Special Guests

Jane Shattuck-Takamoto-Baer began her career as an assistant animator on Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. She later animated on The Rescuers, The Fox & The Hound, and The Black Cauldron. Jane established Baer Animation Studios with her husband, Dale, where she redesigned/supervised animation on “Bennie-the-Cab” and produced the Toontown sequences for Who Framed Roger Rabbit?  Later, as sole owner of Baer Animation, Jane produced for Sesame Street, animated the Freemont Street Experience in Las Vegas, and supervised animation on such films as Fletch Lives, Rover Dangerfield; Last Action Hero, and The Beautician and the Beast and was writer/executive producer on Annabelle’s Wish.

Tom Batiuk was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1947 and graduated from Kent State University in 1969 with a BFA and a certificate in education. In 1970, while he was teaching, he began drawing a panel for the Teen Page of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. Those strips led to the creation of Funky Winkerbean in 1972. In 1979, he launched John Darling into syndication with Tom Armstrong. Another character from Funky, Ed Crankshaft, soloed in his own strip in 1987. Tom’s collaborator on Crankshaft was Chuck Ayers and is now Dan Davis. Batiuk was honored with an Inkpot Award from Comic-Con International in 1999, and in 2008, the Lisa’s Story arc from Funky was a Pulitzer finalist.

Cecil Castellucci is the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of books and graphic novels for young adults, including Shade, The Changing Girl, Boy Proof, The Plain Janes, Soupy Leaves Home, The Year of the Beasts, Female Furies, Batgirl, and Odd Duck. Her newest graphic novel is Shifting Earth. Her short stories have been published in Strange Horizons, Tor.com, and other anthologies. She spends her time between Los Angeles and Montreal.

Amy Chu is a writer for comics and TV and is a member of the faculty at the Kubert School and the School of Visual Arts. Her most recent work is the Netflix anime series DOTA: Dragon’s Blood, along with writing for Rick & Morty and Archie comics. For DC and Marvel she has written popular characters such as Wonder Woman, Poison Ivy, Deadpool, Ant-Man, and Iron Man. She is also known for her KISS, DMC, Red Sonja, and Green Hornet series and the children's graphic novels Sea Sirens and Sky Island with Eisner winner Janet Lee.

Mark Evanier attended his first San Diego Comic-Con in 1970 and has been to every one of these annual events ever since. He was then an assistant to the great Jack Kirby, whom he wrote about in his book Kirby, King of Comics. Mark has also written for live-action TV shows, animated TV shows (including various Garfield cartoons) and tons of comic books. The comics include working with Sergio Aragonés for 40 years on Groo the Wanderer, and many more.  He is also a historian of comic books and animation and hosts a mess of panels at every Comic-Con.