Val Mayerik

Val Mayerik was born in Youngstown, Ohio. As a young adult, he worked in steel mills to pay his way through college.

Under the mentorship of Dan Adkins, Val received his first assignment at Marvel Comics: a series featuring the barbarian Thongor. He went on to illustrate classic monster titles like The Frankenstein Monster and The Living Mummy, and co-created the iconic Howard the Duck.

Val has worked with nearly every major comic book publisher. Since the 1990s, he has focused on advertising, producing storyboards and related work—an area he continues to thrive in.

If you're interested in hiring Val for advertising work, please use the contact form to reach out.

Recently, Val has returned to comics, inspired by the medium’s creative renaissance. Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, he is currently working on Of Dust and Blood, an original graphic novel about Little Big Horn.

He is also illustrating a story for the comic series Angel Punk, part of an upcoming run in Dark Horse Presents. More comic projects are in the pipeline—stay tuned!

Val will be attending a limited number of conventions in Fall and Winter 2022, continuing into early 2023. If you'd like to invite him to a convention or request a commission, feel free to get in touch.

In addition to comics, Val paints western art and is an avid horseman.

For more about Val Mayerik’s career: Val's Website

Gary Gianni

Gary Gianni is an American comics artist best known for his eight years illustrating the syndicated newspaper comic Prince Valiant.

After graduating from the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in 1976, he worked for the Chicago Tribune as an illustrator and for network television news as a courtroom sketch artist.

He illustrated magazines, children's books, and paperbacks, making his comic debut in 1990 with adaptations of The Tales of O. Henry and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for Classics Illustrated.

Gianni contributed to Dark Horse Comics titles including Indiana Jones and the Shrine of the Sea Devil and The Shadow. He also illustrated Savage Tales of Solomon Kane (1998) and Bran Mak Morn: The Last King (2001) for Wandering Star Press.

He took over Prince Valiant in 2004 after John Cullen Murphy’s retirement, continuing until 2012 when Thomas Yeates succeeded him.

In 2015, Gianni illustrated A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a prequel to George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.

For more about Gary Gianni’s career: Gary's Facebook Page

Aaron Lopresti

Aaron Lopresti’s first published work of note was the Malibu Comics title Sludge in 1993. He has since illustrated titles for Marvel including X-Men, Captain Marvel, Planet Hulk, and Ms. Marvel.

At DC Comics, he was the artist for Wonder Woman (issues #20–23, 26–30, 32–40), alternating with Bernard Chang. He also contributed covers for Adventure Comics and Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton, and interior art for Justice League: Generation Lost.

During DC’s New 52 relaunch in 2011, Lopresti penciled the new Justice League International series with writer Dan Jurgens. In 2012, he teamed up with Christy Marx to revive Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld in Sword of Sorcery.

He later wrote and illustrated the serialized Garbage Man series for DC Comics, featured in Weird Worlds and My Greatest Adventure. The story follows a young corporate lawyer turned toxic muck monster, created to fill the void left by Swamp Thing’s absence from the DCU.

His work continued with Detective Comics, Legends of the Dark Knight, and his first creator-owned project Power Cubed (Dark Horse Comics). He also wrote and illustrated a revamped Metamorpho series for DC.

For more about Aaron Lopresti’s career: Aaron Lopresti Website

Randy Emberlin

Randy Emberlin is a comic book artist, inker, and animator with over 30 years of experience across multiple creative fields. His work spans comic books, educational illustrations, and animation for more than 50 television commercials.

He is best known for inking over 4,000 pages of comic art, including long runs on Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man (#339–410), Web of Spider-Man (#117–129), GI Joe (#65–126), Doctor Strange, Alien Legion, and many others. He co-created Carnage and contributed to the Maximum Carnage and Clone Saga storylines.

His work also includes titles for Dark Horse (Ghost, Star Wars: Crimson Empire II, Aliens, Predator, and R.I.P.D.) and DC Comics (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Shadow of the Bat).

Randy has collaborated with a wide range of pencilers and is known for his versatile inking style. Each July, he and his wife Judy host three weeks of Summer Comic Book Art Camps in Portland, Oregon, supported by Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Archie Comics for students aged 10–18.

He’s happy to sign books or send autographs—just reach out by email!

For more about Randy Emberlin’s career: Randy Emberlin's Website

Mike Royer

Mike Royer moved to Southern California in 1965 to pursue a career in comic art. His first 14 years were spent working in comic books, comic strips, and TV animation. He began as Russ Manning’s assistant on Magnus, Robot Fighter and Tarzan, eventually lettering and inking the syndicated Tarzan and Star Wars strips.

He worked for Western Publishing (Gold Key), inking artists like Sparky Moore, Mike Arens, Paul Norris, and Doug Wildley. His drawing assignments included Tarzan, Space Ghost, and various Hanna-Barbera titles. He also contributed to Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella magazines, and illustrated over two dozen Crusin’ record album covers.

Mike is best known to comic fans for his decade as letterer/inker for Jack Kirby at National and Marvel. From 1979, he spent 14 years on staff at Walt Disney’s Consumer Product/Licensing division, working on publishing, merchandise, and theme park art as a character designer and concept artist.

At Disney, he designed the Dick Tracy and 3-D Rocketeer comic book read-alongs and created the “new look” for Winnie the Pooh, which launched a global licensing boom. He later freelanced for The Disney Store, becoming their “Main Pooh Man.”

Since 2000, Mike has worked as an art service provider, creating character orthographic turns, environment layouts, and product designs for clients including Digimon, Reader Rabbit, Rescue Heroes, and Fox Kids.

For more about Mike Royer’s career: Mike's Bio Website

John Livesay

John Livesay was born in Detroit, Michigan and has been a professional comic book artist for over 28 years. He has worked with nearly every major comic publisher, including Marvel, DC, Image, IDW, and Valiant.

His portfolio includes iconic characters such as Spider-Man, The Avengers, X-Men, Batman, and The Flash. John’s dynamic inking style has contributed to some of the most popular and classic stories in the medium.

He lives in Southern California with his wife Felicia and daughter Olivia. A passionate collector of comics and comic art, John has long run out of space for his ever-growing collection of long boxes.

For more about John Livesay’s work: John's Instagram

Matt & Mikey Cossin

Matt Cossin and Mikey Cossin are a dynamic creative duo known for their vivid character designs, imaginative storytelling, and collaborative energy. Their work spans original illustrations, fan art, and genre-spanning pieces that blend horror, fantasy, and pop culture.

Whether it’s zombies, cats, or stylized portraits, their art showcases bold linework, expressive color, and a playful sense of composition. They’ve appeared at conventions across the West Coast and continue to build a loyal following through their prints, commissions, and collaborative projects.

Matt and Mikey’s table is always a highlight—full of energy, creativity, and a love for the craft.

Matt Cossin

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Matt Cossin is an American artist, colorist, and writer. His credits include work for Devil's Due Publishing on G.I. Joe, Boom! Studios on Zombie Tales and Hunter's Fortune, and Humanoids on Flywires.

Matt collaborates with his brother Mikey under the name Cossin Bros, and together they self-published Weirdos volumes 1 and 2 in 1995. He splits his time between comics and film, driven by a deep love for storytelling. When not drawing, Matt is likely writing screenplays in a dimly lit room.

Mikey Cossin

Mikey is a prolific character designer and storyteller. He enjoys creating comics, building things, and working in black-and-white sequential art. Currently, he’s known for his precision as a comic book colorist—earning a reputation for “Deadline Marksmanship.”

He’s passionate about connecting with kind, straightforward people and lives by the quote: “The world don't meet no one half way.”

More about their work: King Maker's Website
Watch: Mikey's Interview
Follow: Matt's Twitter

Joe Rubinstein

Josef “Joe” Rubinstein began his career in the early 1970s as a teenager and quickly became one of the most prolific inkers in comic book history. His work has appeared across every major U.S. publisher, including Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse.

He holds a Guinness World Record for inking more pencilers than any other inker, largely due to his 20-year run on The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. His credits span over 2,500 comic books, including collaborations with Michael Golden on Micronauts, Jim Starlin’s Warlock, Frank Miller’s original Wolverine mini-series, and Aquaman with Don Newton.

Joe’s later work includes Archenemies for Dark Horse and co-inking DC’s Ion mini-series. He continues to ink projects for DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Kingstone Publishing.

Learn more: Joe's Wikipedia Page

Scott Shaw!

For over fifty years, Scott Shaw! has been a creative force across comics, animation, advertising, and pop culture. His work spans underground comix (Fear and Laughter, Gory Stories Quarterly), mainstream comics (Captain Carrot, Sonic the Hedgehog, Simpsons Comics), syndicated strips (Bugs Bunny, Woodsy Owl), and graphic novels (Shrek, Annoying Orange).

Scott has contributed to TV cartoons (Muppet Babies, Ed Grimley, Camp Candy), toys (McFarlane’s Hanna-Barbera and Simpsons figures), trading cards (Garbage Pail Kids), video games, cereal ads, T-shirts, and music packaging. He recently produced and storyboarded a promotional animated short for Marooned Lagoon, and continues to publish new work in Aces Weekly and Retrofan Magazine.

His accolades include four Emmy Awards, an Eisner Award, and a Humanitas Award. He’s known for his live presentations of “Oddball Comics” and his regular appearances in “Quick Draw!” with Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragonés. Scott is also one of the co-originators of what became Comic-Con International.

Learn more: Scott's Website
Follow: Scott's Wikipedia Page

Marv Wolfman

Marv Wolfman is a multi-award-winning writer whose career spans comic books, animation, video games, theme park attractions, novels, and more. He has created more characters that have transitioned to TV, toys, and film than anyone since Stan Lee.

His iconic creations include Blade, Black Cat, Terrax, Bullseye, Nova, Nightwing, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, and Deathstroke. His work on The New Teen Titans with George Pérez became DC’s best-selling comic for over a decade, and his groundbreaking mini-series Crisis on Infinite Earths redefined the DC Universe and pioneered the concept of company-wide crossovers.

Marv has served as Editor-in-Chief at Marvel, Senior Editor at DC Comics, and founding Editor of Disney Adventures magazine. His novelization of Superman Returns won the Scribe Award, and his script for Epic Mickey 2 was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award.

Learn more: Marv's Website
Follow: Marv's Facebook Page

Eric Ninaltowski

Eric Ninaltowski has been a published professional for over 15 years, working across indie comics, graphic novels, sketch cards, and custom commissions. His credits include:

• Comic intro for Disney XD’s Mighty Med
• Background inks on The MEG comic adaptation
• Two issues of Rooted Chronicles: Samson
• Pencils on OSSM Comics’ Monomyth (3-issue series)
• Sketch cards for Upper Deck, Rittenhouse, and Cryptozoic

Eric is currently producing his creator-owned comic Shadow Sentry—a supernatural superhero team book described as “X-Men meets The Matrix.” He’s also known for his highly detailed sketch cover commissions and is always open for custom work at shows.

Explore more: Eric's Website
Follow: Eric's Instagram