STEVEN BOROCK

Steven Borock is President, Primary Grader, and Restoration Detection Expert of Comics Guaranty Corporation (CGC). He is respected around the world for the knowledge, ability, and integrity he brings to the task of grading the condition of Golden, Silver, and Bronze Age comic books. He is a grading advisor to the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide and has brought his expertise to bear for Sotheby's and Christie's comic book auctions. Under Steve's leadership, CGC's grading has become the industry's standard for buying and selling vintage and modern comic books. His work has made it much easier for veteran and novice collectors alike to buy vintage comic books without fear of fraud.

Sadly, Steve had to give up his own vintage comic book collection years ago, to preclude any conflict of interest on his part while grading other people's comic books. His love for comics remains unchanged, however. He still reads about eighty percent of the material being published today, collects original comic art, and regularly attends conventions across the country. Along with CGC's Modern Age specialist Paul Litch, Steve has used his unique position in the industry to raise funds for The Hero Initiative and foster awareness of its mission.

MIKE MALVE

Mike Malve's tonsillectomy proved to be a fateful occurrence for comics retailing. Along with the standard sympathy and ice cream, the first-grader also received a stack of comics and was instantly hooked on Spider-Man. He remained an avid reader of comics until high school, when, understandably, he took a few years off for girls and football. After high school, Mike moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where he attended Scottsdale Community College and majored in business. At the age of twenty, he opened his first comic book store, Bubba's Comics (named after his dog, not himself), in downtown Phoenix. A year later, he moved the business to Mesa, rechristened it Atomic Comics, and changed the face of comic book retailing.

Mike's grandfather had owned a supermarket chain in Bridgeport, Connecticut. At an early age, Mike learned from him about sales and marketing and, more importantly, about people. He applied those lessons to Atomic Comics, instituting policies of customer service and product diversity that allow the mainstream public to experience the thrill of comics in a customer-friendly environment. Today, Atomic Comics is four stores strong, with a worldwide mail order division. The company is actively engaged with the communities it serves and holds yearly fund-raising events to support a variety of local and regional charities.

And the innovations continue. At Comicon 2006, Mike introduced the first-ever mobile comic book store, a fully-loaded comics shop on wheels!

JIM McLAUCHLIN

Jim McLauchlin (yes, that's spelled right) has been a professional writer and editor for 17 years. Jim was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1968. He started his writing career in 1989 in Baseball Cards magazine, and worked for several years as a sportswriter. He logged an 11-year stint at Wizard Entertainment, where he was a senior writer and contributing editor for Wizard: The Comics Magazine and spent two years as editor-in-chief of Top Cow Productions. These days, Jim's work appears primarily in FHM magazine, Playboy, and Baseball America. He's also appeared in publications as diverse as Esquire and Xbox Nation. He is currently director of content for the fantasy sports site FSDashboard.com.

Jim lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Lisa Marie, and their dogs, Abby and Sugar Daddy. Two cats also live there, but we won't talk about that.

BRIAN PULIDO

Brian Pulido has been a comics reader and fan since picking up Captain America #176 in July, 1974. A graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Motion Picture and Television Department, Brian has worked extensively in the film and music video fields. In the '90s, he founded Chaos! Comics and created the Chaos! Universe of titles, including the hugely popular Lady Death, Evil Ernie, Purgatori, Chastity, and others. He has created and written comics including new stories based upon New Line Cinema's Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Brian continues to write Lady Death and is now president of Eternal Entertainment, a motion picture production company. He was recently a recipient of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's Defender of Liberty Award. He can be found on the web at www.BrianPulido.com

JOE QUESADA

A New York native and graduate of the School of Visual Arts, Joe Quesada began his career in 1991 as a colorist for Valiant Comics. Before that year was out, he was penciling for DC on titles such as The Ray and The Question, the latter written by fellow-board member Denny O'Neil. In 1993, Joe was chosen to do the first significant redesign of Batman's costume and the prestigious cover for Batman #500.

Joe has worked for virtually every major comics publisher including Marvel, Dark Horse, Image, Harris, Chaos!, and Topps. In 1994, with Jimmy Palmiotti and Laurie Brandach, Joe established his own company, Event Comics, and created the popular character Ash. In 1998, he founded the Marvel Knights imprint, which re launched and revitalized such Marvel perennials as Daredevil, The Black Widow, The Inhumans, and The Punisher. In 2000, Joe was appointed editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He holds that post today.

MARK WAID

In his twenty-five years in the comics business, Mark Waid has been a writer, an editor, a publisher, an artist, a letterer, a colorist, and more. He's done everything short of putting the actual staples into the comics. Clearly, the guy can barely hold a job. Nevertheless, he's done pretty well for himself--he's one of the most prolific comics writers of all time, with some of his best-known credits including The Flash, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Justice League of America, and (with painter Alex Ross) the award-winning and best-selling graphic novel Kingdom Come. Currently, Waid serves as the Editor-In-Chief of the Los Angeles-based BOOM! Studios comics imprint and writes several of the company's titles, including Irredeemable and Incorruptible. He can be found on the web at www.markwaid.com.

BETH WIDERA

Beth Widera is the owner and operator of the Orlando MegaCon, the largest comics convention in the Southeast United States. She started managing the convention in 1999, and in 2004, she purchased it, and has been running it as a family-operated business ever since. Under her guidance and with the help of her family, the show has increased in attendance from 4500 attendees in 1999 to over 22,000 attendees in 2006.

Beth has supplied the Hero Initiative with free booth space and numerous amenities every year at MegaCon. She is deeply committed to its principles, and also to those of education. Beth has an Associates degree in Marketing and a Masters degree in Education. She was in the educational field for over 18 years, teaching in both Nevada and Florida.