Marvel’s Stormbreakers Class of 2023 Revealed

Marvel Comics has announced the 2023 Class of Marvel’s Stormbreakers, the company’s premier talent distinction program that spotlights the next generation of elite artists in the industry. Marvel’s Stormbreakers 2023 Class will run for two years, with many of the names working on the biggest titles in Marvel’s library today under exclusive contracts. The creators making up the new class include Elena Casagrande (Black Widow), Nic Klein (Thor), Jan Bazaldúa (Legion of X), Chris Allen (Miles Morales), Martin Coccolo (Deadpool), Lucas Werneck (Immortal X-Men), C.F. Villa (X-Men), and Federico Vicentini (X Deaths of Wolverine).

First launched in 2020, Marvel’s Stormbreakers is the next evolution of Marvel’s Young Guns program. Over the past 15 years, Marvel selected and recognized 36 up-and-coming artists who went on to draw some of the company’s biggest events, iconic series, and beyond, going on to become fan-favorite names in the industry including Steve McNiven, Jim Cheung, Sara Pichelli, Ryan Stegman, and more. Marvel’s Stormbreakers continues the tradition Marvel’s Young Guns set forth and recognizes its alumni today as honorary Stormbreakers in addition to their work as Young Guns.

A rundown of Marvel’s Stormbreakers Class of 2023 is below:

Elena Casagrande (Black Widow): At a young age, Elena followed her passion for drawing and enrolled at the International School of Comics in Rome. While in school, she worked with IDW Publishing on comics like Star Trek and X-Files. Now, her work for Marvel includes drawing Spider-Man (Marvel Heartbreakers – A Chemical Romance, Ultimate Spider-Man #157), Magik (variant cover New Mutant #4), Spitfire (Women of Marvel), and Red Hulk (Hulk). Most recently, she was also the artist of the new Black Widow series, which won the 2021 Eisner Award for Best New Series.

Nic Klein (Thor): Nic is a German comic book artist who has worked on such titles as Captain America, Winter Soldier, and Deadpool. For Image Comics he co-created Viking, Dancer, and Drifter. He is currently working on the new Thor run.

Jan Bazaldúa (Legion of X): Jan started her career as assistant of Sixto Valencia, one of the most prominent comic book artists in Mexico. For over two decades, she worked in almost every genre in Mexican comic books including action, comedy, horror, western, detective, romance, and wrestling stories, pencilling over 3,000 covers. Jan brought her hyperkinetic art style to Spider-Man for a star-marking run as the young Miles Morales took on the all-new Sinister Six in Spider-Man #234-239. She burnished her reputation with titles including Mr. and Mrs. X and Loki, and her fast-growing list of Marvel credits now includes X-Force, Winter Guard, and a trip to the far-off galaxy of Star Wars.

Chris Allen (Miles Morales): Chris made his Marvel Comics debut illustrating the movie tie-in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Prelude, followed by Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp Prelude. The Texas-based artist has been steadily building reputation by taking on one-shots including Heroes Reborn: American Knights and Spider-Man: Reptilian Rage, as well as contribute to Marvel’s Voices: Legacy. He later graduated to his first Marvel ongoing series, Miles Morales: Spider-Man. Elsewhere, Chris has demonstrated his artistic range, illustrating dark titles including Tomb of Horror, as well as the colorful adventures of such iconic characters as Sonic the Hedgehog and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Martin Coccolo (Deadpool): Born in Colonia, Uruguay, Martin developed an interest in art and comics very early on in life. After years of being an art assistant, he decided to pursue a career in the comics Industry. Starting with small, independent publishers, he forged a path that would eventually lead him to work for APE Entertainment’s “Helldorado,” a work which landed him a nomination for the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award. He then went on to work on IDW’s Magic: The Gathering series for many issues before being recruited by DC Entertainment. After many projects for a variety of publishers, he started working for Marvel in 2021, and continues to do so to this day.

Lucas Werneck (Immortal X-Men): Lucas is a Brazilian comic book artist and illustrator. He began working in the comics industry in 2019 and has since worked for major publishers such as Marvel Comics, Boom Studios, and DC Comics. He has already worked on several titles such as Captain America, Trial of Magneto, and Fantastic Four, and is currently working on Immortal X-Men.

C.F. Villa (X-Men): C.F. is a concept artist and illustrator born in Hermosillo, Sonora, México with 12 years of experience working in film, animation, and more recently the comic book industry. Being a 90’s comics consumer, he grew up being influenced by artists such as Humberto Ramos, Joe Madureira, Jim Lee, Marc Silvestri, as well as many manga artists and European masters of illustration.  In 2018, his work at Marvel began with his first two miniseries, Lockjaw and Shatterstar. He has also been featured in various X-Men titles, and in 2021, wrapped his run on the Black Cat series.

Federico Vicentini (X Deaths of Wolverine): Italian artist Federico is a fast-rising star, having proved his flair for drawing web-slinging action with a pair of wall-crawlers on Amazing Spider-Man and Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales. Federico illustrated the Falcon & Winter Soldier team-up comic book series before turning his attention to another high-profile Marvel character in X Deaths of Wolverine, and then the ongoing Wolverine title. Increasingly in demand, Federico contributed to Marvel’s Heroes Reborn event and made his mark on another Marvel epic, tackling the A.X.E. Avengers one-shot.