Mark Waid, a New York Times-bestselling author, bought his first comic book at age four and never stopped.

Since entering the field as a professional in the mid-1980s, he has been an editor, a writer, a publisher, an artist, a colorist, a letterer, a publicist, a creative consultant, a chief creative officer, and even a comic shop owner, meaning he’s done literally everything you can do in comics outside of running the actual printing presses. As a writer, he’s worked with every major and almost every minor publisher, writing and editing over 2000 stories (and counting). Among them are his collaboration with artist Alex Ross, Kingdom Come, one of the all-time highest-selling American graphic novels, as well as long, critically acclaimed runs on Flash, Daredevil, Archie, Fantastic Four, and many, many other titles.

Currently, he’s enjoying a new groundswell of success at DC Comics with World’s Finest, Teen Titans, and Shazam! while, in his “spare time,” embarking on a full-scale teaching career, presenting comics writing classes at select conventions and venues.