David Finch is a comic artist known for his work on Top Cow Productions’ Cyberforce, as well as numerous subsequent titles for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, such as The New Avengers, Moon Knight, Ultimatum, and Brightest Day.

Tyler Kirkham was born and raised it Utah. He grew up loving art, and has always enjoyed drawing. He really found a love for comics in the early 90s when Image Comics came on the scene. At that moment he knew what he wanted to do with his life.

After going to countless conventions and sending out lots of samples, his first paid art gig was drawing for a local newspaper. He later landed a job drawing an indy book called “The Gift.” Fresh out of high school, he worked on The Gift until another opportunity came up. He had been given the chance to move to L.A. to work for Top Cow Studios, where he could work in “the pit” with other artists, one being Marc Silvestri.

After living in L.A. for a couple years Tyler and his wife decided to move back to Utah. Tyler has worked on titles such as Strykeforce, Tomb Raider, The Darkness, Transformers, Amazing Spiderman, X-Men Phoenix Warsong, and Ultimate Fantastic 4 to name just a few. His work has been featured on many Web sites and in magazines, like FHM, Wizard, Nintendo Power, and Imagine FX among others. He’s also done video game concept work and some novel and book covers.

He’s currently working for DC Comics and also developing his own book called Final Boss, along with other stories and ideas with hopes to get them on the shelves in the near future. Check out his current work at TylerKirkhamArt.com.

E. M. Gist began his study of art with Jeff Watts in 1996. Three years later, Erik’s training developed into teaching where he is now one of the lead instructors at Watts Atelier of the Arts. Gist began his career as a professional artist in 1998, eventually transitioning into genre illustration, he painted his first comic cover in 2007. His clients include Dark Horse Comics, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, BOOM! Studios, Disney Entertainment, TOR Publishing, Wizards of the Coast, Upperdeck, and Palladium Books. His work has been exhibited in Spectrum: the best in contemporary fantastic art for over a decade, including a nomination in the Comic category in 2019. Erik has been a finalist for the Illie Award, Chesley Award, Rondo Award, and Pulp Ark Award. He won the Horror Comics Award for best cover in 2012, the Robert E. Howard Foundation “Rankin” award, as well as gold and silver SILA West awards in 2021 and repeated as a gold medal winner in 2022. Recently you can see his work on the covers of numerous comics from Marvel, DC, BOOM!, Magic the Gathering cards, as well as many other publications.

You can follow Erik on Instagram @e.m.gist and on his website www.erikgist.com.

Inker extraordinaire Matt Banning was in art school when he picked up the nickname “BATT” that fans everywhere have come to know and love. He experienced a meteoric rise at Top Cow, most notably as the inker of The Darkness and co-creator of Ascension. From there he went forth to many exciting runs including but not limited to: New Avengers, Thor, Superman/ Batman, Batman The Return, Green Lantern Corps, GL: New Guardians, Justice League, Action Comics, Superman/ Wonder Woman and relaunched Batman with Rebirth’s #1-5.

Lary Stucker is best known as the series Inker for Young Justice and Teen Titans Go! As well as amazing runs on Wolverine, Iron Man, Avengers Hero’s Reborn and hundreds of well known titles for Marvel, DC, and Image Comics. He also has writing credits in Young Justice: 80 page giant and Brigade.

In recent years, Lary has been devoting his time to nonprofit work and an art project that will be launched soon at stuckerart.com.

Dan Fraga is a director and comic book artist whose career as a storyteller started in late 1991 when Cable and Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld hired the 18 year-old to join Extreme Studios and the newly formed Image comics. Over the span of his 25-year career, Dan has worked on a number of the comics industry’s top titles. At Extreme, the titles included Bloodstrike, Youngblood, Supreme, Kid Supreme, and the Berzerkers. At Image, the titles included Witchblade, Darkness, and The Gear Station. For Marvel, Dan worked on Spider–man, Wolverine, What–if?! and Generation X. For DC Comics, Dan worked on Superman and The Power Puff Girls.

In 2003 Dan’s story telling career changed gears as he transitioned from comics to Television and Film, working as a storyboard artist, art director, and 2nd unit director for both live action and animated content. In 2010 Dan made his directorial debut on the HBO series The Ricky Gervais show, directing the 2nd and 3rd seasons of the animated series.

Since 2013 Dan has worked for Mattel as Supervising Director for the animated content for Monster High, Everafter High, Enchantimals, Hot Wheels and Max Steel. Dan’s personal work can be found on Instagram and YouTube under the name Couchdoodles where his goal is to illuminate and empower creativity in others through example. Dan lives with his wife and 3 kids in Georgia.

“I love chess, the Rubik’s cube, and freestyle rap. To some, these interests may sound like cliché nerd stuff, but I see them as exercises for pre visualization. With pre-visualization, you can theoretically time travel and create what you want for the future of your idea. With proper execution, the thing you pre-visualized will become a reality. These sorts of things thrill me.”

David Crane is one of the most successful designers of entertainment software in the world. Crane started his programming career at Atari, making games for the Atari 2600. Crane left Atari in 1979 and co-founded Activision, the company that pioneered the Third-party video game industry; and at one time the fastest-growing company in the history of American business. In 1986 Crane left Activision to co-found Absolute Entertainment with Garry Kitchen. Crane created such classics as Outlaw, Dragster, Pitfall!, Pitfall II: The Lost Caverns, Ghostbusters, A Boy and His Blob, and more.

David Crane, along with Garry Kitchen and his brother Dan Kitchen, founded Audacity Games in November 2020 to develop Atari 2600 games to be played on retro consoles. The first title, Circus Convoy, a collaboration between Crane and Garry Kitchen, went on sale March 13, 2021.

Garry Kitchen is a video game designer, programmer, and executive best known for developing games for the Atari 2600, Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as co-founding Absolute Entertainment with David Crane. His port of Donkey Kong for the Atari 2600 was a major hit for Coleco, selling over 4 million copies. His other 2600 work includes Keystone Kapers and Pressure Cooker for Activision and Space Jockey for US Games.

Dan Kitchen, one of the original Activision Game Designers, is a passionate gamer credited with developing and producing over 240 commercially released titles across 25 platforms. He is renowned for such Atari 2600 retro classics as Crackpots, Ghostbusters, F-14 Tomcat, Crossbow, Ikari Warriors, Double Dragon, Commando, River Raid II and Kung-Fu Master.

Warren Davis began his career in the videogame industry at Gottlieb where he developed the hugely successful arcade classic, Q*bert. This was followed by a sci-fi themed laserdisc game, Us Vs. Them, which featured scenes of live actors book-ending levels of gameplay.

For Williams, he contributed to Joust 2 and helped develop the system that became NARC. He was part of the team that created Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Revolution X featuring Aerosmith. He also created the digitizing system that Williams/Bally/Midway used for many of their hit games of the 1990s including Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam, as well as the aforementioned T2 and Rev X.

During a hiatus from Williams, he created the surreal and unusual Exterminator. In the mid-1990s, Warren left the arcade industry and worked on a variety of home games for Disney and other companies. He was, for a short time, a Disney Imagineer and has also worked for Industrial Light and Magic.

John Youssi is an illustrator and artist best known for his work in arcade pinball and video games, magazines and children’s books, and yogurt. Youssi’s career in arcade gaming began in 1988 when, as a freelance illustrator, he developed the cabinet and backglass artwork for Williams Electronics’ Jokerz!

John has created art for some of the most highly regarded pinball machines of all time like The Addams Family, Medieval Madness, White Water, Twilight Zone, and Willy Wonka as well as arcade games like the Cruis’n series. John will talk about Toy Story 4 Pinball his latest game from Jersey Jack Pinball.

John Pomeroy is an American animator, producer, writer, and painter. He attended Art Center College of Design from 1971-73, majoring in illustration. He was hired by Walt Disney Studios in 1973 as an animation trainee. It was here that he first met his two future partners Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. After six months in the training program, he was promoted to animator and worked on the 1974 featurette “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger too” under the supervision of veteran animator Frank Thomas. In the years that followed, John animated on “The Rescuers” in 1977 as well as “Pete’s Dragon,” “The Small One,” and “The Fox and the Hound.” He left Disney in 1979 with Don Bluth and Gary Goldman and started Don Bluth Productions. With Don and Gary, he animated and co-produced their first animated feature “The Secret of NIMN·” In 1983-84, he and his partners then produced and animated the arcade games Dragon’s Lair, Space Ace, and Dragon’s Lair 2: Time Warp.

In 1985, he and his partners teamed with Steven Spielberg to produce the very successful feature “An American Tail.” Spielberg then re-teamed with the trio, with the addition of George Lucas, to produce their next feature film “The Land Before Time.” In 1986, John, his partners, and their new CEO Morris Sullivan relocated their company to Dublin, Ireland, renaming it Sullivan Bluth Studios. There they began work on “All Dogs go to Heaven” followed by “Rockadoodle,” “Troll in Central Park,” “Thumbelina,” and “The Pebble and the Penguin.” It was also here that he met and later married his wife Cami Sorrentino. John returned to Disney in 1992 to design and supervise the animation of Captain John Smith in the animated feature “Pocahontas.” He also supervised animation on “Fantasia 2000,” “Atlantis: The Lost Empire,” and “Treasure Planet.”

In 2003, he worked at Dream Works Studios on Kung Fu Panda, and in 2004 on the feature Curious George. In 2006, John worked as supervising animator on “The Simpsons Movie,” and in 2007 worked at Disney Toon Studios on the Tinkerbell movie series. From 2013-2020, he worked as a storyboard artist for Disney TV Animation on “Sophia the First” and “Fancy Nancy.” He was also a character designer for Disney’s “Elena of Avalor.” John’s additional credits include Disney’s “Planes,” the “Tom and Jerry” animated movie series, “The Swan Princes” series, “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” the “Looney Tunes” show reboot, Netflix’s “Klaus,” and most recently the upcoming feature “Space Jam: A New Legacy.” John currently also makes several appearances a year at various conventions including, but not limited to, New York/ San Diego Comic Con, CTN, and ICCC.

He also currently teaches as an animation professor at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN and also has appeared as a speaker at multiple educational institutions including Auburn University in Auburn, AL and Nemo Art Academy in Florence, Italy. He has continuously been an active member of the “Shorts and Animation” branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences since 1978. John lives with his wife Cami and three children in Brentwood, TN. John and Cami both came to Christ in 2000 and were baptized in 2001. They’re both active in the California based Christian outreach WOW International. John has been a member of the board of directors for WOW since 2003 and continues to use art and animation as his basis for outreach. The two most profound projects for his artistic ministry have been in working with Whitestone Media to animate the children’s bible series “Theo” from 2008-13 and his current work on Focus On The Family’s “Adventures in Odyssey.”

The Metal Jesus is a long-haired rocker dude who runs a popular YouTube channel dedicated to Retro Gaming with a Heavy Metal soundtrack. With the help of the Seattle gaming community he covers Hidden Gems, Buying Guides as well as the popular I HATE U series, Gamer Eats and much more. He was also an employee at mega publisher Sierra On-Line in the 90’s and he brings his love of big box PC gaming to his channel as well.

John Riggs has a knack for nostalgia with everything from classic breakfast cereal to video games and all points in between. His YouTube channel shows his love for classic games ranking them by publishers, covering a collection of games for systems through specific years, or covering the best, worst, most obscure, and underrated games for all consoles. He’s also been known to hack NES games and fix a game or two with ‘open cart surgery’.

Nintendrew runs a popular YouTube channel covering current and retro video game collecting and of course Nintendo. He is also working on his own game named C.A.R.L.

Brent Griffith and Whitney Roberts are co-hosts of the Brokentoken Classic Gaming Podcast. Brent and Whitney also do a fantastic job of moderating many of the panels at Music City Multi Con.

The Brokentoken Classic Gaming Podcast covers everything from the golden age of arcade gaming to the newest pinball titles currently hitting the streets and everything in between. Add in technical talk segments, collecting and restoration stories, interviews and sit-in guests as well as game room updates, forum news, listener mail and twitter questions (with the occasional live streams) and you’ve got a couple hours of your life you’ll never get back!

Steve is a Cathode Ray Tube Specialist set on saving CRTs for future generations to enjoy. His company, Retro Tech is dedicated to Preserving CRT Monitors, Televisions and other Vintage Technologies through the art of restoration on YouTube. For more information on repairs and to learn more about CRTs, check out Retro Tech on YouTube.
Follow on twitter: @usa_retro.

Sam Payne is a pinup artist that draws inspiration from geek culture related themes such as comics and animation. His weapons of choice are Adobe Illustrator and Vectornator Pro with an occasional tweak in Photoshop.

His art can be found on variant covers for Archie Comics and promotional posters for various conventions in Nashville and neighboring areas.

Follow @paynless2011 on Instagram for regular updates and images of current projects.

Prints or comics can be purchased at sampayneart.com.

Billy Martinez began his career in the early 90’s as a freelance artist debuting his original comic series Wildflower in 1993 for Sirius Entertainment. Soon after he would write and illustrate books and stories for companies Peregrine Entertainment, Top Cow, Image Comics and Heavy Metal Magazine. In addition to his work in comics, he supplied artwork for Family Guy and Hellboy through Inkworks trading card company. In 1999 Billy formed Neko Press Comics and Publishing. The company went on to kickstart the careers of many up and coming artist and was a platform for Billy to continue to self publish his flagship titles Wildflower, Kickass Girl and graphic novels The Deepest Dark and his how to draw companion books In your Face and Body Movin’.

During this time Billy became interested in painting live at various clubs downtown in San Diego. There he would create 3 to 4 images simultaneously with bands and DJ’s such as Z Trip and Red Sonya on stage. He would sell his finished pieces right on the spot. It was a new and fresh avenue to get more individuals aware of the art scene in the San Diego and Los Angeles area. Through the years his art has been featured for Starbucks Coffee Company and in various galleries throughout the United States. He currently instructs and teaches art classes that range from sequential art to fine art painting and continues to create murals and performs live art shows throughout the country. He currently resides in Nashville Tennessee where he performs live art in Nashville’s historic Printers Alley and many venues throughout Music City.

Ginger Oh Snap has been cosplaying most her life, thanks to a background in theatre, dance, and renaissance faires, She is a self taught maker and entrepreneur. Ginger dedicates her days to creating costumes, performing, promoting geek culture, and pushing for a more inclusive and welcoming cosplay community. When not traveling around the world to conventions and events as a guest, she is live streaming on Twitch. Ginger loves sharing her passions and knowledge with the community. Ginger is also a burlesque performer, sharing her special brand of shapeshifting nerdlesque at theatres, conventions, and festivals across the U.S. She is best known for her cosplays as the Nuka Cola Girl from Fallout, Sarah from Labyrinth, and as Mary Jane Watson (riding alongside Stan Lee himself), in the 2017 DragonCon parade.

MutantGlue has been cosplaying since 2017. She is sponsored by a comic book company named SoveReignComics and has her own brand as well. Her cosplays range from Marvel to Anime with gaming and Disney sprinkled in between. “Reliving your childhood movies, cartoons, and games is so refreshing. It gives you a break reality and such a sense of nostalgia that it just fills your soul with joy.”