San Diego Comic-Con 2023 Special Guests [UPDATE June 21]

Comic-Con International has begun unveiling this year’s list of Special Guests, the invited guests who appear at San Diego Comic-Con and are featured in a special “Spotlight” panel during the convention, so attendees have a chance to hear their favorite authors and artists speak live.

From their site, here’s the list of the Special Guests headed to SDCC 2023:

[NEW]

  • Ricardo Caté •Cartoonist/writer, Without Reservations
  • Mark Evanier • Writer/comics historian, Kirby, King of Comics, Garfield, Groo the Wanderer 
  • John Romita Jr. • Artist, The Amazing Spider-ManIron Man
  • Scott Shaw! • Cartoonist/writer, The FlinstonesCaptain Carrott and His Amazing CrewSonic the Hedgehog

[PREVIOUS]

  • Victoria Aveyard • Author, New York Times bestselling Red Queen and Realm Breaker series
  • Frank Miller • Artist/writer, Daredevil, Ronin, Batman: The Dark Knight, Sin City, 300 
  • Matthew Southworth • Cartoonist, Stumptown, The Cloven
  • Ben Templesmith New York Times bestselling artist and writer, 30 Days of Night, Fell, Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, Welcome to Hoxford, and Singularity 7
  • Maggie Thompson • “Celebrity-adjacent award-winning pop-culture nerd”, Editor, Comics Buyer’s Guide
  • Darcie Little Badger • Lipan Apache writer, Elatsoe, A Snake Falls to Earth, Strangelands, and Marvel Voices
  • Ben Saunders • Professor at University of Oregon (go Ducks!), founder of Program in Comic Studies 
  • Linda Sejic • Comic creator, Blood Stain and Punderworld; artist, Wildfire, Tales of Honor, and Swing
  • Stjepan Sejic Comic creator, Witchblade; artist, DC’s Aquaman, Suicide Squad, and Justice League Odyssey
  • William Stout • Co-founder, Comic Art Professional Society; productions, Return of the Living Dead, Masters of the Universe, Pan’s Labyrinth
  • Lee Weeks • Comics artist and sometimes writer, Batman, Superman, Daredevil, Batman/Elmer Fudd Special
  • J. Scott Campbell • Artist, Marvel, DC. Founder, Danger Girl, FairyTale Fantasies
  • Felicia Day • Founder, Geek and Sundry. Actor, Supernatural, The Magicians, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, The Guild (creator) 
  • Jim Lee • President, Publisher, Chief Creative Officer, DC
  • Merrie Spaeth• Writer/columnist, Grimm’s Ghost Stories, Boris Karloff, Dark Shadows, The Wall Street Journal, and The Hill
  •  J. Michael Straczynski • Writer/producer/creator, Babylon 5, Sense8
  • Brian Walker • Founder and former director, Museum of Cartoon Art. Writer/editor/contributor, The Comics: The Complete Collection
  • Janice Chiang • Comic book letterer, Storm King Comics, DC, Scholastic
  • Alex de Campi • Bestselling, critically acclaimed horror/thriller writer, Dracula, Motherf**ker!Madi, Bad Girls, Scrapper (co-written with games legend Cliff Bleszinski, debuts at Comic-Con this year), Parasocial (with Erica Henderson), and Bad Karma (with Ryan Howe and Dee Cunniffe) 
  • [CANCELLED] Christopher Paolini • Creator of the World of Eragon and the Fractalverse
  • Joe Quesada • Former Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief
  • Ron Turner • Proprietor, Last Gasp Publishing (Slow Death Funnies, Zap, Weirdo, Young Lust)
  • David F. Walker •Award-winning comic book writer, filmmaker, journalist, and educator, The Black Panther Party, Luke Cage, Occupy Avengers, Power Man and Iron Fist, Nighthawk, Fury, Deadpool
  • Barbara Friedlander • Creator, Swing with Scooter
  • Keith Knight • Cartoonist/creator, Woke
  • Todd McFarlane • Producer/director, Spawn, Venom, Scorched, King Spawn, Gunslinger, and Spawn’s Universe
  • Stephen Notley • Cartoonist, Bob the Angry Flower
  • Beau Smith Creator, Wynonna Earp, Primate, Parts Unknown, Cobb
  • Raina Telgemeier • Author/illustrator, Smile, Drama, Sisters, Ghosts, and Guts
  • Jim Benton • Bestselling author, Catwad, Franny K Stein, It’s Happy Bunny, Attack of the Stuff, Comet the Unstoppable Reindeer, The Handbook, Dog Butts and Love, and Man I Hate Cursive
  • Becky Cloonan • Artist/writer, DC, Dark Horse, Image, and Marvel
  • Simon Hanselmann • Comic artist/animator, Megg and Mogg, The Werewolf Jones & Sons Deluxe Summer Fun Annual
  • P. Craig Russell • Marvel (Killraven and Dr. Strange)
  • John Semper • Producer/Head writer, Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Writer, Scooby-Doo, Smurfs, The Jetsons, My Little Pony, Duck Tales, Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Static Shock
  • Martha Wells • Author, Witch King, the Murderbot series (Network Effect and Fugitive Telemetry), System Collapse, The Wizard Hunters
  • Jerry Beck • Animation historian (The Animated Movie Guide, Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide, and The 50 Greatest Cartoons) and cartoon producer
  • Jo Duffy • Comics author (Power Man and Iron Fist, Catwoman, Batman, Wolverine, Fallen Angels, Nestrobber, Glory, Crystar, Elvira, Defenders, Punisher, and Star Wars)
  • Steenz • Cartoonist (“Heart of the City”), editor, professor
  • Garth Stein • Author, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Raven Stole the Moon, How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets, and A Sudden Light
  • Mariko Tamaki • Writer, This One Summer, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me
  • Holly Black • Author, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, the Spiderwick Chronicle
  • Bill Griffith • Cartoonist, ZippyInvisible InkNobody’s FoolThree Rocks
  • Junji Ito • Manga artist, FrankensteinReminaLovesickness
  • Jeff Smith • Writer/Artist, BoneRASLShazzam: The Monster Society of Evil
  • Rachel Smythe • Author/Writer, Lore Olympus

 

You can also catch up on tons of other things and people who will be at San Diego Comic-Con in our Under the Tents updates.

Are you excited about these guests? Let us know in the comments.

Scroll to Top