An award-winning critic and journalist, Kieron Gillen wrote for organizations such as PC Gamer, The Guardian, Rock, Paper, Shotgun and WIRED before turning his attention to comics. His previous credits include the critically lauded Phonogram with frequent creative partner Jamie McKelvie, as well as Thor, S.W.O.R.D. and Generation Hope. Gillen relaunched two long-standing Marvel series in Uncanny X-Men and Journey into Mystery before again teaming with McKelvie for an acclaimed take on Young Avengers. Gillen turned his attention to Iron Man for Marvel NOW! and proved the perfect scribe to put carefully chosen words into the mouth of a legendary Star Wars villain in Darth Vader. Gillen introduced Doctor Aphra into the galaxy far, far away in those pages, and continues her adventures in her own series.
Writer Al Ewing began his career on the British anthology 2000 AD. Since breaking into American comics, he has written Jennifer Blood and spin-off series The Ninjettes for Dynamite Entertainment, and the Age of Ultron tie-in issues of Avengers Assemble for Marvel Comics. Ewing’s novels include the Pax Britannia series as well as The Fictional Man. With artist Greg Land, he relaunched Marvel’s Mighty Avengers; for All-New Marvel NOW!, gave the god of mischief a new assignment in Loki: Agent of Asgard. Ewing then took revamped versions of New Avengers and Ultimates, debuted U.S.Avengers; and joined the writing team for the “No Surrender” storyline in Avengers, which brought the Hulk back from the dead. His subsequent titles include Valkyrie, Guardians of the Galaxy, Defenders, the event series Empyre and the critically revered smash hit Immortal Hulk. Ewing has cemented his place in the Krakoan era of the X-Men titles comics with S.W.O.R.D. and X-Men: Red.
Simon Spurrier is a rising talent in the U.S. comics world, but his work is well-known in his native England. He is a regular contributor to the venerable sci-fi comics anthology 2000 AD. On this side of the pond, Spurrier wrote Silver Surfer: In Thy Name and Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch for Marvel before fully unleashing his idiosyncratic voice through the multiple-personality mutant Legion in the pages of X-Men: Legacy. Spurrier’s recent titles include X-Force and the Secret Wars tie-in Marvel Zombies.
Paco Medina has illustrated a range of Marvel Comics — including New X-Men: Academy X, Captain Marvel, Thor, Venom, Marvel Team-Up, New Mutants and New Warriors, as well as relaunches of Deadpool and X-Men. Firmly established as a Marvel mainstay, Medina has enjoyed lengthy runs on Ultimate Comics X-Men, Nova and Legendary Star-Lord, as well as a major role in the Avengers storyline “No Surrender.”
Italian-born artist Andrea Di Vito’s work for Marvel Comics includes the limited series Annihilation and Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill; the one-shot What If Aunt May Had Died Instead of Uncle Ben?; and stints on series such as Captain America and the Falcon, Thing, Thor and Young Avengers. His first published work in the United States was a pinup in Marvel Shadows and Light.
Alessandro Vitti got his start collaborating with famous Italian cartoonist Giuseppe Palumbo on Inventario, before being published in various magazines and newspapers in his native Italy. His 2007 work for French imprint Soleil brought him further notice, as did Marvel Italy’s X-Campus series. His art on Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Warriors marked his Marvel debut. His other credits include Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural and Broken Trinity: Pandora’s Box.