Gary Panter was born in Oklahoma and raised in Texas. He studied painting at the East Texas State University and moved to Los Angeles in 1977. In L.A. he worked on multiple fronts, including painting, design, comics, and commercial imagery, establishing a pattern of creating across traditional boundaries, and in multiple media, that endures to this day. In the late 1970s he exhibited his first major suite of paintings and drew posters and fliers for the likes of The Germs and The Screamers. He also began a long association with the various incarnations of Pee-wee Herman, as well as creating the early adventures of his punk/nuclear/hillbilly alter ego, Jimbo. In 1980 Gary published "The Rozz-Tox Manifesto", a highly influential document that directed his generation to infiltrate the mainstream with underground ideas and culture. Gary's paintings occupy a large portion of a very prolific 1980s, during which he also designed the sets and puppets for Pee-wee's Playhouse, completed record covers for the likes of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and maintained an active comics output through his own mini-comics and his contributions to Raw magazine and other anthologies. Returning to comics in the early 1990s, Gary drew seven issues of a Jimbo comic book. He then began delving into light shows, staging elaborate psychedelic performances in his studio space. More recently, he has collaborated with Joshua White, and the duo has mounted lightshows at the Hirschhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. and at New York’s Anthology Film Archives. In 2006-2007, Gary was a featured artist in the touring exhibition, Masters of American Comics. His paintings and drawings have recently been exhibited at Dunn and Brown, Dallas and Clementine Gallery, New York. In 2008, Gary was the subject of a one-man show at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum. His books include a comprehensive monograph, Gary Panter (PictureBox), and four graphic novels: Jimbo in Purgatory (Fantagraphics); Jimbo's Inferno (Fantagraphics); Cola Madnes (Funny Garbage); Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise (Pantheon). Gary has won numerous awards, including three Emmy Awards for his production design on Pee-wee's Playhouse, as well as the 2000 Chrysler Award for Design Excellence. Gary Panter lives and works in Brooklyn.

Ande Parks has worked on several projects with Phil Hester, including Nightbreed (Marvel), Rust (Malibu), Fringe (Caliber), and Freaks Amour (Dark Horse). Currently he inks Anima, Steel and Superboy, all for DC. Ande Parks (born October 1, 1964) is a professional American comic book artist, known for his work as an inker and writer in the industry. His greatest notoriety has come from his stint with fellow artist Phil Hester on DC Comics' Green Arrow series from 2001 to 2004 and writing the graphic novels Union Station and Capote in Kansas by Oni Press. He grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City and currently lives in Baldwin City, Kansas with his wife and two children. Parks began his professional career as an inker in comic books with Dark Horse Comics. He has inked the penciled artwork of such titles as Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Superman, Daredevil and Spider-Man. His artistic style has won him praise in the comic books industry, including an industry Harvey nomination as best inker. His idols and influences include Neal Adams, Klaus Janson, Jack Kirby, Dick Giordano, and Mike Grell. Parks has stated in at least one on-line interview that he inks with Hunt 102 and Brause 511 pens and a Raphael #3 brush. For characters from the comic books, Parks has acknowledged he has most enjoyed Batman and Captain America as his favorite characters. He is probably best known for his work on the relaunched Green Arrow comic book series beginning in 2001, which he inked over his frequent collaborator Phil Hester. On Green Arrow, Hester and Parks worked with writers Kevin Smith, Brad Meltzer, and Judd Winick over their approximate 40-issue run. The book has been collected into several volumes. The American Library Association called it one of the best books for young adults. Parks and Hester have also done work on DC Comics' Nightwing with writer Devin Grayson, allowing Parks to work within the Batman family of characters, and the new revamped Ant-Man comic book for Marvel Comics in 2006-2007. Although better known for his artwork, Parks considers himself to be more of a writer than artist. He has contributed several articles in comic book trade magazines, such as Draw!, geared towards critiques of artwork and professional tips for inkers. Parks' combined his inking style with his fondness for writing when he created the superhero spoof Uncle Slam & Fire Dog for Action Planet Comics, based to a certain extent on his love of Marvel Comics' Captain America. Uncle Slam appeared in three issues of the Action Planet anthology book series, and in two issues of his own book in the early- to mid-1990s. The character also appeared in a completely on-line comic book for Komicwerks. A new Uncle Slam book, "Uncle Slam Fights Back", was released in the summer of 2008. For graphic novels, he has often turned to his neighboring region in the Midwest as source material for his writing projects. To date Parks has steered towards writing what is best classified as historical fiction. He has credited Alan Moore's From Hell as being a large influence in his decision to pursue writing in the historical fiction genre. In 2004, Oni Press published Park's first original graphic novel, Union Station. The book dealt with the events surrounding the Kansas City massacre, which took place in 1933 in Kansas City, Missouri, and helped J. Edgar Hoover make the F.B.I. a powerful organization in law enforcement and government for decades to come. Eduardo Barreto provided the artwork, done in black-&-white to give the piece more of a Depression-era period look. In 2005 Parks returned to the genre of historical fiction with Capote In Kansas, drawn by Chris Samnee. The book details the time Truman Capote spent in Kansas while he worked on his literary masterpiece, In Cold Blood. Continuing on with the Marvel Universe of characters, Parks co-plotted with Ed Brubaker and wrote "Blood of the Tarantula" fo

Tom De Haven is the author of five novels: Freaks' Amour, Jersey Luck, Funny Papers, Derby Dugan's Depression Funnies, and Dugan Under Ground; a collection of three related novellas, Sunburn Lake; and a three-novel series, Chronicle of the King's Tramp, which includes Walker of Worlds, The End-of-Everything Man, and The Last Human. His latest novel for young adults, The Orphan's Tent, was published in 1996, and his latest graphic novel, Green Candles, in 1997. He has previously published two young adult novels, two graphic novels, and various other innovative fiction projects. De Haven has a richly varied experience as a writer, having worked as a freelance journalist, an editor, and a film and television scriptwriter. His book reviews appear regularly in Entertainment Weekly and The New York Times Book Review. His awards include a fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and he has twice won fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Before joining VCU's faculty, De Haven taught at Rutgers and Hofstra University.