Chris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties. Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman. Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.

Jim McCann is an award-winning writer of comic books, television, and theatre. He worked on several films and music videos before he was accepted into the ABC Daytime Writer Development Program. During that time he wrote for the popular ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. Upon moving to New York, he found a position at Marvel Comics, where he remained for six years, working in publicity and PR. He wrote several critically acclaimed Marvel HAWKEYE series before branching out into creating his own comics and graphic novels, as well as other projects. His first graphic novel, RETURN OF THE DAPPER MEN, won the comic book industry's top award: Best Original Graphic Album. He has since gone on to create hit series such as the space-heist LOST VEGAS and the ongoing top-rated series MIND THE GAP, both published through Image Comics. McCann earned his BA in Communication Arts, Electronic Media as well as a double minor in English and Theatre from Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH. He currently resides in Los Angeles, where he is represented by Chelsea Reed at CAA and managed by Stan Spry at The Cartel.

STUART MOORE is a writer, a book editor, and an award-winning comics editor. Among his current writing projects are THE ZODIAC LEGACY, created and cowritten by Stan Lee and published by Disney, featuring an all-new team of teenaged super heroes in a series of illustrated prose novels and graphic novels; DOMINION: LAST SACRIFICE, a comic book series for Amazon/Jet City; and THANOS: DEATH SENTENCE, an original Marvel prose novel. Recent work includes EGOs, an original comic book series from Image Comics, and GARTER'S BIG SCORE, an original ebook novella for Kindle. He also contributed two series, TEACH and OUT WITH A BANG, to the launch of the online comics app Stela. Other comics work includes WOLVERINE NOIR and NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT (Marvel); FIRESTORM (DC Comics); assorted Star Trek and Transformers projects; and the science-fiction graphic novels EARTHLIGHT, PARA, SHADRACH STONE, and MANDALA. Prose writing includes the novel version of Marvel’s CIVIL WAR, and Disney Worldwide's JOHN CARTER: THE MOVIE NOVELIZATION.

New York Times bestselling and award-winning writer Marjorie Liu is best known for her fiction and comic books. She teaches comic book writing at MIT, and she leads a class on Popular Fiction at the Voices of Our Nation (VONA) workshop. Ms. Liu is a highly celebrated comic book writer. Her extensive work with Marvel includes the bestselling Dark Wolverine series, NYX: No Way Home, X-23, and Black Widow: The Name of the Rose. She received national media attention for Astonishing X-Men, which featured the gay wedding of X-Man Northstar and was subsequently nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding media images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Ms. Liu also wrote the story for the animated film, Avengers Confidential: Black Widow and Punisher, which was produced by Marvel, Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) Inc., and Madhouse Inc. Her newest work is MONSTRESS, an original, creator-owned comic book series with Japanese artist (and X-23 collaborator) Sana Takeda. Published by Image in Fall 2015, MONSTRESS is set in an alternate, matriarchal 1920’s Asia and follows a girl’s struggle to survive the trauma of war. With a cast of girls and monsters and set against a richly imagined aesthetic of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS #1 debuted to critical praise. The Hollywood Reporter remarked that the longer than typical first issue was “world-building on a scale rare in mainstream comics.” Ms. Liu is also the author of more than 19 novels, most notably the urban fantasy series, Hunter Kiss, and the paranormal romance series, Dirk & Steele. Her novels have also been bestsellers on USA Today, which described Liu “as imaginative as she is prolific.” Her critically praised fiction has twice received the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, for THE MORTAL BONE (Hunter Kiss #6), and TIGER EYE (Dirk & Steele #1). TIGER EYE was the basis for a bestselling paranormal romance video game called Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box. Liu has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, MTV, and been profiled in the Wall Street Journal.com, Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. She is a frequent lecturer and guest speaker, appearing on panels at San Diego Comic Con, the Tokyo Literary Festival, the New York Times Public Lecture series, Geeks Out; and the Asian American Writers Workshop. Her work has been published internationally, including Germany, France, Japan, Poland, and the United Kingdom. Ms. Liu was born in Philadelphia, and has lived in numerous cities in the Midwest and Beijing. Prior to writing full-time, she was a lawyer. She currently resides in Boston.