Marvel Team-Up Omnibus Vol. 2 Gil Kane Cover

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.

Bill Mantlo began his Marvel career on Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, in which he introduced White Tiger, one of the industry’s earliest Hispanic super heroes. Eventually writing stories for almost every Marvel title, he did some of his most fondly remembered work on Incredible Hulk and Spectacular Spider-Man. He also created Rocket Raccoon, launched Cloak & Dagger in a pair of miniseries and guided Alpha Flight through some of its most harrowing ordeals. Mantlo excelled at integrating licensed properties into the Marvel Universe, as demonstrated by Micronauts and Rom, both of which he wrote from start to finish. At DC, he wrote the Invasion miniseries for one of the company’s biggest crossover events.

Industry legend Chris Claremont is best known for his epic sixteen-year run on Uncanny X-Men. Claremont’s focus on the themes of prejudice and tolerance struck at the hearts of comics fans, and he built an unparalleled following during the next three decades. Under his pen, the X-Men franchise spawned a vast array of spin-offs, many of them written by Claremont himself. His other credits include Iron Fist, Ms. Marvel, Power Man and Spider-Woman. Claremont has returned to the X-Men universe in New Exiles, GeNext, X-Men Forever, Chaos War: X-Men and Nightcrawler.

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.

In the 1970s, Tony Isabella wrote for as eclectic a set of characters as can be imagined — including Black Goliath, Captain America, Champions, Ghost Rider, Astonishing Tales' It the Living Colossus, Luke Cage Hero for Hire and Marvel Chillers' Tigra. At DC, he co-created Black Lightning and collaborated with Richard Howell on Shadow War of Hawkman. He wrote Justice Machine for two separate publishers and has announced his intention to write Heroic Publishing's Tigress. In Comics Buyers Guide, his “Tony’s Tips” column is a regular feature.

Roger Stern enjoyed well-regarded runs on Amazing Spider-Man, in which he introduced Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) and the Hobgoblin; Avengers; and Captain America. He launched West Coast Avengers and wrote numerous tie-in miniseries starring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. At DC, he relaunched Atom and co-created Starman (Will Payton) before participating in one of comics’ most shocking events: the 1992 “Death of Superman.” He later returned to Marvel to write Amazing Spider-Man and related titles.

Scott Lobdell wrote both Uncanny X-Men and X-Men during the 1990s. He also launched Generation X and Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, and penned Alpha Flight and Fantastic Four. Elsewhere, he wrote Dark Horse’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Fabian Nicieza, Wildstorm’s Gen13, Top Cow’s Darkness, and IDW’s Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression and Galaxy Quest. Lobdell scripted Stan Lee’s animated film Mosaic and has performed as a stand-up comedian.

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.

John Byrne has worked continuously in the comics industry as both writer and artist since 1975. After he initially collaborated with writer Chris Claremont on Iron Fist, Byrne and Claremont moved on to X-Men for a run still regarded as one of the title’s finest. Byrne contributed an equally famed stint on Fantastic Four, earning comparisons to the original Lee/Kirby issues for his imaginative plotlines and dynamic artwork. He also spun Alpha Flight into its own title. In 1986, he revamped DC’s flagship hero, Superman, reimagining the Man of Steel in a historic project heralded by a Time magazine cover. His remarkable contribution to the Marvel Universe extends to memorable associations with virtually every major hero, including celebrated runs on Captain America, Iron Man, Sensational She-Hulk, Namor the Sub-Mariner and Thing. In the 21st century, Byrne’s considerable body of work includes IDW’s Star Trek and Angel.

“Do you print [them] too?” a young Stan Lee once supposedly asked Jim Mooney (1919-2008). Mooney’s career as penciler, inker, colorist and letterer dates back to the Golden Age — during which he drew stories featuring super heroes and funny animals alike. In the Silver Age, he inked John Buscema’s Thor and John Romita’s Amazing Spider-Man. At DC, Mooney penciled Batman, Superboy and World’s Finest, among others.

In 1976, Ross Andru (1927-1993) made comic-book history by penciling the first large-scale intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man, having spent years illustrating both characters in various titles. He also made Marvel history in Marvel Feature, drawing the Defenders’ first appearance. At DC, he spent nine years collaborating with Bob Kanigher on Wonder Woman. With Marv Wolfman and Mike Esposito, he co-created Vigilante (Adrian Chase).

Ron Wilson began penciling the Thing’s Two-in-One adventures in 1975 and remained for most of the title’s run. He subsequently illustrated follow-up series Thing until its end in 1986. Wilson also contributed art for Avengers, Captain Britain, Power Man and other titles, including the entire run of Marvel’s licensed Masters of the Universe series. At DC, he provided character designs for the Milestone imprint.

One of the Golden Age’s earliest talents, George Tuska (1916-2009) created characters for Fiction House, Harvey Comics and Fawcett Comics’ Captain Marvel Adventures, among many others. He helped launch one of the most popular post-war genres in Lev Gleason’s Crime Does Not Pay. He eventually provided multi-genre art for Atlas Comics, to which he returned following its transformation into Marvel. Tuska penciled Ghost Rider, Luke Cage: Power Man and Sub-Mariner, as well as a ten-year Iron Man stint. At DC, he illustrated Challengers of the Unknown and Superman, among others. As a comic-strip artist, Tuska drew Buck Rogers, Scorchy Smith and DC’s World’s Greatest Superheroes. His final industry work was cover art for Masquerade, part of Dynamite’s Golden Age character revival, bringing him full circle.
The Marvel Preview series “The Sword and The Star” was not only Rocket Raccoon’s first appearance, but Keith Giffen’s first published work. He moved into more mainstream titles with Defenders, penciling the adventures of the infamous non-team during some of its most nontraditional storylines. It was at DC, however, that he achieved his greatest recognition with creations Ambush Bug, an irreverent wannabe hero who tackled the comics industry itself, and alien mercenary Lobo, who was meant as an indictment of the violent vigilante genre, but became its most extreme success story. In addition to famed stints on Legion of Super-Heroes and Justice League, he also wrote X-O Manowar and Magnus, Robot Fighter for Valiant Comics, and adapted mangas Battle Royale and Ikki Tousen into English. He has played a vital role in cosmic crossovers at both Marvel and DC, writing Annihilation tie-ins for the former, and penciling 52 and Countdown to Final Crisis for the latter.