Sam has over 60 films and hundreds of TV shows to his credit. In 1980 he became famous worldwide as the Classic Sci-Fi Superhero in the blockbuster film FLASH GORDON. This iconic role has recently been celebrated as Sam played himself in Seth MacFarlane’s films TED and TED 2 and the documentary LIFE AFTER FLASH. Genre TV fans know him as THE SPIRIT (1987), as the series lead in THE HIGHWAYMAN, and as bounty hunter Aris Boch in STARGATE SG-1. Sam’s current films include: FURY OF THE FIST AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE, AXCELLERATOR, ONE OF THE GOOD ONES, and the upcoming releases EDGAR ALLEN POE’S DECAPITARIUM 3D and THE SILENT NATURAL. As a former Marine and security professional, Sam brings a rare and unique quality to the film industry, and has received many entertainment, civic and humanitarian titles and awards.

A TV favorite for over 40 years, New York native Peter Scolari is best known for his starring role in BOSOM BUDDIES, his Emmy-nominated performances in NEWHART, his Emmy win for HBO’s GIRLS, and as the lead in HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS: THE TV SHOW. His many appearances include: FOSSE/VERDON, MADOFF, MURPHY BROWN, HAPPY DAYS, FAMILY TIES, THE LOVE BOAT, THE NANNY, etc. Peter is well known to Genre fans for his live action roles in THE TWILIGHT ZONE, SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH, LOIS & CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, and as the corrupt Commissioner Loeb in GOTHAM. He has voiced roles in dozens of cartoons such as: BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, AMERICAN DAD!, WHAT’S NEW, SCOOBY DOO?, ANIMANIACS, PINKY AND THE BRAIN, THE POLAR EXPRESS, GARGOYLES, HEY ARNOLD!, DUCKMAN, and as The Atom in BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD.

As an author, illustrator, musician, art director, magician, designer, escape artist, filmmaker, pop-culture lecturer, and publisher, Steranko has cut a ferocious path through the entertainment arts. More than 150 innovations he created as artist-writer on Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D., CAPTAIN AMERICA, and X-MEN revolutionized the comics form and, as an illustrator, he painted a multitude of book covers, including 30 SHADOW paperbacks.

Photo Courtesy Luigi Novi

Bob Rozakis is a veteran of the Bronze Age of Comics and beyond, working at DC Comics from 1973 until 1998. During that time, Bob was DC's Answer Man, using his vast knowledge of the company's history and characters to respond to all sorts of readers' questions, first in print and later online. As a writer, Bob is perhaps best known as the co-creator of ‘MAZING MAN, but his credits include more than four hundred stories featuring Superman, Batman and virtually every other DC character. He is also the creator or co-creator of the Calculator, Bumblebee, Hero Hotline and Duela Dent (The Joker’s Daughter), among many others. He is the author of THE SECRET HISTORY OF AA COMICS (an alternate history of the comic book business) and THE ANSWER MAN’S BOOK OF TRIVIA QUIZZES.

Writer/editor/cartoonist/illustrator/actor/musician Larry Hama has worked in comics, tv and film. In comics, he has written, edited or drawn for AVENGERS, BLAZE, NTH MAN, THE ‘NAM, CONAN, BATMAN, WONDER WOMAN, BIZARRE ADVENTURES, X-MEN, SPIDER-MAN, DAREDEVIL, and dozens more. He is best known as the writer of Marvel’s GI JOE comics in the ‘80s, and as the writer of Marvel’s WOLVERINE in the ‘90s. Recent script credits include BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT and WONDER WOMAN for DC CONVERGENCE, GI ORIGINS AND GI JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO for IDW, and CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS for Dark Horse. Recent art credits: breakdowns for DC’s DEATHSTROKE, DAMAGE, and WILDSTORM: MICHAEL CRAY. His illustrations and cartoons have appeared in NATIONAL LAMPOON, ESQUIRE, NEW YORK MAGAZINE, and ROLLING STONE. His comics have been translated in ten languages worldwide. He has appeared on Broadway in Stephen Sondheim’s PACIFIC OVERTURES and on TV in M*A*S*H, SNL and ANOTHER WORLD. He lives in NYC.

Paul Kupperberg is a writer of novels, short stories, comic books, and nonfiction, including THE SAME OLD STORY and IN MY SHORTS: HITLER'S BELLHOP AND OTHER STORIES (both from Crazy8Press.com). He has written over 1,000 comic books, including SUPERMAN, SUPERGIRL, and THE DOOM PATROL, and is the author of the GLAAD Media Award nominated and 2014 IAMTW Scribe Award-winning young adult novel, KEVIN (Grosset & Dunlap), as well as the Harvey and Eisner Awards nominated LIFE WITH ARCHIE series (including the controversial “Death of Archie” story line) for Archie Comics. Paul is the executive editor and writer for Charlton Neo Comics (http://morttodd.com/charlton.html). You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter (@PaulKupperberg), and at PaulKupperberg.com. For information about Paul’s small press Buffalo Avenue Comics, contact him at Pkupps55@yahoo.com.

Paul Levitz is a comic fan (THE COMIC READER), editor (BATMAN), writer (LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, executive (30 years at DC, ending as President & Publisher), historian (WILL EISNER: CHAMPION OF THE GRAPHIC NOVEL)) and educator (Columbia, Pace, Manhattanville). He received two consecutive Comic Art Fan Awards for Best Fanzine, Comic-Con International’s Inkpot Award, the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, the Comics Industry Appreciation Award from ComicsPro, the Dick Giordano Humanitarian Award from the Hero Initiative, and has been inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame. His 75 YEARS OF DC COMICS won the Eisner Award, Eagle Award and Peng Pris, and has been released in multiple formats. His over 500 comics have been collected in over 20 graphic novels. Levitz also serves on the board of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and Boom! Studios.

Michael Jan Friedman is the author of 78 books of fiction and non-fiction, about half of them set in the STAR TREK universe. Eleven of his titles, including the autobiography HOLLYWOOD HULK HOGAN and GHOST HUNTING (written with SciFi’s Ghost Hunters), have appeared on the New York Times primary bestseller list. Mike has also worked in network and cable television, radio, and magazine publishing. His involvement in comic books includes a seven-year run on DC's STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION and the creation of DC's cosmic superhero title DARKSTARS. He co-wrote the story for the acclaimed second-season STAR TREK: VOYAGER episode “Resistance,” which guest-starred Joel Grey. Mike's most recent work is the graphic novel EMPTY SPACE, a deep-space mystery saga. His website is MichaelJanFriedman.net. As always, Mike advises readers that no matter how many Friedmans they know, he is probably not related to any of them.

NYC native, painter, and illustrator Mark Texeira was granted the Presidential Scholarship at the School of Visual Arts. His career began in the early 80s at DC Comics on such titles as: HOUSE OF MYSTERY, THE SWAMP THING (movie adaptation), WARLORD, and several minicomics sold with the toys for Mattel’s MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. His Marvel Comics credits include: BUCKAROO BANZAI, PSI-FORCE, THE PUNISHER, GHOST RIDER, WOLVERINE, DARKMAN, and SABRETOOTH. Tex is credited in the last four Marvel Studios movies for co-creating with Christopher Priest the fierce female warriors the Dora Milaje in BLACK PANTHER. Recently he has worked on the JONAH HEX/YOSEMITE SAM SPECIAL and the DEATHSTROKE/YOGI BEAR SPECIAL for DC, and for Insight Comics the graphic novel A MILLION WAYS TO DIE HARD with Frank Tieri, based on the film franchise. Tex can be found painting and hanging art at his old digs the Art Students League in NY.

Veteran penciler and inker Larry Stroman has worked at many companies over the years including Marvel, DC, First, Valiant, Image, Fleetway/Quality, Dark Horse, Continuity, and Titan Comics. Among his many credits are: AMERICAN FLAGG!, ALIEN LEGION, WORLD’S FINEST COMICS, DAREDEVIL, BLACK PANTHER, DEADPOOL V GAMBIT, THE DARKSTARS, EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN, WHAT IF?, X-FACTOR, IRON MAN, EXCALIBUR, THE LAW OF DREDD, HULK 2099, WOLVERINE, WILD CARDS, PUNISHER MAGAZINE. Under his own imprint Axis Comics he published TRIBE. Larry’s current credits include NINJA-K, BITTER ROOT, MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR, and CLOAK AND DAGGER: PREDATOR AND PREY.