Jim Zub Best known, apart from Conan, for Skullkickers which launched in 2010 and ran for 33 issues. He is a writer, artist, and editor who got his break in 2001 with his first comic Makeshit Miracle. He went on to write for IDW, Marvel and Cartoon Network and has written for Street Fighter, Samurai Jack, Thunderbolts, Uncanny Avengers, Dungeons and Dragons, Wolverine and created Wayward. In 2019 Zub wrote Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons: Chapter II: Painscape which was nominated for the 2022 Eisner ‘Best Graphic Album’. Over his career he has won and been nominated for numerous awards including the Web Cartoonists’ Choice Award, Yalsa, Animex, and the Jos Shuster Canadian Comic Award for Outstanding Writer.
ALEX HORLEY Real name Alessandro Orlandelli, he was born in the small town of Opera in the outskirts of Milan Italy. His love for the fantastic came early while reading his favorite Marvel comics in the seventies.
After high school he was accepted into the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts of Milan. During his first year he was invited to take an internship at the academy’s museum “Gallery of Brera.” He started his professional career right away creating covers for video game and role playing game magazines throughout the European Market. It was then the editors and art directors at DC Comics discovered Alex’s work. He signed on for a Lobo mini-series, several painted covers and story layouts for both the DC and Vertigo division. He was also part of the Batman Master Series. He was also chosen to be one of the artists to be featured in the Frank Frazetta Fantasy Illustrated Magazine.
In addition to Heavy Metal, Alex produced cover art for countless comics and magazines including titles for Devils Due, Vampirella, and the Comic Book Buyers Guide. DC Comics then enlisted Alex to fully paint the six issue mini-series “Lobo Unbound”. The first issue was an instant sell out and DC Direct asked Alex to design a high end limited edition statue based on the cover art from the issue.
During this time Alex began to work with the gaming company Wizards of the Coast on one of the most popular trading card games in the world, Magic: The Gathering and has produced more the 120 cards for the game. He was also one of a select group of artists chosen to work on their Harry Potter Game.
Gene Simmons of the legendary band KISS commissioned Alex for several pieces to bring visual impact to several projects he has in development. Alex consistently produces a variety of art for ground breaking musician and film maker Rob Zombie including color storyboards and advertising art for his films.
Next Alex began working with the Upper Deck Entertainment Company for several of their new trading card games. The company was so impressed with the packaging art he created for the “Marvel Team Up” set, he was asked to create the first box art for their “Pirates of the Caribbean” game in association with The Disney Company. Soon after, he was asked to start producing art for a new game to be based on one of the biggest properties in the computer gaming industry, “World of Warcraft.” His eye-popping illustrations became an instant favorite amongst the staff of the games creators at Blizzard Entertainment. In the fall of 2010, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Taiwan featured 700 pieces of art from Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo, Starcraft, and World of Warcraft in a series titled “Fights, Flights and Frights Inside the Storm”. Alex’s 16x20 oil painting of “Tosh from Starcraft and owned by Blizzard Entertainment was prominently featured in the exhibition.
Alex continues to receive rave reviews for his work around the globe from some of the biggest publications in the field including Fantasy Art Now, The Future of Fantasy Art, Spectrum Fantastic Art, ImagineFX, Beckett Massive Online Gamer, DRAW, and China’s Fantasy Art Magazine.
