Thunderbolts: Dark Reign Omnibus Marko Djurdjevic Cover

Andy Diggle is a British writer known for stints on such high-profile titles as Judge Dredd, Hellblazer and Swamp Thing, as well as being a former editor of 2000 AD. In addition to a mature re-imagining of The Losers for DC’s Vertigo line, he has written the Punisher: Silent Night one-shot, Thunderbolts and Daredevil for Marvel. Diggle and artist Davide Gianfelice gave classic Marvel gunslingers a modern makeover in the pages of Six Guns.

Springing from the fertile ground of the U.K. comics scene, Warren Ellis came to Marvel during the early ’90s and proved his iconoclastic mettle in the ultra-edgy series Hellstorm and the limited series Druid — followed by fondly remembered extended runs on Excalibur and Doom 2099. After making a name for himself as a premier talent with Wildstorm’s Stormwatch, Transmetropolitan, The Authority and Planetary, Ellis returned to Marvel to pen Ultimate Fantastic Four, the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy, Iron Man and more. His Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. was both a critical smash and a cult favorite. In addition to reviving the 1980s New Universe in newuniversal and writing Thunderbolts, Ellis took over Astonishing X-Men following Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s departure, and penned perhaps the definitive story of the Armored Avenger in Iron Man’s “Extremis.” In addition, he offered a distinctively memorable new take on Moon Knight. His Wildstorm miniseries Red was adapted into a hit movie in 2010. Ellis broke into prose fiction with Crooked Little Vein and his New York Times best-selling novel Gun Machine.

Artist Mike Deodato Jr. was already a renowned illustrator in his native Brazil when he got his big break in American comics in 1994, illustrating DC’s Wonder Woman. For Marvel, he drew such series as Avengers, Elektra, Spider-Man and Incredible Hulk. After refining his inimitable style on the creator-owned Jade Warriors, he returned to Marvel for a second turn on Incredible Hulk, with writer Bruce Jones, and a stint on J. Michael Straczynski’s Amazing Spider-Man. Deodato has forged an association with the Avengers on various titles — including collaborations with Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker and Jonathan Hickman — and demonstrated his superstar status on the event book Original Sin. Deodato joined writer Jeff Lemire in exploring one of Marvel's greatest villains in Thanos.