Authors and Artists
Kazu Kibuishi
Kazu Kibuishi is the writer and artist of the New York Times Bestselling Amulet graphic novel series, published by Scholastic Graphix. Amulet has more than 10 million copies in print and has been translated into 23 languages worldwide. Amulet: Waverider is the 9th and final book in the Amulet series. It was released on February 6th, 2024, becoming the eighth consecutive #1 New York Times Bestseller in the Amulet series.
Kazu Kibuishi was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1978, but is a 4th generation Japanese-American. His grandfather was born in New York City, and his great grandfather opened the Katagiri Store, the oldest Japanese grocery store in the United States in 1907. Kazu’s mother returned to Japan to attend Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, but returned to the United States with her two sons, Kazu and Taka. They grew up in Irvine, California, where Taka currently resides. Kazu lives near San Antonio, Texas.
Shelby Criswell
Shelby Criswell (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist and graphic designer from San Antonio, Texas. They have worked with iconic figures and publications like Asleep at the Wheel, Nelly, The Nib, No Depression, and The Santa Fe Reporter. They are known for their comic illustration work in TERMINAL PUNKS (Mad Cave Studios), HEEBIE JEEBIES (Papercutz), as well as their debut graphic novel, QUEER AS ALL GET OUT (Street Noise Books). Rooted in a love for craft and storytelling, Shelby's art explores the intersections of memory, place, history, and personal narrative.
Sam Lotfi
SAM LOTFI is a comic book creator & artist living in Austin, TX. He’s best known for his co-created books MOSELY (Boom! Studios), ALFRED: PAIN in the BUTLER (DC Comics), LAST STOP on the RED LINE (Dark Horse Comics) and TMNT Covers (IDW) as well as other work for DC, IDW, Dynamite, 1First Comics & Antarctic Press. Sam’s artistic contributions include a variety of animated and video game projects, most recently the VR shooter SWARM 1 & 2. When he’s not at the drawing board, Sam enjoys building terrain and painting miniatures for various tabletop RPGs and war games. You can find more of Sam’s work on Instagram @slotfi and SAMLOTFI.COM.
Mary Bellamy
Mary Bellamy, a licensed illustrator who works from her home studio in Los Angeles. She works on iconic franchises such as My Little Pony, Marvel, DC Comics, Ghostbusters, Adventure Time, and Rick and Morty. She has crafted over 5,000 artist trading cards for Upperdeck, Topps, and Rittenhouse and more. Through both writing, coloring, editing and illustration, her work has been published in over 250 books. She also publishes her two series Ah Heck!! and Faux Facts – The Truth Can Be Strange!
P.J. Hoover
P. J. (Tricia) Hoover wanted to be a Jedi, but when that didn't work out, she became an electrical engineer instead. After a fifteen year bout designing computer chips for a living, P. J. started creating worlds of her own. She's the best-selling and award-winning author of over 50 books. Under the Connor Hoover pseudonym, she is also the author of the popular Pick Your Own Quest series, which are interactive adventures perfect for everyone. When not writing, P. J. loves spending time practicing kung fu, fixing things around the house, and solving Rubik's cubes.
Mari Mancusi
Mari Mancusi is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty sci-fi/fantasy books for kids, teens and adults and an Emmy award winning former TV news producer. Her series New Dragon City has been selected for major state reading lists, including the Texas Bluebonnet Award list. She also writes movie tie-in novels for Disney including the Nightmare Before Christmas Twisted Tale: Sally’s Lament and several Frozen themed books. In addition to writing, Mari loves to travel, watch horror movies and play video games. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and their teenage daughter.
Sean Kelley McKeever
Sean Kelley McKeever is the Eisner Award-winning writer of SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE, TEEN TITANS, AVENGERS UNLIMITED, X-MEN ORIGINS, BIRDS OF PREY, OUTPOST ZERO and much more. Sean's also written for animation and video games, including the award-winning STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC at BioWare and THE X-FILES for FoxNext. He's online at seanmckeever.com.
Paul Benjamin
Paul Benjamin is a New York Times bestselling author who has written and produced comics and video games for diverse properties including many Marvel characters such as Hulk, Spider-Man, and Wolverine, as well as Disney Princesses, Star Wars, Star Trek, Starcraft, World of Warcraft, the Muppets, Monsters, Inc., G.I. Joe, and more. His first prose short story appeared in The Protectors anthology. His original manga series Pantheon High was a YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens nominee. He is currently Narrative Director on an in-development Warhammer video game.
Ian Walker
Ian Walker is a professional Illustrator, comic book creator and art teacher living in Austin Texas. Originally from California, Ian came to Texas and began his comic art studio Obsidian Studios which he uses to create his comic book series PANTHEON, a story created, written and drawn by himself, as well as teaching people how to do art. Ian has been drawing and creating since the age of seven years old, but has been working professionally since 2008.
Ashley Robin Franklin
Ashley Robin Franklin is a queer cartoonist and illustrator based in Austin, Texas, where she lives with her partner and two goofy tiny dogs. Ashley's originally from the Rio Grande Valley (that's south South Texas), and attended college locally at UT-Pan American, majoring in English lit and minoring in Art. Ashley makes sweet and spooky comics with horror and fantasy elements. She is the author of the YA graphic novel, The Hills of Estrella Roja (2023, Harper Collins), as well as the indie horror collection The Skin You’re In (2024, Silver Sprocket). She is currently working on a middle grade graphic novel called The Girl Who Loved Monsters, made in collaboration with writer Insha Fitzpatrick. In her spare time, she loves painting and reading.
Bill Williams
Bill Williams is a seasoned comic book creator with a dynamic career spanning DC Comics, IDW, and beyond. Known for his bold storytelling, Bill’s latest project, PUNCHLINE (Antarctic Press), delivers a thrilling tale of a retired superhero mentoring her successor with grit and heart. His work blends sharp wit, rich characters, and pulse-pounding narratives, earning him a dedicated following in the comic book world.
L.E. Winders
L.E. Winders is a comic artist and illustrator who grew up in the city of Austin. They have contributed as a story artist to animated feature films such as Over the Moon, Back to the Outback, and Leo, where they helped bring a script to life in the form of visual storyboards. Beyond animation, Winders is the creator of Inheritance, a comic that delves into themes of legacy, fate, and personal discovery.
Anton Blake
Anton W. Blake (he/him) is a multimedia cartoonist, illustrator, and TTRPG designer living in Austin TX. He is the creator of the comic series Zethia Space Witch, as well as the editor of the comix magazine Lion Cosmique, both published by Cosmic Lion Productions. He has also been featured in G.H.O.S.T. Agents, Image Grand Design, and Pirate Borg’s Cabin Fever, among others.
Joe Khachadourian
Joe Khachadourian is a writer, concept creator, and graphic fiction evangelist living in Austin, Texas. Formerly an Executive Editor at MightyVille.com - A Comics Website, Joe has contributed to various websites and periodicals over the years, along with a number of comic book anthologies, including IDW Publishing’s Transformers: Mosaic. A recipient of several awards in journalism and playwriting, Joe decided to make the dive into the world of creator-owned comics with IDENTITY STUNT and Altered Metal, both published by Markosia. A lifelong comic book reader, these are the projects his entire creative career has been building to and he’s thrilled to have you along for the ride!
Vo Nguyen
Vo Nguyen has been working professionally in the comic book industry since the mid-90s on indie books, cover art, trade & sketch cards, paintings, and other collectibles. He's provided artwork for companies such as Marvel, DC, AMC, Dynamite, and IDW. Vo recently launched Big Deal Publication and its premiere its 1st book, Survivor! He is also a founder of Greater Austin Comic Con, Giganticon, and Hill Country Comic Con.
Nur Schuba
Nur Schuba is a Turkish-American illustrator, geoscientist, and maybe also a shivering anxious chihuahua? No one knows for sure. She lives in Austin, TX. Nur does geological research by day and makes comics by night.
Isaiah Broussard
Isaiah Broussard is a Houston born independent cartoonist based in Austin, Texas. His work, “Crackers & White Wine” was named Houston’s best political webcomic by Houston Press. He also created the all-ages comedy/horror comic “Transyltown”, and currently creates “Uppity”, a gag strip about a jazz band living in Jim Crow era America, and the sci-fi extravaganza “The Funktastic Adventure”. You can read his works at www.brasscomics.com
Joe Rothenberg
Pflugerville cartoonist and animator Joe Rothenberg is known for animated shorts which have played on Nickelodeon and in film festivals across the USA. Now, he creates comics that feel as colorful, zany, and action-packed as any animated cartoon.
Joe's work inhabits a niche that was once commonplace: the family-friendly but not just-for-kids comic strip. His four main series are now available in high-quality, full-color, locally printed books which make great gifts or take-home treasures.
Amanda Pung
Amanda is an animator born and raised in Austin, Texas. She studied for an animation degree at ACC and has worked with LankyBox and Tolok Productions. Most recently, she has contributed to Be Hong, a lighthearted short film about grief. In her free time, she animates and draws for her Instagram and Youtube, which has accumulated over 8k followers and 1k subscribers, respectively.
Puns and Needles
Daniella (Danni) is a designer, artist, and sewist from Austin, Texas. A long-time cosplayer finally pursuing a creative career after years in engineering, she started her art business Puns and Needles in 2023, using a mix of digital art and hand-cut lino prints for her themed and original work. She creates a mix of paper goods (zines, art prints, and stickers) as well as hand-printed upcycled apparel. One of her main goals is to make cute nerdy pieces that bring whimsy into others’ lives while keeping as much anime/comics plastic out of the landfill as she can, so she reuses and thrifts as many of her base materials as possible. On top of her visual art, in her day to day she uses her sewing expertise to teach sewing and mending classes at local makerspaces, working to keep and renew important life skills (including making, altering, and fixing our clothes) within her community.
G.M. Gray
G.M. Gray is an Austin-based science-fiction and fantasy author and illustrator. They are currently working on a queer-normative space opera light novel series, Triple Strike, which they both write and illustrate. Some of their biggest literary inspirations for Triple Strike are Ursula K Le Guin, Terry Pratchett, and Leiji Matsumoto, while the series itself could be described as Star Trek meets Our Flag Means Death meets Phoenix Wright. Given the great deal of affection they have for anime and video game storytelling, they’re not too proud (or too serious!) to incorporate those elements into their own work, so feel free to ask them how much they love Metal Gear Solid if you need to kill an hour or three.
Jessi Jordan
Jessi Jordan is a professional illustrator, comic artist & writer in Austin, Texas. Her work includes Cryptids, The Wilds, Everything is Going Wrong, Corpus, The Secret Loves of Geeks, Mine!, Musings, and The Adventures of Marni & Edward.
in Pflugerville, Texas