The following special guests appeared at WonderCon Anaheim 2015.
Writer/artist, Batman, Green Lantern/Green Arrow
Neal Adams had legendary runs on Batman, X-Men, Green Lantern/Green Arrow, and Deadman. He rescued Batman from the campy TV show and transformed him into his present “Avenger of the Night” persona. When people say “modern Batman,” they mean Neal Adams’s Batman. His run led directly to the realistic incarnation seen in Batman Begins and the Dark Knight movies. His Batman: Odyssey series blasted into new horizons of the comic book medium. Adams followed Odyssey with Blood (published by Dark Horse), The First X-Men (published by Marvel), and the upcoming The Invasion of the Supermen to be published by DC.
Author, Saga of Seven Suns series; Dan Shamble, Zombie PI
Kevin J. Anderson has published 130 books, 54 of which have been bestsellers. He is best known for his Star Wars, X-Files, and Dune novels, as well as a steampunk fantasy, Clockwork Angels, written with legendary rock group Rush, his Saga of Seven Suns series, and his humorous horror series featuring Dan Shamble, Zombie PI. He has written comics for DC, Marvel, IDW, Topps, BOOM!, and WildStorm. He edited numerous anthologies, including the Five by Five and Blood Lite series. He and his wife Rebecca Moesta are the publishers of WordFire Press, with over 200 titles in print and eBook format, from 35 different authors.
Writer, Batwoman, Fairest, Wonder Woman ‘77
Marc Andreyko is the New York Times bestselling writer of such works as Torso (with Brian Bendis), Batwoman, Fairest, Wonder Woman ‘77, and Captain America and Bucky (with Ed Brubaker). Perhaps best known for his critically acclaimed run on Manhunter, he has written Harvey- and Eisner-nominated books such as The Lost and Dr. Strange: What Is It That Disturbs You, Stephen? (with P. Craig Russell). A two-time GLAAD award nominee as well as an Angeloume audience award winner, Marc also works in TV, film, and theatre. His current and recent projects include The Illegitimates (with Taran Killam), Clive Barker's Nightbreed (BOOM!), Legenderry Red Sonja (Dynamite), and Batman and the Outsiders: Convergence. Marc lives in Los Angeles with his books, Blu-rays, and awesome dog, Frederick.
Cartoonist, MAD, Groo
One of MAD magazine's longest-running cartoonists (only Al Jaffee has been around longer) and the creator of dim-witted barbarian Groo the Wanderer, Sergio Aragonés is one of comics’ most popular creators. In addition to his continuing work for MAD, Sergio—the man some call the world’s fastest cartoonist—had his own comic book series at Bongo Comics, Sergio Aragonés Funnies. This year, Sergio gets the Groo band (including Mark Evanier, Stan Sakai, and Tom Luth) back together with a new 12-issue maxi-series from Dark Horse Comics, Groo: Friends and Foes.
Writer, Velvet, The Fade Out, Criminal, Fatale
Ed Brubaker has won the Best Writer Award in the Harveys and the Eisners five times since 2006. His work with Sean Phillips and Steve Epting on such projects as Criminal, Velvet, Fatale, and Sleeper has been translated around the world to great acclaim. He and Steve Epting are also known for their landmark run on Captain America, some of which inspired the Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie. Brubaker lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two small dogs, where he divides his time between writing his comics The Fade Out and Velvet and his work in television.
APPEARING SATURDAY AND SUNDAY ONLY
Writer, The Sixth Gun, Hellbreak, Harrow County, Magneto, Sinestro
Cullen Bunn is the writer of The Sixth Gun (Oni Press), an epic fantasy set in the old west, which will be reaching its conclusion with issue 50. He also writes Hellbreak (also from Oni Press), a new ongoing series detailing black ops missions to rescue lost souls from Hell. In addition, his backwoods ghost yarn, Harrow County, will be released soon from Dark Horse. He also writes about villains a lot, including Magneto from Marvel and Sinestro and Lobo from DC. For more about his work, visit www.cullenbunn.com.
Writer/artist, DC: The New Frontier, Richard Stark: Parker series of graphic novels
Darwyn Cooke is a Canadian cartoonist and animator. His projects DC: The New Frontier, The Spirit, DC: Solo, and Richard Stark: Parker have each won multiple Eisner Awards. Since his last appearance at WonderCon, Darwyn has produced the Parker series of graphic novels adaptations and Before Watchmen: Minute Men and Silk Spectre; he is currently working on a number of soon-to-be announced projects.
Artist/inker, Marvel Comics, DC Comics
Sam de la Rosa has been a comic book finishing artist/inker for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Disney, and others since 1982. His Marvel Comics credits include Spider-Man, Venom, Carnage, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Daredevil, Star Wars, Hulk, X-Men, and Power Rangers. For DC, Sam worked on Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Star Trek, and Firestorm. His work for Dark Horse includes Predator #1 in 1989. He continues to be published in hardcover, TPB, and Omnibus editions. Sam illustrated a cover for El Peso Hero, whose stories garnered national and overseas media attention for dealing with USA/Mexico border issues. For more info on Sam, visit samdelarosa.com.
Artist, Captain America, Velvet
With a career stretching back to First Comics, Steve Epting made his name working on such titles as Avengers, X-Factor, Superman, Aquaman, and the Eisner-nominated pirate saga El Cazador, which he co-created with writer Chuck Dixon. Epting then began an award-winning collaboration with Ed Brubaker on Captain America and The Marvels Project, and worked with Jonathan Hickman on Fantastic Four and New Avengers. Epting, along with Brubaker, co-created The Winter Soldier, the main character from 2014’s smash hit movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He has recently reteamed with Ed Brubaker on Velvet for Image Comics.
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 is 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.