The complete Special Guest list for Comic-Con International 2015!
Comic-Con 2015 Special Guests
Michael DeForge
Writer/artist, Ant Colony, First Year Healthy
Michael DeForge currently lives and works in Toronto as a cartoonist, commercial illustrator, and designer for the hit Cartoon Network program Adventure Time. His one-person anthology series Lose has received great critical and commercial success, having been nominated for every major comics award including the Ignatz and Eisner awards. Koyama Press has collected his short stories in the anthologies Very Casual and A Body Beneath, and Drawn & Quarterly has published his graphic novels Ant Colony and First Year Healthy.
Mark Evanier
Writer, producer, comics 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 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 he has a new book out—The Art of the Simon and Kirby Studio, showcasing the work of one of comics' greatest creative teams.
Carlos Ezquerra
Artist, co-creator, Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog
Born and living in Spain, Carlos Ezquerra is co-creator of many popular British comic strips, among them Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog. He has also worked extensively for American publishers on characters such as Lobo, Batman, Bob the Galactic Bum, and Star Wars’ Mara Jade, as well as numerous collaborations with writer Garth Ennis on Bloody Mary, Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, Just a Pilgrim, and War Stories. He is currently drawing Judge Dredd, with a new Strontium Dog series waiting in the wings.
Lev Grossman
Author, The Magicians, Magician King, The Magician's Land
Lev Grossman is the author of the New York Times bestselling novels The Magicians, The Magician King, and The Magician's Land. The New Yorker named The Magicians as one of the best books of 2009. In 2011 Grossman was awarded the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer by the World Science Fiction Society. Grossman is also the book critic at Time magazine, and he has written about books and technology for the New York Times, Salon, the Wall Street Journal, Wired, Lingua Franca, the Village Voice, and the Believer, as well as NPR. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and three children. He's 43, is slightly built, and probably wouldn't last long in a post-apocalyptic, eye-for-an-eye world.
Tom Grummett
Artist, Fantastic Four, X-Men Forever, Teen Titans
Tom Grummett has enjoyed a career of over 25 years in the comic book industry, penciling various titles for Marvel and DC. Beginning with the New Teen Titans, he moved to regular penciling duties on Adventures of Superman, where he contributed to the Death and Return of Superman storylines. Since then he has worked on Robin, Fantastic Four, Superboy, X-Men Forever, Teen Titans, Incredible Hulk, and Avengers Academy, among others. He has illustrated comics published as a joint program between Marvel and the United State Armed Forces, and custom comics for advertising.
Jackson (Butch) Guice
Artist, WinterWorld, Bloodshot, Ninjak
Jackson Guice (Butch to family and friends) discovered comics at the age of ten. It was love at first sight. Beginning with his first regular assignment in 1981 (Micronauts), he has happily enjoyed a long career illustrating for a number of publishers, including Marvel, DC, Disney, CrossGen, Humanoids, Acclaim, IDW, and Valiant. Highlights of his career include co-creating one of the earliest Epic Comics series (Swords of the Swashbucklers), drawing Action Comics during the Death of Superman, co-creating and drawing the first issues of X-Factor (including the first introduction of the character Apocalypse), drawing Resurrection Man and Birds of Prey runs at DC, co-creating the Eisner and Harvey Award-nominated Ruse at CrossGen, and helping launch the Winter Soldier in his own series at Marvel. In recent years he reteamed with his Birds of Prey collaborator Chuck Dixon to revive the WinterWorld series at IDW and is now busy illustrating a steady stream of covers for a number of publishers as well as drawing interiors for both the Bloodshot and Ninjak series at Valiant. And after 30+ years of daily fun, he still believes he has the best job in the world.
Asaf Hanuka
Co-artist, The Divine
Asaf Hanuka is a comics artist whose books have been published in the U.S, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Israel and Korea. With his twin brother Tomer he created Bipolar comics (2000–2005), which garnered nominations for both the Ignatz and Eisner Awards. Asaf was also nominated for an Eisner Award for his book Pizzeria Kamikaze with writer Etgar Keret (2006). His latest book, The Realist (2012), an autobiographical comic about his life in Tel Aviv, has won a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators, and was translated into many languages. Asaf has contributed to the art of Oscar-nominated doco-animation film Waltz with Bashir. Asaf and Tomer are the artists of The Divine graphic novel, coming from First Second in July. Co-sponsored by First Second
Tony Harris
Artist, Starman, Ex Machina
Nineteen-time nominee and two-time winner of the Will Eisner Comics Industry Award, Tony Harris began his professional career as an illustrator at the age of 19, self-publishing B.L.A.D.E. through his own label Buccaneer Publications. Tony moved on to co-create books such as Starman, Ex Machina, and Obergeist with James Robinson, Brian K. Vaughan, and Dan Jolley, as well as illustrating fan favorite minis such as Doctor Strange: The Flight Of Bones, JSA: The Liberty File, and its Eisner Award–nominated sequel, JSA: The Unholy Three (all with Dan Jolley). Tony is celebrating his 25th year as a working illustrator, as well as the 20th and 10th anniversaries of Starman and Ex Machina, respectively. He is currently a prolific cover illustrator and is developing his long-awaited creator-owned book, Roundeye: For Love, with Starman co-creator James Robinson, which reunites the pair after 20+ years!
Jonathan Hickman
Writer, Secret Wars, East of West, Manhattan Projects
Jonathan Hickman is the visionary talent behind the award-winning Nightly News, East of West, and Manhattan Projects. He also plies his trade at Marvel working on books such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. His twin brother Marc is a world-class magician. Jonathan lives in South Carolina surrounded by immediate family and trees. You can visit his website: www.pronea.com.
Hugh Howey
Author, WOOL Series
Hugh Howey spent 8 years as a yacht captain before giving up the seafaring life and taking up writing. His New York Times bestselling WOOL series has been translated into more than 30 languages and has been optioned for a feature film by Ridley Scott and Steve Zaillian in partnership with 20th Century Fox. The comic adaptation from Jet City was written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and illustrated by Jimmy Broxton. He lives in Jupiter, Florida with his wife Amber and their dog Bella. When he isn’t writing, he’s taking pictures or talking to strangers
Reginald Hudlin
Writer/director/producer, Django Unchained, Black Panther animated series
Reginald Hudlin is an innovator of the modern black film movement, having created, written, and/or directed such films as House Party, Boomerang, and BeBe’s Kids, which are some of the most profitable and influential films of his generation. Hudlin received a Best Picture nomination for producing Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. The film won multiple awards, including two Oscars and two Golden Globes. Hudlin is the executive producer and writer of the Black Panther animated series, based on his comic book series. He also wrote an award-winning run of Spider-Man and the Django Unchained graphic novel. In addition, he was executive producer of The Boondocks animated series and served as entertainment president of the BET Network from 2005 to 2008.
Matthew Inman
Writer/artist, The Oatmeal
Matthew Inman is the author and artist behind The Oatmeal, which won the 2014 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Webcomic. His signature blend of irreverent, oddball humor and illustrated antics are showcased in numerous books that have been translated into 16 languages, including the New York Times bestseller How to Tell If Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You. An uber-fan of the greatest geek who ever lived, Nikola Tesla, Matthew received a Tesla Spirit Award for his innovative fundraising efforts on behalf of the nonprofit Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe. He is the proud owner of Intergalactic SpaceBoat of Light and Wonder (Tesla Model S.) and can regularly be found running long distances with a trail of Blerches nipping at his heels. Matthew lives in Seattle with his dogs, Rambo and Beatrix.