ALEX ROSS studied illustration at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, then honed his craft as a storyboard artist before entering the comics field. His miniseries Marvels (Marvel Comics, 1993) opened a wider acceptance for painted comics. He moved on to produce the equally successful Kingdom Come (DC Comics, 1996). His extensive work for DC/Vertigo includes Absolute Justice League, Uncle Sam, Astro City, Justice, and Justice Society of America . Ross has continued producing work for Marvel Comics, including the Earth X trilogy, Spider-Man, and the Avengers . His work outside of comics includes magazine and album covers, as well as the poster for the 2002 Academy Awards®. Ross is currently creating a variety of art prints, including works of the Beatles, Universal Monsters, and Disney characters, among others. CHIP KIDD is the three-time Eisner Award-winning author, art director, and designer of Batman Collected, Batman: Animated (co-author ), Peanuts: The Art of Charles M.

Schulz, Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross, Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan, and the graphic novel Batman: Death by Design . He is the recipient of the National Design Award for Communications and the Lifetime Achievement medal from the American Institute of Graphic Arts. GEOFF SPEAR has photographed for numerous publications, including Esquire, GQ, Smithsonian, Wired, Newsweek, and The New York Times . His images have also appeared in national advertising campaigns for AT&T, American Express, Citibank, and IBM. His photographs for Batman Collected were chosen for the Annual of American Photography 13 . J. J. ABRAMS is a writer, producer, and director, and founder of Bad Robot Productions.