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Pittsburgh Comicon Special Guests 2010!
A host of great comic
creators are making their way to the Pittsburgh
Comicon in 2009. Each year the Pittsburgh Comicon
pulls in some of the biggest, best, fan favorite
celebrities from the worlds of Comics, TV and Film!
From the Small Press exhibitors, and our infamous
Artist Alley artists, to the big time Hollywood
Stars. It's a FanBoy (or Girl) Heaven! Here
is a look at who is coming to our next big show. This
page is a complete list of all of our special guests.
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BOB ALMOND
Bob started his professional career inking Warlock and the Infinity Watch for Marvel in '92 and since then he has worked for various publishers over time such as DC, Acclaim, Malibu, Harris, Wildstorm, and Penny-Farthing Press but the majority of his assignments over the years have been from Marvel Comics. Some of his projects have included Bloodshot, Star Trek: DS9, Marvel's 9/11 tribute book HEROES, Aquaman, JSA, JSA All Stars and he is probably most recognized for his 3 year run with his regular art partner Sal Velluto on the critically-acclaimed Black Panther series. His recent projects have been inking Penny-Farthing Press' second Captain Gravity 6-issue retro series along with Sal called "Captain Gravity & the Power of the Vril", the "Vampirella: Revelations" series for Harris, the "Nightmare on Elm Street" title for Wildstorm; and Marvel’s Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar. miniseries. He also writes a regular inking column called 'Inkblots' for "Sketch" magazine. Bob’s most recent work has been on the Star Trek:The Last Generation from IDW and he is currently inking former Black Panther partner, Sal Velluto on The Phantom for overseas publisher Egmont. Bob is also the founder and director of the Inkwell Awards which honors the best inkers in the industry. To find out more about the Inkwell Awards visit: www.inkwellawards.com or you can visit Bob's web-site at www.almondink.com
MARK ANTICOLE
A Pittsburgh native, Mark is the artist for the weekly webcomic, Rat Tangent. Mark is also the artist and graphic designer for Eye-Level Entertainment, the makers of several games including the card game, Nature of the Beast and the board games, E.T.I.-Estimated Time to Invasion and Flat Acting.
SHAWN ATKINS
Shawn Atkins of Pittsburgh is the Creator/Artist/Writer of the Web Comic Series "Gello Apocalypse" and Creator/Artist, and Co-writer with Seth Fronzoli on "Explorers of the Unknown”.
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JIM BALENT
 Jim Balent is the head of Broadsword Comics, publisher of Tarot Witch of the Black Rose. Before forming Broadsword, Jim’s artwork had been published by several comic book companies, including Marvel, Dark Horse and DC Comics. He penciled such notable characters as Batman, Vampirella, and the sexy femme fatal, Catwoman. Jim was the cover and interior artist of the first 77 issues of DC’s Catwoman series. In the 2000, Jim and partner, Holly G! started their own comic book company, Broadsword Comics to publish Jim’s creation Tarot, Witch of the Black Rose. Tarot is an ongoing story about a voluptuous young Witch who battles to keep the balance between Magick and Mankind. In 2008, Jim’s series won three Project Fanboy Awards including Best Indy Series. In 2010 Broadsword will be celebrating its tenth anniversary of publishing Tarot. Jim and Holly’s Broadsword has also published Jim’s miniseries, Three Little Kittens-Purrrfect Weapons and Holly’s School Bites series. Jim and Holly have also branched into a merchandise line based on their popular characters, including apparel, lithos, glassware, a fragrance line and much more. Besides his work in comics, Jim has also worked on many character designs and posters for the film and video industry. Check out the Broadsword Website at: www.jimbalentstudios.com.
KOA BEAM
Poi-Boy Graphix artist, Koa Beam is a popular contributor to the charity auction and the CBLDF Quick Sketch. Koa and his crew will be giving live demos and tips on Digital Pencils, Inks, Coloring and speed painting using a graphics tablet and your PC. Koa designed the 2009 Comicon Stan Fan t-shirt.
ED BEARD JR.
 Fantasy Artist Ed Beard Jr. has created thousands of published works ranging from a painting for the Vatican as a youth to Dungeons and Dragons, Magic the Gathering Card games, book covers and fantasy titles of all kinds over his 25 year career. Ed has done the 1997 and 2000 Pittsburgh comicon covers. Ed is best known for his unique vision of Dragons and the fact that he is one of the few traditionalist painters who use the "Hand Painted" techniques without any form of computer or digital shortcuts. Ed is the founder of "Hand Painted Masters.org" This organization celebrates what Ed holds true to, in maintaining the tradition craft skill set and critical thought process and dexterity that goes into each brush stroke to create a one of a kind art work .With over 1000 published cards and hundreds of other interior and cover works Ed's art can be found just about anywhere. Ed has his own full color Art book called "The Enchanted Realm" available at the show direct from Ed. Also, Ed has illustrated the 2010 "Dragon" calendar internationally distributed by Tide-Mark the world leader in calendars. To view Ed's art go to www.edbeardjr.com
JOE BENITEZ
 Joe Benitez began his comic-book career in 1993 as an artist for Marc Silvestri¹s Top Cow Studio at Image Comics. While at Top Cow he co-created and penciled the series 'Weapon Zero' and the miniseries 'Magdalena: Blood Divine' for the company. He took over the reins on Silvestri and Garth Ennis' highly successful and fan favorite title 'The Darkness'. He stepped out on his own as a creator with the 6 issue miniseries 'Wraithborn' that was published by Wildstorm in 2005. As a contract artist for DC Comics he worked on titles such as 'JLA', 'Superman/Batman', 'Detective Comics', 'Supergirl', and 'Titans'. In 2009 Joe stepped in to finish up Michael Turner's run on his 'Soulfire' series and is currently the cover artist for Aspen Comics' critically acclaimed series Executive Assistant: Iris.
RICH BERNATOVECH
Rich entered the comic industry by creating Drumfish Productions in 2003. Through Drumfish, he created and wrote the acclaimed Indie series, Sentinels, along with Luciano Vecchio. Since then he has published five original graphic novels and in 2010, Drumfish Productions will release three new books including the long awaited Neverminds with artist Jamie Fay. In addition to writing, Rich has also penciled and inked different projects and will begin his own webcomic in 2010. You can learn more about Sentinels at www.sentinelsonline.com and more about Drumfish Productions at www.drumfishproductions.blogspot.com
PATRICK & SHELLY BLOCK
 Patrick and Shelly are fan favorite Duck creators. Patrick is best known as an artist of Donald Duck. He has illustrated stories for Donald Duck, The Junior Woodchucks and Uncle Scrooge for Walt Disney/Gemstone that have been translated in over 36 languages around the world. Shelly has teamed with her husband to write over 90 scripts for Donald Duck Adventures and others. The pair were nominated for two Harvey Awards for their Donald Duck: The Case of the Missing Mummy. She and Patrick teach classes in Comic Creation, Figure Drawing, Watercoloring and various other creative endeavors at their art school, Art Quest near Washington, Pa.
STEPHEN BURKS
Stephen is the President of Iconograph. He oversees the daily operations of Iconograph and guides the activities of all projects in development. He is the creator and writer of The Unnaturals and the company's blog and webcomic Our Last Gasp. Stephen has also scripted the comics Bella Detesta Ars and Normal.
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TOMMY CASTILLO
 Tommy Castillo is a master artist of the twisted and the macabre. Whether creating a slimy corpse reaching for you or the gentle glance of a mighty dragon, Tommy will capture you with the dynamics of his penciling and the intensity of his palette. With a career spanning eighteen years, Tommy is famed and sought after for his dark humor, brilliant attention to detail, and his love of the darker side of art. Tommy has put paint and pencil to such titles as Batman Detective; Legends of the Dark Knight; Toetags, with Horror legend George Romero; Evil Ernie; Tales From the Crypt; Alice in Wonderland; King Kong; Dragons, Myths, and Mayhem; various storyboards and designs for films; and many more of the macabre based literature. Tommy has been sought out by the fields largest companies: DC comics, Paramount Pictures, Warhammer, Wizards of the Coast, and Image and as offbeat as Rolling Stone magazine. His diverse styling and insane line work have defined him as one of today's greatest in the field of comics and fine art...and y'know, he renders some of the scariest books of today.
ERNIE CHAN (aka Ernie Chau)
 Superstar comic artist Ernie Chan began doing comics at age 20 in his native Philippines. He migrated to American in 1970 and soon became a regular artist for DC Comics. (During his early career he was known as Ernie Chau, because some misguided immigration official decided the U.S. had too many Chans) He got his break at DC doing short mystery stories for DC various horror anthology books but he soon found himself as the regular artist of Batman. During an almost three year stint, Ernie penciled both Batman and Detective Comics. He was also the primary cover artist for DC during the early to mid-Seventies creating stunning covers for such comics as: The Flash, The Justice League of America, World’s Finest, Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, Jonah Hex, Superman, Sandman and others. Also during his time at DC, Ernie penciled almost the whole run of the Joker series and he co-created the Claw: The Unconquered. Ernie soon made the transition from DC to Marvel Comics. At Marvel, he worked on such titles as: Dr. Strange, Dracula, Daredevil, Doc Savage, Thor, The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Powerman and Iron Fist, King Kull, John Carter of Mars and others, but his incredible work on Marvel’s Conan is what Ernie is best known for. Ernie penciled over 75 issues of Conan and Savage Sword of Conan as well as providing numerous covers to the series featuring everyone's favorite Cimmerian. In the 1990's he had dabbled in computer designs and TV and movie animation. Ernie Chan retired in 2002. He now keeps himself busy doing art he likes and sells them online and at comic conventions. He is currently accepting art commissions. He travels often to China, where he finds tranquility and contentment. To see more of Ernie’s work visit: www.erniechan.com
CHAD CICCONI
Chad is a comic artist whose debut was in 2007, and who has been working steadily on numerous projects since that time. Chad is the artist and co-creator of Baby Boomers, a webcomic published by AAM Markosia, which is also soon to become a graphic novel compilation from Markosia Comics. He is also the primary artist for Mercury and the Murd publsihed by PKD Media. Chad's work has also appeared in "Short Stack" (volumes 1 and 3) from Angry Gnome Comics, "CG Stories" and "U is for United" (Comic Geek Speak listener anthologies). Chad's first convention appearance was at the Pittsburgh Comicon in 2008. Sampes of his work and more information can be found at www.chadcicconi.com and www.ccicconiart.blogspot.com
ED COUTTS
 Ed is an illustrator who works in pencil, ink and paint. His credits include cover and interiors for AC Comics' "Femforce" series, Kaso Comics and Three J Productions. Ed has also done posters for off-Broadway plays, book illustrations and illustrations of hundreds of famous and not-so-famous people for "Character Counts" School Agendas. He joined with Paul Monsky to work on "Vavavavoom", an anthology of Good Girl Art tales under the Palisades Press Imprint. Check out his work on www.edcouttsart.com
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SCOTT DERBY
Scott is a Philadelphia based illustrator and member of the Philadelphia Cartoonist Society and The Autumn Society of Philadelphia. His credits include the Philadelphia Cartoonist Society's anthology books 1 & 2, Mauled Comics #4, You, Me and Zombie #0, Li'l Scamp Comics, Fun for the Feeble Minded and the cover art for an Amish themed romance trilogy called Sisters of the Quilt. He has also participated in LA's Gallery 1988 "Kevin Smith's SMart: a SMod Art Show." To see more of his work go to scottderby.blogspot.com
AL DORANTES
Al procrastinates in Herkimer, NY. A one-time football coach, a former short order cook and a businessman, Al brings his own brand of country baroque and redneck black humor to the comic page. Al is the co-founder of Luchador Enterprises. Luchador's current titles include: Where You Been?, Dog Daze, Danger: Live Animals and Best In Show.
DORIAN
 This multi-faceted and talented artist has garnered international fame and acclamation for his novel approach to art…a distinct style he terms "Pseudo- Realism" which is characterized not only by his intriguing subject matter but also his mastery of acrylic paints. This technique has been successful to such a degree that many professional artists have confused his work as having been done in oils or airbrush. Although a graduate of an art school in Pittsburgh, Dorian is largely self-taught. He devoted his talents to conquering the imposing and difficult medium of acrylics because, unlike oils, they have a fast drying time which suited him with his need to finish a painting in two or three days without being burdened by the delay of waiting for oil paints to dry. This characteristic of acrylics has been an important element in allowing Dorian to create a large volume of paintings in a relatively short time. Initially, after completing school, Dorian did artwork as a freelancer for corporations such as Disney, U.S. Steel, Carnegie Science Center and many others. Though earning a good living, he felt inhibited by the requirements of commercial art through the concepts and dictates of the business world, and having a desire to do his own interpretive work, struck out on his own. Soon he was doing covers for magazines, illustrations for various publications and having exhibitions of his original work in Europe and the United States. Several art books exclusively dedicated to his works soon followed. Numerous illustrated articles and interviews on his art and techniques were published in this country as well as throughout Europe and Asia while sales of his original work and reproductions in the form of high quality giclees and other prints have been well received internationally by fans and collectors of his art. Recently Yamato Toys USA based in Japan released a highly successful figure based on one of Dorian's paintings, "Akira" and following the success of this unique venture, Yamato is due to release a second figure in the summer of 2009, based on Dorian's painting "The Sacrifice". Having become highly successful as a freelance artist, Dorian has a desire to impart and share the knowledge he acquired through his acute analysis of the materials and techniques he employs to professionals and those with little or no experience who are desirous of becoming proficient in this medium . Currently teaching his own course titled "Dorian Cleavenger's Fantasy Art Program" with personally taught classes in airbrush, acrylics and conceptual art and design at the prestigious Douglas Education Center near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, it has given him an outlet and the satisfaction of seeing his students accomplish their artistic desires under his personal and involved tutorage. Also Dorian has recently completed work on a personal tutorial DVD which is available for purchase over his website as well as through other retailers. The purpose of this DVD is to help the viewer, whether he is an accomplished artist or a beginner. As well as displaying a gallery of this prolific artist's paintings, there is a featured segment on Dorian's thoughts concerning the long historic struggle against imposed censorship and restrictions of self-expression of the world's artists by various authorities. To view more of Dorian's images visit his website: www.dorianart.com. For more on Dorian's classes visit the Douglas Education Center's website: www.dec.edu
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WAYNE FAUCHER
 Wayne earned a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, majoring in Graphic Design. He spent 10 years working in that field in such markets as Boston, New York, and Pittsburgh. In 1992 he decided to concentrate his efforts on cartooning, newspaper illustration and comic books. His first inking job was for Parody Press on a book called Sewage Dragoon. By late 1993 he was working for DC Comics as a regular fill-in inker. In 1994 he teamed with Humberto Ramos on Impulse where he remained for 26 issues (he continued to ink the monthly covers until the end of it's run, #89). Wayne then moved on to the Batman/Mr. Freeze Prestige Format book with Mark Buckingham, followed by “Birds of Prey:Wolves” over Dick Giordano. From there, he took over for a year as regular inker on Batman: Shadow of the Bat teaming with Buckingham on issues #69-80. Wayne continued his association with Batman, inking Alex Maleev for the first four-issue story arc of the ground breaking No Man’s Land project, No Law and a New Order. His NML work continued over artists Mike Deodato and Staz Johnson until that saga concluded. Wayne then did his part to rebuild Gotham, post No Man’s Land, in the pages of Catwoman ( #78-93) over Johnson. Teaming again with Mark Buckingham he next began his first regular inking assignment for Marvel, Peter Parker: Spider-Man (beginning with issue #30). He stayed on that title until issue #55. During that run, Wayne had a chance to ink his old pal Humberto Ramos on a four-issue story arc for Peter Parker, entitled Return of the Goblin (issues # 42-45). It was published concurrent with the feature film release “Spider-Man”. He continued with Spider-Man in an ongoing monthly entitled Spectacular Spider-Man with Humberto Ramos. This marked the first time the two worked together on a monthly series since Impulse. After eighteen issues of Spectacular, Wayne embarked on a 6 issue run on Nightcrawler. In between his stint at Marvel and his return to DC, Wayne explored the long format graphic novel with Beckett’s eastern flavored swashbuckler, Roninhood of the 47 Samurai followed up by The Cobbler’s Monster (published through Image), a reinterpretation of the Frankenstein and Pinnochio stories. Wayne is excited to be back at DC, applying his skills to the Dark Knight once again. His current regular monthly assignments are Detective Comics (over Don Kramer) and Shadowpact (over Tom Derenick). Wayne is now back at DC, having completed regular assignments on both DETECTIVE COMICS, SHADOWPACT, COUNTDOWN and TRINITY. He currently is inking titles throughout the DC Universe including his current work on TITANS.
JAMIE FAY
 Jamie is making his fifth appearance at the Pittsburgh Comicon this year. He is the co-creator, artist and inker for NeverMinds, a graphic novel coming from Drumfish Productions. You can also see his work in the Sentinels Anthology, also from Drumfish Productions. Jamie will be taking sketch commissions, selling art prints and showing previews of his future projects. www.jamiefay.net and www.windriderx23.deviantart.com. Jamie provided the stunning Jean Grey cover to last year Comicon Program.
JAMIE FICKES
Jamie is the creator of Mumblepuss is a webcomic that pokes fun at pop culture through the eyes of a stuffed bear. From movies to comics, gaming to television; Mumblepuss has a unique (and often surly) perspective on the world. Mumblepuss is updated at www.mumblepuss.com.
JAY FIFE
 Jay Fife is a pin-up and portrait artist from the upper Ohio Valley. His work is mostly fully rendered pencil drawings of characters from all aspects of horror, fantasy, sci-fi and comics. Specializing in customized pinups realistically depicting famous characters or compositions of favorite personalities from TV and movies, Jay brings personality to his images. Jay recently has his art featured in the Harvey Award winning Image comic Mice Templar Destiny and has been the subject of an artist spotlight along with a pin-up featured in Hustler Magazine. Jay's art was also featured in Echo Immortalus Magazine and has been the cover of two issues of the Horror anthology The Willows. Jay did a cover for Heske Horror's Cold Blooded Chillers, had art featured in Pin-Up Magazine, The Serial Squad from Bad Place Productions, Eve-Vampire Diva from Arcana Comics and is the cover artist for the upcomeing Dare #2 for Pickle Press Comics. Jays pin-ups are well known for featuring some of the most beautiful pin-up models including Lola Lynn, Jamie Eason and the amazing Acid Pop Tart.
TIM FISCHER
 Tim is a graduate of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh and has been working as an artist and writer in the small-press and independent comics scene since the mid-90s. He's well-known for his stylish and cartoony renderings of sexy, curvaceous ladies -- like the title character of his self-published comic book series, Space Pilot Girl -- injecting a sense of fun and adventure into every drawing. Tim's sequential art has been published by NBM, Radio Comix, and several other small press imprints. You can find a few of his pin-up illustrations in the pages of Antarctic Press' long-running series Gold Digger, and Image Comics' Invincible. He's also one of the hosts of the interactive, comics-related podcast "Breaking the Panel," Tuesday nights on www.talkshoe.com. You can find Tim's work, and the adventures of Space Pilot Girl, online at www.comix-mill.com.
CHRIS FLICK
Chris is a Northern Virginia native and graduate of Radford University. He spent two years of his college life being the Radford University's mascot, "Rowdy Red". Chris earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (with an emphasis on graphic design) in 1991 and has worked as a professional designer and illustrator ever since. In 1999, he started teaching himself html and made the transition from print designer to web designer. Chris has two book credits under his name: Building Web Sites with Macromedia Studio MX (2002) and Building Dynamic Web Sites with Macromedia Studio MX 2004 (2003). Both books were published by New Riders. Chris is also a partner at Community MX where he created a promotional web comic strip called "CMX Suite". That strip has been running every Tuesday since May 25, 2004. The archives can be found at www.communitymx.com/flicks/index.cfm . Every Tuesday, a new "CMX Suite" appears on the home page of www.communitymx.com . You can also find Chris' work at www.capesnbabes.com. Capes & Babes is a comic strip about a strip mall, a comic book shop and one crazy werewolf. It made its online debut November 12, 2007 and has steadily increased its readership ever since.
SEAN FORNEY
 Sean Forney is a professional illustrator and comic book artist whose early work was for Twisted Gate Entertainment which included drawing two short Scarlet Huntress stories for the anthology books, The Portal #1 and #2, and covers for various titles. He has worked for various comic book companies including Sundragon Comics, Funky Ninja Comics, Stormchaser Comics, Camp Comics, Paper Dragon Ink, Fusion Studios, and more. Sean co-created and illustrated Scarlet Huntress #1. Scarlet Huntress #2 and children’s book tie-in called Little Red Riding Hood: Origins of a Huntress is due out in spring 2010. He illustrated Camp Dangerous Curves for Camp Comics, When the Cops Come Knockin’: An Illustrated Guide to the Law, out now in bookstores, and character dossiers in G.I. Joe versus Cobra Fall Special: Rise of the Headhunters through Fun Publications. Sean has also colored covers for Arrow Comics’ Wild Planet and Josh Warner’s Moos Miht: The Adventures of Mighty Moose. He did comic strips for the Microsoft developers’ program and illustration work for various fortune 500 companies. He created Star Wars promotional material including the official t-shirt and patch design in conjunction with LucasFilm/Disney/ Blue Planet Gear for the 2009 Star Wars Weekends at Disney Hollywood Studios. Recently he completed color work on My Adventures with Spider-Man by Marvel and Identity Direct. He also works with The Artifact Group coloring Bakugan illustrations for the national toy line. See more of Sean’s work on the web at www.smcomics.com.
DAN FRAGA
 Dan got his start in the business working on Rob Liefeld's Youngblood. Since then, he has worked on such titles as: Bloodstrike, Kid Supreme, Black Flag, Witchblade and Gearstation from Image Comics; Spider-Man, Wolverine, Black Panther and Weapon X from Marvel; and Power Puff Girls and Superman from DC Comics. He currently works as a concept design artist for toys, music videos, commercials and more. Dan is also a accomplished storyboard artist with Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Transporter 2, and Dragon Ball Z to his credit.
BRENDON AND BRIAN FRAIM
 This identical twin artistic duo is best known for their prolific work on Kenzer and Company’s popular role-playing game HACKMASTER and for drawing issue 4 through 41 of K&C’s KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE: ILLUSTRATED comic book. The brothers continue to illustrate various sections in the monthly KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE: THE MAGAZINE as well as covers for various editions of KODT: Bundles of Trouble and KoDT: Tales from the Vault. Their work has also appeared in Goodman Games’ Scavenger Hunt, Wingnut Games' Tom Jolly’s Cargo and Tom Jolly’s Camelot, and are currently working with Hero Games on their Champions role-playing game books among others. The Fraims also illustrated the mastheads for the popular “Obligatory Fight Scene” review columns in The Comics Buyer’s Guide. In 2006, their artwork appeared in the critically acclaimed new novel, WOLF BOY, by Evan Kuhlman and published by Shaye Areheart Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. The novel’s central character is Stephen who copes with the grief of losing his older brother by creating his own comic book universe. These fictional adventures are featured throughout the book, which were illustrated by the Fraim Brothers, introducing a graphic novel subplot that adds both humor and visual interest to this moving tale. WOLF BOY has also been recently optioned to be a movie by the Weinstein Co. with Irwin Winkler and Jill Cutler producing through Winkler Films. The Fraims also illustrated Antiques: The Comic Strip, a weekly “Sunday style” comic strip featured in ANTIQUE TRADER, the 50-year-old cornerstone of the antiques and collectibles trade. Antiques: The Comic Strip, written by J.C. Vaughn, is a romantic comedy about two cousins, and the woman that comes between them, set during the world’s greatest auction. A:TCS was also been nominated for a 2007 Harvey Award for Best Syndicated Comic Strip and the entire story has been collected into one hardcover volume published by Gemstone Publishing which also was nominated for a 2008 Harvey Award for Best Reprint Collection. The brothers also illustrated the award winning web comic AMERICA JR. that is about a small town in middle America that discovers in their town charter that they only joined the USA on a temporary basis, and it just expired. So now, they have to become their own country. Think of it as the same America, but at a new convenient size! The strip is created and written by Nick Capetanakis and Todd Livingston, so click on www.americajr.net for the latest strip and be on the lookout at your local comic book store for the trade paperback of the first 150 strips from Image Comics. America Jr. won the 2007 Best Comic Strip award on DrunkDuck.com. The Fraims have also had short stories printed in Negative Burn, THE WICKED WEST 2, ACTOR Comics Presents, and POSTCARDS: True Stories That Never Happened. Most recently, they drew the three issue series from Devil's Due Publishing called THE ODD SQUAD about a group of paranormal investigators who aren't very good at their job. The series was produced in conjunction with Vin Di Bona Productions with plans for the series becoming a movie or TV show. Currently, they are working with their Antiques cohort, J.C. Vaughn, on a new horror series Vampire Hunter Dean and drawing many, many fan commissions. For more information on Brendon and Brian Fraim, visit their website at www.brosfraim.com and their online commissions gallery at comicartcommissions.com/Fraim.html as well as comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=31754
RON FRENZ
 Ron is the regular penciler and co-creator of Marvel's Amazing Spider-Girl series. Mr. Frenz is an artist well known for his stints on such titles as Marvel’s Spider-man line, Thor, Thunderstrike, Superman and other such titles as Ka-Zar, The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones, Star Wars and Marvel Saga to name a few. Ron seems to always be on hand when comics history is made. He was the designer of Superman’s controversial electric blue outfit, he co-created the New Warriors with Tom Defalco, and he was the penciler of What If? #105 the first appearance of the popular Spider-Girl. This issue sparked Marvel's M2 line of titles. Ron went on to co-plot and pencil several M2 titles and he worked on Image's Mr. Right with Tom Defalco. Ron and Tom relaunched Spider-girl in a new series The Amazing Spider-Girl. Ron is currently depicting May Parker in the Spider-Girl back-up series from Web of Spider-Man.
GARY FRIEDRICH
 Gary is best known in the comics industry as the writer of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandoes and Creator of Marvel’s Ghost Rider. Gary first comic work came as a writer for Charlton Comics. At Charlton Gary wrote lots of romance scripts as well as a couple of superhero stories, including a few Blue Beetle stories with Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko. In 1966, long-time friend Roy Thomas approached Gary about an editorial job at Marvel Comics. Gary joined the Marvel Bullpen and soon became the writer for Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos. Although many writers saw the war comic as a stepping stone to Super-Hero comics, Gary relished his role as Sgt. Fury writer, penning over 50 poignant issues during the Vietnam anti-war era. Gary also wrote for such titles as Captain America, X-Men, Captain Marvel, The Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Black Widow from Amazing Adventures and various non-superhero features, including Westerns such as The Gunhawks. In 1973, Gary’s most famous work came as the creator and initial writer of Marvel's motorcycle-demon Ghost Rider. Gary also later teamed with Ghost Rider’s first artist, Mike Ploog, on Marvel's Monster of Frankenstein — the first five issues of which contained a relatively faithful adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel.
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SHAWN GABBORIN
Shawn is the writer and creator of Angry Gnome Comics. From Dark Comedy to flat out Gore, they've got you covered! Celebrating their 5th year at the show, Angry Gnome Comics will have their full 4 part series "Palm Reader", new issues of "Victor Season" and "Short Stack", plus the debut of "Greenbrook: Our House, His Home"! www.angrygnomecomics.com
STEPHANIE GABBORIN
Don't let that blonde haired baby face fool you. Behind that little 85 lb. exterior is a huge, beefy, drooling, spiky, pencil wielding monster! Check out her pencil work in the Angry Gnome comics "Victor Season" and "Palm Reader" to see for yourself! www.angrygnomecomics.com
JERRY GAYLORD
Jerry is one of the creators behind Identity Comics, home of the comics: Bounty Hunter Kai, Return of the Way and Hyperboy. Stop by the Identity booth and discover your comic’s identity.
GENE GONZALES
 Entering the comic industry in 1993,Gene has managed to work on a variety of projects for a variety of publishers including DC Comics, Image Comics, Caliber Comics, Realm Press and others, on such projects as The Maze Agency, Mr. X and Battlestar Galactica. In 2001, Gene established himself as the writer, illustrator and publisher of TALES OF THE CHEROKEE, published by his own Mandalay Books. Visit Gene's website at: www.genegonzales.com
DAN GORMAN
Dan is the creator of Kosmo, a weekly comic strip from the Seville, Ohio Trading Post. He is also the co-creator and penciler of the self-published miniseries, Balance:First Event and the comic strip Wendal & Lamar. Dan is the director of the documentary film One Night at Prospect Place.
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JOHN HAUN
 An Art Institute of Pittsburgh graduate, John is currently the art director of the New Castle News. In 2008 he started a relationship with Rittenhouse Archives LTD as a sketch card artist. He is currently working on two sketch card projects from Marvel and DC.
SCOTT HEDLUND
Scott is a talented local graphic designer who escapes his 9 to 5 by drawing comics. Currently, Scott is the artist for web comic Chaos Punks. With fellow creators in Strumhaus ( www.strumhaus.com) he has also added his talent to World of Orenda, Fairhaven, Dark Times and Reverie. Scott will be appearing at the Strumhaus booth in the Small Press area. Stop by and say hi. Scott will have full 4 brand new comics for you to read and enjoy!
DAVID HILDELANG
David has penciled and inked the comics Bella Detesta Ars and Normal. He is the penciller on Iconograph’s The Unnaturals and artist of their webstrip, Our Last Gasp. David has appeared onscreen in several short films including, The Disc and The Percentage. David also handles the marketing of Iconograph.
HOLLY G!
 Holly G! grew up in NYC , after spending her high school years at Anglo-American, she did a year at Bard for Film, a year at Parson's School of Design for Storyboarding and then finally graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a degree in Acting . Navigating careers in Education, Fashion Design and Children's Entertainment, Holly finally followed her Bliss into Comic Books! She has worked on many well known characters, including: Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Cheryl Blossom, Josie & the Pussycats, Betty&Veronica and Cosmo Girl! In 2000, she and partner Jim Balent formed Broadsword Comics publisher of Tarot - Witch of the Black Rose. Holly serves as Broadsword’s Vice President as and colorist on Broadsword’s Tarot as well as serving as the model for Tarot herself. She has frequently been shown on the photocovers dressed as Tarot and she is the model for the official Tarot photo calendar. She is also creator and artist of the Broadsword title, School Bites, a Manga book centered around a school for young vampires. Holly also designs many of the t-shirts and apparel that Broadsword has to offer. Outside of comics, Holly has supplied artwork for various project by musician Thomas Dolby and she is a regular contributor to New Witch Magazine. Holly is also the author of Fears & Ears: Survival Guide to Orlando,FL for Goth, Geeks & Freaks! Check out Holly’s work at: www.jimbalentstudios.com as well as her official School Bites webpage at www.schoolbites.net.
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SCOTT JAMES
 Scott has worked for the past 12 years as a freelance illustrator for many gaming companies. Working on such RPG’s ,CCG’s as well as D&D, Shadowrun, Battle Tech., Mutants & Masterminds, L5R, 7th Sea, and Spy Craft in which he has over 200 publications to date! Scott has also worked for Hasbro doing conceptual design on the movie Small Soldiers as well as designing the look for the Action-man cartoon and toy line! Recently Scott has completed a 2 issue stint on the Starship Troopers comic from Markosia and a 6 page backup story for Eric Larsen’s Savage Dragon #143.
JOHANN JARO
Johann is attending with Identity Comics. Identity brings new talent and original stories to the table. Stop by the Identity booth and discover your comic’s identity.
NATE JOHNSON
Nate Johnson, the creator & illustrator of N.J. Comix Entertainment Group. N.J. Comix celebrates its 6th year of publishing. The company continues to publish its flagship title, DEFCON:04 and the New 3rd DEGREE BURN, (formerly the N.J. Comic title, A.S.H). Other N.J. Comix titles include Sammy & Suzies Adventures and Christian Hall’s Vasion.
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GLENN KLIMECK
 Glenn is a local penciler and member of the Pittsburgh Comicon Staff. Over the years we’ve put him to work on various convention projects including covers to our mailer and last years Blackest Night T-Shirt. He is currently working for Christian Hall's 2nd Coming Comix, producing pin-ups for his Vasion title. Glenn will be taking over the penciling of the Vasion title after the completion of the first story arc. He is also working on some side projects with writer, Justin Eger. One is a classic 1950's Noir Crime story called Kill It Dead Good Baby and a Frankenstein-esque Vampire Hunter of the Vatican called, The Shepard. Glenn also keeps busy taking on commission work.
BRIAN KOSCIENSKI
Brian is half of the unholy dichotomy that makes up Fortress Publishing. Fortress’ goal is to make the world a better place through comics, stories, articles, novels and even poetry. They plague the internet under the guise of The Drunken Comic Book Monkeys, a column that allows them to spread their unique views.
HEATHER KREITER
Heather Kreiter is a professional illustrator working on trading cards and book interiors in the Sci-Fi/ Fantasy / Gaming Industry. She's had over 215 pieces of artwork published in the past 8 years with companies such as AEG ( Warlord, Doomtown, Legend of the Five Rings), White Wolf (Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, World of Darkness), and Hidden City Games(Bella Sara). She is also well known for her taxidermy Gryphons and her humorous take on My Little Ponies ~ My Little Demons! More of her work can be seen at her website: www.shamansoulstudios.com
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KEVIN LEEN
 Kevin began freelance illustrations several years ago. His work has appeared in independent comics, fantasy game publications and collectable card games. He regularly attends comic book conventions across the Midwest. His upcoming projects include cover work for Fantastic Fources publsihed by New Baby Productions; Issue 4 of Boomtown Scabs and Fantastic Storytime, in collaboration with Brett Pinson; and a new episode in Chakan:The Hundred Candles series in collaboration with Robert A. Kraus. Chakan: The Hundred Candles-Day of the Dragon is currently available through www.RAKGraphics.com
VINCE LoGRECCO
Vince is the writer and artist behind two webcomics, OH-NO & Whiskey Falls. OH-NO is a weekly comic inspired by the lies of Chas Addams and Gary Larson. It features Zombies, Ninjas, Pirates and Fiery Death. Whiskey Falls is a daily comic about a group of friends living in a small town with a stalker and a mad scientist. Vince has been drawing OH-NO since 1998 and it was in print from 1999-2003 in his school newspaper. Since 2007 the comic has appeared on the web at www.ohnocomics.com. Whiskey Falls was started in 2009 and now has its own website www.whiskey-falls.com. A new book of OH-NO Comics is expected to premier at this year's Pittsburgh Comicon and will contain the first year of Whiskey Falls. Vince is a Pittsburgh native now living in the burbs of Philadelphia with his wife.
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DAVID MACK
 David Mack is the creator, author and artist of KABUKI published originally by Image Comics and now through Marvel Comics’ imprint ICON. He has also served as the writer and artist of Marvel's Daredevil series and cover artist for Brian Bendis' Alias. Mack's work has garnered nominations for two 1999 International Eagle Awards in the categories of Favorite Comic Artist (Painted), and Best Cover Art of the Year (Painted), the Eisner Awards in the category of Best Painter, and both the Harvey and Kirby awards in the category of Best New Talent, as well as other awards and nominations. KABUKI, has earned David international acclaim for its innovative storytelling, painting techniques, and page design. It is available in seven different languages in addition to well over a million copies of KABUKI Comics, Paperbacks, and Hardcovers in print in the U.S. alone. Mack has toured and exhibited throughout, Europe, Asia, and America. He was the first American to be nominated for Germany's most prestigious Max-Und-Moritz award in the category of best-imported comic. Mack has also designed toys and packaging for companies in Hong Kong, created ad campaigns for Sakura art materials and illustrated Jazz and Rock albums for Japanese and American labels and musicians such as Paul McCartney. Currently, David is working on the live action Kabuki feature film for 20th Century Fox. Besides writing the treatment, his credits include: Visual Designer, Creative Consultant and Co-Producer. He also continues to produce his Kabuki comics published by Marvel's Icon line. He has also recently provided various covers for the Marvel Universe including Ms. Marvel, The White Tiger, Last of The Mohicans and others. Mack is also the writer/artist of the children’s book, Shy Creatures.
TOM MANDRAKE
 Artist Tom Mandrake is best known for his collaborations with writer John Ostrander on multiple comic projects including: Grimjack, The Spectre, Martian Manhunter, and Firestorm. Besides his work with Ostrander, Tom has handled the art chores for a number of high profile titles and characters including Batman, Superman, The Justice League of America, New Teen Titans, Shazam, Animal Man, The Avengers, The Punisher, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Arion, The Swamp Thing, Wonder Woman, Weapon X, Dr. Strange, Sgt. Rock, The Spirit and his own creator owned comic, Creeps published by Image Comics. Tom has also illustrated books such as Wild Cards IV, Aces Abroad, GRRM: The George RR Martin RRetrospective and the young adult novel The Forest King: The Woodlarks Shadow. Tom is a graduate of the Joe Kubert School and he currently is the co-developer of the Kubert School’s correspondence course in horror comics.
NICK MARINO
Nick is behind the podcast, AudioShocker. The AudioShocker podcast is THE online destination for ridiculous weekly conversation about movies, music, TV, video games, and -- OF COURSE -- comic books! Stop by the booth to say hi, check out our awesome self-published original comics, or record a quick guest spot for one of our upcoming shows. The AudioShocker will also be joined by our podcasting pals from the Yamagato Industries Business Report, so come kick it with the AudioShocker and YIBR to get your podcast on!!
MIKE MAYDAK
Mike is the illustrator of The Blackbeard Legacy, a comic book mini-series published by Alias, and the creator of Slimbone, a nationally syndicated comic strip. He currently resides in the northern reaches of Kentucky where he teaches art and hastily works on his next graphic novel.
SCOTT McDANIEL
 Scott's first work as a penciler was a Prowler back-up story in Spectacular Spider-man. He has since worked on Daredevil, Elektra: Root of All Evil, Hourman, Green Goblin, Amalgam's Assassins as well as the Daredevil/Batman crossover. He received the most noteriety working on the Gotham's avengers, Nightwing, Batman and Robin in their respective titles. He then went of to work on another DC icon, Superman as the regular penciller of the Superman series. Since then he has worked on a wide array of DC Comics, including Richard Dragon, Green Arrow, Countdown:Arena, Trinity, Batman Confidential and others. His recent work includes the maxiseries, The Great Ten.
JOSH MEDORS
 Josh Medors- first published works in comics were various pin-ups for different publishers. After meeting Writer Steve Niles via www.steveniles.com . He has since been involved in various projects with the writer, Including Fused "Think Like a Machine", 30 Days of Night Annual, Dial M For Monster a Cal Macdonald mystery, and Horrorcide, and In The Blood. Medors has also worked with such companies as Image Comics, where he penciled the series "Runes of Ragnan", and "The Gift". Josh also worked on projects from Devil’s Due including G.I. Joe:America’s Elite and penciling their Chucky comic as well as working on other projects from the publisher. Recently Medors has been working on the creator owned series "Willow Creek" and Image comics "Frank Frazetta's Swamp Demon". While working on both of these titles Medors was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors discovery of a tumor growing in Josh's spinal cord slowed the artist down, but did not stop him. Since the start of treatment Medors has already begun to finish up the "Willow Creek" Series and has started on his next Image Comics Frazetta title.
KEVIN MEINERT
Kevin is a freelance artist and graphic designer. He is the creator of Seeing is Believing and the co-creator of Thatchet.
PAUL MONSKY
Paul's avocation is working as a freelance writer and artist. His stories have appeared in numerous issues of AC Comics' long running "Femforce" series and other titles, where he has also had work published as an artist, letterer and colorist. He has recently begun self-publishing his own comic book, titled "VaVaVaVoom!," under his Palisades Press imprint, and is also offering some of those stories for sale as webcomics. "VaVaVaVoom!" is an anthology of good girl art stories in several genres featuring his own original characters. For more information about "VaVaVaVoom!" visit his website at www.vavavavoomonline.com
MONTE MOORE
 Monte has worked with many top shelf clients during his more than 20 years as a commercial illustrator. His work has been commissioned on a broad spectrum of topics, including comics, gaming, science-fiction, fantasy and entertainment. Just some of Monte’s Credits include: Officially licensed Star Wars prints and trading cards; Trading cards for Marvel Masterpieces, Lord of the Rings and the Women of Star Trek Voyager; CCG Card Art for White Wolf’s Vampire, DC Comics’ VS and AEG’s Warlord and Legend of the Five Rings; Comic Covers for Harris Comics (Vampirella), Devil’s Due, Image, Moon Stone and others. Monte has also had 6 books independently published of his fantasy and pin-up artwork and he has designed over 100 resin fantasy and gothic sculptures for 3 different international giftware manufacturers. Monte is co-owner of MYNDzei Games LLC, which creates and market’s games illustrated by the artist ( www.playwench.com ) Monte is the two time winner of the World Fantasy Art Show for Best Black and White Art, and his work has appeared in Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art several times.
CHRIS MORENO
 Chris a twenty-something illustrator working in comics like Paul Jenkins' Sidekick for 12 Gauge/Image Comics, Boom Studios Toy Story and his own creator-owned projects, like Sanz Pantz: Ninja Platypus, appearing in the Popgun anthologies from Image Comics, and his webcomic, Dysfunctianimals. He also worked on Dracula Vs. King Arthur, Monkey in a Wagon Vs. Lemur on a Big Wheel, and Super Frat, among others. Chris likes pie, robots, and crappy old movies. Chris and his buddy Matt Singer like to bust on a few in our Gymkommentary. Chris used to perform improv in Philly with my troupe, The Ninjas. They're totally f---in' deadly. Chris can usually be found at conventions, sketchin', laughin', and livin' the life of a comics god-- at least for the weekend. Most of the rest of the time he's shackled to the drawring table, kickin' out the pages. And the funky jams. Oh, the funky jams...
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RUDY NEBRES
 The Philippine artist Rudy Nebres studied at the School of Fine Arts. He made his debut in a local comic publication. He soon moved to ACE Publications, to begin his professional career. In the early 1970s, Nebres was assigned by DC and Marvel to do work for their black and white lines of magazines. He emigrated to the States in 1975, and worked on such titles as 'Dr Strange', 'The Incredible Hulk', 'King Conan' and 'Spider-Man'. He has worked with John Buscema on 'Warriors of the Shadow Realm' and 'The Savage Sword of Conan'. He then moved to Warren, where he did stories for the magazines Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella. His work stands out for its detail and sense of anatomy. Later on, he began working as a presentation artist for Marvel Entertainment in Hollywood, and did such comics as 'Armour', 'Samuree' and 'ToyBoy' for Continuity Studios.
DAVE NESTLER
 Dave is a Pittsburgh native who is world renowned for his erotic artwork. Dave has enjoyed success in the pin-up market with the release of his erotica series Blonde and Gagged. His work has also appeared in Playboy, Full Metal Femmes and on covers from London Nights Studios and Chaos Comics. Dave has worked with some of the loveliest ladies in the biz as models, including Julie Cialini, Jasi Lanier, Stacy E. Walker and others. You can find Dave's fabulous artwork in book The Art of Dave Nestler: Wicked Intentions from Art Fantastix. Dave has a new pin up book from SQP entitled Nestler Girls Vol. 1 and a new trading card set, The Art of David Nestler. You can visit his website at: www.davenestler.com
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PAT OLLIFFE
 Pat Olliffe is a talented artist known for his work both in the DC and Marvel Universes. Pat is one on the artists that brought Marvel's Spidergirl comic to life and in the past he has worked on the critically acclaimed and fan appreciated Untold Tales of Spiderman with Kurt Busiek and the DC/Marvel crossover Unlimited Access. As well as the Marvel series, The Call, the Marvel Tsunami Book, Namor, the Punisher Movie Adapation, the What If? story "What if General Ross became the Hulk?" and Pat was also the penciler of Marvel’s Last Hero Standing and Last Planet Standing which featured tons of characters from throughout the Marvel Universe. Pat also worked on the Injustice Society story arc of DC’s JSA:Classified. He also was one of the pencilers that worked on the mega-hit 52 from DC and the 52 Aftermath miniseries The Four Horsemen. Pat also has penciled the Atom series from DC as well as a recent issue of Booster Gold and numerous issues of Marvel’s Ms. Marvel series.
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VINCENT PEEPER
Vincent is the creator and writer of Cleveland Steamer and Midgets & Fat Chicks. He is also the co-creator of the multi-media company, Hanger 18 Shirts which publishes the comic, Hanger 18, and produces the “Greatest Shirts in the History of Mankind”.
DAVE PERILLO
Dave is a Philly based cartoonist, ukulele rock star and a member of the Philadelphia Cartoonist Society, The Autumn Society of Philadelphia and the Parakeet of the Month Club. He has had work featured in Monster Bash Magazine, G-Fan Magazine, "Oddly Normal #3", The Art of Koni Waves and You, Me and Zombie #0. Dave also contributed to the group show, Family Guy:C.R.A.P." for 20th Century Fox's hit animated show, The Family Guy; and he participated in LA's Gallery 1988 "Crazy 4 Cult:3", Kevin Smith's SMart:a SMod Art Show" and "Under the Influence: Mattel's Masters of the Universe". He self publishes the book Li'l Scamp and is currently working on Ape Entertainment's "Teddy Scares" series. Check out more of Dave's doodles at montygog.blogspot.com
BRETT R. PINSON
Brett R. Pinson is a professional comic book writer who got his start with the self published title, Boomtown Scabs. Brett has continued writing, coloring, lettering and publishing with new titles The Expendables and the Adventures of Carl. Brett’s work also appeared in Incessant Yarns with two comic stories about Socrates Papadopoulos, Gunslinger, which will be published in 2010 with 2 new stories. Brett is also a part of the Detroit Iron Circle with Kevin Leen and Tony Miello publishing comics for Wolfman Mac’s Chiller Drive in. Comic in 2009 from Boomtown Press. Brett also does Animation Style Art cels which he will have at the show, and are available online with his other works at www.boomtownpress.com.
CHRIS PISANO
Chris is half of the unholy dichotomy that makes up Fortress Publishing. Fortress’s goal is to make the world a better place through comics, stories, articles, novels and even poetry. They plague the internet under the guise of The Drunken Comic Book Monkeys, a column that allows them to spread their unique views.
SHAWN PRYOR
Shawn is the creator of the latest comic company to hit the scene, PKD Media ( www.pkdmedia.com ). He is writer of the buddy cop comic Mercury & The Murd. He also writes such titles as Exo-1 & The Rock Solid Steelbots, Agents of C.O.L.T., Alpha Simian, M.A.T.T., and Blacks Danger...In Space! At the Pittsburgh Comicon 2009, he debuted two volumes of PKD Media Presents and his latest graphic novel, Greenbrook:Hearts & Spades.
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CHRIS RING
 Chris broke onto the comics scene with his own Mini-series, "CarbonKnight", and since that has worked on a variety of projects including "Perfect Victim", "Nevermore", "James Bond literary Dossier" for PMK's Imagination, "Blood Feud" for Jolly Roger Studios, and "Hunter Prey" for the Sci-Fi Anthology "Outbound". For the movies, Chris has worked on promotional art for "Ladder 49" and Charlotte's Web". Chris is currently being represented by Catskill Comics and will have his sketchbook "Costumes & Cars" available at the show. To see more of Chris's art go to www.catskillcomics.com, www.chrisringart.com, www.93cobra.deviantart.com.
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NICK SCARCIA
It all began with a foray into the realm of graphic design. The standards of CD covers, promotional posters and artwork appearing in Pittsburgh newspapers, will only keep the artist in that realm for so long before the descent into comic books. And so it was with Nick, who would go on to co-found SS Comics, and create the awe-inspiring series City of Daemons.
STEVE SCOTT
 Steve’s art could be found in the recent popular Marvel series "X-Men Forever," but you no doubt have seen the work of artist in a variety of projects including the hit TV show, Smallville. His work has been garnering him a great deal of attention from editors and comic readers alike!! Steve began his sequential art career at Malibu comics, with his fan-favored and memorable stint on "Razor" for London Night, followed up by work on "New Warriors," "Hourman," and "JLA" for Marvel and DC Comics. With a resume like that, one wouldn't guess that up until recently, Steve led a duel life--firefighter by day and artist by night-- for more than sixteen years, in fact! Sadly, one horrible event brought those two identities together. On September 11, 2001, Steve watched, with the rest of the nation as the Twin Towers fell. Soon afterwards, DC Comics published "The Worlds Finest Comic Book Writers & Artists Tell Stories to Remember." Steve was selected among the few to contribute to this historical collection, which was later exhibited, and is now archived, at the Library of Congress. Another national tragedy brought Steve back fully into the comic book fold. As one of the firefighters on duty in Buloxi, MS when Hurricane Katrina hit, Steve was one of the few to be interviewed by President Bush on his tour through the area. Soon, afterwards, for a myriad of reasons, Steve decided it was time to fulfill his dream of being a comic book artist full time. Scott relocated to the renowned community of artist in Atlanta Georgia, and received all the encouragement he needed to pick up the pencil full time from his contemporaries in the area. Immediately, Steve's work began to appear in the pages of DC Comics "Shadowpact," "The Creeper," "Batman Legends of the Dark Knight," and "Checkmate." He got a particularly special kick out of bringing to life some of DC Comics strangest characters like Detective Chimp, Rex the Wonder Dog, Rag Man, The Phantom Stranger, and many others. Recent and current projects at Marvel Comics, and DC Comics include working with industry legends Louise Simonson and Chris Claremont on the titles "Magik" and "Exiles," multiple issues of the Marvel Adventures line, "She-Hulk," "Indiana Jones" for Dark Horse and a "Kyle XY" project for Disney/ABC with writer Jeff Parker. In addition, Steve has the distinction of being the only artist to do comic tie-ins for the "Batman: The Dark Knight " movie. And he was very happy to work with Chris Claremont on "X-Men Forever”.
DIRK SHEARER
Dirk Shearer has been in the business for only a few years, but is already turning faces with his unique scratchboard art, which can be seen in MICE TEMPLAR's first volume collection, and in the upcoming CONSPIRACY OF THE PLANET OF THE APES illustrated novel, slated for release Spring of 2010. Along with the scratchboard work, he pencils and inks comics, having done work for Heske Horror, and Fortress Publishing Inc., and Split Lip Comics... all while premature balding!
JOE SINNOTT
 Joe Sinnott is a true living legend. During his 56-plus-year career in comic books, he has worked in every genre, and for almost every publisher. While plying his trade Joe was one of the most highly regarded illustrators in comics. Joe began working for Stan Lee at Timely/Marvel Comics in 1950. From 1950 to 1962, he penciled and inked his own stories working on everything from war stories to westerns and science fiction to romance. During this time, he also illustrated material for Dell, Charlton, Treasure Chest and Classic Illustrated. He has illustrated the life stories of Babe Ruth, John Kennedy, Gen. MacArthur, Eisenhower, Pope John XXIII, The Beatles, Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa, Mickey Mantle and many other famous people. In 1961, Sinnott's role shifted to straight inking after Lee and Kirby's launch of Fantastic Four which ignited the superhero trend at Marvel. This began the fan favorite team of Kirby and Sinnott. Although he is best known for his work with Kirby on the Fantastic Four, Joe’s deft touch can be seen on almost every book published by Marvel in the ’60s to the late 1980s. His inks have enhanced the artwork of such comic luminaries as Jack Kirby, John Buscema, George Perez and others. He worked on such Marvel books such as Thor, Silver Surfer, Captain America, The Avengers, West Coast Avengers, The Hulk, The Defenders, The Invaders, Rom, The Thing and Nick Fury to name a few. His favorite character to draw is The Thing! Joe has deservedly won three Alley Awards as the comic industry's best inker and an Inkpot Award at the 1995 San Diego Convention among numerous other awards. In fact the Inkwell Hall of Fame Award is named after this legendary comic artist. In recent years, Joe has inked over Alex Saviuk on Stan Lee’s Spider-man Comic Strip. To find out more about Joe visit.: www.joesinnott.com.
LOUIS SMALL JR.
 Louis Small Jr. is the original 'Vampirella' artist for the comic book series published by Harris from 1992. Over the years, he has worked regularly with the character, including the 'Holy War' saga and the 'Hell on Earth' storyline. Small also illustrated comic books like 'Supergirl' (DC), 'Michael Alexander', 'Dark Dominion' (Defiant), 'Codename: Knockout'(Vertigo) and 'Ka-Zar' (Marvel). He is also an illustrator for the DC Universe card series.
DAN STONER
It all began with a sponge most baneful. That was the beginning, but shall not be the ending. The porous personification has since been shed, and Dan is now firmly ensconced in the realm of comic book writing. Having co-founded SS Comics and written the terror-inducing City of Daemons, he is currently pursuing other titles. His newest work, Tales of Anomaly, is set to debut at Pittsburgh this year.
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DANN THOMAS
 Dann "Dannette" Thomas is the wife of writer/editor Roy Thomas. Dann co-wrote many comics with Roy, most notably All-Star Squadron and The Crimson Avenger mini-series from DC; and Avengers West Coast from Marvel Comics. The superheroine Firebrand of the All-Star Squadron owes her civilian name, Dannette Reilly, from Dann Thomas.
ROY THOMAS
 Roy began his life in comics just like many of us, as an avid fan. As a youth he regularly had letters printed in letter pages from both DC and Marvel and he wrote and drew his own comics for distribution to friends and family. In 1961, He eagerly became involved in the first fanzine, Jerry Bails, Alter Ego. Roy became the fanzine’s assistant editor and major contributor and he eventually took over publication of the fanzine in 1964. All of Roy’s work in fandom caught the attention of the major publishers. After brief stints at Charlton and DC, Roy was hired at Marvel Comics where he would eventually take over for Stan Lee as Marvel’s Editor-In-Chief. Roy’s Marvel career is highlighted by such incredible contributions as: a five year writing stint on The Avengers which included the modern classic, The Kree/Skrull War and the creation of the Silver Age Vision; Acquiring the publishing rights to Robert E. Howard’s Conan, a comic that was written and edited by Roy; Securing the rights for Marvel to publish the Star Wars comic; creating the Marvel element, adamantium; and he was instrumental in the birth of the All-New, All Different X-Men. Just a short list of his Marvel writing credits include such comics as: The Avengers, Conan, The X-Men, Thor, Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange, Avengers West Coast, Star Wars, Sgt.. Fury and the Howling Commandos, The Amazing Spider-Man and others. Roy always had an affinity for Golden Age Heroes, an affinity which he indulged with his creation of the Marvel comic, The Invaders which chronicled the W.W. II exploits of Marvel’s Golden Age Heroes. Roy took the opportunity to also reinvent DC’s Golden Age Heroes when he left Marvel in 1981. He realized a childhood dream with the series, The All-Star Squadron. The All-Star Squadron starred DC’s Justice Society of America as well as many forgotten DC Golden Age Heroes such as Liberty Belle, Johnny Quick, the Shining Knight, Robotman, Firebrand, The Tarantula and others. Roy also launched the Justice Society spin-off series, Infinity Inc, set in the present day and depicting the adventures of the children of the Justice Society. While at DC, Roy also created the sword-and-sorcery series, Arak, Son of Thunder and the funny animal comic, Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew. Roy went on to write for various independent comics working on such titles as Xena Warrior Princess, Hercules the Legendary Journeys and an adaptation of Wagner’s Ring Cycle with Gil Kane. He also began writing for other media including television. In 1998, he relaunched the fanzine Alter Ego as a formal comic magazine. Alter Ego was honored with an Eisner Award in 2007 for Best Comics-Related Periodical/Publication. Roy also continues to write for comics including the comic series Anthem from Heroic Publishing, the 2006 Red Sonja one-shot, Monster Island for Dynamite Comics and the 2007 Black Knight miniseries from Marvel.
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TIM VIGIL
 Tim has been an independent comic illustrator for 20 years. In the late 80’s, he established his controversial comic, Faust. He has been a renowned horror artist/writer ever since. Just some of his credits include: Mona Lisa, Sinbuck, Gunfighters in Hell, Broken Halo and Jack the Lantern. Tim is currently providing the art for Frank Frazetta’s Dark Kingdom from Image and he has a 3 part story appearing in Asylum of Horrors from Asylum Press.
NEIL VOKES
 A 23 year veteran of the comics scene, Neil began at Comico drawing Robotech Masters before he and partner Rich Rankin struck out to create EAGLE for their own Crystal Comics. After Eagle wrapped up Vokes began to wield his pencil amongst the legends. From Superman to Elvira, Congorilla to Dracula, Spider-Man to Ninjak to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Tarzan...and even taking some detours to excessively femme friendly female vampires along the way-Neil has added his stylistic brilliance to everything he touches. Following the stunning Parliament Of Justice with longtime cohort Mike Avon Oeming, Neil and his partners Bob Tinnell and Todd Livingston have created both the barnstorming monster blitzkriegs of The Black Forest as well as the dust and blood drenched world of The Wicked West. Neil is currently working with Bob on a series, tentetively titled Elegy. You can check out Neil at vokesfolks.blogspot.com/
MIHAILO VUKELIC
 Serbian born, Mihailo Vukelic came to America in 1982. At the age of fifteen the artist moved with his family to Pittsburgh, PA. The Mixed Media fine-art practictioner has come to the attention of comic fans with his incredible work on Garth Ennis' Back to Brooklyn from Image Comics.
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JOSHUA WARNER
 Joshua Warner is a professional freelance illustrator who’s credits include such titles as penciling and inking on Sundragon comics’ The Mighty 1, Arrow Comics’ Wild Planet, Fun Publications’ GI Joe vs. Cobra, and Transformers: Wings of Honor. Josh is also the creator, artist, and self-publisher of MOOS MIHT: The Adventures of Mighty Moose as well as his anthology series Incessant Yarns. MOOS MIHT: The Adventures of Mighty Moose #6, now continued through issue 8, has been critically acclaimed with 3 ½ out of 4 stars by The Comics Buyers Guide. The first trade paperback debuted at Wizard World Chicago and issue #9 will debut this fall, along with new animations featuring the voice of Aaron Douglas (Battlestar Galactica) and new original art from the book. For more information about Joshua and his projects go to www.HangingChadEntertainment.com
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Due to changes in personal schedules the Pittsburgh
Comicon cannot guarantee any guest's attendance. however, we will make
every effort to inform you of any changes.
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