Brian Bolland was born in Butterwick, Lincolnshire, UK on 26 March 1951. Although American comics didn't actually appear in the UK until 1959, he was quick to fall in love. Bolland studied a degree in Graphic Design and Art History before finding his first job in 1972 on a Nigerian comic called 'POWERMAN'. After starting out illustrating fanzines, Oz magazine and the then-underground London listings magazine Time Out, he landed a job in 1977 designing 2000AD and Judge Dredd. Soon Bolland became part of the 'British invasion' era, in which American comic creators snapped up British designers.

Did you know?

Brian Bolland gained his first award as 'Best Newcomer' by the Society of Strip in 1977.

He went on to collect a total of three Eisner awards and three Harvey awards... phew!

He has recently been working on the DC Comic 'Dial H for Hero'.

Will Eisner was born in Brooklyn in 1917 and sadly passed away on 3 January 2005. He's widely renowned as one of the comic world's most important and beloved contributors, and often hailed 'The Father of the Graphic Novel'. The term 'graphic novel' was coined in the '60s, but only used as a marketing category for the first time for Eisner's A Contract with God in 1978. His comic design career started out as a cartoonist for the New York American Newspaper. Eisner was then snapped up by Wow, What A Magazine! in 1935, where he wrote and drew comic strips. His most famous work, however, is The Spirit which was first published in 1940 and went on to become a live action movie in 2008.

Yet it is his work To The Heart Of The Storm, an autobiographical account of American life in the '30s and '40s, which best displays his prowess. The storm in the title is Word War Two, and Eisner is portrayed travelling as a drafted soldier at the beginning and end of the book. The train windows he gazes through frame his memories of childhood and adolescence and the history of his struggling Jewish immigrant family.

Did you know?

Will Eisner also taught cartooning at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Many of today's top designers were actually students of his.

The Eisner Awards were established in 1988 and are presented each year at Comic-Con in San Diego.

Jim Steranko was born on 5 November 1938 in Reading, Pennsylvania, USA. His interest in art started early, and as a teenager he collected cans and bottles to raise money for supplies. His first comic work was for Harvey Comics, and then a chance meeting with Stan Lee gave him that all-important first role at Marvel. Steranko went on to create his own publishing house, SuperGraphics, in 1969. Currently, he is working with Radical Publishing, designing characters for their comics and toys.

Steranko genuinely revolutionised the art of graphic storytelling. His brief three-issue stint on Captain America gave the grand old superhero a pop-art makeover, but it is Steranko's iconic cover of Giant Size Hulk, shown above, which he is most famous for.

The image has been parodied and paid homage to countless times, and remains one of the greatest comic book covers of all time. With his own publishing company SuperGraphics, Steranko was able to appraise the industry in the remarkable two-volume History of Comics, a must read for any graphic artist.

Did you know?

Steranko was commissioned to produce original illustrations for pre-production of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' which heavily influenced the overall look and feel of the movie.

He was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2006.

His only major work for DC Comics appear

Osamu Tezuka was born in the town of Takarazuka in Osaka, Japan on 3 November 1928 and sadly passed away on 9 February 1989. He is often hailed the Walt Disney of Japan. His most notable character, 'Astro Boy', first appeared in 1951 as 'Captain Astro'. Between 1952 and 1968, Astro Boy appeared regularly in the Shonen manga, published by Kobunsha. The character is still very much loved in Japan: Astro Boy even became an honorary citizen of a town in Saitama where Tezuka had a studio.

This Japanese legend has a style all of his own and counted Disney and Kubrick amongst his fervent fans. Dubbed 'the father of anime' and 'the god of Manga', he was light years ahead of the competition. He was the inventor of the 'big eyes' style of Japanese animation as well as Kimba The White Lion, a clear influence on The Lion King. His work deftly flits across genres, elements of sci-fi, mysticism, horror and history. You name it, Tezuka did it first and best.

Did you know?

Astro Boy was the first animated series to appear on Japanese television, first appearing on Fuji Television in 1963.

At his time of death, Osamu Tezuka had drawn over 50,000 pages of manga and had created over 60 animations.

Tezuka published the magazine Com as a forum for young writers. He created the classic series The Phoenix for the magazine.