Writer Ryan North went the self-publishing route to launch his comics career with Dinosaur Comics, which has run for more than 2,000 web-based strips. He describes it as basically the best job ever. In 2012, he was tapped by BOOM! Studios to write its new Adventure Time series based on the popular cartoon. His Marvel debut came in 2014 when he penned the Young Avengers chapters of Original Sins. North propelled an unlikely character to solo title success with the Eisner Award-winning series The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and took Lockjaw solo in the pages of Inhumans: Once and Future Kings. He rewrote the Shakespeare rulebook with Romeo and/or Juliet: A Chooseable-Path Adventure.

Cory Smith is forging a reputation as a Marvel mainstay on high-profile books such as Avengers, Conan the Barbarian and Guardians of the Galaxy. After stints on titles Weapon H and Nova, as well as one-shots featuring the heroes of the Star Wars "Age of Republic," Smith joined writer Benjamin Percy on a deliciously dark relaunch of Ghost Rider.