2019

Damian Duffy is a cartoonist, scholar, writer, teacher, and a Glyph Comics, Eisner Award, and Bram Stoker Award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novelist. He holds a MS and PhD in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he is on faculty, teaching courses on computers and culture, and social media and global change. He is the writer/letterer of the graphic novel adaptations of Octavia E.

Katie Cook is an illustrator and writer whose main focus is in comic books and children’s books. She is the creator of the popular webcomic Nothing Special on Webtoon and Gronk: A Monster’s Story. She spent several years as the lead writer for IDW’s My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Katie is the illustrator of the Star Wars books ABC-3PO and Obi-123. She has also done work for Marvel, Disney, Fraggle Rock, and much more!

Peter S. Beagle is the bestselling author of The Last Unicorn, which has sold a reported five million copies since its initial publication. His other novels include A Fine & Private Place, The Innkeeper’s Song, Tamsin, Summerlong, and In Calabria. Beagle’s short fiction has been collected in five volumes by Tachyon Publications: The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche, The Line Between, We Never Talk About My Brother, Sleight of Hand, and The Overneath.

Dana Simpson first caught the eyes of comics readers with the webcomic Ozy and Millie. After winning the 2009 Comic Strip Superstar contest, she developed the syndicated strip Phoebe and Her Unicorn.

There are now eight books in the Phoebe and Her Unicorn series, soon to be nine with the April 23 publication of the latest, Unicorn Bowling. Ozy and Millie have a book, too.

Actor Phil LaMarr is best known as one of the original cast members of Mad TV and as "Marvin" in Pulp Fiction. A Los Angeles native, Phil is an alumnus of Yale University and The Groundlings.

Andy Kubert graduated from The Kubert School, founded by his father, Joe Kubert. He began his drawing career at DC Comics then went on to Marvel Comics’ popular X-Men. He later returned to DC comics. Along with his teaching and other duties at the Kubert School, Andy is currently an exclusive contract artist to DC comics. He has been named to Wizard Magazine’s Top Ten Artists list on numerous occasions over the course of his career.

Appearing Saturday and Sunday only.

Tom King is an American author, comic book writer, and ex-CIA officer. He is best known for writing The Vision for Marvel Comics, and The Sheriff of Babylon for the DC comics imprint Vertigo, his 2012 superhero novel A Once Crowded Sky, and the "Rebirth"-era Batman for DC Comics. In addition to Batman, he’s currently writing Heroes in Crisis for DC, and just finished an acclaimed run on Mister Miracle with artist Mitch Gerads.

Shawna Benson, like her sister Julie, grew up in Illinois with access to her father’s Silver Age comic collection and a mutual love of TV and film, particularly sci-fi, westerns, mysteries, and screwball comedies. Working with her sister, they’ve penned episodes of the Emmy Award-winning webseries, Emma Approved, wrote on Seasons 3 through 5 of The CW’s The 100, and are currently co-producers on a new Netflix show, Wu Assassins. They also have written Batgirl and the Birds of Prey and Green Arrow for DC Comics.

Julie Benson grew up in Illinois with access to her father’s Silver Age comic collection and a mutual love of TV and film, particularly sci-fi, westerns, mysteries, and screwball comedies. Working with her sister, Shawna, they’ve penned episodes of the Emmy Award-winning webseries, Emma Approved, wrote on Seasons 3 through 5 of The CW’s The 100, and are currently co-producers on a new Netflix show, Wu Assassins. They also have written Batgirl and the Birds of Prey and Green Arrow for DC Comics.