Announcing the Final Wave of Special Guests for 2023
Joining the previously announced 43 guests are Ricardo Caté, Mark Evanier, John Romita Jr., and Scott Shaw!
Ricardo Caté
Ricardo Caté is the most prominent Native American cartoonist working today. His popular cartoon Without Reservations is published daily in the Santa Fe New Mexican and Taos News and explores the irony and poignant humor found in the Native American experience of living in dominant culture. In addition to being a cartoonist, Caté is also an activist, stand-up comedian, writer, teacher, veteran, former college athlete, tribal official, four-time Dakota Access Pipeline protester at Standing Rock, and filmmaker. Ricardo follows the ways of his Kewa Pueblo heritage and teaches on the reservation. He has three children and lives in the Santo Domingo Pueblo, New Mexico.
Mark Evanier
Mark Evanier attended his first San Diego Comic-Con in 1970 and has been to every one of these annual events ever since. He was then an assistant to the great Jack Kirby, whom he wrote about in his book Kirby, King of Comics. Mark has also written for live-action TV shows, animated TV shows (including various Garfield cartoons), and tons of comic books. The comics include working with Sergio Aragonés for 40 years on Groo the Wanderer, and many more. He is also a historian of comic books and animation.
John Romita Jr.
John Romita Jr. began his career at Marvel UK, doing sketches for covers of reprints. His American debut was with a six-page story titled "Chaos at the Coffee Bean!" in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual (1977). John’s early popularity began with his run on Iron Man with writer David Michelinie and artist Bob Layton, which began in 1978. The creative team introduced several supporting characters, including Tony Stark's bodyguard girlfriend Bethany Cabe and rival industrialist Justin Hammer. In the early 1980s, he had his first regular run on the series The Amazing Spider-Man and in 2022 he returned to the book.
Scott Shaw!
For over 50 years, Scott Shaw! has written and drawn underground comix (Gory Stories, Fear and Laughter), mainstream comics (Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew!, Sonic the Hedgehog, Simpsons Comics), children’s books (the Marooned Lagoon series), syndicated strips (Bugs Bunny, Woodsy Owl), graphic novels (Shrek, Annoying Orange), TV cartoons (Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies, The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley, Camp Candy), toys (McFarlane Toys’ Hanna-Barbera and Simpsons figures), trading cards (Garbage Pail Kids, Oddball Comics), advertising (Post Pebbles cereal featuring the Flintstones), T-shirts (MeTV's Svengoolie, San Diego Comic Fest), and music album art (The Monkees’ A Barrel Full of Monkees and Just Us and San Diego's Staring at the Sun and Spice Train). Current projects include Scott's Kilgore Home Nursing for David Lloyd's Aces Weekly, Scott Shaw!s Comix & Stories (a collection of early material), and Image's Li'l Dragon, his spinoff of Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon. For TwoMorrows, Scott writes a regular column for Retrofan magazine and is finishing his 200-page Oddball Comics book. Scott has received Emmys, an Eisner Award, and a Humanitas Award for his work. He's known for his Oddball Comics Live! and his participation in Quick Draw! with Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragonés. Scott was a co-originator of San Diego's Comic-Con in 1970.