Special Guests
Steve Leialoha
Steve Leialoha has been working in comics since the 1970s drawing and/or inking primarily for Marvel and DC Comics. Among his favorites he’s worked on are Fables (the original run and the new current edition), Petrefax, Warlock, Howard the Duck, Spider-Woman, The New Mutants, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and the original Star Wars comics in 1977. Other credits include issues of Dr Strange, Justice League, Iron Man, X-Men, Hulk, She-Hulk, Spider-Man with or without Shang Chi (in Marvel Team-up), Star Trek, Steeltown Rockers, ROM, Vampirella, Mike Danger, and Trypto the Acid Dog.
Gene Luen Yang
Gene Luen Yang writes, and sometimes draws, comic books and graphic novels. As the Library of Congress’s fifth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, he advocates for the importance of reading, especially reading diversely. American Born Chinese, his first graphic novel from First Second Books, was a National Book Award finalist, as well as the winner of the Printz Award and an Eisner Award. Its television adaptation will debut on Disney+ this spring. His two-volume graphic novel Boxers & Saints won the L.A. Times Book Prize and was a National Book Award Finalist. He recently completed a run on Marvel's Shang-Chi.
Annalee Newitz
[Photo by Sarah Deragon]
Annalee Newitz is an American journalist, editor, and author of fiction and nonfiction. They are the recipient of a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship from MIT and have written for Popular Science, The New Yorker, and the Washington Post. They founded the science fiction website io9 and served as editor-in-chief from 2008 to 2015, then became editor-in-chief at Gizmodo and tech culture editor at Ars Technica. Their book Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction was nominated for the LA Times Book Prize in science. Their first novel, Autonomous, won a Lambda award.
Gary Phillips
Gary Phillips has published several novels and short stories and written comics for the likes of DC, BOOM! Dark Horse, and Moonstone, where he penned new adventures of Kolchak, the Night Stalker and pulp favorite The Spider. He’s been a staff writer on Snowfall, a show streaming on Hulu about crack and the CIA in 1980s South Central, and he has edited several anthologies, including the Anthony-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir. The Washington Post and Booklist named his novel One-Shot Harry as one of the best mysteries of 2022. He’s currently at work on a crime story for Comixology.
Joe Quinones
Joe Quinones is an American comic book artist and illustrator. Known for his expressive faces and fluid linework, Joe has worked on several high-profile books over the last 15 years, including Dial H for Hero, Howard the Duck, America, Spider-Man and more. Most recently, Joe helped usher in the return of Tim Burton’s Batman, realizing a comic book sequel to his two films, titled Batman ’89. Joe illustrated and helped conceive of the book alongside the film’s original screenwriter, Sam Hamm.
Trina Robbins
[Photo by Jessica Christian]
Retired underground cartoonist and current comics herstorian Trina Robbins has been writing graphic novels, comics, and books for about half a century. Her subjects have ranged from Wonder Woman and the Powerpuff Girls and her own teenage superheroine, GoGirl!, to women cartoonists and women who kill. She’s won several Eisner Awards and was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Industry Hall of Fame in 2013. She lives in a house that survived the 1906 quake in San Francisco, with her cats, shoes, and dust bunnies.
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James Rollins
[Photo by David Sylvian]
James Rollins is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sigma Force series: Sandstorm, Map of Bones, Black Order, The Judas Strain, The Last Oracle, The Doomsday Key, The Devil Colony, Bloodline, The Eye of God, The 6th Extinction, The Seventh Plague, The Demon Crown, Cruciblek, The Last Odyssey; six individual adventure thrillers; the blockbuster movie novelization Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; the Tucker Wayne series; the Order of the Sanguines series; the Jake Ransom middle-grade series; and a new series, Moonfall Saga. The 16th Sigma Force adventure, Kingdom of Bones, debuts April 19.
Tom Ruegger
Tom Ruegger is the 14-time Emmy winning creator/producer/writer/showrunner of many beloved animated TV series, including Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Tiny Toon Adventures, Road Rover, and Histeria! As the creator of Animaniacs, Tom served as senior producer, showrunner, story editor, writer and lyricist on the series. He developed, produced, showran and wrote Freakazoid as well, and served as executive producer and writer on Batman: The Animated Series. Tom also created and produced A Pup Named Scooby Doo for Hanna-Barbera Productions. For Disney Television Animation, he developed, produced, wrote and showran Disney’s The 7D.
Paul Rugg
Paul Rugg co-developed and was the voice of Freakazoid in Steven Spielberg Presents: Freakazoid. Paul was one of the original writers of Animaniacs and helped develop the characters of Yakko, Wakko and Dot, writing over 40 episodes. Paul also provided the voice of Mr. Director, a Jerry Lewis–esque character and frequent victim of the Warner’s antics. He’s also the voice of Ned, the 7-foot tall, blue-skinned alien who hosts the Jim Henson Company’s Earth to Ned, currently on Disney+.
Mark Russell
Mark Russell is an award-winning author and comic book writer best known for his work on The Flintstones, the GLAAD Award winning Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, Second Coming, Superman: Space Age, and the Eisner and Ringo Award winning Not All Robots. He is also the author of two books, God Is Disappointed in You and Apocrypha Now. He also draws cartoons sometimes.
Doc Shaner
Evan “Doc” Shaner is a DC Comics exclusive cartoonist. His past works include Future Quest, The Terrifics, Man of Steel, Supergirl, Doom Patrol, and Strange Adventures among others. His most recent project is The New Champion of SHAZAM! He lives in Michigan with his wife, two children, and a dog.
Greg van Eekhout
Greg van Eekhout is the author of four fantasy novels for adults and six fantasy and science fiction novels for middle-grade readers, as well as dozens of short stories. His novel Weird Kid won the California Independent Booksellers Alliance's Golden Poppy Award. Others of his works have been finalists for the Nebula Award, Andre Norton Award, and Locus Award and were listed by the New York Public Library among the best 100 books for children.
