The following special guests have been confirmed for Comic-Con International 2017.
Special Guests
Melanie Gillman
Cartoonist, As the Crow Flies, Stage Dreams
Melanie Gillman is a queer, nonbinary cartoonist who specializes in LGBTQ YA comics. They're the creator of As the Crow Flies (Iron Circus Comics, 2017) and Stage Dreams (Lerner/Graphic Universe, 2019), and are writing the new Steven Universe comics series for BOOM! Studios. They are also the co-editor and publisher of The Other Side, an anthology of queer paranormal romance comics. Their work has won a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators, and been nominated for an Eisner and an Ignatz. They are currently living in Tulsa, OK, where they are a 2017 fellow in the Tulsa Artist Fellowship program.
Sarah Glidden
Photo by Sarah Shannon
Writer, artist, How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less, Rolling Blackouts
Sarah Glidden was born in 1980 in Massachusetts and studied painting at Boston University. Her first book, How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less, earned her the Ignatz Award for Promising New Talent and was translated into five languages. Glidden's work has appeared in various newspapers and magazines, as well as in the Best American Comics anthology. Her second book, Rolling Blackouts, was published by Drawn & Quarterly in 2016, receiving widespread acclaim and spending a month on the New York Times Bestseller list. Glidden lives in Seattle, WA.
Mike Grell
Photo: Dr Dan Photo Creative
Writer/artist: Starslayer, The Warlord, Jon Sable, Freelance
Mike Grell is a storyteller. Since his debut as comics creator in 1973, his creations include The Warlord, Starslayer, Jon Sable, Freelance, Shaman’s Tears, Bar Sinister, and Maggie the Cat. In addition to his own creations, Mike has had successful runs on Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Batman, Iron Man, X-Men Forever, James Bond: Permission To Die, the Tarzan Sunday comic strip, and the Eisner Award-nominated Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters. He’s won the coveted Inkpot Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comic Art and was voted to Wizard magazine’s Top Ten List of Comics Writers. His series Jon Sable, Freelance was adapted for TV by ABC in 1987.
Dean Hale
Co-author, Princess in Black series, Calamity Jack
Dean Hale is the co-author of the award winning graphic novels Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack. He’s also authored the picture book Scapegoat: The Story of a Goat Named Oat and a Chewed-Up Coat. He lives in Utah with his wife and coauthor, Shannon, and their children.
Nathan Hale
Cartoonist, Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series
A superstar in elementary school libraries across the country, Nathan Hale has been nominated for an Eisner Award four times. Every book in the Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales series has spent time on the New York Times bestseller list—two made it to #1 (Underground Abductor and Alamo All Stars), which is pretty exciting for non-fiction comics about American history. In addition, Hale has provided the illustrations for the fairytale mash-ups Rapunzels Revenge and Calamity Jack, written by Dean and Shannon Hale (no relation).
This year sees the launch of Nathan’s first non-history graphic novel, the Moebius-inspired, science fiction adventure, One Trick Pony.
Shannon Hale
Co-author, Princess in Black series; Author, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Real Friends
Shannon Hale is the bestselling author of many books for children, including the Ever After High series, Princess Academy (Newberry Honor book), the graphic novel Real Friends (illustrated by LeUyen Pham), and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl MG Novel. She co-wrote the graphic novels Revenge and Calamity Jack and the chapter book series The Princess in Black with her husband Dean Hale. They live with their four children near Salt Lake City, UT. More info: squeetus.com
Simon Hanselmann
Cartoonist, Megahex
New York Times bestselling cartoonist Simon Hanselmann (Megahex) was born in Tasmania and currently resides in Seattle, WA. He spends his days meticulously watercoloring each page of comics he hand draws. Simon has found international success with his stoner witch comics, which have been translated into over a dozen languages. When not making comics, Simon can be found smoking cigarettes and walking a one-eyed dog.
Erica Henderson
Artist, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Jughead
Erica Henderson is a New York Times bestselling comic book artist born in Brooklyn and currently living in Boston, MA. She is best known for her work relaunching and redesigning Marvel's The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Archie's Jughead. Erica's projects have garnered many accolades in recent years including Eisner Award nominations for Best New Series and Best Penciler/Inker, a Harvey Award nomination for Best Continuing or Limited Series, and a Silver Reuben nomination in the Comic Book category. Perhaps most prestigious of all, the Squirrel Girl creative team was the inaugural recipient of Comics Alliance's "Nuts About That Booty" award.
Robin Hobb
Author, The Farseer Trilogy, The Fitz and the Fool Trilogy
Robin Hobb has been writing fantasy for over 35 years. Best known for The Farseer Trilogy, Robin has recently completed The Fitz and the Fool Trilogy. Assassin’s Fate (May 2017) concludes the adventures of Fitz and his close companion, the Fool. Robin’s works are published in over 20 languages and have been adapted as graphic novels in French and Dutch by Soleil. Writing as “Megan Lindholm,” her works have been finalists for both the Hugo and the Nebula Awards. Robin resides in Washington state, where she spends a great deal of time on a small farm near Roy.
Charlie N. Holmberg
Photo by Erin Summerill
Author, Followed by Frost, The Paper Magician trilogy
Born in Salt Lake City, Charlie N. Holmberg is the author of Followed by Frost; Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet; and The Paper Magician trilogy, which includes The Paper Magician, The Glass Magician, and The Master Magician. A RITA Award finalist, she majored in English and minored in editing at Brigham Young University. Raised a Trekkie alongside three sisters who also have boy names, Charlie plays the piano and ukulele, owns too many pairs of glasses, and hopes to one day adopt a dog. For more on the author and her work, visit www.charlienholmberg.com.
John Holmstrom
Cartoonist, Punk magazine
John Holmstrom founded Punk magazine in 1975, which launched the Punk Movement and was instrumental in the success of many bands such as Blondie, the Ramones, and the Dead Boys. At the same time he created the “Joe” comic strip that ran in R. L. Stine’s Bananas magazine for 10 years. He also co-founded Comical Funnies with Peter Bagge and STOP! with J. D. King in the 1980s. His work is on permanent display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in the archives of the Museum of Modern Art, and in Yale University’s Beinecke Library of Rare Books and Manuscripts.
James Hudnall
Writer, Espers, The Age of Heroes, The Psycho
James Hudnall is a veteran comics writer with over 30 years in the comics business. He has worked for Marvel, DC, Image, Malibu's Ultraverse, Eclipse, and many others. His main focus has been on his own creations such as Espers, The Age of Heroes, The Psycho, and Harsh Realm. He was also an early adapter of Japanese Manga and later Chinese comics to the English market.
Hudnall has also written novels such as Hell's Reward and the nonfiction The Secrets of Writing. His latest comic, Blue Cat with artist Val Mayerik, is being collected in 2017, and his latest novel, Diogenes, is due out in 2017 as well.
Hudnall went to high school in San Diego, at Point Loma High and started attending SDCC in 1975. He has only missed 5 since. Aside from comics, James works as an Internet engineer and is developing social media videos.