Jeff Parker began his career as a comic artist and Hollywood storyboard artist. In 2003, he self-published the acclaimed graphic novel The Interman and began writing regularly, notably launching Marvel Adventures: The Avengers. Though the series was aimed at younger readers, Parker's use of offbeat characters such as MODOK and Ego the Living Planet quickly developed a vocal and passionate following among all ages. Parker next revived a classic group of 1950s-era Marvel characters in Agents of Atlas, which quickly became the sleeper hit of 2006. Parker is one of Marvel's most prolific writers; his credits also include X-Men: First Class and Thunderbolts. Few writers/editors influenced Marvel more than Mark Gruenwald (1953-1996). Famed for pioneering work on Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and his magnum opus Squadron Supreme, he also wrote a 100-plus-issue run of Captain America; multiple Marvel Two-in-One sagas; and several miniseries, including Contest of Champions, the first of Marvel's multi-hero sagas. He explored the Marvel Universe's ancient history in a series of What If? backup stories he also penciled. Ralph Macchio began as an assistant editor on Marvel's black-and-white magazines. His career grew more colorful with writing stints on Avengers, Thor and others. As editor, he oversaw Master of Kung Fu, Moon Knight, Daredevil and more. After editing multiple Spider-Man titles, he moved to the Ultimate line, which he guided through world-shaking changes. Artist Roger Cruz got his start as a comic-book letterer in his native Brazil, lettering American comics for the Brazilian market. In the early '90s, Cruz joined Art & Comics International, an association that introduced a stable of talented Brazilian artists to the American comics scene. Cruz's work was soon seen in dozens of Marvel titles, including Generation X, X-Factor, Uncanny X-Men, X-Man and Ghost Rider. Cruz's career reached a highpoint in 1995 with the release of X-Men Alpha, a one-shot that became the highest-selling comic book of the year for Marvel Comics. With more than one hundred Marvel comics to his credit, in 1997 Cruz focused his attentions to launching The Comic Book Factory (Fábrica de Quadrinhos), a Brazilian art school and studio dedicated to educating a new generation of comic-book artists. After a two-year teaching run, Cruz made his long-awaited return to American comics with a revival of Amazing Fantasy, featuring a new teenaged Latina heroine, Araña. After completing the eight-issue X-Men: First Class series, Cruz continues to be a popular contributor to comics in both the United States and Brazil. Jerry Bingham has penciled covers and/or stories for Black Panther, Iron Man and several Spider-Man titles. At DC, he penciled, inked and colored Mike Barr's controversial Batman: Son of the Demon graphic novel, and penciled covers for Spectre, Warlord and DC's Babylon 5 adaptation. He has also illustrated stories for Batman Confidential and First Comics' Warp. During the 1990s, he became a production artist in the film industry, designing props and special effects. Richard Howell began his Marvel work on such tie-ins as Dark Crystal and The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones. He collaborated with Steve Englehart on the 12-issue Vision and the Scarlet Witch miniseries. At DC, he drew wartime stories for All-Star Squadron and Blackhawk. With Tony Isabella, he co-created the Shadow War of Hawkman miniseries, which extended into the Winged Wonder's 1986 monthly. At Claypool Comics, he provided art for and co-plotted with Peter David the fan-favorite Soulsearchers and Company, wrote and penciled Deadbeats and served as colorist and editor on various titles.