FANTASTIC FOUR EPIC COLLECTION: THE CRUSADER SYNDROME

Gerry Conway wrote Daredevil, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and others. He was instrumental in Marvel’s 1970s horror boom with work on Man-Thing, Tomb of Dracula and Werewolf by Night. His years on Amazing Spider-Man yielded such historic highlights as the groundbreaking death of Gwen Stacy and the debut of the Punisher. He also wrote DC’s Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Legion of Super-Heroes. For TV, he has written and produced episodes of Diagnosis: Murder, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Huntress and Matlock.

Roy Thomas joined the Marvel Bullpen as a writer and editor under Stan Lee, scripting key runs of nearly every title of the time: Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Sub-Mariner, Thor, X-Men and more. He wrote the first 10 years of Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan; and launched such series as Defenders, Iron Fist, Invaders and Warlock. At DC, he developed All-Star Squadron, Infinity Inc. and related titles, proving instrumental in reviving the Golden Age Justice Society of America. Thomas later became editor of Alter Ego, a magazine devoted to comic-book history, and co-scripted the sword-and-sorcery films Fire and Ice and Conan the Destroyer.

After co-creating DC’s Swamp Thing in 1972, Len Wein moved to Marvel for lengthy runs on some of the company’s biggest titles — Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk and Thor — and helped bring the landmark Giant-Size X-Men #1 into the world, changing Marvel forever. Returning to DC as an editor, Wein oversaw an influx of British writing talent, highlighted by Alan Moore’s historic Watchmen miniseries. Wein also has worked in television and animation, returning to his roots to develop a Swamp Thing screenplay. He has written comic-book adaptations of The Simpsons and Futurama.

His place in Marvel history assured when he helped introduce Deathlok in the pages of Astonishing Tales, Rich Buckler also penciled several storylines in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man — along with runs on Jungle Action’s Black Panther, Fantastic Four, Thor and other monthly titles, as well as Roy Thomas’s miniseries Saga of the Sub-Mariner and Saga of the Original Human Torch. Buckler’s 1970s DC work includes Lois Lane, Secret Society of Super-Villains and World’s Finest, as well as the groundbreaking Superman vs. Shazam. During the 1980s, he and Thomas collaborated on All-Star Squadron. He worked in the barbarian and horror genres for both Marvel and DC, illustrated Archie’s Mighty Crusaders, and contributed to black-and-white magazines for both Marvel and Warren Publishing. He was editor of the short-lived Solson Publications and wrote two books on comic-book art.

John Buscema (1927-2002) literally wrote the book on being a Marvel artist — namely, How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way — and few were better qualified. His career dated back to the Timely/Atlas era of the late ’40s and early ’50s. Soon after beginning the Marvel Age of Comics, Stan Lee recruited Buscema from the advertising field to the Marvel Bullpen. Buscema followed a long run on Avengers with the long-anticipated first Silver Surfer series. He subsequently succeeded Jack Kirby on Fantastic Four, Thor and other titles. By the time of his retirement in 1996, Buscema had penciled nearly every Marvel title — including his personal favorite, Conan the Barbarian.

Artist George Pérez made team titles his specialty with runs on Marvel’s Avengers and Fantastic Four, along with DC’s Justice League of America and New Teen Titans, the latter co-created with Marv Wolfman. The pair redefined the DC Universe in Crisis on Infinite Earths. In collaboration with writer Kurt Busiek, he returned to Avengers following the “Heroes Reborn” event. The pair surpassed expectations with JLA/Avengers, a 2003 crossover that featured nearly every member of both long-running teams.