Ta-Nehisi Coates was a national correspondent for The Atlantic, where he wrote about politics and culture. In 2015, Coates published Between the World and Me, which won the National Book Award. After enjoying considerable success with his relaunch of Marvel Comics' Black Panther, he ushered Captain America into a new era of storytelling. Coates is also the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, a National Magazine award and the George Polk award. His first novel, The Water Dancer, was published in 2019. He lives in New York with his wife and son. A copy of How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way sparked Leinil Francis Yu's interest in comics when he was 11. Whilce Portacio's tutelage helped him land his first mainstream comics work on Wolverine in 1997.

Following a successful run, Yu took on such titles as Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, Superman- Birthright and Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk. After an extended period laying the groundwork in New Avengers, he and writer Brian Michael Bendis turned the Marvel Universe upside down with Secret Invasion, and the Marvel mainstay has subsequently worked on event comics including Avengers & X-Men- Axis and IVX, and such blockbuster titles as Star Wars.