A graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York, Christopher Hastings is the creator of popular web comic Dr. McNinja. Fear Itself: Deadpool was his first work for Marvel, beginning Hastings’ fruitful association with the Merc with a Mouth. He has subsequently brought his flair for combining action with humor to other iconic characters in series including Groot, Vote Loki and the brilliantly innovative, Spider-Man-starring How to Read Comics the Marvel Way. Hastings introduced Gwendolyn Poole to the Marvel Universe and wrote the entire 25-issue run of The Unbelievable Gwenpool.
New York Times best-selling author Mark Waid has worked for every major company in the comics industry in a nearly three-decade-long career, writing thousands of issues, including runs of Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men, Ka-Zar and Fantastic Four. His other works of note include his collaboration with painter Alex Ross on Kingdom Come, which earned an Eisner Award for Best Limited Series. Waid enjoyed his greatest outpouring of critical acclaim with the Eisner Award-winning Daredevil — which included a revered collaboration with frequent artistic partner Chris Samnee. He later took on such diverse pop-cultural icons as Princess Leia and Archie, and ushered in a new era of greatness for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in All-New, All-Different Avengers. His Marvel work continued with Avengers, Black Widow, Captain America, Champions and Doctor Strange.
Kelly Thompson has a degree in sequential art from the Savannah College of Art & Design and wrote the cult hit Jem and the Holograms for IDW. She published her first graphic novel, Heart in a Box, with Dark Horse in 2015 and has written two novels: Storykiller (2014) and The Girl Who Would Be King (2012). Thompson debuted at Marvel in 2015, co-writing Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps and A-Force. She has since made a name for herself on such books as Hawkeye, West Coast Avengers, Uncanny X-Men, Amazing Spider-Man, Deadpool and the Rogue-and-Gambit-starring Mr. and Mrs. X. Thompson’s Black Widow won the 2021 Eisner Award for best new series, and her Infinity Comic collaboration with Gurihiru, It’s Jeff! is a delight.
Christos Gage sold his first screenplay in 1997 and has been working steadily ever since; he started writing comics in 2004 with DC’s Deadshot miniseries, featuring the sharpshooting antihero from Suicide Squad. He then began co-writing Avengers: The Initiative with Dan Slott, which led to him becoming the sole writer on the book and its successor, Avengers Academy. His additional Marvel credits include Civil War: Casualties of War, House of M: Avengers, Iron Man, Union Jack and World War Hulk: X-Men, as well as a prominent run on X-Men: Legacy.
Fast-rising star Leah Williams is a writer originally from Oxford, Mississippi, who has amassed an impressive list of Marvel credits in a short time. Highlights include What If? Magik, X-Men: Black — Emma Frost, Domino Annual and Giant-Man. Williams demonstrated her flair for comedy and meta storytelling with Gwenpool Strikes Back, and took on a beloved character in the pages of Amazing Mary Jane. For Dawn of X, she has recruited a new team of mutant investigators in X-Factor, and then wrote the seismic X-Men: The Trial of Magneto. Williams’ debut novel was a YA fantasy book titled The Alchemy of Being Fourteen, and she is writing a sequel, The Divinity of Hitting Fifteen.
Gurihiru is a Japanese illustration team comprising artists Sasaki and Kawano. They are based in the city of Sapporo, Japan. The pair has worked on several Marvel Comics titles — including the various Power Pack limited series, Marvel Double Shot, Marvel Age Fantastic Four and Gus Beezer & Spider-Man. In addition to drawing A-Babies vs. X-Babies, they also contributed to the Secret Wars: Secret Love one-shot.
After drawing the thrilling “Clone Conspiracy” arc in Silk, Irene Strychalski chose Gwenpool as her next project. (Or was it Gwenpool who chose her?) She also contributed a Venomized Gwenpool to Edge of Venomverse, and helped chronicle the first momentous meeting of Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl in the Marvel Rising limited series.
For Miralti Firmansyah, the beat dropped when she brought the annual rave party Tomorrowland, straight from Belgium to comic book in 2013. She honed her skills doing work like “Maximum Force” in Heavy Metal magazine until she landed on the charming miniseries Star Lord and Kitty Pride. It was her first encounter with the Marvel family in 2015, teaming up with Jessica Kholinne. She then slipped happily into reminiscing about her childhood heroes while illustrating X-Men ’92.
Canadian artist Michael Walsh got his start on the webcomic The Murder Book before making a splash with the acclaimed Image series Comeback. Walsh has worked on titles such as Zero, The X-Files: Season 10 and Unity, as well as Marvel’s Secret Avengers, Rocket Raccoon and Groot and X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever.
Artist Humberto Ramos made his American comics debut in 1994 with DC’s Impulse, featuring the Flash’s brash grandson. In 1998, Ramos launched the creator-owned Crimson under Wildstorm’s Cliffhanger imprint, illustrating the title for more than two years. He then moved to Marvel, becoming one of the most recognizable and innovative talents in comics. Seamlessly blending both Eastern and Western styles, the artist’s artist has worked on many of Marvel’s most iconic characters — including Spider-Man, Wolverine and the X-Men — in addition to a run on the fan-favorite Runaways. Ramos brought his kinetic artwork to the pages of Extraordinary X-Men and Champions, as well as a magical collaboration with Skottie Young on Strange Academy.
Italian illustrator Stefano Caselli broke into American comics during the early 2000s with work on titles including Marvel’s Mutant X and Thunderbolts. He enhanced his reputation on series such as Avengers: The Initiative, Secret Warriors and Avengers Assemble before playing a key role in the rotating art team on Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man and joining Jonathan Hickman on Avengers. Caselli collaborated with Brian Michael Bendis on a groundbreaking Invincible Iron Man run featuring Riri Williams as a new armored hero, and joined Gerry Duggan on the seafaring X-series Marauders.
Lan Medina has illustrated District X and its House of M spin-off Mutopia X, Silver Surfer, Venom, Cable & Deadpool, Deathlok and Storm for Marvel. He drew the Alpha and Omega issues of the Minimum Carnage crossover between Scarlet Spider and Venom; the limited series Iron Man: Rapture; and both an adaptation of the movie Thor and a prelude to its sequel, Thor: The Dark World. He also has extensive experience with the MAX imprint, including on Foolkiller and Garth Ennis’ The Punisher. Medina was also the first Filipino artist to win the prestigious Eisner Award for his work on DC/Vertigo’s Fables. Other notable works include Aria, Stone and American Flagg.
Barcelona-based artist David Baldeon began his professional career at Spanish publisher Planeta DeAgostini. Later moving to an animation studio, he served as a storyboard, layout and key-background artist, as well as a director of several storyboard and concept-art teams. He has worked for DC Comics on such titles as Robin and Blue Beetle, and Marvel on Nomad: Girl Without a World, Young Allies, Avengers Academy Giant-Size, Zombies Christmas Carol and Scarlet Spider. Baldeón joined Gerry Duggan on Nova, chronicling the adventures of young hero Sam Alexander, and illustrated series including Ben Reilly: Spider-Man and Domino. He won acclaim with his collaboration with Leah Williams on X-Factor.
