Archive: Special Guests At the Fifth Annual San Diego Comic Fest (Held February 17-20, 2017)

Thanks to all these special guests who helped make the fifth-annual San Diego Comic Fest such a fun, memorable event:

Guest of Honor: Jim Valentino

Science Fiction Guest of Honor: David Brin

Fan Guest of Honor: Gene Henderson

Special guests for the 2017 25th anniversary of X-Men: The Animated Series:

Writer on pop culture for Forbes and ICv2, communications educator, and author of Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture: Rob Salkowitz

Disney Legend, animator, writer, comics creator: Floyd Norman

U.K. Comics Creator and CCO of ground-breaking digital storytelling company Madefire, currently drawing Wonder Woman for DC: Liam Sharp

Fan-favorite inker of Jack Kirby and Russ Manning, Disney designer: Mike Royer

Eisner-winning comics writer (Groo), prolific writer for television and animation, and author of the authoritative, Eisner-winning Jack Kirby: King of Comics: Mark Evanier

Emmy-nominated puppeteer for film and television, character developer for animated shows and toys, and former assistant to Jack Kirby: Steve Sherman

Producer and head writer on the hit show “Spider-Man: The Animated Series” as well as writer and story editor for many other animated series: John Semper

Multi-talented artist, designer, and writer for comics, films, books, museum prehistoric-life murals, Disney and Universal theme-park attractions, and much more: William Stout

Creators of steampunk favorites Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel and Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention, Heartbreakers comics, and the forthcoming Aztec Empire graphic novel: Anina Bennett and Paul Guinan

Award-winning illustrator, comics historian, and author of The Silver Age of Comic Book Art:Arlen Schumer

Award-winning author of fact-based science-fiction: Greg Bear

Award-winning author of fact-based science-fiction: Gregory Benford

The Science of Science-Fiction Guests:

  • UC Irvine Professor of physics and astronomy who teaches a popular course on “The Science of Superheroes,” appears on a number of programs on the History Channel, and serves as the superhero scientist on the web series “Fascinating Fights”: Michael Dennin
  • Award-winning science educator, Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, 2007 California Professor of the Year, science-fiction author, and member of the 2017 Eclipse Task Force of the American Astronomical Society: Andrew Fraknoi
  • Advanced Projects Manager at Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, CA, where he has managed the development of three cameras currently orbiting the Moon, three orbiting Mars, four on the surface of Mars, one orbiting Jupiter and three on their way to the asteroid Benuu: Michael Ravine

International Comics Guests:

  • From Mexico City, comic artist, writer,editor and popularizer of manga style in Mexico: Gaby Maya
  • From Mexico City, cartoonist: Juanele

Special guest for the first Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics Coloring Book book party:

Storyboard artist, creator of Age of Reptiles graphic novels for Dark Horse: Ricardo Delgado

Comic-Con Inkpot Award winning creator of comic series The Desert Peach, Stinz, and Afterdead: Donna Barr

Underground comix and indie comics creator published in Wimmen’s Comix, and in many anthologies, solo comics, weekly strips, and more: Roberta Gregory

She runs the Eisner Awards, started Comic-Con’s Artists’ Alley, and is editor and co-publisher of Exhibit A Press: Jackie Estrada

Creator of the humor/horror comic series Supernatural Law (aka Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre), writer for Archie and Bongo Comics, and creator of The First Gentleman of the Apocalypse series for David Lloyd’s Aces Weekly: Batton Lash

Author and comics writer (including Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography which Wizard Magazine labeled one of the best comics ever): James Hudnall

Creator of plans for theme park and script for proposed film based on Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light who worked with Jack Kirby on amazing designs for the park, which were key elements of the true life story behind the Oscar-winning film Argo: Barry Ira Geller

Storyboard artist, book illustrator, comics artist and writer: Pete Von Sholly

Designer, author, instructor, photographer, and contributing editor to Print, the graphic design magazine: Michael Dooley

Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award and Ink Pot Award winning comics creator and muralist, founder of literacy-promoting Cartoonists across America & the World, and publisher of Uncle Jam magazine: Phil Yeh

Live Art:

  • Star Wars artist for Lucasfilm/Disney: Lee Kohse
  • Sculptor who created the “Kong” and Kanamit sculptures for the last two San Diego Comic Fests and is doing a huge Kirby-inspired sculpture for this year: Robert Maya
  • Master caricaturist: Dave Stephens