SILVER SURFER EPIC COLLECTION: THE HERALD ORDEAL

Ron Marz broke into comics in the early '90s with a lengthy run on Marvel’s Silver Surfer, followed by a stint on DC’s Green Lantern, where he co-created Kyle Rayner. In 2000, Marz joined the creative team at CrossGen, working on Sojourn, Mystic, The Path and Scion, among others. He also had an acclaimed run on Top Cow’s Witchblade which lasted nearly a decade. He has recently returned to Marvel, writing Silver Surfer: Rebirth.

Jim Starlin introduced not only Thanos but also Shang-Chi and many other memorable characters. After seemingly killing both Adam Warlock and Thanos in one of Marvel’s earlier multi-title cosmic arcs — for which he won two Eagle Awards — Starlin wrote Marvel’s first graphic novel, The Death of Captain Marvel. Returning to Marvel to write Silver Surfer, he resurrected Adam Warlock and Thanos, both of whom figured prominently in a veritable franchise of miniseries he wrote and/or penciled: Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity War, Infinity Crusade, Infinity Abyss and more, plus the Warlock and the Infinity Watch and Thanos monthlies. Starlin continued to chart the saga of the Mad Titan in a recent series of original graphic novels.

Peter David is one of the industry’s most prolific and versatile writers whose record-breaking stint on Incredible Hulk remains a fan-favorite to this day. His similarly long-running — and critically acclaimed — association with X-Factor began in the early 1990s and continued in 2005. His other Marvel work includes Captain Marvel, two lengthy stints on Spider-Man 2099, Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider and the smash-hit Symbiote Spider-Man limited series with artist Greg Land. David is also a novelist and screenwriter. Among his credits are some forty Star Trek tie-ins; original novels such as Sir Apropos of Nothing, Howling Mad and Knight Life; movies Trancers 4 and Trancers 5; and episodes of Babylon 5 and Crusade. He also co-created the TV show Space Cases with actor-writer Bill Mumy.

After establishing himself on Eternity’s Ex-Mutants and First’s Badger, Ron Lim went cosmic with a six-year penciling run on Silver Surfer, followed by a collaboration with Jim Starlin on the Warlock/Thanos Infinity multi-miniseries saga. With writer Tom DeFalco, he helped create the look and characters of the MC2 universe, while he explored a different Marvel future during a 35-issue run on X-Men 2099. Lim’s other Marvel credits include Captain America, Spider-Man Unlimited and Venom: Lethal Protector.

Tom Morgan started his comics career at Marvel in the mid-1980s. He contributed inks, pencils and cover art to a variety of series, including several Spider-Man and New Universe titles. Morgan next illustrated short runs on Captain America, Power Pack and Alpha Flight, along with the miniseries The War and two Excalibur special editions. During the early 1990s, Morgan landed his first long-term assignment as penciler of Punisher 2099. He went on to illustrate several Iron Man issues, an Extreme Justice arc for DC Comics and Topps Comics’ licensed miniseries Xena: Warrior Princess vs. Callisto. In 2008, Morgan illustrated IDW’s comic biography Presidential Material: Barack Obama.

Kevin Maguire’s career in comic books got off to an impressive start, with the young artist winning the prestigious Russ Manning Best Newcomer Award in 1988. After gaining fame during the ‘80s on Justice League, Maguire rejoined writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis on the Eisner Award-winning Formerly Known as the Justice League and its sequel, I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League, as well as Marvel’s Defenders miniseries.