Raving Toy Maniac

MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT REVEALS PLANS FOR CHICAGO COMIC & ENTERTAINMENT EXPO (C2E2)

Joe Quesada and Axel Alonso to Join Leading Marvel Talent Including Jason Aaron, Rick Remender and Dan Slott

Official C2E2 Poster to Feature Avengers VS. X-Men in Battle at Chicago Landmark

Norwalk, CT, February 21, 2012: Many top writers and creators will be joining Marvel Entertainment at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) as the renowned comic books and media entertainment company announces plans for the annual pop culture gathering which will take place April 13 – 15, 2012 in the North Building at the McCormick Place Convention Center. Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment, and Axel Alonso, Marvel's Editor-in-Chief, will be joined by other notable Marvel creators including Jason Aaron, Rick Remender and Dan Slott.

In addition to bringing these leading guests and talent to C2E2, Marvel has also provided original artwork by Olivier Coipel for this year's official C2E2 poster which will feature The Avengers and X-Men in battle at Buckingham Fountain, a Chicago landmark in the center of Grant Park. This April, The Avengers and the X-Men go to war in a landmark 12-issue pop culture publishing event, Avengers VS X-Men, which will bring together the world's greatest super heroes including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Magneto and more. To learn more about Avengers VS X-Men go to www.marvel.com/avx. The specially created poster will figure prominently in C2E2's advertising and promotion and will be featured at the convention as well as in Chicago area retailers and other areas throughout Chicago leading up to the show. Marvel will have a massive booth presence at C2E2 where it will occupy 2500 square feet in a central location on the convention floor where fans will be able to meet top Marvel talent as well as learn about the latest Marvel products, promotions and recent news. Once again, ReedPOP will also entertain 12 fans at a dinner which will include selected executives and creators from the Marvel team. This year the exclusive dinner will take place at the award-winning Chicago restaurant Girl & the Goat. Further details about the dinner will be announced soon and will be posted on the C2E2 website.

"Marvel always brings tremendous energy and excitement to our show and this year is certainly no exception," notes Lance Fensterman, Group Vice President for ReedPOP and Show Manager for C2E2. "The Marvel presence is felt on so many levels, not just at their booth and with all the talented guests they bring, but also through the poster, the dinner that ReedPOP is hosting, the panels and all the other Marvel activity which involves thousands of our fans and which is so fully integrated with our show. We are grateful to Marvel for their energy and commitment to C2E2 and we look forward to making this a great show!"

For further information about guests and activities at C2E2 as well as purchasing tickets, please visit www.C2E2.com.

JOE QUESADA: Joe Quesada wears many creative hats, as both an acclaimed writer-artist and the Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment - the world's largest and most dynamic comics publisher. In this role, Joe is steward of such legendary characters as Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor.

His tenure as Editor-in-Chief recently drew to a close after 10 successful years – the longest term since Stan Lee himself. Under Quesada's guidance, Marvel underwent a creative boom and became home to the comic industry's greatest talents, which continues to hold true today. He brings this same vision to his role in the whole of Marvel Entertainment across the worlds of publishing, film, and television.

AXEL ALONSO: A 17-year comics industry veteran, Axel Alonso got his start at DC Comics' Vertigo imprint, where he edited such seminal series such as Preacher, Hellblazer and 100 Bullets, before leaping to Marvel Comics in 2001. Since that time, he has overseen many of the publisher's biggest franchises – including Spider-Man, Hulk and the X-Men – and edited some of its most talked-about series – including Truth, Rawhide Kid and X-Statix. In 2011 Axel was promoted to Editor In Chief, a tenure during which he has overseen major events such as the Death of Ultimate Spider-Man and the chart-topping Fear Itself. Besides comics, Alonso's passions include basketball, hip-hop, 8-year-old shooting guard Tito "Mr. T" Alonso, Asian food and preparing for the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse.

JASON AARON: Jason Aaron is an Eisner and Harvey Award nominated comic book writer whose work includes the critically acclaimed crime series Scalped for Vertigo and stints on Black Panther, Ghost Rider and Wolverine: Weapon X for Marvel. Current and upcoming projects include Wolverine, Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine, PunisherMAX, X-Men Schism and Wolverine & the X-Men, all for Marvel. He was born in Alabama but currently resides in Kansas City.

RICK REMENDER: Rick Remender is the writer/creator of comics such as Fear Agent, The End League, Strange Girl, Black Heart Billy, Last Days of American Crime, Sea of Red, Sorrow, Night Mary, (bleep)ombies and Doll and Creature. He is also the writer of Marvel's Uncanny X-Force, Secret Avengers, and Venom.

Outside of comics he has served as lead writer on EA/EPIC/PCF's Bulletstorm game and was a writer on the Electronic Arts hit game Dead Space. Prior to this, Remender served as an animator on films such as The Iron Giant, Anastasia, Titan A.E., and Rocky and Bullwinkle.

During his time wrist grinding as an artist Rick penciled books such as The Last Christmas, Bruce Campbell's Man with the Screaming Brain and numerous issues of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while also inking books such as The Avengers and The Terminator . He has provided album covers and art for bands such as NOFX, 3 Inches of Blood, Lagwagon and No Use for a Name. He also taught storyboarding, animation and comic art at San Francisco's Academy of Art University for many years. He and his tea-sipping wife, Danni, currently reside in California with their two kids, and a monster known only as Lester Magoo.

DAN SLOTT: Dan is someone who isn't comfortable typing up his own bio and/or talking about himself in the third person. That said, I hear he is extremely modest and would never mention the multiple times he swam the English Channel, piloted clandestine moon missions, or wrestled nuclear-powered mastodons. He is a riddle wrapped in an enigma... and then dipped in a tangy chipotle sauce. You might know him from his work as a writer on Amazing Spider-Man, Mighty Avengers, Avengers: The Initiative, She-Hulk, Arkham Asylum: Living Hell, Batman Adventures, Looney Tunes, or Ren & Stimpy. Or if comics ain't your bag, he's the guy who wrote the Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions game for XBox 360, PS3, and PC. Don't worry about bringing too many comics for him to sign. He'll sign all of 'em. Because, well, it's really no trouble, he has a monosyllabic name, and, seriously, it's the least he can do -- when you bought all that stuff, you paid his rent.

ABOUT REEDPOP: ReedPOP is a boutique group within Reed Exhibitions which is exclusively devoted to organizing events, launching and acquiring new shows, and partnering with premium brands in the pop culture arena. ReedPOP is dedicated to producing celebrations of popular culture throughout the world that transcend ordinary events by providing unique access and dynamic personal experiences for consumers and fans. The ReedPOP portfolio includes: New York Comic Con (NYCC), Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2), Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) East & West, Star Wars Celebration VI, Fantasy Football Fest, and UFC Fan Expo. The staff at ReedPOP is a fan based group of professionals producing shows for other fans, thus making them uniquely qualified to service those with whom they share a common passion. ReedPOP is focused on bringing its expertise and knowledge to world communities in North America, South America, Asia and Europe.