Special Guests

Martin Pasko currently develops entertainment properties such as comics and toy lines for transmedia storytelling applications, as well as more traditional media, at his company, Martin Pasko Creative Development. He has helped translate many comics properties to animation, including Batman (Batman: The Animated Series, for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award) and was a co-writer of the Mask of The Phantasm feature. In comics, Pasko is best known for his work with DC, having written Superman in many media and co-developed Dr. Fate with Walter Simonson. He has also written nonfiction, including The DC Vault and The Superman Encyclopedia (with Robert Greenberger).

In his over 38-year comics career, George Pérez has been involved with many of the industry’s landmark publications. With writer Marv Wolfman, he created The New Teen Titans, which helped bring DC Comics back into competitive prominence during the 1980s. Pérez had two enormously successful runs on The Avengers and great personal success as writer/artist for the 1980s relaunch of Wonder Woman. More notable successes include JLA/Avengers, Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds, and as the initial writer of the 2011 Superman relaunch. George is also a founding member and chairman of the disbursement committee for The Hero Initiative, a charity benefiting comics professionals in need.

Wendy and Richard Pini are the co-creators of America's longest-running fantasy graphic novel series Elfquest. Wendy writes, pencils, inks, and colors (traditional and digital); Richard sometimes-writes and full-time edits. Wendy has worked for every major comics company, has scripted and painted two Beauty and the Beast graphic novels based on the original TV series, and recently completed a critically acclaimed 400-page erotic, futuristic reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death, currently in development as a Broadway-style musical thriller. Beyond Elfquest, Richard has published books on Alex Schomburg (Chroma), and Wendy Pini (Law and Chaos and the upcoming Line of Beauty). Elfquest celebrates its 35th anniversary this year.

Chris Samnee is an Eisner Award–nominated and Harvey Award–winning comic book artist who has drawn for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, IDW, and Oni. He is best known for his work on Daredevil, The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom, Captain America & Bucky, and Thor: The Mighty Avenger. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife, daughter, and cat.

Scott Shaw! is an experienced professional cartoonist/writer in the fields of comic books, animation, advertising, and toy design. His first published comics story appeared in the underground comic book Gory Stories Quarterly. He co-created—with Roy Thomas—the funny animal superhero series Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! (DC). Scott was one of a handful of local comic fans who helped organize the first San Diego Comic-Con. He regularly performs his popular Oddball Comics slide show at Comic-Con, and he wows the audience along with Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier at the annual Quick Draw! event.

Louise Simonson has written and edited comic books for many years, including those in the superhero, science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres. Her Marvel work includes the award-winning Power Pack’ the bestselling X-Factor and New Mutants; Wolverine: Meltdown, co-written with her husband, Walter Simonson; and Web of Spider-Man. Her DC Comics work includes Superman: Man of Steel, featuring the Death and Return of Superman, Steel, and World of Warcraft. She has also written 27 books for kids and adults, many featuring comics characters, including the nonfiction DC Comics Covergirls. She is currently writing a Young Adult dark urban fantasy novel.

Nick Spencer is a New York Times bestselling comic book writer, best known for the creator-owned hits Morning Glories, Bedlam, and The Infinite Vacation, as well as his work at Marvel and DC Comics on Secret Avengers, Cloak & Dagger, THUNDER Agents, and Jimmy Olsen. He also collaborated with Robert Kirkman on the inaugural arc of Thief of Thieves (currently in development for television at AMC). His first book, Existence 2.0, has been optioned for feature film development by Paramount Pictures and Platinum Dunes.