Bill Mantlo began his Marvel career on Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, in which he introduced White Tiger, one of the industry’s earliest Hispanic super heroes. Eventually writing stories for almost every Marvel title, he did some of his most fondly remembered work on Incredible Hulk and Spectacular Spider-Man. He also launched Cloak and Dagger in a pair of miniseries and guided Alpha Flight through some of its most harrowing ordeals. Mantlo excelled at integrating licensed properties into the Marvel Universe, as demonstrated by Micronauts and Rom: Spaceknight, both of which he wrote from start to finish. At DC, he wrote the Invasion miniseries for one of the company’s biggest crossover events.

During the 1970s, Pat Broderick depicted cosmic sagas on literally multiple levels as artist on Captain Marvel and Micronauts. At DC, he penciled Captain Atom, Firestorm and Green Lantern, among others; on Batman, he co-created Tim Drake, the third and current Robin. Returning to Marvel in stints on Alpha Flight and Doom 2099, he also worked for the short-lived Future Comics and revisited Micronauts in a newly licensed variant at Devil’s Due Publishing.

Not a traditional super-hero artist, Val Mayerik made his mark on other Marvel Comics titles starting with Chamber of Chills’ “Brak the Barbarian” in 1973. Mayerik worked on Supernatural Thrillers, Creatures on the Loose and Conan before taking over the “Man-Thing” feature in Adventure into Fear, helping introduce Howard the Duck. Since his tenure at Marvel during the 1970s, Mayerik has produced artwork for other comic-book publishers and roleplaying-game companies.

Steve Ditko (1927 - 2018) began his comics career in the anthologies of the 1950s, where his unique style and perspective quickly earned recognition and respect. Recruited to join Stan Lee’s Atlas Comics, later Marvel, in 1958, his nuances contrasted well with Jack Kirby’s bombast. In 1962, in the pages of Amazing Fantasy, Ditko and Lee brought to life Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man, changing the industry forever. Leaving Marvel in 1966, he drew Blue Beetle and Captain Atom for Charlton, Creeper and Shade the Changing Man for DC, and his independent effort Mr. A. Ditko returned to Marvel during the late 1970s and remained for much of the 1980s, co-creating Speedball, Squirrel Girl and other characters who would prove of unexpected importance in Marvel’s later years.