Following stints at AC Comics and Eclipse, Erik Larsen replaced fan-favorite Todd McFarlane on Amazing Spider-Man and quickly became a legend in his own right, chronicling Spidey's cosmic-powered and powerless phases. His other Marvel credits include Defenders, Fantastic Four, Nova and Wolverine. At DC, he has penciled Doom Patrol, Outsiders, Teen Titans and others. Larsen's greatest fame may be as creator of Savage Dragon at Image Comics, which he helped found and where he served as publisher for four years. Springing from the fertile ground of the U.K. comics scene, Warren Ellis came to Marvel during the early '90s and proved his iconoclastic mettle in the ultra-edgy series Hellstorm and the limited series Druid -- followed by fondly remembered extended runs on Excalibur and Doom 2099. After making a name for himself as a premier talent with Wildstorm's Stormwatch, Transmetropolitan, The Authority and Planetary, Ellis returned to Marvel to pen Ultimate Fantastic Four, the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy, Iron Man and more.
His Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. was both a critical smash and a cult favorite. In addition to reviving the 1980s New Universe in newuniversal and writing Thunderbolts, Ellis took over Astonishing X-Men following Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's departure, and penned perhaps the definitive story of the Armored Avenger in Iron Man's "Extremis." In addition, he offered a distinctively memorable new take on Moon Knight. His Wildstorm miniseries Red was adapted into a hit movie in 2010.
Ellis broke into prose fiction with Crooked Little Vein and his New York Times best-selling novel Gun Machine. A copy of How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way sparked Leinil Francis Yu's interest in comics when he was 11. Whilce Portacio's tutelage helped him land his first mainstream comics work on Wolverine in 1997. Following a successful run, Yu took on such titles as Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, Superman: Birthright and Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk. After an extended period laying the groundwork in New Avengers, he and writer Brian Michael Bendis turned the Marvel Universe upside down with Secret Invasion, and the Marvel mainstay has subsequently worked on event comics including Avengers & X-Men: Axis and IVX, and such blockbuster titles as Star Wars. Milestone co-founder Denys Cowan's comic-book career began on backup features: White Tiger in Spectacular Spider-Man and Firestorm in DC's Flash. At Marvel, he moved on to pencil Power Man and Iron Fist, a Black Panther miniseries and Moon Knight: Divided We Fall, among other projects.
Back at DC, he specialized in such urban heroes as Green Arrow, Question and Steel; he also penciled multiple miniseries, including Batman: The Ultimate Evil, Fight for Tomorrow and Total Justice. In the TV field, he produced episodes of Milestone spinoff Static Shock and comic strip tie-in The Boondocks, subsequently becoming senior vice president of animation for Black Entertainment Television.