At Comic-Con International, Top Shelf Production's lively lineup of talented writers and artists dished on current and upcoming releases, offering a chance for fans to get to know more about the creative teams behind the publisher's acclaimed books. Moderated by Top Shelf marketing director Leigh Walton, the panel featured Chris Sheridan, Ray Fawkes, Julian Hanshaw, Troy Little and Nate Powell.

"Top Shelf is such an intimate family that most of our authors end up being at the booth most of the show," Walton said. He then introduced Mark Russell, the author of "God is Disappointed in You," who was sitting in the audience. Though not officially on the panel, Russell spoke briefly about his upcoming sequel, "Apocryphal Now."

The panel focused heavily on the contributions of Nate Powell. As the artist behind the award-winning "March" series featuring the memoirs of esteemed congressman Representative John Lewis and the history of the Civil Rights Movement, Powell's work has helped raise the visibility of Top Shelf in a variety of markets, including the education space. Schools across the country are adopting the books as part of their curricula.

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"I think it was the first time that a comic book artist got a standing ovation from fifteen thousand people." Walton said, speaking of Powell's recent speech at the University of Michigan. With the release of book two in the "March" series, his popularity and exposure is expected to rise.

Powell spoke briefly on his upcoming projects, including beginning work on book three of "March," a screenplay based on "Swallow Me Whole," and a new compilation of his short stories in "You Don't Say."

The new Top Shelf offerings didn't end with Powell. Ray Fawke's "Junction True" tells the story of a nightmarish romance set in the near future. Written by Fawkes and painted Vince Locke, "Junction True" features a world where open source technology has made extreme body modification all the rage. In this world, a journalist decides to blog about his journey through ever more radical body modifications.

"The world gets to see him cut away most of his humanity for love," Fawkes said. "He literally cuts himself apart for celebrity."

"It's kind of like "The Matrix" meets '50 Shades of Grey,'" Walton offered.

Chris Sheridan talked about his new release "Motorcycle Samurai," a classic Western tale featuring a Clint Eastwood-style drifter, a John Wayne-style sheriff and all the bosses, stooges, rogues and fight sequences a Western fan can handle. Originally designed for digital release, Sheridan discussed changes that had to be made to prepare the story for release in print. Sweeping panoramic panels that scrolled well in the digital version had to be cut up, sometimes even redrawn and painted for the print version. Despite this, Sheridan felt invigorated by the creative challenges created by moving from digital to print.

Julian Hanshaw introduced his latest book "Tim Ginger," which features a main character that resembles the author in a number of ways. Both are obsessed with the English game of Cricket, are childless by choice and are coming to terms with the loneliness that can result from that decision.

Troy Little is a new addition to the Top Shelf family. A former artist on "Power Puff Girls," he's come to Top Shelf to create the visuals for Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

"There's something interesting about a Canadian writing about the death of the American Dream," Little said ironically, though he really is a big fan of Thompson's work. "Every word in the book is Hunter's," Little said, clearly proud to have created such a faithful adaptation.