Venom: Black, White & Blood

After beginning his writing career on DC horror titles, David Michelinie moved to Marvel. He and co-writer/inker Bob Layton established Iron Man’s battle with alcoholism, use of specialized armor variants and vendetta against Doctor Doom, as well as other aspects of the character that endure to this day. Michelinie’s unique blend of action, suspense and humor distinguished not only Iron Man, but also Amazing Spider-Man. With artist Todd McFarlane, he introduced the vicious vigilante Venom; he also wrote the first Venom limited series, Lethal Protector. Michelinie’s run as Amazing writer was second in length only to that of Stan Lee himself, while he also authored tie-in titles Spectacular Spider-Man, Web of Spider-Man and Spider-Man. He moved from Marvel’s flagship character to DC’s with a stint on Superman’s Action Comics, later returning to the world of Tony Stark for writing collaborations with Bob Layton on Iron Man: Legacy of Doom and Iron Man: The End.

A native New Yorker, writer J.M. DeMatteis has been one of comics’ most respected writers for nearly three decades. Ranging from the introspective psychological drama of Moonshadow to the offbeat comedy of Justice League to the autobiographical Brooklyn Dreams, he’s written from nearly every perspective in graphic storytelling. His long list of credits includes Captain America, Defenders, Justice League International, the groundbreaking Spider-Man storyline “Kraven’s Last Hunt," Spectre and more. His recent work includes the acclaimed children's novel Imaginalis and the popular comics-prose hybrid Abadazad books.

Writer Ryan North went the self-publishing route to launch his comics career with Dinosaur Comics, which has run for more than 2,000 web-based strips. He describes it as basically the best job ever. In 2012, he was tapped by BOOM! Studios to write its new Adventure Time series based on the popular cartoon. His Marvel debut came in 2014 when he penned the Young Avengers chapters of Original Sins. North propelled an unlikely character to solo title success with the Eisner Award-winning series The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and took Lockjaw solo in the pages of Inhumans: Once and Future Kings. He rewrote the Shakespeare rulebook with Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable-Path Adventure.

Following stints at AC Comics and Eclipse, Erik Larsen replaced fan-favorite Todd McFarlane on Amazing Spider-Man and quickly became a legend in his own right, chronicling Spidey’s cosmic-powered and powerless phases. His other Marvel credits include Defenders, Fantastic Four, Nova and Wolverine. At DC, he has penciled Doom Patrol, Outsiders, Teen Titans and others. Larsen’s greatest fame may be as creator of Savage Dragon at Image Comics, which he helped found and where he served as publisher for four years.

Karla Pacheco is a general vagabond and former radio deejay turned comedy writer and comics creator. She's written for Dynamite Entertainment, Oni (Rick & Morty) and Marvel (Gwenpool, Fearless, Punisher Annual, Fantastic Four 2099, Spider-Woman). Pacheco lives in the Pacific Northwest on a boat named "The Slippery Pig" with her dog Edison, and won the Exxon Valdez from the movie Waterworld by fighting in the Thunderdome. Yes, really.


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.

Chris Bachalo spent the early years of his career collaborating with writer Neil Gaiman; his quirky style proved a perfect fit for the offbeat Sandman character Death in Death: The High Cost of Living and its sequel, Death: The Time of Your Life. His initial Marvel work on Generation X began a long association with the X-Universe across various titles that saw him become a fan-favorite artist for Marvel’s mutants. Subsequently, he created Steampunk with Joe Kelly, and made forays into the Ultimate Universe and a big splash in the “Brand New Day” era of Amazing Spider-Man. His art has also graced the pages of New Avengers and the Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-Man limited series, as well as Marvel NOW!’s Uncanny X-Men. Bachalo helped reinvigorate Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme along with writer Jason Aaron on Doctor Strange. His subsequent work has included Deadpool and the high-octane, web-slinging action of Non-Stop Spider-Man.

Rising star Dave Wachter has worked extensively on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for IDW, also illustrating the Godzilla: Cataclysm series for the publisher. He caught the eye of Marvel fans with Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon and helped launch a new Planet of the Apes series.

Following stints at AC Comics and Eclipse, Erik Larsen replaced fan-favorite Todd McFarlane on Amazing Spider-Man and quickly became a legend in his own right, chronicling Spidey’s cosmic-powered and powerless phases. His other Marvel credits include Defenders, Fantastic Four, Nova and Wolverine. At DC, he has penciled Doom Patrol, Outsiders, Teen Titans and others. Larsen’s greatest fame may be as creator of Savage Dragon at Image Comics, which he helped found and where he served as publisher for four years.

Spanish artist Pere Pérez has worked for Moonstone Books (Twilight Crusade: Templar), Devil’s Due (Dragonlance Chronicles), Dynamite Entertainment (Savage Tales), Valiant Entertainment (Archer & Armstrong, Faith) and DC Comics (Action Comics, Batgirl). For Marvel, Pérez has illustrated Deadpool vs. Punisher, Rogue & Gambit and War of the Realms: X-Men. He joined writer Karla Pacheco on a lengthy, well-received Spider-Woman run.

Artist Robert Gill brought his talents to Totally Awesome Hulk during the acclaimed “Weapons of Mutant Destruction” crossover, and then joined writer Sina Grace on the Iceman solo series. His other Marvel credits include Atlantis Attacks, Old Man Quill and an extensive collaboration with Benjamin Percy on X-Force.