New Publisher AHOY to Launch with Comics, Prose from Ann Nocenti, Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan, Jamal Igle, June Brigman, Roger Stern, and More All-Star Creators

Published Thu, 14 Jun 2018 15:10:01 -0500

Back in January, we heard about a book called The Wrong Earth by Tom Peyer, Jamal Igle, Juan Castro, Andy Troy, and Todd Klein, set to launch later this year from a new publisher called AHOY Comics. Today, Ahoy sent out a press release revealing their plans, and, well, it looks like a pretty big deal.

In addition to launching The Wrong Earth, they've also announced High Heaven by Peyer and Greg Scott, Captain Ginger by Stuart Moore and June Brigman, and an anthology called Edgar Allen Poe's Snifter of Terror. Additionally, the press release promises upcoming comics by "Gary Erskine, Ryan Kelly, Mariah McCourt, Linda Medley, Peter Milligan, Dean Motter, Ann Nocenti, Rachel Pollack, Roger Stern and others." Do you know how difficult it was to pick a few to fit in the headline?!

That's not all, though. The comic will also be publishing prose stories, poetry, and more. And the brain trust behind AHOY have quite a pedigree as well. From the press release:

AHOY Comics is looking to shake up the publishing industry with a bold new format: comic book magazines. The startup company is the brainchild of Publisher Hart Seely, an award-winning reporter whose humor and satire has appeared in The New York Times and on National Public Radio; two founding editors of DC Comics' Vertigo imprint, Tom Peyer and Stuart Moore; and Chief Creative Officer Frank Cammuso. The comic book magazines will feature traditional, full length comic book stories―by Peyer (Hourman) and Moore (Deadpool the Duck) and top talents including Jamal Igle (Black), Mark Russell (Flintstones), Ann Nocenti (The Seeds) ―accompanied by extra material, including prose fiction by writer Grant Morrison (Happy!), cartoons by Shannon Wheeler (God is Disappointed In You), poems by Hart Seely (Bard of the Deal: The Poetry of Donald Trump), and traditional comic book back up stories. AHOY Comics will debut in comic book stores across the country in September of 2018.

Said Peyer:

It's time to expect more from comics. AHOY Comics offers a wide breadth of contributors from the worlds of mainstream and indie comics and humor magazines. We're publishing comic book magazines with full length stories, backup stories, one-off gags by a bestselling New Yorker cartoonist, political poetry by a regular Poltico contributor, and prose stories by Grant Morrison, Cienna Madrid and a sundry of talent. And I don't want it to sound too serious, because these comic book magazines are both fun and funny. It really is a unique reading experience.

Said Moore:

There is no house style at AHOY Comics, but one of the things we aim to do is to bring a sense of humor to the comics. We're publishing stories with a strong personal vision that provoke an occasional laugh. You know, like Preacher. Or, more recently, comics written by Mark Russell, whose sensibilities are a great match for ours. It's a dark humor, we admit.

Said Seeley:

AHOY Comics offers an abundance of originality and offbeat humor. Some might say that launching a publishing initiative in this moment is folly. We disagree! We're publishing comic magazines with high standards. Each issue features beautiful designs, vibrant art, exceptional colors, experienced editors and dynamic stories. We aren't planning on being an overnight success. We're not here to exploit IP or make movies. We're here to publish stories for people who love comics and who love to read.

Here's the solicitations for the currently announced comics:

THE WRONG EARTH 6 Issue mini-series by Tom Peyer and Jamal Igle

AHOY Comics launches with a biting superhero satire written by Tom Peyer (Captain Kid, Hourman), penciled by Jamal Igle (Black, Supergirl), inked by Juan Castro (Transformers),and colored by Andy Troy. On one world, Dragonflyman and his sidekick Stinger enjoy a life of adventure. On another Earth, the Dragonfly hunts criminal parasites like a lethal exterminator. But what happens when these two heroes change places?

"I just want you to know that I've loved Tom Peyer's genius brain for thirty years and THE WRONG EARTH is just pure, undiluted Tom Peyer as it exists in its most natural form. If you love superheroes, you NEED this. If you HATE superheroes, this will change your mind."―Mark Millar

"I knew this was going to be good when I saw Peyer and Igle on the credits, but now I really want to see how it all plays out."―Jeff Parker

"THE WRONG EARTH is far more than a one-note gag–Tom and Jamal have made a surprisingly deep exploration and commentary on where this medium has been, how it got to where it is, and where it can go."―Mark Waid

On sale on September 12, 2018, THE WRONG EARTH debut issue is a full color, 40 page comic book magazine retailing for $3.99, with extras including:

A prose story by comics legend Grant Morrison: 'HUD' HORNET'S HOLIDAY IN HELL, illustrated by best-selling artist Rob Steen

A mock "Golden Age" Stinger solo story, by Paul Constant and Frank Cammuso

A cartoon by Shannon Wheeler

HIGH HEAVEN 5 Issue Mature Readers mini-series by Tom Peyer and Greg Scott

Chronic malcontent David Weathers dies and goes to Heaven—where everything is terrible, and everybody hates a complainer. HIGH HEAVEN is a savage satire by writer Tom Peyer (Hourman, Batman '66) with art by Greg Scott (Black Hood, X-Files), colored by Andy Troy.

"Delivered with that Tom Peyer panache and his sneaky habit of undercutting reader expectations at every turn. And gorgeous art by Greg Scott, giving it all personality and (seedy) visuals. I'm hooked."―Kurt Busiek

"HIGH HEAVEN has a great premise. I loved it and can't wait to see where it goes next. Also: the Hashtag: Danger back-up was a riot. Chris Giarrusso is just the best!"―John Layman

"As gorgeous as it is absurd."―Alisa Kwitney

On sale, September 26, 2018, HIGH HEAVEN's debut issue is a full color, 40 page comic book magazine retailing for $3.99, with a cover by Mad Magazine's Richard Williams and extras including:

A HASHTAG: DANGER backup story by Peyer, with art by Chris Giarrusso (G-Man, Mini-Marvels)

A cartoon by Shannon Wheeler

An all-new prose story by comics legend Grant Morrison: FESTIVE FUNTIMES AT THE NEW WORLD'S FAIR, illustrated by acclaimed artist Rick Geary

CAPTAIN GINGER 4 issue mini series by Stuart Moore and June Brigman

When the human race died out, the cats inherited the Earth! Or at least one starship. Now the intrepid Captain Ginger struggles to keep his fellow felines united against a hostile universe. Thirty-five pages of comic adventure—with a bite—by writer Stuart Moore (Deadpool the Duck, Batman: Noir Alley) artist June Brigman (Power Pack), inker Roy Richardson and colorist Veronica Gandini.

"The best books usually transport me into a world with which I am largely unfamiliar and reveal its mysteries to me, whether it's the mean streets of a great urban metroplex, a small village lying somewhere on a distant steppe in central Asia, or a starship full of individualist cats trying to keep it together long enough to survive…these may very well be the characters that June was born to draw and Stuart was born to write!" ― Walter Simonson

"This is a great start to a great book by Stuart and June. The Captain and his misbegotten cat crew can count me along for the long haul!" ― Peter Gross

"This comic book is INSANE, in the best possible way when one describes something as "insane"! I can't say I got too excited when I first heard the concept, "Cats in Space", but Stuart Moore and June Brigman have got it goin' on! CAPTAIN GINGER rocks! It's solid sci-fi adventure, beautifully illustrated and electric with wonderful diverse characters, who are CATS (?!)! This "puppy" smells like a sleeper hit (but that could just be the space kitty litter)!" ― Mike Allred

On sale, October 17, 2018, CAPTAIN GINGER's debut issue is a full color, 48 page comic book magazine retailing for $3.99, with extras including:

An all-new text story by comics legend Grant Morrison: THE ELECTRIC SKY BEAR THAT INSPIRED BEN FRANKLIN, illustrated by Phil Hester

A cartoon by Shannon Wheeler

EDGAR ALLAN POE'S SNIFTER OF TERROR 6 issue Mature Readers mini series

EDGAR ALLAN POE mangles classic tales and brand new stories in this cross between Drunk History and Tales from the Crypt! First, meet AHOY's own alcohol-damaged version of Poe in The Facts in The Case of M. Valdemar, adapted by Tom Peyer (Batman '66) and drawn by Fred Harper. Then: Sugary cereal meets vampirism in Dark Chocolate, by writer Mark Russell (The Flintstones) and artist Peter Snejbjerg (Starman).

On sale, October 31, 2018, EDGAR ALLAN POE'S SNIFTER OF TERROR's debut issue is a full color, 40 page comic book magazine retailing for $3.99, with extras including:

Hunt Emerson's take on The Black Cat

Unsettling verse by Cienna Madrid illustrated by Carly Wright

And in case we missed anyone, here's a long list of creators involved and their bios, also from the press release:

A graduate of SCAD, Deron Bennett is the owner and lead designer of the comic book lettering and production studio, AndWorld Design. His extensive list of clients includes Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image, IDW, BOOM!, and Lion Forge. A jack of all trades, Deron does cover design and illustration for Amazon Publishing as well. His talents have been recognized with two Harvey nominations and an Eisner nod for his work on Jim Henson's Tale of Sand.

June Brigman has enjoyed a long and varied career as a cartoonist, drawing such comic book titles as Alpha Flight, Supergirl, and Star Wars. She is the co-creator (with Louise Simonson) of the Power Pack series from Marvel Comics, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. Assisted by her husband inker/colorist Roy Richardson, she illustrated the Brenda Starr comic strip for 15 years, and has drawn many educational comics, as well as doing freelance illustrations for Horse & Rider magazine. The pair have recently taken over the artistic reins of the long-running "Mary Worth" comic strip. June teaches part time in the Sequential Art Dept. at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta branch.

Her online portfolio can be seen at www.ArtWanted.com/juneart.

Frank Cammuso is the author/illustrator of the graphic novel series The Misadventures of Salem Hyde from Amulet Books. He also created the graphic novel series Knights of the Lunch Table from Graphix/Scholastic. Frank drew the comic Otto's Orange Day and Otto's Backwards Day for Toon-Books. He also wrote and drew his self-published graphic novel Max Hamm Fairy Tale Detective, for which he received an Eisner nomination. Frank is the former award-winning political cartoonist for The Post-Standard newspaper in Syracuse, NY. His cartoons have been reprinted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and Newsweek. He has written fiction and satire with his good friend Hart Seely. Their work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Village Voice, Slate, and on National Public Radio. He's the co-author of 2007-Eleven and Other American Comedies.

Paul Constant is a co-founder of The Seattle Review of Books. He has written for The Progressive, Newsweek, Re/Code, the Utne Reader, the Los Angeles Times, the Seattle Times, the New York Observer, and many North American alternative weeklies. Paul has worked in the book business for two decades, starting as a bookseller (originally at Borders Books and Music, then at Boston's grand old Brattle Bookshop and Seattle's own Elliott Bay Book Company) and then becoming a literary critic. Formerly the books editor for the Stranger, Paul is now a fellow at Civic Ventures, a public policy incubator based out of Seattle.

Hunt Emerson has drawn cartoons and comic strips since the early 1970s. He has published around 30 comic books and albums, mainly with Knockabout Comics (London), including Lady Chatterley's Lover, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Casanova's Last Stand, and Dante's Inferno. His latest books are Calculus Cat, a hilarious collection of stories about The Cat That Hates Television, Hot Jazz, a collection of jazz-flavoured comics featuring Max Zillion and his saxophone Alto Ego, and Bloke's Progress, a graphic novel based on the unlikely subject of Victorian art critic and philosopher John Ruskin. In 2000 Hunt was chosen for inclusion in the exhibition The 75 Grand Masters of European Comic Art by the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and the CNBDI, Angouleme. Alongside his comics work, Hunt has wide experience in hosting cartoon and comics workshops. His work has been seen in countless magazines, ranging from Radio Times to Fortean Times; from The Wall Street Journal to The Beano. He is also a qualified t'ai chi instructor. You can see and buy his work on his website- largecow.com

Gary Erskine has worked in the comic industry for near thirty years for MARVEL, DC Comics, Vertigo, Dark Horse Comics, IMAGE, IDW and other companies with writers Mark Millar, Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, James Robinson and Grant Morrison on books including The Unwritten, Hellblazer, War Stories, The Massive with Brian Wood, and Grindhouse with Alex De Campi, with characters as diverse as Judge Dredd, Starman, John Constantine, Dan Dare and Captain America. He has also contributed to licenses including Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Transformers and Terminator. He mentors film students on storyboarding, teaches workshops at schools and libraries and is currently writing and publishing Roller Grrrls. Future work includes Incendiary.US and Zachariah Gunn: Dakota. Gary has also provided storyboards and concept design work for the games and film industry and also works commercially with clients including D'Agostini, SONY, EA Games COLORS, Team GB British Cycling, J League and the Joshua Agency. He has also contributed a short story, The Final Piece of Me, to the successful Metal Made Flesh series for Subversive Comics with writer Cy Dethan. Recent work includes the companion graphic novel to the Frontlines series of sci-fi novels by Marko Kloos, written by Ivan Brandon for Jet City Comics with colour by regular collaborator Yel Zamor. Gary also hosts character design workshops for schools and teaches storyboards for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and more recently provided workshops for the Prince's Trust. Gary lives near St. Andrews with his wife Mhairi and cats, Meg and Mog.

Tom Feister is an Eisner award winning illustrator/ designer. His clients include Marvel Comics (Iron Man, Exiles, Fantastic Four), DC Comics (Legion, Ex Machina), Dynamite Entertainment (Grand Passion, Terminator vs. Robocop), IDW Publishing (GI Joe), Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Bento Box Entertainment (The Awesomes), and many more.

Veronica Gandini's color work has appeared in books from DC Entertainment, Marvel, Image Comics, BOOM! Studios, Arcana, Ape Entertainment, and Atlantis Studios.

Rick Geary has been a freelance cartoonist and illustrator for over 45 years. His illustrations and graphic stories have appeared in National Lampoon, MAD, The New York Times, Heavy Metal, Disney Adventures, and many other publications. His graphic novels include the biographies J. Edgar Hoover and Trotsky and the fictional murder mystery Louise Brooks: Detective. He has completed nine volumes in the series A Treasury of Victorian Murder and six volumes in A Treasury of 20th Century Murder, the latest of which is Black Dahlia. Rick and his wife Deborah live in Carrizozo, New Mexico.

Chris Giarrusso is a writer and artist best known for creating the G-Man graphic novel series for young readers at Image Comics and the Mini Marvels strips at Marvel Comics. His work has been published by Andrews McMeel, Scholastic, Marvel, Image, IDW, Valiant, Lion Forge, and several independent publishers. Chris is currently drawing Encounter for Lion Forge and HASHTAG: DANGER for AHOY Comics. Check out more of Chris's books, art, webcomics, and animation at his official website, chrisgiarrusso.com.

Fred Harper has illustrated stories for DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Most memorable (at least to Fred) would be penciling for Animal Man at DC/ Vertigo. He started out with Savage Sword of Conan, Ghost Rider, and Doctor Strange at Marvel Comics. He went on to do illustrations for White Wolf and Magic the Gathering as he transitioned to magazine illustrations for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, The Week, SPORT, The Sporting News, Muscle and Fitness, Men's Health, Muscular Development, and Sports Illustrated… to name a few. Fred currently resides in an apartment where he conducts experiments about the effects of copious amounts of espresso on an artist's brain. Results have been inconclusive, but sometimes secrets take time for the beans to spill.

Phil Hester is an American comic book artist, penciller and writer. Hester's pencilling credits include Swamp Thing, Brave New World, Flinch, Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Clerks: The Lost Scene, The Crow: Waking Nightmares, The Wretch (nominated for the 1997 Eisner Award for Best New Series), Aliens: Purge, and Green Arrow. During his run on Green Arrow, he created the characters Mia Dearden and Onomatopoeia with writer Kevin Smith as well as Constantine Drakon with writer Judd Winick.

Hester co-created Uncle Slam and Firedog with his Green Arrow collaborator, artist Ande Parks. He also created El Diablo, a new character (with a common name in DC Comics) who debuted in an eponymous limited series. His last comic 13 Steps will adapted in a Comedy Horror film. Hester is currently writing the new adventures of Golden Age hero The Black Terror for Dynamite Entertainment, based on plot ideas by Alex Ross, as part of the Project Superpowers Universe. He also wrote DC's Wonder Woman, based on the notes and outline by J. Michael Straczynski, after Straczynski left the title.

Jamal Igle is a recipient of the 2011 Inkpot Award for outstanding achievement in Comic Art, industry veteran Jamal Igle is the writer/artist/creator of Molly Danger for Action Lab Entertainment; the co-creator of Venture with writer Jay Faerber; and the artist of the series Black from Black Mask Studios.

Jamal's detailed pencils have graced books as varied as The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the all-ages action miniseries Race Against Time, and mainstream hits such as G.I.Joe, Iron Man, Spider- Man and Green Lantern. Jamal has penciled popular runs on Firestorm the Nuclear Man, Nightwing, Tangent: Superman's Reign, Superman, Supergirl,and Zatanna for DC Comics; Noble Causesfor Image Comics; and New Warriors for Marvel Comics. He's acted on the small screen, done voiceovers for commercials, packaged books for Scholastic, and drawn storyboards for Roughnecks: Starship Trooper Chronicles and Max Steel: MX1 for Sony Animation. Jamal is also a popular guest lecturer on the subjects of comics and animation.

Kek-w writes Fall of Deadworld (featuring Judge Death and the Dark Judges), The Order, Indigo Prime and Black Max for 2000AD and Rebellion. Past credits include Cap'n Dinosaur for Image Comics and Commando for DC Thompson. His work has appeared in New Scientist, Wire, Dazed & Confused, Bizarre and Tattoo, among others. He is the award-avoiding creator of Conspiracy Theory Dog, Heavy Metal Genie and Ted, the Talking Atomic Submarine – characters beloved by dozens around the globe. Kek lives and works in Yeovil, Somerset, deep in the dark, witch-haunted heart of the UK's rural West Country. Also available on VHS and Betamax.

Ryan Kelly is perhaps best known for the twelve-issue run of Local with writer, Brian Wood for Oni Press. Always a Mid-Westerner, Kelly received his art training at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design from which he graduated in 1998. There he studied under comic book artist, Peter Gross, with whom he worked on The Books of Magic and Lucifer for Vertigo. Ryan is on the MCAD staff, teaching classes for younger students and the occasional inking class as well. He has guest inked on American Virgin and drew the graphic novel Giant Robot Warriors as well as another Brian Wood project, Vertigo's Northlanders.

Todd Klein's comics career began in 1977 when he was hired to work in the DC Comics production department. During ten years on staff there, Todd tried many kinds of freelance work including writing (Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, The Omega Men), inking and coloring, but found lettering suited him best, and developed a freelance career as a letterer and logo designer. Todd learned from and was inspired by the work of Gaspar Saladino, John Workman, John Costanza, Tom Orzechowski, and other letterers then working in comics. After leaving staff in 1987, Todd continued to work mainly for DC, but also for Marvel, Dark Horse, Disney, Gladstone, Image and many other companies, doing lettering and logo designs. Through the years he's lettered over 65,000 comics pages and covers and designed over 800 logos. Todd has been presented with 16 Eisner Awards for Best Lettering, as well as 8 Harvey Awards and other honors. Recent projects include Sandman Overture with Neil Gaiman and J.H. Williams III, Starstruck with Elaine Lee and Michael Wm. Kaluta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill, and logos for AHOY Comics' THE WRONG EARTH, HIGH HEAVEN, HASHTAG: DANGER, CAPTAIN GINGER, and EDGAR ALLAN POE'S SNIFTER OF TERROR. You can learn more at his website: kleinletters.com.

Carol Lay has created comics and illustrations for many publications including Bongo Comics, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Yorker. Her weekly comic strip, Lay Lines, can be seen on gocomics.com. www.carollay.com

Cienna Madrid is a former journalist and writer living in Boise, Idaho. Her wisdom can be found on the book lovers' blog, SeattleReviewofBooks.com, where every Friday she answers the nation's most pressing literary questions through her advice column "The Help Desk."

Mariah McCourt is a New York Times bestselling writer and Harvey award nominated editor of comics and graphic novels. As a writer, her credits include the creator-owned children's graphic novel Stitched #1: The First Day of the Rest of Her Life, the New York Times bestseller True Blood: All Together Now, Anne Rice's Servant of the Bones. As an editor, she's curated the Papercutz CHARMZ line, edited The Sandman: Endless Nights by Neil Gaiman, the New York Times bestselling graphic adaption of The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, Doorways with George R.R. Martin, Fables by Bill Willingham, and Angel, Spike, and Illyria: Haunted (writer and editor). She was a contributor and editor of one of the top-funded Kickstarter comics projects, the anthology Womanthology: Heroic, featuring over 100 women artists and writers of all ages and experience. The follow-up collection, Womanthology: Space! was nominated for a Harvey Award for Best Anthology. She lives in Los Angeles with her family.

Linda Medley has illustrated children's books for Putnam, Grosset & Dunlap, Houghton-Mifflin, and Western Publishing. She has worked in the comics industry since 1987 as a writer, penciller, inker, painter, and colorist; her work can be found in everything from Justice League to The Galactic Girl Guides. She is best known as the creator of the Eisner Award-winning fantasy series Castle Waiting.

One-time Entertainment Weekly Man of the Year Peter Milligan was at the forefront of the revolution in comics for a more sophisticated, adult audience. Shade, the Changing Man for Vertigo offered a skewed look at American culture, while Enigma, Face and Rogan Gosh pushed the boundaries of what comic books could do. The hugely-popular X-Statix was a radical reworking of the X-Men paradigm that led to controversy when Milligan tried to recruit the late Diana Prince of Wales into his celebrity-obsessed bunch of heroes; described by Kevin Smith (Clerks, etc.) as "the most well-observed scholarly analysis of media-manipulation filtered through a pop-culture lens ever committed to the page." While the Princess Diana controversy raged, Milligan was perhaps the most hated man in Britain–at least among Daily Mail readers. Milligan was the longest-running writer of the cult horror comic Hellblazer, and his take on Human Target inspired the TV series. His latest works include the critical hit Britannia, about an Ancient Roman detective, a retelling of The Mummy for Hammer/Titan, and the surreal Kid Lobotomy for IDW. Currently he is writing a new take the cult TV series The Prisoner for Titan. Milligan has written several screenplays.

Stuart Moore is a writer, a book editor, and an award-winning comics editor. His recent comics writing includes Deadpool the Duck (Marvel), Batman: Noir Alley (DC/Turner Classic Movies), and EGOs (Image). Recent novels include three volumes of The Zodiac Legacy, a Disney series created and cowritten by Stan Lee, and Thanos: Death Sentence (Marvel). Other comics work includes Wolverine Noir and Namor: The First Mutant (Marvel); Supergirl/Jesse Quick: The Fastest Women Alive and Firestorm (DC Comics); assorted Star Trek and Transformers projects; and the original science-fiction graphic novels Earthlight, PARA, Shadrach Stone, and Mandala. Prose writing includes the novel version of Marvel's Civil War and John Carter: The Movie Novelization. Stuart has also served as freelance editor of Marvel Comics' prose novel line. In the past, he has been a book editor at St. Martin's Press and editor of the Virgin Comics / SciFi Channel and Marvel Knights comics imprints. At DC Comics, he was a founding editor of the acclaimed Vertigo imprint, where he won both the Will Eisner award for Best Editor and the Don Thompson Award for Favorite Editor.

Grant Morrison, MBE is a Scottish comic book writer and playwright. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and countercultural leanings in his runs on titles including DC Comics' Animal Man, Batman, JLA, Action Comics, All-Star Superman, and Doom Patrol; Vertigo's The Invisibles; Marvel Comics' New X-Men and Marvel Boy; and Fleetway's 2000 AD. He is also the co-creator of the Syfy TV series Happy! starring Christopher Meloni and Patton Oswalt.

Dean Motter, artist/writer and designer, is best known for the comics sensation, Mister X (now in its 35th year.) He has created works for Superman, Batman(most notably the award-winning 'film-noir' graphic novel, Batman: Nine Lives), The Shadow, The Spirit, Mad Max: Fury Road, Spongebob Squarepants and Wolverine. His Vertigo series Terminal City was nominated for both Eisner and Kurtzman Awards. He is also known for the acclaimed graphic novel, The Prisoner: Shattered Visage, based on the '60s British TV series. Motter has also designed several award-winning album covers and book jackets. In the '90s Dean served on staff at both DC Comics and Byron Preiss Visual Publications as editorial art director, supervising graphic novel projects such as the works of Ray Bradbury, Raymond Chandler and Harlan Ellison as well as The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Motter has worked with the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust illustrating the comic book accounts, The Book Hitler Didn't Want You To Read, and Karski's Mission: To Stop the Holocaust. Though he has spent most of his professional life in Toronto and Manhattan, he now resides and works tirelessly in Dixie. Further information can be gleaned at deanmotter.com.

Ann Nocenti's comic work includes Daredevil and Catwoman, and she created Longshot, Spiral and Mojo (with Arthur Adams), Typhoid and Blackheart (with John Romita Jr.) and more. She was an editor at Marvel Comics in the 1980s, handling the X-Men titles. Her journalism has appeared in Details, PRINT, Filmmaker, and more. Her falcon tale, The Most Expensive Road Trip in the World, appears in Anthony Bourdain's Best Travel Writing 2008. Her documentary Disarming Falcons was featured at DOC NYC 2014. She wrote the feature film Taking Chances (2009). She taught filmmaking in Finmark, Norway, and in Haiti, for which she was given the Humanitarian Award at the Tulsa International Film Festival. Nocenti was the editor of Scenario magazine, where she interviewed filmmakers such as Christopher Nolan, Darren Aronofsky, Francis Ford Coppola, Charlie Kaufman, and more. She was the writer for MAGIC CITY – The Art of the Street, a traveling exhibition in Germany (2017), and is one of the producers of MARVEL: Universe of Super Heroes, an exhibition currently at MoPOP in Seattle. Nocenti's new comic is The Seeds with artist David Aja and editor Karen Berger, at Berger Books/Dark Horse. Her work can be found at her website, annienocenti.com.

Tom Peyer was a long-running writer on DC's Legion of Super-Heroes, a founding editor at their Vertigo imprint, and the proud writer of their worst-selling, award-losing series Hourman. He has since written enough major characters to fill one of those hyper-populated superhero posters where you don't know who to look at first. Today he happily writes and edits AHOY Comics from his Ditkoesque office in Downtown Syracuse, NY.

Rachel Pollack is the author of 41 books, including two award-winning novels, Unquenchable Fire and Godmother Night. Her comics work includes Doom Patrol, The New Gods, Tomahawk, The Geek, and Time Breakers. She has also written a series of books about Tarot cards that have sold all over the world, and is the creator of The Shining Tribe Tarot, designed and drawn by Rachel herself. Rachel has taught, lectured, and presented her work on four continents.

Mark Rahner is the author of numerous comics including The Twilight Zone, Vampirella, Army of Darkness, Warlord of Mars, Dejah Thoris, The Avenger, The Green Hornet, Lord of the Jungle, and the independent horror-western, Rotten. A veteran journalist and former talk radio personality, he hosts the long-running Special Ops podcast at KISW in Seattle. www.markrahner.com

Roy Richardson was inspired to pursue a comics career by the work of Jack Kirby, the ground breaking Fourth World series in particular. He has worked for all the major publishers, on such books as Captain America, Iron Man, the Flash, Star Wars, and his own co-creation, the Tomorrow Knights, which has been adapted into a roleplaying game from ZMan Games. He also worked for 15 years in collaboration with his wife, June Brigman, inking, lettering and coloring the Brenda Starr comic strip. The pair have recently taken over the artistic reins of the long-running Mary Worth comic strip. Roy is also hard at work on his first book of short stories, entitled "Hillbillies Prefer Blondes," tales of growing up in the South in the 1970's. His online portfolio can be seen at www.ArtWanted.com/royart.

Mark Russell is the author of not one, but two, books about the Bible: God Is Disappointed in You and Apocrypha Now. In addition, he is the writer behind various DC comic books such as Prez, The Flintstones, and Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles. He lives in obscurity with his family in Portland, Oregon.

Greg Scott is a comic book artist who pencils and inks his own work. He has drawn such titles as X-Files, Black Hood, Steve McQueen, and Area 51. He broke into comics through espionage: learning the time of day Marvel editors went outside for a cigarette break, he passed them art samples and was quickly given an assignment.

Hart Seely is a former award-winning reporter and author. His humor and satire have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, McSweeney's, National Lampoon, Politico and on National Public Radio. He is the editor of three collections of "found poetry;" Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald H. Rumsfeld, Bard of the Deal: The Poetry of Donald Trump and (with Tom Peyer) O Holy Cow! The Selected Verse of Phil Rizzuto. Seely lives in Syracuse, New York.

Peter Snejbjerg draws drawings for a living and has done so for many years. He has worked for a number of American and international comic book publishers. He lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Rob Steen is the illustrator of Flanimals, the best-selling series of children's books written by Ricky Gervais: Flanimals, More Flanimals, Flanimals of the Deep, Flanimals: Day of the Bletchling and Flanimals Pop-Up. The third book in the series, Flanimals of the Deep, won the Galaxy British Book Award in 2007 for Children's Book of the Year. He lives in New York with his wife Jill and cat Minnie.

Andy Troy has colored for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Extreme Studios, and others, working on such characters as Spawn, Batman, Captain America and Iron Fist. He lives and works in Hunsville, AL, where he used to play in the metal band Diamond White.

Shannon Wheeler is an American cartoonist known for his contributions to The New Yorker and his satirical super-hero Too Much Coffee Man.

Richard Williams' illustration work has appeared in many national magazines, most notably MAD Magazine for whom he was the cover artist during the 1980s. He has also illustrated children's books (The Legend of the Christmas Rose, Lewis and Clark: Explorers of the American West) and painted covers for many young adult books such as Encyclopedia Brown. A partial list of his clients include: IBM, NBC television, Hallmark Cards, Nabisco, Chesebrough-Pond, Mad magazine, Esquire, MS, Reader's Digest, TV Guide, Time, Family Circle, Parents, Field & Stream, Women's Day, Atlantic Monthly, Guideposts, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, Forbes, Bantam books, Simon & Schuster, Holiday House, Dell pub., Doubleday pub., Scholastic Books, Harper Collins, Putnam pub., Clarion Books, MacMillan press, Ballantine, Atheneum Books, David C. Cooke Pub., EP Dutton, Recorded Books, Henry Holt, Aladdin Books, Canard Design, Abrams Art Books, National Park Service, Della Femina McNamee, Drambuie, Strathmore Paper, and the Library of Congress. His paintings have been purchased by Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Howard Stern and are in the collections of the Society of Illustrators and the Library of Congress. Richard Williams holds a master's degree in illustration from Syracuse University.