Since his start on the New Universe’s Psi-Force and backup stories in Classic X-Men, Fabian Nicieza has written most of Marvel’s major super-teams — including Alpha Flight, the Avengers, the New Warriors, the Thunderbolts and the X-Men. Together with artist Rob Liefeld, Nicieza transformed New Mutants into the blockbuster X-Force. The writer also tackled solo heroes ranging from Cable and Deadpool (later combined in Cable & Deadpool) to Gambit and Nomad. He edited Marvel’s Star imprint, contributed to multititle X-events like “X-Cutioner’s Song” and “Phalanx Covenant,” and wrote various “pre-modern” limited series such as Adventures of Captain America and Citizen V and the V-Battalion. Elsewhere, he has written both JLA and Justice League Adventures, The 99, Turok, X-Files, and others.
Dan Slott has built a loyal fan base by combining old-school fun with stories and characterizations friendly to new readers. Following his run on She-Hulk, Slott moved into the upper echelon of Marvel writers, launching Avengers: The Initiative and taking the reins on Mighty Avengers from Brian Michael Bendis. When Marvel gave Spider-Man a fresh start in 2008, Slott was one of several rotating writers on the thrice-monthly Amazing Spider-Man. Slott became the writer most closely identified with the web-slinger’s “Brand New Day” era, and the title hit the “Big Time” when he took over as full-time writer for a decade-long run. Slott has also turned his talents to other iconic Marvel heroes — including soaring the spaceways with Silver Surfer; helming Tony Stark: Iron Man toward Iron Man 2020; and masterminding the glorious return of Fantastic Four, leading to his long-awaited “Reckoning War.” In 2022, Slott made his way back to the Spider-Verse, teaming with legendary penciler Mark Bagley on Spider-Man.
Kurt Busiek is perhaps most famous for his Eisner Award-winning collaboration with Alex Ross on Marvels, a fully painted classic that still amazes a quarter of a century later. Busiek launched Thunderbolts in the wake of “Heroes Reborn,” later writing Avengers and Iron Man upon the heroes’ return to the Marvel Universe. He teamed his two signature supergroups in the Avengers vs. Thunderbolts miniseries and spanned the history of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in Avengers Forever. He has revisited the Modern Era’s early years in such titles as Amazing Fantasy, Iron Man: The Iron Age, Thor: Godstorm and Untold Tales of Spider-Man. At DC, he has written multiple Justice League and Superman titles, and even pitted the Avengers against the JLA in a blockbuster crossover. Busiek launched his own super-hero multiverse with his Astro City series, which he’s been writing since 1995. Busiek has returned to the world of Marvels for various projects, including curating Marvels Snapshots and writing the series The Marvels.
Hired on the strength of his Official Marvel Tryout penciling submission, Mark Bagley rose to prominence as the artist of 1990s sleeper hit New Warriors. Following an acclaimed run on Amazing Spider-Man, he worked with writer Kurt Busiek on Thunderbolts. When Marvel launched its Ultimate line, Bagley and Brian Michael Bendis led the way with Ultimate Spider-Man, whose years of success made the pair the longest-running creative team in Marvel history. Bendis and Bagley have also collaborated on Avengers Assemble and the creator-owned Brilliant. His subsequent credits include Fantastic Four, Cataclysm: The Ultimates’ Last Stand, Hulk, All-New X-Men and Venom.
Javier Saltares created a name for himself as both an inker and a pencil artist. His comics career started on New Universe titles such as Psi-Force, Justice and D.P. 7 — but in 1990, with penciler and future brother-in-law Mark Texeira, Saltares helped create the intense visual style that made Ghost Rider one of the most popular comics of the decade. In recent years, after a turn drawing G.I. Joe for Devil’s Due, Saltares returned to Marvel, re-teaming with Texeira on Wolverine and the Ghost Rider revival by writer Daniel Way.
