Mac Raboy

1914–1967

Mac Raboy‘s stunning artwork and covers for Captain Marvel Jr. and Master Comics, published by Fawcett, make them both highly prized series among Golden Age collectors. He left comic books in 1948 to draw the Flash Gordon Sunday strip, which he did until his death in 1967.

Inducted 1999

Alex Raymond

1909–1956

Alex Raymond made his place in comics history not only by creating Flash Gordon but for influencing artists such as Al Williamson with his beautiful line work and science fiction settings. Raymond’s other comic strip work includes Secret Agent X-9, Jungle Jim, and Rip Kirby.

Inducted 1996

Trina Robbins

1939–2024

A pioneer of the underground comix movement, Trina Robbins published the first comic book produced entirely by women, It Ain’t Me, Babe. From there she went on to co-found the Wimmin’s Comix collective, which helped launch the careers of many other prominent women cartoonists in the underground and alternative field. Her nonfiction books include The Great Women Superheroes and A Century of Women Cartoonists. She has also edited a number of collections of early women cartoonists’ reprinted work, including The Brinkley Girls: The Best of Nell Brinkley’s Cartoons from 1913-1940 (Fantagraphics) and Tarpé Mills’ Miss Fury (IDW).

Inducted 2013

Jerry Robinson

1922–2011

As Bob Kane’s first assistant on Batman, artist Jerry Robinson was the first to draw both Robin and The Joker, and he played a major role in their creations. He drew numerous Batman stories and covers for Detective and Batman between 1939 and 1946. In the late 1940s, he drew such features as “The Vigilante” and “Jonny Quick.” He moved to the comics strip realm in the 1950s and spent the next several decades in that world, created his own cartoonists’ syndicate, and wrote the seminal book The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art.

Inducted 2004

Spain Rodriguez

1940–2012

Spain Rodriguez was one of the seminal artists in the underground comix movement. In New York, he created the tabloid Zodiac Mindwarp for East Village Other before moving to San Francisco to become part of the counterculture scene there. His character Trashman, Agent of the Sixth International, was an icon in underground newspapers as well as in Zap. More recently, he produced such award-winning graphic novels as Nightmare Alley and Che: A Graphic Biography.

Inducted 2013

John Romita

1930–

John Romita drew Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man from 1966 to 1972, giving the definitive look to such characters as Mary Jane Watson, the Kingpin, and the Punisher. In 1973, he became Marvel’s art director, a position he held until his retirement in 1996, and where he created the initial designs on such seminal characters as Wolverine. In 1977, Romita also co-created the Spider-Man newspaper strip, along with writer Stan Lee.

Inducted 2002

John Romita Jr.

1956–

John Romita Jr.’s first contribution to Marvel Comics was at the age of 13 with the creation of the Prowler in Amazing Spider-Man #78 (1969). He began his career at Marvel UK, doing sketches for covers of reprints. His American debut was with a story in Amazing Spider-Man Annual (1977). He went on to popular runs on Iron Man, Amazing Spider-Man, Uncanny X-Men, Daredevil, The Punisher War Zone, Cable, Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, Thor, Kick-Ass, Superman, and All-Star Batman, just to name a few.

Inducted 2025

P. Craig Russell

1951–

P. Craig Russell has spent 50 years producing graphic novels, comic books, and illustrations. He entered the comics industry in 1972 as an assistant to artist Dan Adkins. After establishing a name for himself at Marvel on Killraven, Dr. Strange, and Elric, Russell began working on more personal projects, such as adaptations of operas by Mozart (The Magic Flute), Strauss (Salome), and Wagner (The Ring of the Nibelung). Russell is also known for his Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde series and his graphic novel adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman: The Dream Hunters, Coraline, Murder Mysteries, and American Gods. His most recent project has been Gaiman’s Norse Mythology for Dark Horse.

Inducted 2022

Joe Sacco

1960–

Joe Sacco is credited as being the first artist to practice rigorous, investigative journalism using the comics medium. Between 1993 and 1995, Joe wrote and drew nine issues of Palestine, which documented his two months spent in the Occupied Territories in the winter of 1991–1992 and which shows the human effects of the Israeli occupation and subsequent intifada. In 1995–1996, Joe traveled four times to Bosnia and subsequently produced four harrowing accounts of his time there: Christmas with Karadzic, Soba, Safe Area Gorazde, and The Fixer.

Inducted 2025

Stan Sakai

1953–

Stan Sakai was born in Kyoto, Japan, grew up in Hawaii, and currently lives in California. His creation, Usagi Yojimbo, first appeared in 1984. Usagi has been on television as a guest of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as toys, on clothing, in comics, and in a series of trade paperback collections. Stan is a recipient of numerous awards, including the National Cartoonists Society Comic Book Division Award, six Eisner Awards, five Spanish Haxturs, an Inkpot, an American Library Association Award, a Cultural Ambassador Award from the Japanese American National Museum, and a couple of Harvey Awards, including one for Best Cartoonist.

Inducted 2020

Gaspar Saladino

1927–2016

Gaspar Saladino started at DC in 1949 and worked for more than 60 years in the comics industry as a letterer and logo designer. It has been calculated that he designed 416 logos, lettered 52,769 comic book pages and 5,486 covers, and produced 411 house ads. The logos he designed for DC included Swamp Thing, Vigilante, Phantom Stranger, Metal Men, Adam Strange, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, and Unknown Soldier, among others. For Marvel, Saladino’s logos, which he either created or updated, include The Avengers, Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, Captain America and the Falcon, and Marvel Triple Action. During the early 1970s Saladino lettered the interiors for the then-new Swamp Thing. It was in the pages of this series that he created the concept of character-designated fonts, with Swamp Thing’s distinctive outlined, “drippy” letters.

Inducted 2023

Tim Sale

1956–2022

Artist Tim Sale began working in comics in 1983 and over the course of his career worked with Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Harris Comics, and Oni Press, with his art gracing characters including Batman, Superman, Harley Quinn, and the Justice Society of America. With Jeph Loeb he created Batman: The Long Halloween, Challengers of the Unknown Must Die!, Superman for All Seasons, Batman: Dark Victory, Daredevil: Yellow, Spider-Man: Blue, Hulk: Gray, Catwoman: When in Rome, and Captain America: White. In 1999, Sale earned an Eisner Award for Best Short Story for “Devil’s Advocate” with writer Matt Wagner in Grendel: Black, White, and Red #1. He also received Eisners for Best Graphic Album–Reprint for Batman: The Long Halloween and Best Penciller/Inker for Superman for All Seasons and Grendel Black, White, and Red.

Inducted 1923

Bill Schanes

1958–

As a teenager Bill and his brother Steve co-founded Pacific Comics, a store in San Diego. Pacific went on to become a chain of stores, a publisher of creator-owned comics, and a comic book distributor before it was bought up by Diamond Comic Distributors in the eighties. Bill then went to work for Diamond, where he oversaw the company’s rise to dominate the direct market. He was also part of Diamond’s early forays into digital distribution.

Inducted 2025

Steve Schanes

1954–

Steve began as a comic book retailer when he was 17 years old, when he and his brother Bill opened Pacific Comics, then expanded the company to include publishing and distribution. After that, he launched Blackthorne Publishing. During his time in the business Steve published some 800 comic books.

Inducted 2025

Ira Schnapp

1894–1969

Schnapp was a logo designer and letterer who brought his classic and art deco design styles to DC Comics (then National Comics) beginning with the redesign of the Superman logo in 1940. He did a great deal of logo and lettering work for the company in the 1940s. Around 1949, he joined the staff as their in-house logo, cover lettering, and house-ad designer and letterer, and he continued in that role until about 1967. He also designed the Comics Code seal.

Inducted 2025

Alex Schomberg

1905–1998

The prolific Alex Schomburg turned out hundreds of comics and pulp magazine covers in the 1930s and 1940s. His covers for World War II–era titles are noted for their large casts of characters in dynamic action, and his airbrush science fiction covers are prized for their brilliant colors and attractive females.

Inducted 1999

Charles M. Schulz

1922–2000

Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and Lucy—the late Charles Schulz gave us these characters and more with the most popular comic strip of all time, Peanuts. The strip was adapted into a series of animated specials for television that are still being shown decades after they were first aired. For many, Peanuts is a cultural milestone.

Inducted 1997

Diana Schutz

1955–

Diana Schutz is a Canadian-born comic book editor who started out editing a newsletter for Berkeley’s Comics & Comix in 1981. She went on to serve as editor-in-chief of Comico during its peak years, followed by a 25-year tenure at Dark Horse Comics. Some of the best-known works she has edited are Frank Miller’s Sin City and 300, Matt Wagner’s Grendel, Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo, Paul Chadwick’s Concrete, and Mike Mignola’s Hellboy. In addition to editing, she has translated many French and Spanish comics works into English. Diana is now an adjunct instructor of comics history and criticism at Portland Community College.

Inducted 2023

Julius Schwartz

1915–2004

Julie Schwartz served as editor at DC Comics for 49 years, starting in the 1940s. In the early 1950s, he edited DC’s premier science fiction titles, Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space, then went on to usher in the Silver Age with revivals of revised versions of such Golden Age characters as the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, and the Atom, while the Justice League of America became the Silver Age equivalent of the Justice Society.

Inducted 1997

Dori Seda

1950–1988

Dori Seda was one of the pioneers of the autobiographical comics genre in underground comix. She started her career when she was hired by Last Gasp publisher Ron Turner to do the bookkeeping for the company. Her stories were published in several comics and anthologies, including Wimmen’s Comix, Rip-Off Comix, Tits ‘n’ Clits, and Weirdo. Dori’s only full-length solo book was Lonely Nights Comics. Her work is collected in Dori Stories (1999), which also includes memorial essays by friends. In 1988, Last Gasp established the Dori Seda Memorial Award for Women, whose first (and only) recipient was Carol Tyler.

Inducted 2017

E.C. Segar

1894–1938

E. C. Segar originated Popeye, Olive Oyl, Wimpy, and other now-classic cartoon characters in his comic strip Thimble Theater, which debuted in 1919. The strip ran for 10 years before Popeye first appeared; the rest is history.

Inducted 2001

Phil Seuling

1934–1984

Phil Seuling was a comic book retailer, fan convention organizer, and comics distributor primarily active in the 1970s. He was the organizer of the annual New York Comic Art Convention, originally held in New York City every July 4 weekend beginning in 1968. Later, with his Sea Gate Distributors company, he developed the concept of the direct market distribution system for getting comics directly into comic book specialty shops, bypassing the then-established newspaper/magazine distributor method, where no choices of title, quantity, or delivery directions were permitted.

Inducted 2025

John Severin

1921–2012

John Severin was an artist equally at home drawing humorous and serious comics. At EC Comics he drew wacky stories for MAD (“Melvin of the Apes”), and western and war stories for Two-Fisted Tales. After EC he continued both trends, producing humor features for Cracked along with western and war stories for Marvel, Warren, and other companies.

Inducted 2003

Marie Severin

1929–2018

Marie Severin was the colorist for all the EC Comics titles in the early 1950s. In the 1960s, she joined Marvel Comics, where over the next two decades she not only anchored the famous “bullpen” but drew such comics as The Incredible Hulk, Kull, and Not Brand Echh! She went back to coloring in the 1990s, primarily for DC titles.

Inducted 2001

Gilbert Shelton

1940–

Cartoonist Gilbert Shelton began his first notable comic strip in the early 1960s, writing and drawing Wonder Warthog for the University of Texas’ satirical magazines Bacchanal and Texas Ranger. He moved to San Francisco in 1968 and became part of the burgeoning underground comix scene. After producing the comic Feds ‘n’ Heads (published by Print Mint), Shelton created his most famous strip, The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers in 1968, and a spinoff strip, Fat Freddy’s Cat, in 1969, when he also co-founded Rip Off Press.

Inducted 2012

Joe Shuster

1914–1992

While teenagers in Cleveland, science fiction fans Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman. And a whole industry was born. The duo co-created Funnyman in the mid 1940s.

Inducted 1992

Noel Sickles

1910–1982

Noel Sickles became a political cartoonist for the Ohio State Journal in the late 1920s. He moved to New York in 1933, where he became a staff artist for Associated Press. Here, he was asked to take over the aviation comic strip Scorchy Smith. In that comic, Sickles developed a personal, almost photographic, style. His method of drawing became popular among other comic artists and was particularly inspiring to Milton Caniff (Terry and the Pirates). Sickles and Caniff started working together closely, assisting each other on their comics. After AP turned Sickles down for a salary raise, he devoted the rest of his career to magazine illustration.

Inducted 2024

Jerry Siegel

1914–1996

While teenagers in Cleveland, science fiction fans Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman. And a whole industry was born. Siegel continued to write comics into the 1960s, including Superman, and the duo co-created Funnyman in the mid 1940s.

Inducted 1992

Bill Sienkiewicz

1958–

Bill Sienkiewicz started drawing comics professionally at age 19, fresh out of art school. His early style on Marvel titles such as Moon Knight was heavily influenced by Neal Adams. In the 1980s Sienkiewicz broke out into a multimedia style that was revolutionary for comics, combining painting, line art, collage, mimeographs, and other elements. Sienkiewicz’s highly stylized art on Marvel’s Elektra: Assassin, The New Mutants, and his own graphic novel Stray Toasters earned international acclaim. His work has appeared in Brazil’s National Museum of Fine Arts; galleries in Paris, Barcelona, and Tuscany; and advertising campaigns for Nike, MTV, and Nissan. Sienkiewicz received an Inkpot Award in 1981, and his work has won many awards including several Eagles, a Kirby, and an Eisner.

Inducted 2019

Joe Simon

1913–2011

With Jack Kirby, Joe Simon co-created Captain America, invented boy gang comics, and produced the first romance comics. Among the titles they created were Young Allies, Boy Commandos, Young Romance, and Black Magic. On his own, Simon created Prez and Brother Power the Geek for DC.

Inducted 1999

Walter Simonson

1946–

Walter Simonson began drawing for DC Comics in 1972 and was soon tapped by writer/editor Archie Goodwin to draw a new backup feature called Manhunter, which went on to win three best story of the year awards. Since then, Simonson has written and drawn nearly every major character for both Marvel and DC Comics. Highlights include Star Wars, Fantastic Four, Elric, and Thor, the latter of which would go on to become his most famous work. His run on the series lasted nearly four years and is considered by many to be the defining version of the Thunder God. Most recently he has been writing and drawing the series Ragnarök for IDW.

Inducted 2017

Louise Simonson

1946–

Louise Jones (she had married artist Jeff Jones in 1966) started her professional comic book career at Warren Publishing in 1974, editing Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella. In January 1980, she joined Marvel Comics, where she initially worked as an editor, most notably on Uncanny X-Men, which she edited for almost four years, and an X-Men spin-off, The New Mutants. During this period, she also edited Marvel’s Star Wars and Indiana Jones comics. Louise married Walt Simonson in 1980 and left Marvel in late 1983 to try her hand at full-time writing. She created Power Pack, which debuted in August 1984. Her other Marvel writing work included Starriors, Marvel Team-Up, Web of Spider-Man, Red Sonja, and most notably X-Factor. In 1987 she became the New Mutants scripter. It was during this run that she and artist Rob Liefeld introduced Cable. In 1991, she began writing for DC Comics. She, artist Jon Bogdanove, and editor Mike Carlin launched a new Superman title, Superman: The Man of Steel—a title she would write for eight years. She was one of the chief architects of “The Death of Superman” storyline. Since then Louise has continued to write for a number of comics publishers, as well as picture books and novels for young readers.

Inducted 2020

Joe Sinnott

1926–2020

During his 60 years as a Marvel freelancer and then salaried artist working from home, Joe Sinnott inked virtually every major Marvel title, with notable runs on Fantastic Four, The Avengers, The Defenders, and Thor. He is considered by many to have been Jack Kirby’s definitive inker. Today he continues to ink The Amazing Spider-Man comic strip.

Inducted 2013

Art Spiegelman

1940–

The cartoonist is best known for his Pulitzer Prize–winning graphic novel, Maus. As the co-publisher of the groundbreaking periodical RAW, Art Spiegelman published the works of a wide range of alternative cartoonists. His most recent works have included the book MetaMouse and the Little Lit anthologies of comics for kids (edited with wife Francoise Mouly).

Inducted 1999

Dick Sprang

1915–2020

Many comics aficionados consider Dick Sprang to have been the Batman artist. He gave a distinctive square-jawed look to the character from the mid-1940s through the early 1960s. In the 1970s, he joined the list of artists creating re-creations of his original work and was a frequent guest at comic conventions.

Inducted 1999

Frank Stack

1934–

Considered by some to be the first underground cartoonist, Frank Stack began his career under the pseudonym Foolbert Sturgeon. With Adventures of Jesus in 1962, Stack established his unique, expressive style. His other underground work included Amazon Comics, Dorman’s Doggie, Feelgood Funnies, and The New Adventures of Jesus. He illustrated several stories for Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor and in 1994 was the artist on Harvey and Joyce Brabner’s award-winning Our Cancer Year.

Inducted 2025

John Stanley

1914–1993

John Stanley is best known for his long stint (1945–1959) as the writer of the Little Lulu comic book series, a cult classic. He also wrote and drew a number of humor comics, including Melvin Monster, O. G. Whiz, Thirteen Going on Eighteen, and memorable issues of Nancy and Sluggo.

Inducted 2004

Jim Starlin

1949–

Jim Starlin started at Marvel Comics in 1972 and has been working on and off in comics ever since. His body of work includes Amazing Spider-Man, Batman, ‘Breed, Captain Marvel, Cosmic Odyssey, Daredevil/Black Widow: Abatoir, Doctor Strange, Dreadstar, Gilgamesh II, Infinity Gauntlet/War, Iron Man, Master of Kung Fu, Silver Surfer, Thanos Quest, The End of the Marvel Universe, Warlock and the Infinity Watch, Marvel The End, Thanos, Mystery in Space, Death of the New Gods, and Rann/Thanagar Holy War. He is best known for creating or co-creating the Marvel characters Thanos, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu.

Inducted 2017

Jim Steranko

1938–

Coming from a colorful career as an escape artist, magician, and musician, Jim Steranko first created Spyman for Harvey Comics before going to Marvel in the mid-1960s, when he electrified comics fans with his work on “Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” In 1976 he produced the hard-boiled graphic novel Chandler: Red Tide and also pursued a successful career as a paperback cover artist (most notably the Shadow series). He has gone on to do conceptual art for films as well as produce occasional comics covers.

Inducted 2006

Cliff Sterrett

1883–1964

Cliff Sterrett is one of the great innovators of the comic page and the creator of the first comic strip starring a heroine in the leading role, Polly and her Pals. Between 1904 and 1908, he worked for the New York Herald, drawing illustrations and caricatures. He started doing comics when he got the opportunity to draw four daily strips for the New York Evening Telegram in 1911. In 1912, Sterrett was hired by William Randolph Hearst, for whom he created Polly and her Pals. Starting in the 1920s, Sterrett used cubist, surrealist, and expressionist elements in his artwork. In 1935 he handed over the daily strip to others to concentrate wholly on the Sunday strip, which he drew until his retirement in 1958.

Inducted 2024

Dave Stevens

1955–2008

Dave Stevens created the Rocketeer, the retro adventure hero of 1980s indie comics and 1991 movie fame. The Rocketeer combined Stevens’ love of 1930s movies, the golden age of aviation, and 1950s pinup girl Bettie Page. Before becoming a professional artist, Stevens contributed amateur illustrations to early Comic-Con program books in the 1970s. His first professional gig was as Russ Manning’s assistant on the Tarzan comic strip in 1975. Stevens later worked as an animator at Hanna-Barbera and a storyboard artist on projects including Raiders of the Lost Ark and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video. Stevens was the first recipient of the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award in 1982, and he won an Inkpot Award and the Kirby Award for Best Graphic Album in 1986.

Inducted 2019

Elmer C. Stoner

1897–1969

E. C. Stoner was one of the first African American comic book artists. He worked on comics through the Binder, Chesler, and Iger Studios from the late 1930s throughout the 1940s. For National he drew the “Speed Saunders” story in the first issue of Detective Comics. His other credits included “Blackstone” for EC Comics; “Captain Marvel,” “Lance O’Casey,” and “Spy Smasher” for Fawcett; “Blue Beetle” and “Bouncer” for Fox; “Breeze Barton” and “Flexo” for Timely; and “Doc Savage” and “Iron Munro” for Street & Smith. From 1948 to 1951 he drew a syndicated newspaper comic strip, Rick Kane Space Marshal, which was written by Walter Gibson, magician and famed author of The Shadow. Stoner is also believed to have created the iconic Mr. Peanut mascot while he was still a teenager in Pennsylvania.

Inducted 2024

Curt Swan

1920–1996

Curt Swan drew Superman for nearly 30 years, from 1955 to the mid-1980s. For many fans, Swan’s version of Superman is the definitive one. He’s also known for his work on Jimmy Olsen, Legion of Super-Heroes, and World’s Finest, featuring team-ups of Superman and Batman.

Inducted 1997

Rumiko Takahashi

1957–

Popular manga creator Rumiko Takahashi is said to be the bestselling female comics artist in history, with hundreds of millions of her books sold around the world. Takahashi’s first published work was the one-shot Katte na Yatsura in 1978. Later that year her first major work began being serialized, Urusei Yatsura. She went on to create such classic works as Maison Ikkoku, Ranma ½, InuYasha, One Pound Gospel, Mermaid Saga, and Rumic Theater. Several of her works have been animated. The year 2008 marked the 50th anniversary of Weekly Shōnen Sunday and the 30th anniversary of the first publication of Urusei Yatsura, and Rumiko Takahashi’s manga work was honored in It’s a Rumic World, a special exhibition held from at the Matsuya Ginza department store in Tokyo.

Inducted 2018

Bryan Talbot

1952–

Bryan Talbot was part of the British underground comix scene starting in the late 1960s, creating Brain Storm Comix at Alchemy Press, among other works. In 1978 he began the epic The Adventures of Luther Arkwright saga, one of the first British graphic novels. Talbot began working for 2000AD in 1983, producing three books of the Nemesis the Warlock series with writer Pat Mills. His 1994 Dark Horse graphic novel The Tale of One Bad Rat has won countless prizes. For four years Talbot produced work for DC Comics on titles such as Hellblazer, The Sandman, The Dead Boy Detectives, and The Nazz (with Tom Veitch). His other works include the Grandville series of books, the graphic novels Alice in Sunderland, Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes (with Mary Talbot), and the autobiography Bryan Talbot: Father of the British Graphic Novel.

Inducted 2024

Jacques Tardi

1946–

Considered the father of the “new realism” style, French cartoonist Jacques Tardi began his comics career in 1970, with stories for Pilote and later Metal Hurlant. He is best known in the U.S. for his Adele Blanc-Sec series and the graphic novels West Coast Blues, The Arctic Maurauder, Bloody Streets of Paris, Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot, and the Eisner Award-winning It Was the War of the Trenches and Goddamn This War.

Inducted 2016

Osamu Tezuka

1929–1989

Osamu Tezuka was the dean of Japan’s comics (manga) and animation (anime) industries from 1947 until his death in 1989. He created such wide-ranging series as Astro Boy (Mighty Atom), Kimba the White Lion (Jungle Emperor), Adolf, Phoenix, and Black Jack. With many of these works now available in U.S. editions, his following and influence among Americans continues to increase, over 20 years after his death.

Inducted 2022

Roy Thomas

1940–

Roy Thomas helped Jerry G. Bails found Alter Ego, the first real comic book fanzine. From 1965 to 1980 he wrote and edited for Stan Lee at Marvel (X-Men, Avengers, Invaders, Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja et al.) and served as editor-in-chief from 1972 to 1974. From 1980 to 1986 Roy wrote for DC, mostly titles he co-created such as All-Star Squadron and Infinity, Inc. In 1999 Roy revived Alter Ego for TwoMorrows Publishing.

Inducted 2011

Don Thompson

1935–1994

Don Thompson and his wife Maggie are among the legendary founders of comics fandom. Lifelong fans of science fiction and comic books, they met in 1957 and published their first fanzine, Comic Art, starting in 1961. In 1967 they launched Newfangles, one of the first fanzines devoted to the doings of comics fandom. In 1972 the Thompsons started writing a column for the Buyer’s Guide for Comic Fandom, which later became the Comics Buyer’s Guide (CBG). They ran CBG together from 1983 until Don’s death in 1994. Under their direction, it became essential reading as the industry’s main fan-oriented news magazine. Don was also the co-editor (with Richard Lupoff) of the 1970 book All in Color for a Dime, which got many a comics fan interested in the medium’s Golden Age.

Inducted 2020

Jill Thompson

1966­–

The writer/artist creator of Scary Godmother (1987) became more widely known in 1991 after taking over DC’s Wonder Woman. She subsequently worked on many titles for DC/Vertigo, including contributing to Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. Her work has included The Invisibles, Black Orchid, and Seekers into the Mystery, and she has worked on several Sandman-related projects, including At Death’s Door, The Little Endless Storybook, and The Dead Boy Detectives. She is co-creator with Evan Dorkin of the award-winning Dark Horse paranormal animal series Beasts of Burden. She received an Inkpot Award in 2015.

Inducted 2024

Kim Thompson

1956–2013

Kim Thompson was born in Denmark in 1956 and grew up in the rich and varied publishing world of European comics. He arrived in the U.S. in the 1970s and immediately joined with Gary Groth, founder of Fantagraphics, to serve as co-publisher for the next three decades. Kim began working with The Comics Journal, helping produce the news reports, interviews, criticism, and commentary that would guide and outline the growth of both mainstream comics and the independent comics publishing movement going into the 1980s. By the early 1980s Fantagraphics began publishing a list that included many of the most acclaimed comics and graphic novels of the era—including the Hernandez Brothers’ Love and Rockets—and Thompson was instrumental in their acquisition and publication. Thompson was also a key figure in bringing the best of European graphic novels to the U.S., acquiring and translating works.

Inducted 2023

Maggie Thompson

1942–

Maggie Thompson and her late husband, Don, are among the legendary founders of comics fandom. Lifelong fans of science fiction and comic books, they met in 1957 and published their first fanzine, Comic Art, starting in 1961. In 1967 they launched Newfangles, one of the first fanzines devoted to the doings of comics fandom. In 1972 the Thompsons started writing a column for the Buyer’s Guide for Comic Fandom, which later became the Comics Buyer’s Guide (CBG). They ran CBG together from 1983 until Don’s death in 1994, after which Maggie continued to manage CBG until it ceased publication in 2013. Under their direction, it became essential reading as the industry’s main fan-oriented news magazine. Maggie has received the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award and the Friends of Lulu “Woman of Distinction” Award. Maggie is a regular contributor to Comic-Con’s Toucan Blog; click here to read her monthly posts.

Inducted 2020

Rodolphe Töpffer

1799–1846

Swiss artist Rodolphe Töpffer is known for his histoires en images, picture stories that are considered predecessors to modern comic strips. His works included Histoire de M. Jabot (1833), Monsieur Crépin (1837), Monsieur Pencil (1840), and Le Docteur Festus (1846). These works were distinctively different from a painting, a political cartoon, or an illustrated novel. The images followed clear narrative sequences over a course of many pages, rather than just a series of unrelated events. Both text and images were closely intertwined. Originally, he drew his comics purely for his own and friends’ amusement. One of his friends, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, liked them so much (especially the Faust parody) that he encouraged Töpffer to publish his littérature en estampes (“graphic literature”). His stories were printed in various magazines and translated into German, Dutch, English, Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish. 

Inducted 2021

Angelo Torres

1932–

Angelo Torres began his career in the early 1950s, assisting his studio mate Al Williamson on such EC titles as Valor together with Frank Frazetta and Roy Krenkel (the team known as the Fleagle Gang). He contributed to Atlas mystery and western titles in the late 1950s. For Gilberton, he contributed to Classics Illustrated; for Feature Comics, he appeared in Sick during the 1960s. He contributed to Warren titles Eerie, Creepy, and Blazing Combat between 1964 and 1967. Torres was one of MAD’s mainstays, providing caricatures and movie parodies for almost 25 years.

Inducted 2025

Alex Toth

1928–2006

Although he didn’t create any famous characters or have long runs on any well-known comics titles, Alex Toth is revered among comics artists for his sparse yet eloquent drawing style and his storytelling techniques. In animation, his character designs for shows such as Space Ghost and Jonny Quest have influenced many a modern cartoonist.

Inducted 1991

Garry Trudeau

1948–

Garry Trudeau attended Yale University and was a cartoonist and writer for The Yale Record. He also created a comic strip called Bull Tales that moved to the Yale Daily News in 1969. Universal Press Syndicate bought the strip and started selling it nationwide to over 400 newspapers under the title Doonesbury. In his long career, Trudeau has been a strong advocate of cartoonists rights. In 1975, Trudeau was the first comic strip artist to win the Pulitzer Prize, followed by the Reuben Award in 1996. Doonesbury was made into an animated short film in 1977 and a Broadway musical in 1984.

Inducted 2023

Morrie Turner

1923–2014

Morrie Turner created the Wee Pals comic strip in 1965. When Wee Pals first appeared, bringing black characters to the comics pages was by no means an easy task. At first, only five major newspapers published the strip. It was not until 1968 and the tragic assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. that Wee Pals achieved nationwide acceptance. Within three months of Dr. King’s death, Wee Pals was appearing in more than 100 newspapers nationwide. In 2012 Turner was the recipient of Comic-Con’s Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award. He also has the distinction of having been one of the handful of pros at the very first Comic-Con in 1970.

Inducted 2019

Ron Turner

1940–

Ron Turner founded Last Gasp in 1970: a San Francisco-based book publisher with a lowbrow art and counterculture focus. Over the last 50 years Last Gasp has been a publisher, distributor, and wholesaler of underground comix and books of all types. In addition to publishing notable original titles like Slow Death, Wimmen’s Comix, Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, Air Pirates, It Ain’t Me Babe, and Weirdo, it also picked up the publishing reins of important titles—such as Zap Comix and Young Lust—from rivals that had gone out of business. The company publishes art and photography books, graphic novels, manga translations, fiction, and poetry.

Inducted 2024

George Tuska

1916–2009

George Tuska’s first professional work came in 1939, when he became assistant on the Scorchy Smith newspaper strip. At the same time, he joined the Iger-Eisner Studio. There he worked on stories for a variety of comic book titles, including Jungle, Wings, Planet, Wonderworld, and Mystery Men. In the 1940s, as a member of the Harry “A” Chesler Studio, he drew several episodes of Captain Marvel, Golden Arrow, Uncle Sam, and El Carim. After the war, he continued in the comics field with memorable stories for Charles Biro’s Crime Does Not Pay, as well as Black Terror, Crimebuster, and Doc Savage. He also became the main artist on Scorchy Smith from 1954 to 1959, when he took over the Buck Rogers strip, which he continued until 1967. In the late 1960s, Tuska started working for Marvel, where he contributed to Ghost Rider, Planet of the Apes, X-Men, Daredevil, and Iron Man. He continued drawing superhero comics for DC, including Superman, Superboy, and Challengers of the Unknown.

Inducted 2024

Alberto Uderzo

1927–2020

Alberto Uderzo was a struggling French cartoonist with several unsuccessful strips under his belt when he hooked up with writer René Goscinny to create Asterix the Gaul in 1959 for the first issue of Pilote, a comics weekly. After Goscinny died in 1977, Uderzo continued to produce Asterix albums on his own.

Inducted 2007