Industry legend Chris Claremont is best known for his epic sixteen-year run on Uncanny X-Men. Claremont’s focus on the themes of prejudice and tolerance struck at the hearts of comics fans, and he built an unparalleled following during the next three decades. Under his pen, the X-Men franchise spawned a vast array of spin-offs, many of them written by Claremont himself. His other credits include Iron Fist, Ms. Marvel, Power Man and Spider-Woman. Claremont has returned to the X-Men universe in New Exiles, GeNext, X-Men Forever, Chaos War: X-Men and Nightcrawler.

Juan Bobillo broke into comics during the mid-’90s as an assistant to fellow Argentinean artist Ariel Olivetti. He is perhaps best known for his eye-catching work on writer Dan Slott’s She-Hulk. Bobillo’s distinctive style has graced other Marvel books, including Agent X, Captain America, FF, Howard the Duck, Astonishing X-Men and the Amazing Spider-Man: Who Am I? Infinite Comic.

Croatian-born illustrator Igor Kordey has earned a reputation for his prolific output, working on as many as three or four monthly books at the same time. His Marvel work includes Black Widow: Pale Little Spider, Captain America, Conspiracy, Soldier X, Tales of the Marvels: Wonder Years, New X-Men, and extended runs on X-Treme X-Men and Cable. Kordey united with his compatriot Darko Macan on Tarzan projects for Dark Horse Comics.

A former animator for cult cartoonist Ralph Bakshi, Paul Smith penciled Uncanny X-Men during a brief but pivotal run that included Rogue joining the team, Storm’s controversial makeover, Wolverine’s near-marriage and Cyclops’ wedding to future villain Madelyne Pryor. He then moved to Doctor Strange, Marvel Fanfare and others, later drawing the acclaimed X-Men/Alpha Flight miniseries. With James Robinson, he created DC’s groundbreaking Golden Age miniseries, highlighting the publisher’s wartime heroes like few before or since. His work for other companies includes First’s Grimjack and Image’s Leave It to Chance; he returned to Marvel to pencil the miniseries Kitty Pryde: Shadow and Flame, revisiting some themes from his Uncanny work.