Certified Guaranty Company, LLC - Signature Series Creator Biographies


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Signature Series Creator Bios

All Bios Compiled by Kevin A. Boyd

CGC Signature Series recognizes signatures from any person of significance to the comic book when witnessed by a CGC authorized representative. Any comic book signed by a comic book professional in the presence of a CGC authorized representative is eligible for the CGC Signature Series label. The following is a list of some industry professionals who have been actively involved in the CGC Signature Series. Comic book professionals are invited to submit their bios to CGC for inclusion on this webpage.

Kaare Andrews

At a young age, Kaare Andrews showed a keen interest in sequential art and dedicated his every waking moment to self-education in that area. Starting out in the rough-and-tumble backwoods of black-and-white independents, he has fought tooth-and-nail to rise to the ranks of full-color mainstream status. Andrews is the acclaimed cover artist for many Marvel Comics, including Bruce Jones’ acclaimed run on THE INCREDIBLE HULK. www.kaareandrews.com

Brian Michael Bendis

Brian Michael Bendis is an award-winning comics creator and one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For the last five years, Brian’s books, including ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, AVENGERS, DAREDEVIL, ULTIMATE X-MEN, ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR, ALIAS, THE PULSE, and POWERS, have consistently sat in the top five best-sellers on the nationwide comic sales chart. Brian is one of the premier architects of Marvel Comics’ Ultimate line of comics, specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN since its best-selling launch, and has also written ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR, ULTIMATE X-MEN, ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM-UP, and ULTIMATE SIX. Brian has won five prestigious Eisner Awards, including “Best Writer of the Year” two years in a row. He is creator of the JINX line of crime comics published by Image Comics. This line has spawned the graphic novels GOLDFISH, FIRE, JINX, TORSO (w/ Marc Andreyko) and TOTAL SELL-OUT. Brian’s recent projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated POWERS (w/Mike Oeming) from Marvel’s new creator-owned imprint, ICON, and the Hollywood tell-all FORTUNE AND GLORY from ONI press, which Entertainment Weekly gave an “A.” Brian is writing the film version of JINX for Universal Pictures, in which Oscar-winner Charlize Theron is set to produce and star. POWERS is in active development at Sony as a feature film, TORSO is set up with Todd McFarlane productions, and Brian was the co-executive producer and series pilot writer for MTV’s recent CGI-animated Spider-Man show. Brian is the recipient of the Cleveland Press “Excellence in Journalism” Award, and was named “Best Writer of the Year” by both Wizard Magazine and Comic Buyer’s Guide for the last three consecutive years. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife, Alisa, his gorgeous daughter, Olivia, and his dogs, Shroeder and Buster. jinxworld.com

Amanda Conner

Amanda Conner got her start by working on small projects for Marvel Comics and Archie Comics. For several years, she was hired by ad agencies Kornhauser & Calene and Kidvertisers to work on a number of launches and campaigns including Arm & Hammer, Playskool and Nickelodeon. However, with her passion for comic books and cartooning, she once again found herself working for Marvel on their BARBIE line (many of Amanda’s covers were made into designs for the line of Barbie toys), DISNEY line, and especially the GARGOYLES line. At the same time, she was illustrating SOUL SEARCHERS & CO. for Claypool Comics. Amanda worked on additional Marvel projects, including EXCALIBUR for the X-Men line and SUBURBAN JERSEY NINJA SHE-DEVILS. She worked with Crusade Publishing drawing the mini-series TOMOE and then worked for several years on the hit series VAMPIRELLA for Harris Comics. While illustrating VAMPIRELLA, Amanda worked with top writers in the field, including Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, and Warren Ellis. Continuing to expand her horizons, Amanda illustrated the best-selling Event Comic PAINKILLER JANE VS. THE DARKNESS and went on to work on PAINKILLER JANE 0 (the Origin Book), while also writing and illustrating a story for KID DEATH AND FLUFFY. Since then Amanda has worked on many of the top titles in comics such as LOIS LANE, CODENAME: KNOCKOUT, BIRDS OF PREY, X-MEN UNLIMITED, while also co-creating GATECRASHER for Blackbull Comics, and THE PRO, a creator-owned book for Image Comics with Jimmy Palmiotti and Garth Ennis. Amanda is currently illustrating TWO-STEP, written by Warren Ellis for DC Comics’ Wildstorm label. Amanda's work can also be seen outside the comic book community in such places as ABC’s Nightline, The New York Times, MAD Magazine, as well as character designs for film and television. Amanda is currently featured in a Biography Magazine commercial on A&E. www.paperfilms.com

Warren Ellis

Warren Ellis is, among other things, the writer/creator of the multiple-award-winning TRANSMETROPOLITAN series of graphic novels. He has some 35 graphic novels in print, from the decadent SF of LAZARUS CHURCHYARD to the weird alternate histories of PLANETARY. He is currently writing a handful of projects for Marvel Comics – including IRON MAN, ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE, and ULTIMATE SECRET (the first two in a trilogy) – and recently completed the Doom arc of ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR with Canadian artist Stuart Immonen. Warren was the winner of the International Horror Guild award for graphic narrative and is listed in both ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY's 100 Most Creative People and ROLLING STONE's Hot Issue, where his work was described as "more influenced by Jesus and Mary Chain than by the Justice League, Ellis' characters fight for left-wing agendas over God and country, screw each other's brains out and kick puppies in the street." Warren concentrates on creating and producing original material for comics and graphic novels. These include the successful SF graphic novel ORBITER and the serial GLOBAL FREQUENCY, being produced as a TV pilot for The CW. He also writes computer games including HOSTILE WATERS/ANTAEUS RISING, and animation including an episode of JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED. He has produced AVAILABLE LIGHT, a book of short stories and photography, and his first prose novel was published by HarperCollins in 2005. Warren Ellis is 36 years old and lives with his partner, Niki, and their daughter, Lilith, in southeast England. He doesn't sleep much. Really.  www.warrenellis.com

David Finch

A Windsor Ontario resident, illustrator David Finch has been creating comic books professionally for many years. Currently the artist on Marvel Comics’ ULTIMATE X-MEN, David has also illustrated titles such as APHRODITE IX, ASCENSION, THE CALL OF DUTY, ALAN MOORE’S GLORY, CODENAME: STRIKEFORCE, CYBERFORCE, WITCHBLADE, VAMPIRELLA, E.V.E., and many more. www.dfinchartist.com/

Tony Harris

A thirteen-year veteran of the comic book industry, Tony made his first real splash in comics in 1994 with the appearance of DC Comics’ STARMAN. Co-created with James Robinson, STARMAN led the two to critical acclaim and eventually an Eisner Award for the Sand and Stars story arc. After four and a half years on STARMAN, Tony went on to pursue other projects, but remained cover artist for another year and a half. During this time Tony founded Gaijin Studios with such industry luminaries as Adam Hughes, Brian Stelfreeze, Karl Story, Jason Pearson, Dave Johnson, Joe Phillips and Cully Hamner. Tony moved on to form Jolly Roger Studio, which is now in its eighth year. Former studio members have included Andrew Robinson, Jim Royal, Drew Geraci, Dan Jolley, Ray Snyder, and Drew Johnson. Tony has provided art for many projects spanning the industry, including DOCTOR STRANGE, BATMAN, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, NIGHTBREED, STARMAN, THE HULK, SPIDER-MAN, DAREDEVIL, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, JSA, JLA, ROBIN, OBERGEIST, LAZARUS 5, SANDMAN, GREEN LANTERN, X-MEN, TRANSMETROPOLITAN, PLANETARY, SABRETOOTH, SPRINGHEEL JACK, FAUST, PLANET OF THE APES, REANIMATOR, WEREWOLF, VAMPIRE THE MASQUERADE, FANTASTIC FOUR, KINGPIN, EXILES, BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT, and many more. Tony’s other works include key frame animation and storyboards for a Super Bowl-televised Chevrolet commercial, illustration for the Cartoon Network, and product design and illustration for Universal Studio’s The Mummy. Tony currently lives in Macon, Georgia, with his wife and two children, working in Jolly Roger Studio with JD Mettler and Tom Feister. www.jollyrogerstudio.com

Greg Horn

Greg has become one of the predominant cover artists in comics. His early photo-realistic artwork can be seen on such titles as: VAMPIRELLA, SHADOW REAVERS, and his creator-owned J.U.D.G.E. Greg's career has taken off with his stunning, high-profile covers for such Marvel projects as ELEKTRA, BLACK WIDOW: PALE LITTLE SPIDER, DEADLINE, MARVILLE, and the current EMMA FROST series. Greg has also done work for magazines including Wizard, InQuest, and PSM2, and has illustrated posters for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and the recently released NIKE ad featuring Lebron James. www.greghornjudge.com

Phil Jimenez

Phil is an only child and was born and raised by his mother in Southern California. He first discovered the wonderful world of comics through Marvel Comics’ STAR WARS. He was also a big fan of the Super-Friends cartoon show and the Wonder Woman TV show. However, becoming a comic artist wasn’t Phil’s first career choice; at an early age, he decided that he wanted to become a paleontologist. Fortunately, Phil discovered that he had a talent for drawing and decided that becoming a comic artist would be a better career move as he started making comics for his fellow classmates. Phil has worked in comics since 1991. After training at NYC's School of Visual Arts, DC editor Neal Pozner hired Phil to do a two-part Cyborg story in SHOWCASE, and was then asked to help ink four pages for George Perez’s WAR OF THE GODS #4. From there, Phil went on to illustrate numerous series and single issues, mostly at DC, like TEAM TITANS, TEMPEST, THE INVISIBLES (with Grant Morrison), JLA/TITANS, a PLANETARY/AUTHORITY one-shot and a highly regarded stint on WONDER WOMAN. He first gained recognition for his work on TEMPEST. His later works including penciling stints on the INVISIBLES, JLA/TITANS: THE TECHNIS IMPERATIVE, and PLANETART/AUTHORITY. Phil finished a two-year run on DC Comics’ WONDER WOMAN and is recently worked with Grant Morrison once again on NEW X-MEN. His creator-owned project, OTHERWORLD, published through DC/Vertigo Comics debuted in March 2005. He also illustrated a Geoff Johns story for DC COUNTDOWN #1. Phil has been nominated for Eisner and GLAAD Awards, listed as one of Entertainment Weekly's "101 Gay Movers and Shakers," and featured in The Advocate and Out. Phil also created the art for the first permanent AIDS awareness exhibit in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Phil is also a movie star… or at least his hands are! Phil’s hands doubled for Tobey Maguire’s in 2002’s Spider-Man movie during the scenes where Peter was designing his Spider-Man costume. www.dccomics.com

Michael Kaluta

Legendary artist Michael Kaluta's inexhaustible creative vision has kept fans enthralled for over 25 years. Born in Guatemala to American parents, Michael led the roving lifestyle of an Air Force child. Like Jeffrey Jones and Berni Wrightson, Michel’s career in comics really began in the comic fanzines. At the time, there were dozens, if not hundreds, of these independently produced booklets where young artists honed their craft drawing their favorite characters. In 1969, he began his professional comics career at Charlton, but soon moved on to do various covers for DC Comics and illustrated ERB’s CARSON OF VENUS in WEIRD WORLDS and TARZAN. In 1973, he was picked to draw the first DC comic revival of THE SHADOW, the character he would later go on to visually define. Beyond his work on THE SHADOW, Michael has done notable work on projects such as BATMAN, THE SPAWN OF FRANKENSTEIN, METROPOLIS, STARSTRUCK, VAMPIRELLA, BOOKS OF MAGIC, AQUAMAN, THE SPECTRE, and most of DC's 70s horror line, just to name a few. His artistic acumen goes well beyond the comic industry, with work on book covers and illustrations, magazines, calendars, movies, television, album covers, trading cards, and more. www.kaluta.com

Dale Keown

Dale Keown was born in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, and he is a self-taught artist. He began his career at Aircel working on titles like SAMUREE, ELFLORD, DRAGONRING, WARLOCK 5 & DRAGONFORCE. In 1990, he went to Marvel Comics and worked on titles such as NTH MAN, WHAT THE--?, and the title he is widely recognized for, THE INCREDIBLE HULK. Full Bleed Studios has been Dale Keown's company since 1992, back when the character of Pitt was first developed. Dale runs full Bleed Studios with help from friend and long-time assistant, Nicola Vaughan. Dale's character, Pitt, made his very first appearance in print in Todd McFarlane's SPAWN #1, and Full Bleed Studios has produced PITT, the comic book series, since the beginning of 1993 with the release of “Rippen.” Full Bleed took over the publishing of PITT in December 1995, starting with issue #1/2, which was the 9-page PITT introductory story first appearing in YOUNGBLOOD #4. The PITT series was first released under the Image banner, up to and including the ninth issue, and the tenth was released by Full Bleed in January, 1996. PITT issue #20 was released in February of 1999. In 2001, Dale returned to produce an issue of DC Comics’ SUPERMAN #170 and Top Cow’s THE DARKNESS #40. In 2002 Dale illustrated the highly acclaimed HULK: THE END with his Incredible Hulk collaborator Peter David, and has been illustrating THE DARKNESS for Top Cow since it’s triumphant re-launch in January 2003. www.fullbleed.com

Ken Lashley

Founder, CEO, and President of Draxhall Jump, comic book veteran Ken Lashley began his career in 1993 when he burst onto the scene penciling EXCALIBUR. He went on to lend his talents to such titles as the critically acclaimed AGE OF APOCALYPSE, JLA, and THE 10th MUSE, which debuted at #6 on the Industry’s Top 100. This has led to Ken’s dream of publishing his creator-owned titles, including LEGENDS, TIYU, and OCTANE. A talented designer, Ken has done work for Hasbro, including the G.I. Joe and Men in Black lines, and has done designs for the Action Man TV series, the Transformers cartoon, and an upcoming series for the Family Channel. www.draxhall.com/

Terry Moore

Terry Moore is the creator of the acclaimed STRANGERS IN PARADISE, which marked its 10th anniversary in 2003. The first issue of STRANGERS IN PARADISE was published by Antarctic Press in November 1993, and it was the first comic book ever drawn by Terry Moore. Moore had conceived of the idea for STRANGERS IN PARADISE while trying to develop a comic strip for newspaper syndication. After repeated failures, Moore visited a comic book store and discovered the new wave of small press publishers enjoying success in the field. He spent a year researching the comic book business while writing and drawing the first issue of his story. Borrowing a title from an old Tony Bennett hit, Moore submitted copies of his comic to a number of publishers before agreeing to a three issue mini-series with Antarctic. After the mini-series, Moore launched his own imprint, Abstract Studio, and began self-publishing a regular STRANGERS IN PARADISE series, beginning with a new first issue in September of 1994. In 1996, STRANGERS IN PARADISE won the Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series based on the strength of issues 1-8, the story arc found in the I Dream Of You trade paperback. Moore joined forces with Jim Lee, Kurt Busiek, and James Robinson later in 1996 to launch a new imprint, Homage Comics. STRANGERS IN PARADISE began a new story arc for the occasion, with a new number-one issue and full color. Moore released eight issues of STRANGERS IN PARADISE through Homage before returning to his own imprint to continue the series. Today, STRANGERS IN PARADISE is read worldwide and has been reprinted in seven languages. Moore continues to write, draw, and ink every issue personally, publishing a new issue every six weeks. Terry also ventured into the DC Universe recently, producing several issues of DC's BIRDS OF PREY. He has also worked on LADY SUPREME for Image Comics and ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM-UP for Marvel Comics. Moore's goals for the future include an extensive library of STRANGERS IN PARADISE stories, a STRANGERS IN PARADISE novel and, yes, a syndicated comic strip. www.strangersinparadise.com

Jimmy Palmiotti

Jimmy Palmiotti is a multi-award-winning comic book creator with a wide range of experience in advertising, production, editorial, film writing and production, media presentation, and video game development. Just a few of his clients include Nike, Disney, Warner Brothers, Lion’s Gate, FOX and New Line, 2K Games, and THQ Games. Jimmy is co-founder of such companies as Event Comics, Black Bull Media, Marvel Knights, and the current Paperfilms, where he partners with Amanda Conner and Justin Gray. He has created and co-created numerous series and characters, including: THE NEW WEST, THE MONOLITH, 21 DOWN, THE RESISTANCE, THE PRO, GATECRASHER, BEAUTIFUL KILLER, ASH, CLOUDBURST, TRIGGER GIRL 6, THRILL SEEKER, and PAINKILLER JANE, which was turned into a Sci-Fi Channel original movie this past year. Currently, Jimmy is co-writing with Justin Gray the DC Comic book series JOHNAH HEX, UNCLE SAME AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS, and CRISIS AFTERMATH: THE BATTLE FOR BLUDHAVEN, as well as co-writing two books for the new Superman movie. At Marvel, he is currently writing DAUGHTERS OF THE DRAGON, HEROS FOR HIRE, CLAWS, and a mini-series featuring the art of Joe Linser.  In film development are a number of projects which include Just a Pilgrim, Tempest, and a few new projects to be announced. Jimmy is the recipient of the Wizard Awards for Best Inker (1999, 2000, 2001), Best Editor (1999, 2000), and Best Cover (1993, 1994). He was awarded European Eagle Awards’ Best Ink Artist in 2000, A.R.C.H.I.E.S. Best Series and Best Inker in 1998, and won the Eisner Award in 1999 for Editor on Best Series for Marvel Comics’ INHUMANS. www.paperfilms.com

Darick Robertson

Darick Robertson is the co-creator of TRANSMETROPOLITAN. After 16 years in the industry, he can easily be considered a seasoned veteran of comics, having worked for Marvel, DC, Vertigo, and Malibu Comics, where he co-created and designed the Nightman, and wrote and created RIPFIRE, ACCLAIM, ECLIPSE, and INNOVATION. His career started at age 17, as he was just out of Aragon High School in San Mateo, California. He created, wrote, drew, and painted covers for SPACE BEAVER, which became the only title published by Ten Buck Comics. In May of 2002, Robertson went exclusive with Marvel Comics and was picked to re-launch one of their flagship characters, Wolverine, with writer Greg Rucka, and BORN with Garth Ennis. Darick currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Meredith, and his son, Owen. www.darickr.com

Bill Sienkiewicz

Born May 1958 in Pennsylvania, USA, Boleslav (William) Felix Robert Sienkiewicz later attended the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts. His innovative use of collage and illustration methods to tell a story have won him many major awards, including the 1983 Kirby Award for Best Artist for the comic, ELEKTRA: ASSASSIN (written by Frank Miller and recently collected with another Miller/Sienkiewicz collaboration, DAREDEVIL: LOVE AND WAR). Bill wrote and illustrated the critically acclaimed comic, STRAY TOASTERS, and an acclaimed illustrated biography of rock’s greatest guitarist, Jimi Hendrix. He has had acclaimed runs on MOON KNIGHT and the NEW MUTANTS. In recent years, he illustrated an acclaimed story arc for Marvel’s ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM-UP and has produced cover paintings for Marvel’s ELEKTRA title. Bill recently completed a story with Neil Gaiman for the best-selling hardcover collection, SANDMAN: ENDLESS NIGHTS. It is rumored that Bill will be illustrating DC Comics’ Batman in a story arc to be written by David Lapham (STRAY BULLETS). Bill has also exhibited throughout the USA and as far afield as the Museum of Fine Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bill’s talents don’t halt at comic work; he has also produced work for magazines, CD covers, and the US Olympics. www.billsienkiewicz.com

Dave Sim

Kitchener, Ontario's Dave Sim is the writer, artist, and creator of CEREBUS THE AARDVARK, a 300 issue, 6000+ page graphic novel detailing the life of the title character, an aardvark living in human society. Started in 1977 and completed in March 2004, CEREBUS is a singular achievement in a medium where creative teams change at the drop of a hat or creators get fed up and move on to other projects. It is also a dense satire and a work of social criticism, addressing issues that include politics, art, religion, gender relations, and poking fun at many different aspects of comic book culture and genres. CEREBUS has been collected in a series of 16 phonebook size graphic novels. Sim is an outspoken activist for creator’s rights and the benefits of self-publishing. CEREBUS has been published by Sim’s company Aardvark-Vanaheim. Sim is currently involved in the publication of FOLLOWING CEREBUS, a bi-monthly magazine jointly published by Aardvark-Vanaheim and Win-Mill Productions. FOLLOWING CEREBUS addresses topics found in the CEREBUS story, as well as issues related to creator's rights, the creative process, and Sim's conversations with other professionals. www.cerebusart.com

Michael Turner

In 1994, Aspen MLT, Inc. founder Michael Turner moved from Tennessee to California and began his comic book career. Working for Top Cow Productions, Michael started off doing background illustrations, but soon helped to create and launch the comic book series WITCHBLADE in October of 1995. Quickly growing to become one of the most successful comic book titles of the 90s, Michael served as an integral part of WITCHBLADE's immense popularity. Shifting focus, Michael went on to debut his first creator-owned series, FATHOM, in the summer of 1998. An instant success, FATHOM was a smash hit and earned the honor of becoming the best-selling comic book of the year. In the fall of 2002, Michael departed from Top Cow Productions to start his own publishing company, Aspen MLT, Inc. Aspen MLT, Inc. continues to publish cutting-edge comic book properties, spearheaded by successful new properties in addition to FATHOM, such as SOULFIRE, SHRUGGED, and EKOS. Michael Turner and Aspen MLT, Inc. have provided covers for the comic industry's leading events, including Marvel Comics’ top-selling series CIVIL WAR, DC Comics’ best-selling series JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, and an Eisner Award-nominated cover run on DC Comics’ IDENTITY CRISIS. In 2007, Turner will be completing his popular SOULFIRE series and providing pencils on Marvel Comics’ all-new ULTIMATE WOLVERINE series.
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