Special Guests

Jon B. Cooke is the five-time consecutive Eisner Award winner (and one-time Harvey Award recipient) for his former magazine, Comic Book Artist, as well as writer and producer of the full-length feature film documentary, Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist [2007]. Currently editor of Comic Book Creator magazine (published by TwoMorrows), Cooke is author of The Book of Weirdo, a massive retrospective of R. Crumb’s humor comics anthology, published this year by Last Gasp. For that San Francisco-based publisher, Cooke is working with them on a 50th anniversary celebratory book to be published in 2020. He is also co-editor of Kirby100, The Warren Companion, Swampmen: Muck Monsters of the Comics, and the forthcoming World of TwoMorrows. He is currently developing a four-act play with his brother, Andrew D. Cooke, about the early years of comics entitled The Golden Age. Cooke lives in southern Rhode Island with his wife, Beth, and two of his three sons as they get their act together, along with rescue dogs Dilly and Roxy, and a cat named Noodle.

Born in Los Angeles, Mary Fleener started self-publishing her own mini comics in the mid- ‘80s and began appearing in anthologies such as Weirdo, Wimmen’s, and Rip Off Comix. Her first solo title was Hoodoo (1988), and she illustrated the stories of Zora Neale Hurston. This inspired her to do her own autobiographical stories that were collected in book form under the title Life of the Party (1994). Fleener has just completed her first YA graphic novel called Billie the Bee, which is available now from Fantagraphics Books.

Dr. Roger Freedman teaches physics and astronomy at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He’s the co-author of four widely-used physics and astronomy textbooks that include lots of comic book and SF references. He worked on Comic-Con in its formative years in the 1970s and was the leader of Comic-Con’s first “house band,” Dr. Raoul Duke and his All-Human Orchestra. Today he’s on the board of directors of San Diego Comic Fest. His cartoon likeness has appeared as a supervillain in DC Comics (Jimmy Olsen #144) and as a mad scientist in Marvel Comics (What If? #8).

Lawrence (Lance) Geeck became involved with the San Diego Comic-Con starting around 1977 as a volunteer helping out at the convention. In the following years, he became more active and was voted to be a member of the board of directors. During this time he helped setup agreements with the hotel and convention center in San Diego. Eventually he was voted into the executive vice-president position and then became president the following year. These positions were some of the most fun he’s ever had. He and his wife Ines are happily looking forward to seeing old friends at Comic-Con 50.

Gene Henderson, a SoCal native, got his first comic at the age of six . . . and he has been collecting them ever since. He was at the first Comic-Con in 1970, and is very proud to be attending the 50th! Gene has been a board member, vice president, director of security, and archivist for Comic-Con. For over three decades he coordinated the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award, and co-created the annual Will Eisner Hall of Fame display that’s a yearly part of the Art Show. He wishes his wonderful wife Mary, who worked for many years as Comic-Con's hotel liaison and banquet coordinator, could be with him to celebrate.