DARK AVENGERS MODERN ERA EPIC COLLECTION: OSBORN'S REIGN

Award-winning comic-book creator Brian Michael Bendis is one of the most successful writers in the industry today. In addition to an acclaimed run on Daredevil, he has helmed a renaissance for Marvel’s popular Avengers franchise and written the event projects House of M, Secret War, Secret Invasion, Siege, Age of Ultron and Civil War II. Bendis wrote every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man from its launch in 2000 before bringing his multiracial Spider-Man, Miles Morales, to the Marvel Universe for continuing adventures. He took on Marvel’s mutants in the pages of All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men, and launched Guardians of the Galaxy into the stratosphere. Bendis shook up the life of Tony Stark in Invincible Iron Man and related titles, introducing Riri Williams as Ironheart, and then assembled street-level heroes Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Daredevil and his co-creation Jessica Jones in Defenders. His creator-owned projects include Scarlet with Alex Maleev, Brilliant with Mark Bagley, and Takio and the Eisner Award-winning Powers with Michael Avon Oeming.

Having established his reputation as an emerging talent with his work on Last of the Independents, Matt Fraction launched the critically acclaimed Immortal Iron Fist with co-writer Ed Brubaker and artist David Aja. He subsequently collaborated with artist Salvador Larrocca on Invincible Iron Man, premiering the same month as the blockbuster film. Also a talented filmmaker and graphic designer, Fraction became one of Marvel’s most popular writers. His credits include Uncanny X-Men, Thor and its successor The Mighty Thor, the blockbuster Fear Itself, and the relaunched Defenders. Fraction teamed with David Aja for the Eisner Award-winning Hawkeye. Beyond Marvel, his acclaimed creator-owned work includes Sex Criminals, Casanova, ODY-C and November.

Artist Mike Deodato Jr. was already a renowned illustrator in his native Brazil when he got his big break in American comics in 1994, illustrating DC’s Wonder Woman. For Marvel, he drew such series as Avengers, Elektra, Spider-Man and Incredible Hulk. After refining his inimitable style on the creator-owned Jade Warriors, he returned to Marvel for a second turn on Incredible Hulk, with writer Bruce Jones, and a stint on J. Michael Straczynski’s Amazing Spider-Man. Deodato has forged an association with the Avengers on various titles — including collaborations with Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker and Jonathan Hickman — and demonstrated his superstar status on the event book Original Sin. Deodato joined writer Jeff Lemire in exploring one of Marvel's greatest villains in Thanos.

Brazilian artist Luke Ross has been drawing comics since the early ’90s, proving himself an able stylist of super hero action on titles such as X-Man, Sensational Spider-Man, Green Lantern and JSA. Ross stepped in for Mike Perkins as foil to Steve Epting on writer Ed Brubaker’s Captain America and joined a rotation of Marvel’s top artists on the thrice-monthly Amazing Spider-Man. His other Marvel credits include Secret Avengers, Dark Tower: The Gunslinger — The Little Sisters of Eluria, Star Wars: Darth Maul and Star Wars: Thrawn.

Industry giant Marc Silvestri entered the upper echelon of comics innovators in the late ’80s during fan-favorite, record-breaking runs on Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine. Silvestri left Marvel in 1992 to co-found Image Comics; his imprint, Top Cow, is one of its four longstanding autonomous studios. At Image, Silvestri created some of today’s most popular properties — including Cyberforce, Witchblade, Weapon Zero and The Darkness. Silvestri has returned to the world of Marvel’s mutants on New X-Men and X-Men: Messiah Complex.