Craig Thompson - website

Craig Thompson has lived in Portland for the past fifteen years and all of his published comics work (except one travelogue) was drawn here. He's best known for the award-winning BLANKETS, published in twenty languages. And he just completed the 700 page Arabian nights epic HABIBI -- to released in September 2011 by PANTHEON BOOKS.

Photo by Alicia J Rose

Kurt Halsey - website

Kurt Halsey has made a career out of drawing and painting simple moments and quiet thoughts in the vein of newspaper comics for the past 10 years. His work sits somewhere in between cartoons, comics, fine art, and a personal diary of sorts. A collection of his paintings "and then something about never forgetting" was recently published.

Tim Seeley - website

TIM SEELEY is one of those "slash" people…a writer-slash-artist. He has drawn a number of different comic book series including G.I JOE, HALLOWEEN, THE DARK ELF TRILOGY, EXILES, and WILDCATS. His writing work includes LOVEBUNNY & MR.HELL, LOADED BIBLE and ANT-MAN/WASP. He is most known for HACK/SLASH, which he considers a blessing/curse. There's that slash again. He resides in Chicago, Illinois with his wife Gina, and a closet full of MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE figures.

Paul Guinan

Multimedia artist Paul Guinan started out at First Comics, retouching the first manga translation published in the U.S., Lone Wolf and Cub. While at First, he co-created Cargonauts, a precursor to Firefly. Paul also co-created Chronos for DC and was lead background artist on the animated series Stan Lee's Stripperella. Paul's art for the graphic novel Heartbreakers Meet Boilerplate was nominated for an Eisner Award. Paul's Victorian robot creation Boilerplate, which began as a website in 2000, was recently turned into a unique illustrated hardcover that's been optioned by producer J. J. Abrams.

Anina Bennett

Writer Anina Bennett is the co-author (with her husband, Paul Guinan) of the steampunk sensation coffee-table book Boilerplate: History's Mechanical Marvel, and the forthcoming book Frank Reade: Adventures in the Age of Invention. She and Paul also created the Eisner-nominated science fiction series Heartbreakers, one of the first comics to feature clones and female action heroes. Anina is a recovering comic book editor, having previously shepherded titles such as Nexus, GrimJack, and Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor for First Comics and Dark Horse Comics.

Gus Lopez - website

Gus Lopez began collecting Star Wars memorabilia in 1977 and founded the Star Wars Collector's Archive in 1994 - the first Star Wars collecting website on the Internet. Gus also writes for magazines on Star Wars collecting and appears at conventions and on tv programs relating to the Star Wars collecting topic.

Andy Mangels - website

Andy Mangels is the USA Today best-selling author and co-author of over twenty fiction and nonfiction books — including Star Trek, Roswell, and Star Wars novels — and is an award-winning comic book anthology editor. He has also contributed to international magazines and newspapers, and has scripted, directed, and produced over forty DVD documentaries and Special Features projects.

SKot Kirkwood - website

SKot Kirkwood is a first-generation Star Wars fan who had the odd experience of seeing the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special before seeing Star Wars itself. He runs the websites Star Wars Holiday Special.com and Star Wars Cut Scenes.com - a testiment to his interest in Star Wars obscurities.
In response to his website work, SKot has traveled as far Germany as a guest of the official German Star Wars Fan Club to do a presentation panel on the Star Wars Holiday Special for the Jedi-Con 2004.
In 2008, for the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars Holiday Special, SKot unveiled some exclusive interviews and never-before-seen photos for the Holiday Special website. In addition to this, Lucasfilm's starwars.com interviewed him during their own week-long tribute to the much-maligned TV show.
SKot continues to search for obscure details from the darkest corners of the Star Wars universe, with a driving motivation (some would say maniacal obsession!) to bring those corners out into the light of day to share with the general public.

Rick Emerson - website

Rick Emerson is a radio and television broadcaster based in Portland, Oregon. He is the host of The Rick Emerson Show, which has enraptured/annoyed listeners since 1998, and of KRCW-TV's Outlook Portland. Emerson has also co-authored a book, with CNN Radio correspondent Lisa Desjardins titled Zombie Economics, due for release May 3, 2011.
Rick is also the author and star of the one-man show Bigger than Jesus: The Diary of a Rock and Roll Fan, as well as the feature-film of the same name, and has displayed his limited acting ability on such television programs as Leverage.

R2-D2 - website

On Saturday, we are pleased to announce the appearance of R2-D2! He will be with us for one day only, so don't miss your chance to see him!
A movie quality replica, hand built by Scott Boothby, moves, rolls around on his own, and even speaks just like the real Artoo. As far as we're concerned, he's just as good as the real thing -- if not even better because he's local!