Comic-Con 2015 Special Guests

The complete Special Guest list for Comic-Con International 2015!

Scott Shaw!

Scott Shaw!
Scott
Shaw!

Cartoonist, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew

Cartoonist Scott Shaw! grew up in San Diego during the 1950s and 1960s. He's written and drawn underground “comix” (Gory Stories Quarterly, Fear and Laughter), mainstream comic books (Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew, Sonic the Hedgehog, Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror), graphic novels (Annoying Orange, Shrek), TV cartoon shows (The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies), trading cards (Oddball Comics, Garbage Pail Kids), animated TV commercials (the Flintstones' Pebbles cereal), and toy designs (MacFarlane Toys’ line of Hanna-Barbera action figures. He is currently developing new intellectual properties for print, animation, and video games. Scott has been presenting his infamous Oddball Comics Live! slideshow at fan conventions over four decades.

Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith
Jeff
Smith

Cartoonist, Bone, RASL, Tuki Save the Humans

Jeff Smith is known best as the creator of Bone. Smith spearheaded a new era of independent comics publishing in the early 1990s when he joined the self-publishing movement. Now published in 23 languages, Bone 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.

In 2008, Smith began the Tesla-inspired science fiction series RASL. It was published as a single New York Times bestselling hardcover in 2013 by Smith’s own Cartoon Books and won the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Novel–Reprint in 2014.

Smith’s webcomic about the first human to leave Africa 2,000,000 years ago, Tuki Save the Humans (at Boneville.com), won the 2014 National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award for Best Online Comic.

Jen Sorensen

Jen Sorensen
Jen
Sorensen

Editorial cartoonist

Jen Sorensen's political cartoons appear in numerous alt-weeklies, as well as in such outlets as Daily Kos, The Nation, AlterNet, The Progressive, The Nib (Medium.com), Ms. magazine, and Funny Times. She has also done work for NPR.org, Nickelodeon magazine, and MAD. In addition to drawing cartoons, Sorensen edits a comics section for the Fusion Network (Univision/ABC).

In 2014, Sorensen was named the first woman to win the prestigious Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning. She is also the recipient of a 2013 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and a 2012 National Cartoonists Society Award. She lives in Austin, Texas and online at jensorensen.com.

Richard Starkings

Richard Starkings
Richard
Starkings

Writer/designer/letterer, Hip Flask, Elephantmen, Comicraft

Richard Starkings is the Eisner and Eagle award–winning creator and writer of Image Comics’ Hip Flask (with Ladrönn) and Elephantmen (with Moritat,  Boo Cook, and Axel Medellin), now in development as a major motion picture. He has also written comic strips for Doctor Who Magazine, The Real Ghostbusters, and Transformers. He is perhaps best known for founding the Comicraft studio and providing lettering for books such as Batman: The Killing Joke, Generation X, Marvels, Danger Girl, Marineman, and Battle Chasers. Comicraft fonts are now the mainstay of the comic book lettering industry, and over 300 font families are available at Comicraft's online store. Richard lives in Los Angeles.

Eric Stephenson

Eric Stephenson
Eric
Stephenson

Publisher, Image Comics; Writer, Nowhere Men, They’re Not Like Us

As publisher for Image Comics, Eric Stephenson has helped foster the creator-owned projects of numerous bestselling writers and artists, including Robert Kirkman, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman, Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Kelly Sue DeConnick, and Brandon Graham, as well as a well-known pair of award magnets whose names rhyme with Frian and Biona. He is also the Eisner Award–nominated writer and co-creator of Nowhere Men and They’re Not Like Us.

Jim Steranko

Jim Steranko
Jim
Steranko

Writer, artist, publisher, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Prevue Magazine

Jim Steranko is one of the most controversial figures in pop culture, with a dozen successful careers to his credit: author, illustrator, magician, designer, musician, escape artist, historian. He is cited as one of the prime architects of Marvel Comics.Wizard magazine credited Steranko as the 5th Most Influential Artist in Comics’ History. He has painted a multitude of movie posters, record albums, and book covers; and in 1975, created Red Tide, the first modern graphic novel. As the editor-publisher of the international newsstand entertainment magazine Prevue, he conducted hundreds of superstar interviews and penned more than three million words. His two volumes of The History of Comics have sold more than 100,000 copies each. As a filmmaker, he collaborated with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas—for whom he created the look of Indiana Jones—and Francis Ford Coppola on some of their most popular films. His Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV reviews for The Hollywood Reporter occasionally elicited more hits than any other feature; he shook up Twitter with his innovative TNT technique; and is currently prepping “An Evening with Steranko” for live theatrical venues across the country. And he's still the best-dressed man in comics.

William Stout

William Stout
William
Stout

Artist/illustrator, The Dinosaurs

William Stout (the Comic Art Professional Society’s co-founder and 10th president) has attended every San Diego Comic-Con. He assisted Russ Manning on Tarzan and Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder on Little Annie Fanny. This prominent underground comix artist‘s Wizards poster was his first of 120 film ad campaigns. He’s worked on over 40 features (the Conan films, Return of the Living Dead, Masters of the Universe) and helped Pan’s Labyrinth win two Oscars. Stout's book The Dinosaurs (1981) inspired Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park. The San Diego Natural History Museum and Zoo display 14 Stout murals. 50 Convention Sketches Volume 21 and William Stout Comic Art will debut at Comic-Con 2015.

J. Michael Straczynski

J. Michael Straczynski
J. Michael
Straczynski

Writer, Superman: Earth One series; co-writer/co-creator, Sense8

J. Michael Straczynski co-wrote/co-created the upcoming Sense8, which will debut on Netflix in June and which he executive produced alongside the Wachowskis (Matrix films). He is currently writing and producing Titans, a new feature film for Peter Chernin (Planet of the Apes) in association with Graphic India, is developing an anthology series for SyFy, is working on a spy series for the British network ITV, and is adapting Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars books for Spike TV. His Superman: Earth One, volume 3 has, at the time of this writing, been sitting on the New York Times bestseller list for six weeks. On the theory that the only good writer is a dead writer, he attributes his success to having been killed in an avalanche in Bolivia in 1978.

Kazuki Takahashi

Kazuki Takahashi
Kazuki
Takahashi

Creator, Yu-Gi-Oh!

Kazuki Takahashi is the world-renowned manga artist and creator of Yu-Gi-Oh!, the global phenomenon that has captured the hearts of millions of fans for nearly two decades. His creative vision spans five animated TV series broadcast in over 65 countries as well as two theatrical movies. The newest series, Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, will premiere in the United States later this year, along with a new feature-length movie scheduled to hit theaters in 2016. The Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game holds the Guinness World Record as the bestselling trading card game of all time, with over 25 billion cards sold.

Jillian Tamaki

Jillian Tamaki
Jillian
Tamaki

Writer/artist, Skim, This One Summer

Jillian Tamaki is a Canadian illustrator and comics artist living in Brooklyn, New York. She is the creator of two books of personal works (including Skim, with cousin Mariko Tamaki), and the ongoing webcomic, Super Mutant Magic Academy. Her most recent graphic novel is This One Summer, with Mariko Tamaki.

Mariko Tamaki

Mariko Tamaki
Mariko
Tamaki

Writer, Skim, This One Summer

Mariko Tamaki is a writer of comics and young adult novels. Her books include the graphic novels Skim and This One Summer with cousin Jillian Tamaki, and Emiko Superstar with Steve Rolston. Her upcoming works include a YA novel, Saving Montgomery Sole, and a comic about teen lez heartbreak. Visit her on the web at www.marikotamaki.com.

Raina Telgemeier

Raina Telgemeier
Raina
Telgemeier

Writer/artist, Smile, Drama, Sisters

Raina Telgemeier is the author and illustrator of the graphic novels Smile, Drama, and Sisters, all  New York Times #1bestsellers. She also adapted and illustrated four graphic novel versions of Ann M. Martin’s Baby-sitters Club series and has contributed short stories to many anthologies. Raina’s accolades include an Eisner Award, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, and a Stonewall Honor. Raina lives and works in Queens, NY, with her cartoonist husband, Dave Roman.