrant! collection, Step Aside, Pops, published by Drawn & Quarterly.
Cece Bell, Writer/artist, El Deafo
Cece Bell is an author and illustrator of books for children. She lives in an old church and she works right next door in a newish barn. Her graphic novel memoir, El Deafo, which chronicles her childhood experiences with hearing loss, received a Newbery Honor and an Eisner Award in 2015. Cece’s other books include the Geisel Honor book Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover, Bee-Wigged, and the Sock Monkey series. She has also illustrated books written by her husband, Tom Angleberger, including the picture book Crankee Doodle, as well as the Inspector Flytrap chapter book series (August 2016). Check out www.cecebell.com for more info.
Allen Bellman, Artist, Captain America
Allen Bellman became a staff artist at Timely during the Golden Age of comics. As a teenager, he first did backgrounds for Syd Shores’s Captain America starting in 1942. He also worked on titles featuring characters such as Captain America, the Patriot, the Human Torch, and Jet Dixon of the Space Squadron and on series such as All Winners Comics, Marvel Mystery, Sub Mariner Comics, Young Allies, and much more. Allen’s self-created back-up crime feature “Let’s Play Detective” appeared in Captain America Comics. He also contributed to pre-code horror, crime, war, and western tales for Atlas. Allen worked in the comics field until the early 1950s. For more info, visit www.allenbellman.com.
Berkeley Breathed, Writer/artist, Bloom County, Outland, Opus
Berkeley Breathed began his art career in high school when he drew a headless spaceman outside a spaceship and then spat red paint where the head should have been, causing the illusion of an explosion, naming it “Gesundheit.”
In the early 1980s Breathed began drawing Bloom County, a political satire, for college newspapers. Nationwide recognition came with his creation of Opus, an insecure penguin who reflected the political conscience of America. He furthered his fame with his creation of Bill the Cat, who was the exact opposite of Opus in that he represented the scum of America. The combination of Opus and Bill was a huge success and saved Breathed from the near demise of his strip.
When Bloom County ended, Breathed next created Outland, a strip in which Opus, Bill, and several other characters resurfaced in a utopia-like world. After Outland ended he then started Opus, a new comic strip featuring Opus, Bill, and other characters.
In 2015, Breathed pioneered a new paradigm for newspaper comic strips by bringing back Bloom County without the paper. Bloom County now appears exclusively on Facebook, with a new collection due to be published by IDW in 2016.
Chester Brown, Writer/artist, Paying for It, Mary Wept over the Feet of Jesus
Chester Brown was born in Montreal in 1960 and is best known for his two recent nonfiction graphic novels: the meticulously researched and Harvey Award–winning Louis Riel and the controversial, critically acclaimed Paying for It. Brown began selfpublishing his comic book series Yummy Fur at age 23 and has been publishing with D+Q since 1991. He is the author of The Playboy, I Never Liked You, The Little Man, and Ed The Happy Clown. His latest publication is Mary Wept over the Feet of Jesus. He lives in Toronto, where he ran for Parliament twice as a member of the Libertarian Party of Canada.
Co-Sponsored by Drawn & Quarterly
Emily Carroll, Writer/artist, Through the Woods
Emily Carroll is a writer and artist best known for the eerie comics she posts on the Internet, as well as her debut collection of short horror stories, Through the Woods (published by Margaret K. McElderry, 2014). In 2015 she won the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Artist, two Eisner awards (including Best Short Story for her online comic “When the Darkness Presses”), and the British Fantasy Award for Best Comic/Graphic Novel. Most recently she illustrated Baba Yaga’s Assistant, a children’s graphic novel written by Marika McCoola (published by Candlewick Press, 2015).
Jonathan Case, Writer/artist, The New Deal; artist, Green River Killer, Batman 66
Jonathan Case is an Eisner Award-winning cartoonist, painter, and writer. His expressive and varied artwork has appeared in many beloved books, from the gritty Green River Killer to the bouncy-retro Batman ’66. His most recent original work, The New Deal, was one of Amazon’s best graphic novels of 2015.
This September, Case’s acclaimed comics debut, Dear Creature, will be restored to print in a deluxe hardcover from Dark Horse. Kirkus Reviews calls it “Marvelously entertaining . . . a funny, bizarre, unexpected pleasure that gives a creature from the depths heart and soul.”
He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife, Sarah, and daughter, Dorothy.
Howard Chaykin, Writer/artist, American Flagg!, Star Wars
Howard Chaykin is a longtime veteran of the comic book business, serving as an artist and writer for nearly every publisher of comics in the past four decades … and counting. He took the 1990s off from comics to work on mostly unwatchable television, so he missed the money and dreck that was comics in that execrable decade. He is responsible (some might say culpable) for introducing a number of previously unexplored themes to comic books. If you’re not hip to what that’s supposed to mean, there’s always Wikipedia.
Chaykin is generally better regarded by his colleagues than by the enthusiasts, a reality that serves his ego but not his wallet. Thanks to the above-mentioned unwatchable television, he’s usually okay with that.
These days, he’s on a tear about the inexplicable Alpha position maintained by comic book writers at the expense of comic book artists, working on educating those aforementioned enthusiasts as to just what writing really means in the context of this curious visual medium.
He lives a quiet life on the California coast, hoping to dodge any imminent tsunamis so he can live long enough to die in bed, without ever lapsing into the cute old age so currently popular on movie and television screens.
Daniel Clowes, Writer/artist, Eightball, Ghost World, Patience
Daniel Clowes is a New York Times bestselling cartoonist, Academy Award–nominated screenwriter, and PEN award–winning New Yorker cover artist from California’s Bay Area (by way of Chicago). His seminal series Eightball began in 1989 and sparked an alternative comics revolution; it produced the Eisner, Harvey, and Ignatz award-winning stories Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, Ghost World, and Ice Haven, among others. His works Ghost World, Art School Confidential, and most recently Wilson have all been adapted into acclaimed films with screenplays by Clowes. His newest graphic novel, Patience (published by Fantagraphics), is his most ambitious book yet, and one of the most hotly anticipated releases of 2016.
Peter David, Writer, Star Trek novels, Sir Apropos of Nothing, Incredible Hulk
Peter David is a New York Times bestselling author with over a hundred novels published, including Artful, Fearless, Tigerheart, and Sir Apropos of Nothing. He co-created the bestselling Star Trek: New Frontier series and has also written such Trek novels as Imzadi.
Peter’s comic book résumé includes an Eisner Award–winning run on The Incredible Hulk. He has also worked on such varied titles as Supergirl, Young Justice, Spider-Man 2099, X-Factor, Wolverine, The Phantom, Sachs & Violens, The Dark Tower, and many others. He is also the lead writer for popular games such as Spider-Man: Edge of Time and Future Fight.
Ben Dunn, Writer/artist, Ninja High School, The Steam League, Science Is Magic
Ben Dunn was born in Pingtung, Taiwan in 1964 and immigrated to the United States in 1965. He settled in San Antonio, Texas where he grew up. In 1976 he went back to Taiwan where he discovered manga. In 1985 he founded the comic book publishing company Antarctic Press to promote the manga artform. The first comic published was the title Mangazine, followed by his best-known creation, Ninja High School, created in 1986. Warrior Nun Areala followed in 1994.
Dunn has worked with various publishers over the years, including Malibu, Eternity, Eclipse, First, Now, Marvel, DC, and others. In the late 1990s he handed over Antarctic Press to his brother, Joeming Dunn. He continues to work in comics, including a revival of Ninja High School in celebration of its 30th anniversary, a Steampunk series The Steam League, and his new comic series, Science Is Magic.
Mark Evanier, Writer/producer/historian, The Garfield Show, The Art of the Simon and Kirby Studio
Mark Evanier has been writing professionally since 1969, delving into comic books, animation, live-action TV, screenplays, books, magazine articles, and anything else he dreamed, as a kid, of writing. His comic book career commenced in 1969 when he apprenticed with the legendary Jack Kirby and also began writing comic book scripts for Disney. Over the years, he has worked on preexisting characters and his own co-creations, including The DNAgents and Crossfire, along with collaborating since 1983 with Sergio Aragonés on Groo the Wanderer. He began writing live-action TV in 1976 and animation in 1978. He is the author of several collections of columns as well as MAD Art and Kirby, King of Comics, a book about his mentor that won two Harvey Awards and one Eisner Award. Mark is currently writing, producing, and voice-directing The Garfield Show, and his latest book—The Art of the Simon and Kirby Studio—showcases the work of one of comics’ greatest creative teams.
Matt Fraction, Writer, Hawkeye, Sex Criminals, Satellite Sam
Matt Fraction writes comic books out in the woods and lives with his wife, the writer Kelly Sue DeConnick, his two children, a dog, a cat, a bearded dragon, and a yard full of coyotes and stags. Surely there is a metaphor there. He’s a New York Times bestselling donkus of comics like Sex Criminals (winner of the 2014 Eisner Award for Best New Series, the 2014 Harvey Award for Best New Series, and named TIME Magazine’s Best Comic of 2013), Satellite Sam, ODY-C, and Hawkeye (winner of the 2014 Eisner Award for Best Single Issue).
Ramona Fradon, Artist/co-creator, Metamorpho; artist, Aquaman, Brenda Starr
Ramona Fradon studied at Parsons School of Design and the New York Art Students’ League. She drew short features for Timely and DC and illustrated Aquaman until 1960. She co-created Metamorpho, illustrated mystery stories, Plastic Man, Plop, Freedom Fighters, and Super Friends as well as Brenda Starr, the syndicated newspaper strip. She has done features for Nickelodeon, Bongo, DC, and Archie Comics, has created covers for Marvel, and just finished illustrating part of a graphic novel. In 2006 she was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame.
William Gibson, Author, Neuromancer, Peripheral, Archangel
William Gibson’s first novel was Neuromancer (1981). His most recent is the Peripheral (2015). His first comic is Archangel (IDW, 2016, co-authored with Michael St. John Smith). He’s also written for film, television, and a certain amount of journalism. This is his first Comic-Con, but his daughter has been telling him about it for years. Co-sponsored by IDW Publishing
Kieron Gillen, Writer, co-creator, Phonogram, The Wicked + The Divine
Kieron Gillen first came to wider attention in 2006 with his collaboration with Jamie McKelvie, Phonogram: Rue Britannia. Soon joined by Matt Wilson on its second volume, the team moved to a re-imagining of Young Avengers for Marvel before launching the award-winning The Wicked + The Divine and a third and final volume of Phonogram, The Immaterial Girl. When not with his mostly platonic life-partner, he’s created books like Uber, Three, Mercury Heat, The Modded, and the forthcoming The Ludocrats. His work for Marvel includes Star Wars: Darth Vader, Uncanny X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, Journey Into Mystery, and many more.
Hank Green, Vlogger, Online Video Creator
Hank Green started making YouTube videos in 2007 with his brother, John. They thought it was a pretty dumb idea, but it turned out pretty well. In addition to his work as CEO of VidCon, Hank is the co-founder of DFTBA Records, DFTBA Games, NerdCon, SciShow, Crash Course, and the Project for Awesome.
Paul Gulacy, Artist, Master of Kung Fu, Six from Sirius, Catwoman
Paul Gulacy is best known for reenergizing Quentin Tarantino’s favorite comic book, Master of Kung Fu, along with writer Doug Moench. Gulacy also created memorable work on Star Wars: Crimson Empire; Sabre, the first graphic novel created for the direct market with writer Don McGregor, which inspired many independent publishing companies to follow suit; and an episode of the animated series Aeon Flux, titled “Isthmus Crypticus.”
Active in comics since 1974, this award-winning artist has been bringing his incomparable cinematic style to a gamut of genres and properties, including Six from Sirius, Sci-Spy, Slash Maraud, Barb Wire, Black Widow, Captain Action, Catwoman, Conan The Barbarian, Daredevil, Elvis Presley, G.I. Joe, Green Lantern, Jonah Hex, Judge Dredd, Jurassic Park, Lady Gaga, Miami Vice, Miracleman, Planet of the Apes, The Punisher, Spider-Man, The Terminator, Toby Keith, Vampirella, Wolverine, and more! For more information, please visit www.gulacy.com
Lisa Hanawalt, Writer/artist, My Dirty Dumb Eyes; production designer/producer, Bojack Horseman
Lisa Hanawalt is an artist living in Los Angeles, and is the production designer/producer of the Netflix original series, Bojack Horseman. Lisa has worked on illustrations, book covers, animation, comics, murals, and textile patterns, and she exhibits her work in galleries. She writes and draws a quarterly James Beard Award–winning food column for Lucky Peach Magazine and co-hosts the podcast Baby Geniuses with comedian Emily Heller. Her first collection with Drawn & Quarterly was 2013’s critically acclaimed My Dirty Dumb Eyes. Her latest book, Hot Dog Taste Test, will be published in spring 2016.
Ben Hatke, Writer/artist, Zita the Spacegirl Trilogy, Little Robot
Ben Hatke is the author of the New York Times bestselling Zita the Spacegirl trilogy, as well as the picture book Julia’s House for Lost Creatures. In addition to writing and drawing comics, he also paints in the naturalist tradition and, occasionally, performs one-man fire shows. His most recent graphic novel is the charming friendship story Little Robot. Hatke lives and works in the Shenandoah Valley with his wife and their boisterous pack of daughters.
Jennifer Hayden, Writer/artist, The Story of My Tits
Jennifer Hayden is the author and artist of The Story of My Tits, a 352-page memoir about her life and her experience with breast cancer. It was named one of the best books of 2015 by the New York Times, NPR, Library Journal, Amazon, Paste, GQ, Mental Floss, and Forbes. Hayden’s first book was the autobiographical collection Underwire, excerpted in The Best American Comics of 2013. Her other works include the webcomic S’crapbook and the daily diary strip Rushes at thegoddessrushes.blogspot.com. She lives in Central New Jersey with her husband, two cats, a very old dog, and sometimes their two college-age children. For more info visit www.jenniferhayden.com.
Keith Knight, Cartoonist, K Chronicles, (th)ink, The Knight Life
Keith Knight is the world’s foremost gentleman cartoonist and Star Wars prequel denier. Along with being the prolific creator of three comic strips (the autobiographical K Chronicles, the sociopolitical (th)ink, and the syndicated daily The Knight Life), Knight is currently touring a PowerPoint presentation featuring 20 years of his police brutality cartoons. Rumor has it he is also finishing up his first graphic novel, I Was A Teenage Michael Jackson Impersonator!
Hidenori Kusaka, Writer, Pokémon Adventures
Hidenori Kusaka is the writer for VIZ Media’s Pokémon Adventures. Running continuously for over twenty years now, Pokémon Adventures is the only manga series to completely cover all the Pokémon games and has become one of the most popular series of all time. Kusaka is currently working on the twelfth and thirteenth story arcs, “Pokémon X・Y” and “Pokémon ΩRuby αSapphire.” In addition to writing manga, he also edits children’s books and plans mixed-media projects for Shogakukan’s children’s magazines. He uses the Pokémon Electrode as his author portrait.
Jim Lee, Co-publisher, DC Comics; Artist, Batman: Hush, Justice League
Jim Lee is a renowned comic book artist and the co-publisher of DC Entertainment. In addition to his duties as co-publisher, he is the artist for many of DC Comics’ bestselling comic books and graphic novels, including Justice League: Origins, Batman: Hush, and Superman Unchained. He also served as the executive creative director for the DC Universe Online (DCUO) massively multiplayer action game from Daybreak Games, currently available free to play on PS4, PS3, and on Windows PC. For his next project, Lee is handling the art chores on the The Dark Knight III: The Master Race #4 mini-comic.
Stan Lee, Writer/editor/publisher, Fantastic Four, Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man
Stan “the Man” Lee’s influence over comic books is incalculable. His co-creations Spider-Man (with Steve Ditko), and X-Men and The Avengers (with Jack Kirby) have been monster movie hits, helping make Marvel Comics the leader of the comic book industry. Some of Stan’s other great co-creations, such as Thor and the Black Panther (both with Kirby) have movies on the way in the next few years. In 2008, President Bush presented Stan a Medal of the Arts, lauding his amazing career. Stan is currently developing movie and TV projects with his company POW! Entertainment, while still proudly cherishing the title of Chairman Emeritus of Marvel.
Paul Levitz, Writer, editor, publisher, historian, 75 Years of DC Comics, Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel
Paul Levitz is a comic fan (The Comic Reader), editor (Batman), writer (Legion of Super-Heroes), executive (30 years at DC, ending as president & publisher), historian (75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Myth-Making (Taschen, 2010)) and educator (including the American Graphic Novel at Columbia). He received two consecutive annual Comic Art Fan Awards for Best Fanzine, Comic-Con International’s Inkpot Award, the prestigious Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, the Comics Industry Appreciation Award from ComicsPro, and the Dick Giordano Humanitarian Award from the Hero Initiative. His Taschen book won the Eisner Award, the Eagle Award, and Munich’s Peng Pris and has been excerpted as three smaller volumes. His latest book is Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel (Abrams ComicArts, 2015). Levitz also serves on the boards of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and BOOM! Studios.
Ed Luce, Writer/artist, Wuvable Oaf
Ed Luce is the San Francisco-based creator of Wuvable Oaf, a two-time Ignatz Award-nominated series of comics and ever-expanding line of clothes, records, prints, and figures (in collaboration with sculptor Erik Erspamer). The first five years of Oaf comics were collected by Fantagraphics in 2015. A new color volume, Wuvable Oaf: Blood & Metal, will be released this fall. Ed has created covers, comics, and illustrations for VICE, Slate, Image, Dark Horse, Oni Press, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Decibel Magazine, Maximum RocknRoll, the infamous Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever series, and the Eisner Award-nominated No Straight Lines. Check out more of his work at wuvableoaf.com.
Sarah J. Maas, Author, Throne of Glass series
Sarah J. Maas is the New York Times bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series, as well The Assassin’s Blade, a collection of five Throne of Glass novellas. She is also the author of A Court of Thorns and Roses, the first book in a new series. A New York native, she now lives in the Philadelphia area. Visit her online at sarahjmaas.com and worldofsarahjmaas.com.
Ed McGuinness, Artist, Spider-Man/Deadpool, Superman/Batman
Ed McGuinness began his professional comic career in the early ‘90s. Since then he has worked on numerous titles such as Deadpool, Superman, Superman/Batman, The Hulk, and Amazing X-Men. He is currently enjoying a successful run on Spider-Man/Deadpool for Marvel Comics.
Seanan McGuire, Author, October Daye series, Every Heart a Doorway
Seanan McGuire is the author of more than 20 published books, split between two identities (she’s also her own evil twin, Mira Grant), as well as uncounted short stories, essays, and other pieces. She is also the author of The Best Thing, a magical girl-meets-Carrie comic published by Thrillbent Comics (thrillbent.com). She was the 2010 winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and has been nominated for the Hugo Award more than a dozen times (she’s won twice, for podcasting). It is widely assumed that Seanan doesn’t sleep. You can keep up with her at www.seananmcguire.com.
Jamie McKelvie, Artist, Phonogram, The Wicked + The Divine
Jamie McKelvie is a London-based comics illustrator best known for his creator-owned series The Wicked + The Divine, Phonogram (both with writer Kieron Gillen), and Suburban Glamour. He has worked for Marvel on Young Avengers, Captain Marvel, and Ms Marvel. He has also produced artwork for bands such as Chvrches and Tegan & Sara.
Marissa Meyer, Author, Heartless, The Lunar Chronicles series
Marissa Meyer is the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles series, including Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Winter, Fairest: Levana’s Story , and Stars Above: A Lunar Chronicles Collection . Her first standalone novel, Heartless (coming November 2016) , is a prequel to Alice in Wonderland—the untold story of the Queen of Hearts! Marissa lives in Tacoma, Washington, with her husband. Learn more at marissameyer.com.
Tsutomu Nihei, Writer/artist, Knights of Sidonia, Blame!
Born in 1971 in Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture, Tsutomu Nihei has been drawing comics professionally since the mid 1990s. In 1995 he was awarded the Jiro Taniguchi Special Prize in that year’s Afternoon Magazine Four Seasons Awards for his submission called Blame. After working as an assistant to veteran comic artist Tsutomu Takahashi, Nihei went on to launch his debut series Blame! in Afternoon Magazine in 1998. Following the success of Blame! he next penned BioMega (Viz Media) and Wolverine SNIKT (Marvel). In 2009 Nihei returned to Afternoon to launch his latest series, Knights of Sidonia. In 2015 he won the Kodansha Manga Award in the General Comics category for his work on Knights of Sidonia.
Courtesy of Vertical Comics
Christopher James Priest, Writer, Black Panther, Batman, Deathstroke
Christopher James Priest is the first African American writer and editor to work in the comic book industry, with runs on Conan, Power Man & Iron Fist, Spider-Man, Green Lantern, The Ray, Captain America & The Falcon, and many others. With artist M. D. Bright, Priest created the hit Acclaim series Quantum & Woody, and his groundbreaking Black Panther series has been lauded by Entertainment Weekly and The Village Voice. Static Shock, which Priest co-created with Milestone Media, Inc., was the first nationally syndicated African American superhero animated series, and the first act of 2005’s Batman Begins was based on Priest’s Batman comic book work (Batman #431). For more info, visit christopherpriest.com
Trina Robbins, Writer/artist, herstorian, Pretty in Ink, The Brinkley Girls, Tarpe Mills and Miss Fury
Award-winning herstorian and writer Trina Robbins has been writing books, comics, and graphic novels for over 40 years. She has written and drawn comics from Wonder Woman to Barbie. Her 2009 book The Brinkley Girls: the Best of Nell Brinkley’s Cartoons from 1913–1940 and her 2011 book Tarpe Mills and Miss Fury were nominated for Eisner and Harvey awards. Her all-ages graphic novel Chicagoland Detective Agency: the Drained Brains Caper was a Junior Library Guild Selection. Her graphic novel Lily Renee: Escape Artist was awarded a gold medal from Moonbeam Children’s Books and a silver medal from Sydney Taylor Jewish Library Awards. Trina’s most recent book is Pretty in Ink, her final and definitive history of women cartoonists. In 2013, Trina was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame. She is currently working on her memoirs.
Patrick Rothfuss, Author, The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man’s Fear
Patrick Rothfuss is the New York Times bestselling author of The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man’s Fear, and The Slow Regard of Silent Things. When not working on his writing, Pat plays with his children, makes mead, and runs Worldbuilders, a geeky charity that raises money for Heifer International.
Scott Shaw!, Cartoonist, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew!, Bart Simpson Comics
Scott Shaw! has been a pro cartoonist for 45 years. He’s worked in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, advertising, and toy design. Scott is best known for his work on the funnybooks Captain Carrot And His Amazing Zoo Crew! (which he co-created with Roy Thomas), Sonic the Hedgehog, and Bart Simpson Comics; the animated cartoon series Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies, The High-Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange, The Completely Mental Misadventures Of Ed Grimly and Camp Candy (the last two of which he produced and directed); a long run as key cartoonist and art director of the TV commercials. premiums, boxes and print ads for Post Pebbles cereal featuring the Flintstones; and designer of McFarlane Toys’ line of Hanna-Barbera figures. He’s also well known for his writing and presentations of Oddball Comics, “the craziest funnybooks ever published!” Scott was one of the San Diego Comic-Con’s originators and had attended every day of every year of the show since its “mini-con” in 1969 until last year when he had to stay home because of a shattered ankle. Understandably, he is quite eager to be back at Comic-Con, the world’s best-ever class reunion for weirdos (like him), and to start over on a new attendance record.
Alex Sinclair, Color artist, JLA, Harley Quinn, Dark Knight III: The Master Race
For over 20 years Alex Sinclair has worked in the comic book industry as a colorist. He got his start with WildStorm, although most of his career has been coloring for DC Comics and their many characters. Alex worked on many popular series including Batman, Superman: Unchained, Green Lantern, Justice League, and Wonder Woman. His collaborations with Jim Lee and Scott Williams on Batman: Hush, and Ivan Reis and Joe Prado on Blackest Night, earned him global recognition and multiple awards. His current projects include JLA, Harley Quinn, Dark Knight III: The Master Race, and Aquaman.
Jeff Smith, Cartoonist, Bone, RASL, Tuki Save the Humans
Jeff Smith is known best as the creator of Bone. He solidified the ’90s self-publishing movement when he joined other self-publishers and spearheaded a new era of independent comics publishing. In 1993, Smith jump-started the modern graphic novel marketplace with the unprecedented success of The Complete Bone Adventures Volume One: Out from Boneville. Now published in 23 languages, Smith has won awards around the world, including 10 Eisner Awards and 11 Harveys. In 2005, Bone, in full color for the first time, was chosen to launch Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic Books, putting comics back into the hands of millions of children for the first time in a generation.
In 2008, Smith released a second creator-owned project, the Tesla-inspired science fiction epic RASL. Originally serialized, RASL was published as a single New York Times bestselling hardcover novel in 2013 by Smith’s own Cartoon Books, and it won the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Novel–Reprint in 2014.
Tuki Save the Humans, Smith’s webcomic about the first human to leave Africa 2 million years ago published at Boneville.com, won the 2014 National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award for Best Online Comic. Smith was guest editor of Best American Comics 2013 for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Noelle Stevenson, Writer/artist, Nimona; co-writer, Lumberjanes
Noelle Stevenson is the New York Times bestselling author of Nimona, has been nominated for Harvey and Eisner Awards, and was awarded the Slate Cartoonist Studio Prize for Best Web Comic in 2012 for Nimona. A graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art, Noelle is a writer on Disney’s Wander Over Yonder, is the co-writer of BOOM! Studios’ Lumberjanes, and has written for Marvel and DC Comics. She lives in Los Angeles.
J. Michael Straczynski, Writer/producer, Sense8; writer, Flash Earth One, Amazing Spider-Man
No one quite understands why, but apparently J. Michael Straczynski has another hit TV show on his hands, the globe-spanning Sense8, now available on Netflix. In addition, he’s working on a Red Mars series for Spike TV based on the novels by Kim Stanley Robinson, writing Flash Earth One for DC, and finishing Dream Police for Image/ Joe’s Comics. Honestly, why hasn’t this guy’s career flamed out by now? Seriously, enough is enough.
Babs Tarr, Artist, Batgirl
Babs Tarr is an American comic book artist and illustrator best known for her work on DC Comics’s Batgirl. Babs has also been popular for her fan art of Sailor Moon, various comic book heroes, and video game characters.
Maggie Thompson, Writer, editor, historian, Comics Buyer’s Guide, Toucan
When Maggie Thompson was 4 years old (in the Golden Age), her mom encouraged her to read—and collect—comic books. As a bonus, Maggie’s mom and dad were science fiction fans and introduced her to the world of conventions. In the decades since, she has pioneered in the world of comics fan publishing with her husband, Don, has co-edited Comics Buyer’s Guide for 30 years, and now writes online columns for Comic-Con International and Diamond Comic Distributors. She is delighted that kids today get to meet comics creators, attend comics conventions, and even see comics in their libraries.
Bjo Trimble, Author, Star Trek Concordance; Convention Organizer
Bjo Trimble, along with her husband, John, has been an active fan since 1950. They organized the first WorldCon Art Show and ran it for 17 years. Bjo created the Futuristic Fashion Show in 1958. At a later Fashion Show, she met Gene Roddenberry, setting off on a voyage where no one had gone before.
The Trimbles attended San Diego’s Golden State Comic Minicon in 1970 and later set up the Art Show. Bjo—with Walter Koenig and Jack Kirby—reorganized the Masquerade. Bjo received an Inkpot Award in 1974 for both the Trimbles’ service.
The couple organized the “Save Star Trek” write-in campaign that kept the franchise alive for 50 years and got the first space shuttle to be named the “Enterprise.” John was seldom mentioned because media focus was on woman’s lib back then. But without a third season, Star Trek wouldn’t have been syndicated, and . . . The rest is history. Bjo is currently writing an introduction to IDW Publishing’s fifth collection of Gold Key classic Star Trek comic books.
John Trimble, Convention organizer
John Trimble and his wife, Bjo, met under Forry Ackerman’s baby grand piano and have been married for 56 years. They have been fans since the early 1950s and were active in many conventions, including their own Filmcons and Equicons. Their film careers include John’s role in a fan movie, The Musquite Kid Rides Again, and Bjo’s makeup for Flesh Gordon plus as an extra in ST:TMP. Both John and Bjo are credited as being among the most influential figures in science fiction fandom.
G. Willow Wilson, Writer, Ms Marvel, A-Force
G. Willow Wilson is a comic book writer and novelist. Her works include the bestselling series Ms Marvel, winner of the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Work; and the novel Alif the Unseen, which won the 2013 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. Willow began working in the comics industry at age 23, when DC/Vertigo Comics acquired her debut graphic novel, Cairo. Since then, she has written extensively for both DC and Marvel, working on series including Superman, The X-Men, and A-Force. In 2015, PEN America honored her with an award for Innovation in the Graphic Arts.
Ronald Wimberly, Designer/cartoonist, Prince of Cats, Sentences
Ronald Wimberly is a designer/cartoonist based in New York City. He’s worked with The New Yorker, Dargaud, DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, Nike, Benetton, and others. Some notable works are the Eisner Award–nominated Sentences for Vertigo, Lighten Up for the Nib on Medium, and Prince of Cats (to be re-released from Image in October). He’s twice been selected for the Maison des Auteurs residency in Angoulême and is the 2016 Columbus Museum of Art/Thurber House 2016 Graphic Novelist Artist-in-Residence. He’s exhibited in New York, Tokyo and Paris.
Satoshi Yamamoto, Artist, Pokémon Adventures
Satoshi Yamamoto is the artist for VIZ Media’s Pokémon Adventures, which he began working on in 2001, starting with volume 10. He is currently working on the twelfth and thirteenth story arcs of the Pokémon Adventures series, “Pokémon X・Y” and “Pokémon ΩRuby αSapphire.” Yamamoto’s favorite manga creators/artists include Fujiko Fujio (Doraemon), Yukinobu Hoshino (2001 Nights), and Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira). He loves films, monsters, mysteries, punk rock music, and livin’ the good life. He uses the Pokémon Swalot as his artist portrait.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login