Comic-Con 2022 will be held July 21-24 (with Preview Night on July 20) at the San Diego Convention Center. The following special guests are confirmed for this year's event.
Special Guests
Jane Baer
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
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.
Pierce Brown
Photo: Joan Allen
Pierce Brown is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Red Rising series. Pierce’s work has been published in 33 languages and 35 territories. He lives in Los Angeles.
Cecil Castellucci
Photo: Rachel Warecki
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.
Soman Chainani
Soman Chainani's debut series, The School for Good & Evil, has sold more than 3 million copies, has been translated into more than 30 languages across six continents, and will be a major motion picture from Netflix in 2022, starring Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington. His anthology of retold fairytales, Beasts & Beauty, was an instant New York Times bestseller, his seventh in a row. His next novel, Rise of the School For Good & Evil, will go on sale May 31, kickstarting a new series in his EverNever World universe.
Amy Chu
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.
Keithan Jones
Keithan Jones is the founder of KID, an independent publisher based in San Diego, California. The mantra behind KID is “The Kid in You Never Dies,” a reminder that our childhood spirit is at the core of who we are no matter how old we get. KID’s first publication was Power Knights, which he writes and draws. Keithan created San Diego’s Black Comix Day: Heroes Rise, an annual Black History Month celebration of Afro-centric comics. He is also the current artist for Vortex Comics’ Chaos Breaker series. He was an Eisner Awards judge in 2021.
Phil LaMarr
For over 30 years, Phil LaMarr has thrilled audiences with his work on camera and behind the mic on TV shows such as Mad TV, Futurama, Justice League, Samurai Jack, Static Shock, Family Guy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Young Justice, The CW’s The Flash and Supergirl, Veep, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, The Book of Boba Fett, Murderville, and Better Things; in such feature films as Pulp Fiction, Madagascar 2, Incredibles 2, The Lion King (2019), and My Little Pony: A New Generation; and video games including the Metal Gear Solid, Darksiders, Injustice, and Mortal Kombat series.
Barbara "Willy" Mendes
Photo: Wray Sinclair
Barbara Mendes studied art throughout her NYC youth, then published work in underground Comics as "Willy Mendes" in NY and San Francisco in the 1970s. Ms. Mendes has created epic narrative paintings, exhibited in the U.S. and Israel. Her Los Angeles studio/gallery corner, with "Angel Wall” outdoor mural, was designated "Barbara Mendes Square," and she was declared a "Los Angeles Cultural Treasure" in 2016. Her Queen of Cosmos Comix was published in 2020 by Red 5 Comics; the full-color Queen of Cosmos Comix 2 launches at SDCC 2022.
Shannon Messenger
Photo: Devende Photography
Shannon Messenger is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the award-winning middle-grade series Keeper of the Lost Cities, as well as the Sky Fall series for young adults. Her books have been featured on multiple state reading lists, published in numerous countries, and translated into many languages. She lives in Southern California with her family—and an embarrassing number of cats.
Bill Morrison
Bill Morrison has spent his career as an artist and writer working with the most iconic characters in popular culture. He began his career painting movie posters, including many for Walt Disney, such as The Little Mermaid, Bambi, and The Jungle Book. He also spent several years drawing The Simpsons for all kinds of merchandise and writing, drawing, and editing The Simpsons and Futurama comics for Bongo Comics. He was also art director on the Futurama TV series and character artist on Disenchantment. Most recently Morrison created a graphic novel adaptation of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, and was executive editor of MAD Magazine.
Scott Shaw!
For 50 years, Scott Shaw! has created underground comix (Fear and Laughter), mainstream comics (Captain Carrot, Sonic the Hedgehog, Simpsons Comics), children’s books (Marooned Lagoon) syndicated comic strips (Bugs Bunny), graphic novels (Annoying Orange), TV cartoons (Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies), advertising (Post Pebbles cereal), toys, trading cards, video games, packaging art and more. He's known for his Oddball Comics Live! show (the book is coming soon) and playing Quick Draw! with Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragonés. Scott was one of those who created San Diego Comic-Con.