Comic-Con 2014 Special Guests

At the tender age of 12, Ray Billingsley was discovered at a seventh grade art project and literally grew up in the industry, spanning four decades. A graduate from the LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, Ray won a four-year scholarship to the School of Visual Arts, in New York, where he learned under the strict tutelage of Will Eisner. Billingsley landed his first syndicated strip, Lookin' Fine at 23, making him the youngest syndicated 'toonist in the country. The jewel in his career came with his second syndicated strip, under King Features Syndicate, titled Curtis. Curtis is a semi-autobiographical effort, detailing the life of an African American family living in a neighborhood within the inner city. It was an instant success, broke barriers, and was well-received by all ages, races, and cultures for it's humor, art, and gentle handling of topical situations. It's still going strong in over 370-plus papers internationally with an estimated 43 million readers daily. There are three Curtis compilation books, various products, and more details at www.billingsleyart.com. Billingsley is also working on an animated treatment of Curtis.

Mark Brooks is a Marvel exclusive illustrator known for his imaginative and bold cover art on titles such as X-Men Legacy, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers, Uncanny Avengers, Secret Avengers, and A+X. His most recent cover work is featured on Fearless Defenders, the new Marvel UK series, and Deadpool. His interior work includes AvX: Consequences, Wolverine & the X-Men: Alpha & Omega, Thor, Ultimate Spider-Man, and the acclaimed Uncanny X-Force. His work can also be found on projects for Sideshow Collectibles, Sega, and toy packaging for companies such as Hasbro and Capcom. For more information on Mark's work, visit diablo2003.deviantart.com.

Colleen Coover is an illustrator and comic book artist and writer living in Portland, Oregon. She is the creator of the adult comic Small Favors and artist of the all-ages Banana Sunday and the graphic novel Gingerbread Girl, both written by her husband, Paul Tobin. The couple's current project, Bandette, was nominated for four Eisner Awards in 2013 and won the Best Digital Comic award. Colleen spends most of her time thinking up ways for comics to be more awesome.

Eleanor Davis has produced two graphic novels for kids: The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook (2009), which she created with her husband Drew Weing, and the easy-reader Stinky (2008), both of which were nominated for Eisner Awards. The received the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award in 2009. Her illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and many other places. How to Be Happy is her first book for adults. Check out more of her work at doing-fine.com.

In 1982, he met Peter Laird in Northampton, Massachusetts and Mirage Studios was formed. Less than a year later in the middle of a late night jam session, Eastman doodled a new character he dubbed a “Ninja Turtle” to make Laird laugh—and Eastman and Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had officially entered the universe! Self published in May of 1984 the first issue sold out of its 3000 copies overnight and quickly became a fan favorite. Eastman and Laird maintained full control of their creations while guiding them through toy licensing, TV series adaptation, as well as feature film exploitation, and by 1989 the TMNT’s were number one in all three categories. Currently Eastman is working on a new TMNT series with IDW Publishing and editing Heavy Metal. He also recently partnered with writer/director/producer Robert Rodriguez to develop a new series of Heavy Metal-inspired animated and live action films. Eastman resides in San Diego with wife Courtney (aka “First Lady of the Turtles”), son Shane, as well as a few insane dachshunds.