"STAPLE! was phenomenal,
a first year show that acted like a precocious mutant baby genius."
Special GuestsBrian Hurtt
Cullen Bunn
Monica Gallagher
Liz Prince
Kagan McLeod
MariNaomi
Continue to check the news section for announcements about additional guests. |
Past ShowsIf you are curious about our featured guests at the last two STAPLE! shows, you can visit our 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006 guest page archives. Read testimonials from past guests and exhibitors. |
Brian Hurtt got his start in comics working on Greg Rucka's Queen & Country. This was followed by art duties on several projects including Queen & Country: Declassified, Three Strikes and Steve Gerber's critically acclaimed series Hard Time. In 2006, Brian teamed up with Cullen Bunn to create the Prohibition-era monster-noir sensation The Damned. In 2010, they have teamed up again, their sophomore effort being the critically acclaimed supernatural western series, The Sixth Gun. Check out his site at 
Cullen Bunn is the writer of The Sixth Gun, an ongoing epic fantasy/western from Oni Press. His other work for Oni Press includes The Damned, a story of prohibition-era gangsters and demons, and The Tooth, a throwback to the horror-hero tales of yesteryear. In addition, he is the author of a prose horror novel for younger readers, Crooked Hills, which is published by Earwig Press. His work for Marvel Comics has included Fear Itself: The Deep, Fear Itself: The Fearless, and Spider-Man: Season One. Cullen's short fiction has appeared in dozens of magazines and anthologies. Somewhere along the way, Cullen founded Undaunted Press and edited the critically acclaimed small press horror magazine, Whispers from the Shattered Forum.
All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler. And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.
Cullen lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with his wife Cindy and son Jackson. Visit his website at 
Monica Gallagher is a designer, illustrator, and comicker from Baltimore, where she lives with her boyfriend and two dueling cats. She has written and illustrated both awkward autobio and fiction stories including Gods & Undergrads, Boobage, Lipstick & Malice, and Bonnie N. Collide. She currently finished illustrating a full-length graphic novel for Oni Press and is about to embark on one she'll be drawing AND penning. Her books focus on tackling the boredom of the every day with silliness, violence, and sometimes boobs. Check out her comics at 
Liz Prince is creator of the Ignatz Award-winning comic Will You Still Love Me If I Wet the Bed? and the widely ignored Delayed Replays (Top Shelf Productions). She draws comics about music for the website If You Make It and the magazine Razorcake. You can read comics about boys and cats on her website, 
Kagan McLeod is a Toronto-based illustrator whose work has been published in magazines such as Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, Time, People, Glamour and GQ. His debut graphic novel Infinite Kung Fu, an epic homage to chop socky films of the '70s, was published by Top Shelf Productions last year. It has been named one of the best graphic novels of 2011 by Publishers Weekly, Heeb Magazine, io9, CNN, Comic Book Resources, Complex, USA Today, Forbidden Planet International, IFC, ComicsAlliance, 11o'clock Comics and the Graphic Novel Reporter. See Kagan's amazing work at 
MariNaomi is the author and illustrator of the graphic memoir Kiss &
Tell: A Romantic Resume, Ages 0 to 22 (Harper Perennial). She
self-published seven issues of Estrus Comics (1998-2009), and her work
has appeared in such publications as I Saw You: Comics Inspired by
Real Life Missed Connections and Action Girl Comics. She has regular
columns on