Category Archives: Conventions

Case, Deak-Linsner, Hawthorne, Linsner, and Rosa Return to Baltimore Comic-Con in 2022

Baltimore Comic Con 2022

Baltimore Comic-Con returns to the Inner Harbor at the Baltimore Convention Center this October 28-30. The Baltimore Comic-Con is happy to announce the return of comic artists and writers Richard Case, Kristina Deak-Linsner, Mike Hawthorne, Michael Joseph Linsner, and Don Rosa attending our 2022 event. Get your tickets now and avoid waiting in additional lines upon your arrival!

Richard Case has been drawing comics professionally for quite some time. In addition to illustrating Grant Morrison’s run on Doom Patrol, he has contributed to titles like Dr. StrangeSandmanShade the Changing ManSensational Spider-Man, and Batman ’66. Most recently, he worked with Peter Milligan on a modern-day adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher, wherein the House in question is the White House…

Artist, creative editor, writer, reference model, all-purpose Joe-wrangler at Linsner, and founder of lightisthenewdark art studios, Kristina Deak-Linsner has brought her years of fine art experience in the west coast gallery scene over to the house that Dawn built. After beginning her comics career at Dynamic Forces in the late 90’s, she now uses her keen eye to help guide all Linsner products and projects such as: Sin Boldly, the Dawn and Vampirella crossover series, as well as Linsner’s annual Dawn sketchbooks (2011 to present). The graphic novel Dawn and Vampirella brings her comics career full circle by working with Dynamite/Dynamic Forces once again. In 2018 she worked on the Vampirella series, Roses For The Dead.

Joseph Michael Linsner is most well-known for his creation Dawn, who first appeared in the self-published Cry for Dawn in 1989 and followed by numerous series at Sirius. He is also the creator of several other characters, including Sinful Suzi in Sin Boldly, released in December 2013 by Image Comics. He has worked on Dawn/Vampirella through Dynamite Entertainment, Justice League Quarterly and Harley Quinn at DC Comics, KillravenMystique, and Claws at Marvel Comics, and he drew the cover of the Image Comics one-shot Witchblade/The Punisher #1. Of late Linsner has provided covers for Dynamite Entertainment’s Jennifer BloodRed SonjaBettie Page & the Curse of the Banshee, Dejah Thoris vs. John Carter of MarsDIE!namite Lives!The Invincible Red Sonja, and Sonjaversal.

Mike Hawthorne has provided the artwork for various comics, including a record setting run on Deadpool as well as DaredevilSpider-ManHulkSuperman, and more. His work has been nominated for Harvey and Eisner Awards. Outside of comics, Mike has done storyboard and conceptual art for Epic Games, Marvel, Fox, Illumination, and Universal. Archaia/BOOM! Studios recently published his autobio-comic Happiness Will Follow.

Well known in American comics fandom since the 1960s for his vast comic book collection and comics fanzine activities, Don Rosa became internationally famous starting in 1987 when he began writing and drawing Uncle $crooge and Donald Duck comics for various licensed publishers in Europe. Just as they once were in America, Donald Duck comics (based on Carl Barks’ work) continue to be the best selling comics in Europe and South America where the weekly (!) Donald Duck comics have been read by hundreds of millions of fans for over 70 years. This makes Rosa one of the world’s best known cartoonists, but still very easy to visit with at American shows where he can relax in “relative obscurity”. American comics fans are mostly familiar with his most famous work, the Eisner Award winning Life and Times of $crooge McDuck series. But American fans can also now see his entire Duck comics career reprinted chronologically in the new Don Rosa Library from Fantagraphics. Rosa has quit producing new Duck comics due to several reasons, but he stays very busy with signing tours to Europe, visits to American comic cons, and his many hobbies including growing exotic chiles, of which he is even now probably giving away bags in the convention hall.


022 GUESTS

Confirmed guests for this year’s show include: Brian Michael Bendis (Action Comics), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Richard Case (Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Terror), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Kristina Deak-Linsner (Roses for the Dead), Mike Hawthorne (Happiness Will Follow), Klaus Janson (Daredevil, Friday and Saturday only), Chris Kemple (Artist Alley Comics), Joseph Michael Linsner (Red Sonja), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Frank Miller (Sin City, Friday and Saturday only), Andrew Pepoy (Simone & Ajax), Afua Richardson (Omni), Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge), Mark Waid (Superman: Red and Blue), Emily S. Whitten (The Underfoot), Keith Williams (Thor the Worthy), and Thom Zahler (Love and Capes).

NECA and Target Announce Haulathon

Haulathon

NECA (National Entertainment Collectibles Association) and Target Corporation have announced Haulathon, the first of its kind global collectors event featuring the best in exclusive figures and never before seen collectibles from NECA, Kidrobot, Chia Pet, and more. This four-week one-of-a-kind global collaboration between NECA and Target Corporation begins March 18 and will be available at Target and Target.com within the US and internationally at Haulathon.com. New products will be available to purchase online every Friday at 8:00am CST.

Haulathon product includes figures and merchandise featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Back to the Future, Gargoyles, Hello Kitty, Elvira, Universal Monsters, Evil Dead, Bob Ross, Gremlins, and more. Haulathon will also feature the exclusive reveal of David Hasselhoff’s Malibu Dave clothing line. There are even more collectibles and figures available including Haulathon Collectible Swag Sets, as well as Kidrobot Phunnys featuring Mickey, Minnie, Kermit and others.

Another Haulathon exclusive are signed variants by Howie Mandel for Gremlins, Cassandra Peterson for Elvira, Ru Paul for Chia Pet and Kevin Eastman for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Only found in select packages scattered across the United States, these rare collectibles are the ultimate find for pop culture treasure hunters. 

Paired with the pop culture icons that helped inspire their creation, celebrities promoting the month long Haulathon event include Kevin Eastman, (co-creator Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Cassandra Peterson (Elvira), Howie Mandel (Gizmo from “Gremlins”), and Paul Fusco (Alf). Panel events featuring talent will be held each week and will stream exclusively on Haulathon’s social media accounts and Haulathon.com.

CDC Says Anime NYC Wasn’t a Superspreader Event

COVID

Not long after Anime NYC in December it was reported a person from Minnesota had attended the convention has tested positive for Omicron. A few days later, individuals that attended with him tested positive for COVID as well. A study release by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released a report that a combination of good air filtration, widespread vaccination, and indoor masking helped prevent the convention from becoming a superspreader event.

The amount of attendees who indicated they tested positive for COVID was similar to the positivity rate for New York City around the same time. Also, the few samples that were looked at were of the Delta variant, not Omicron.

Those that did test positive were more likely to have gone to bars, nightclubs, and karaoke clubs indicating these locations is where they might have been infected.

The CDC did say that if the convention had been later in the year, it could have been much worse as Omicron had just begun to spread around this time and wasn’t yet the dominant strain. Omicron spreads much easier than Delta.

The study relied on people who came forward with their testing which indicates a flawed data set due to it being self reported and those individuals would more likely have been more cautious indicated by their willingness to report.

The CDC came to a similar conclusion as to the New York City tracing officials in that they couldn’t find evidence of a widespread infection due to the convention.

Of the 4,560 attendees that were identified, 119 people tested positive. That’s a rate of 2.6 percent. The conventioned drew 53,000 people to it. Of those who could be matched with test and vaccination data, 85 percent had completed the primary vaccination series, 12% had received a booster dose, and 3% were partly vaccinated.

Virtuous Con returns with Hollywood lineup for a Black History Month Event

Virtuous Con, the virtual comic book, fantasy, and sci-fi convention, returns February 12 -13, 2022 from 11amET-7pmET with Virtuous Con: Black History Month 2022. Accessible through the Virtuous Con website, the pandemic-safe event’s theme this year is “A New Narrative,” highlighting Black creators moving forward in the independent creative space. Brooklyn Based comic book shop Anyone Comics, indie comics publisher Best Jackett Press and virtual event platform Remo are featured sponsors of the event.

Scheduled to appear is an Award-Winning lineup of creatives. Including Producer, showrunner and Director Prentice Penny (Insecure, Uncorked), showrunner/writer/producer Cheo Hodari Coker (Marvel’s Luke Cage, Creed II), novelist, screenwriter, and producer Tananarive Due (Horror Noire, The Twilight Zone) and actress and producer Simone Missick, star of All Rise (OWN), Altered Carbon (Netflix) and the first Black woman to portray a superhero on TV in
Marvel’s Luke Cage.

In addition, Award-winning comic book scribe David F. Walker (Power Man and Iron Fist, Bitter Root, Naomi), actor, rapper, and producer Malcolm Barrett (The Boys, Timeless), New York Times Bestselling Author Jordan Ifueko (Raybearer), host, writer, and producer Angélique Roché (Marvel’s Voices, Creative Quarantine), and award-winning fantasy author Kwame Mbalia (Tristan Strong, Black Boy Joy) have also been announced as special guests.

Virtuous Con: Black History Month’s virtual floor show celebrates Black creatives. Four virtual “floors” will feature Indie artists and exhibitors dedicated to science fiction, fantasy, comic books, anime, and more in a live interactive virtual space. Complete with virtual “booths” where vendors interact live with attendees about their products. This real-time interaction with convention-goers has positioned Virtuous Con as one of the most successful events in the genre space during the pandemic.

Virtuous Con returns February 12 and 13th, and tickets for Virtuous Con are available through their website.

Virtuous Con: Black History Month 2022

Archie debuts a new story for Free Comic Book Day 2022!

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2022: THE BEST ARCHIE COMIC EVER #0

Script: Fred Van Lente, Thomas Pitilli, J. Torres, Micol Ostow, Stephanie Cooke, Evan Stanley
Art: Tim Seeley, Thomas Pitilli, Gretel Lusky, Lisa Sterle, Evan Stanley, Matt Herms, Jack Morelli
Cover: Jamal Igle
Free at participating comic book stores on May 7th, 2022
32 page, full-color comic
Age Rating: Teen

A new dawn of Archie is upon us! Archie Andrews has forever been known as an everyman. He’s your average teenager, and that’s what makes him so well-liked. But it doesn’t take a super-scientist, super-hero, or super-spy to see that Archie is anything BUT average! Welcome to the weird, wonderful world of Archie, where anything and everything can happen to a red-headed, freckle-faced teen in a sleepy little town. This title serves as a special sneak peek at what’s to come from Archie Comics’ new series of anthology titles as well as some best-of moments from recently released titles. Get in on the ground floor of a new era of Archie with this special issue zero title.

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2022: THE BEST ARCHIE COMIC EVER #0

Judgement Day begins on Free Comic Book Day

Marvel will celebrate Free Comic Book Day this year with THREE separate Free Comic one-shots including Free Comic Book Day: Avengers/X-Men #1. Packed with three stories, Free Comic Book Day: Avengers/X-Men will offer fans new and old an exciting entry point into some of Marvel’s biggest upcoming stories and characters!

The next Marvel event will arrive this summer! Written by Kieron Gillen with art by Valerio Schiti, “Judgement Day” will see the Avengers try desperately to avert a war between the Eternals and the X-Men. Fans will get their first glimpse at the conflict in Free Comic Book Day: Avengers/X-Men with a prelude story by Gillen and artist Dustin Weaver

Also coming this summer will be the X-Men’s second annual Hellfire Gala! Last year, mutantkind terraformed Mars and announced a new team of X-Men… what do they have in store for the Marvel Universe this time around? Find out in a lead-in story by X-Men scribe Gerry Duggan and artist Matteo Lolli!

Free Comic Book Day: Avengers/X-Men #1 will also mark the exciting debut of a new hero that Marvel has big plans for this year! Meet Bloodline in an introduction story by writer Danny Lore and artist Karen Darboe

Pick up this extraordinary Free Comic Book Day one-shot when it arrives on May 7! Check out the covers by Valerio Schiti and Peach Momoko!

Skybound Unveils its February 18 Creatorfest Xpo Lineup

Skybound XPO Creatorfest

Skybound has revealed its lineup for Skybound Xpo: Creatorfest, an upcoming edition of the daylong Skybound virtual event that celebrates and spotlights diverse creators across industries, from audio to animation. Hosted by Karama Horne and Malik Forte, the digital pop culture experience will return with all-new programming, limited-edition merch and exciting announcements, and will stream on Skybound’s YouTube channel on Friday, February 18, 2022.

Creatorfest will bring entertainment fans all over the world can’t-miss panels from every arena of entertainment, all while showcasing contributions from remarkable creators in each space. The planned slate is a blend of exciting updates across Skybound’s vast network, including news on animation, comics, merch, digital programming, and the latest audio drama series in conjunction with Audible.

Programming includes a new look at Impact Winter, Skybound’s upcoming post-apocalyptic vampire thriller with Audible; a Black Cinema edition of Movie Trivia Schmoedown; a brand-new installment of ATTACK! with Attack Peter featuring his new GODZILLA MUSEUM statue; a new episode of Comics Vault Live with exclusive new variant drops; and insightful panels on the current state of the animation industry and creating comics à la Skybound 101.

The full programming line-up, beginning at 10 a.m. PT, includes: 

  • Comics Vault Live with Shawn Kirkman – Shawn “Big Clutch” Kirkham is back with another episode of Comics Vault Live, where he debuts exclusive CGC graded variants, including The Walking Dead, Stray Dogs and more.
  • ATTACK! With Attack Peter – Monster artist and printmaker Attack Peter (Peter Santa Maria) hosts a segment with a special guest artist and grants an exclusive look at his latest print, limited-edition merch, and the very special pre-order of a limited-availability GODZILLA MUSEUM statue, featuring Peter’s linocut print work expanded into three radical dimensions.
  • Skybound 101: Creating Comics – Find out what it takes to score your dream gig with some of the best creators around right now! From their own journeys to personal advice, this is a panel for anyone that wants a career in comics or just loves comics and wants to learn more.
  • The State of Animation – Top talent across the animation industry discusses the recent boom in animation projects and gives insights into their careers and inspirations.
  • IMPACT WINTER: Podcasts Evolved – Creator Travis Beacham (the mind behind Pacific Rim and Carnival Row) and the cast of our post-apocalyptic vampire thriller join the Xpo to talk about your next obsession coming from Audible and Skybound.
  • Black Cinema Trivia Schmoedown – A clash between FOUR trivia titans goes down in another Black Cinema Schmoedown. Watch as Jeannine the Machine fights to keep her title as she faces the current Singles-Champion and two other fierce opponents trying to win the crown.  

Otakon 2022 Announces its Vaccine and Mask Policy

Otakon

In the interest of the safety of all members, Otakorp will require all Otakon 2022 attendees eligible for COVID-19 vaccination to be fully vaccinated and masked in all convention areas in the Walter E Washington Convention Center and the Marriott Marquis.

In addition to Otakorp’s policies, Otakorp reminds all members that they are individually responsible for complying
with any and all standing policies of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and with any and all laws and ordinances in effect in the City of Washington, DC, including those related to COVID-19.

Additional information can be found here:

More details will be released as soon as they are available.

This policy is subject to change based on changes to CDC guidelines, local regulations or other data.

Otakon 2022 takes place July 29th to 31st in Washington, DC at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Lai Frances to be an Otakon 2022 Guest

Lai Frances

Journalist and producer Lai Frances has been added to the official guest list for Otakon 2022 the convention has announced.

Lai is a multimedia journalist and producer who focuses on music, pop culture, and entertainment. She is currently a social media producer at CNET by day and a contributing writer/host by night, talking about music and K-pop. You can find some of her bylines on MTV News, “Teen Vogue,” PopCrush, tmrw, and “Glamour” while being a host for KCON and NME.

She was first exposed to K-pop in the early 2000s and didn’t really dive deep into the culture until the latter half of the 2000s, where she started off blogging about it, eventually leading to where she is now. To date, Lai has written special features on K-pop acts such as TWICE, aespa, ITZY, Stray Kids, Sunmi, and Tiffany Young while writing cover stories featuring ATEEZ, Jackson Wang and more.

Otakon 2022 takes place July 29th to 31st in Washington, DC at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Miles Morales, Moon Girl, and more Star in Free Comic Book Day 2022: Marvel’s Voices #1

Marvel will celebrate Free Comic Book Day this year with THREE separate Free Comic one-shots, each offering both new and lifelong fans an exciting entry point into some of Marvel’s biggest upcoming stories and characters!

Free Comic Book Day 2022: Marvel’s Voices #1 will be a unique introduction to the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed Marvel’s Voices series, which spotlights creators and characters across Marvel’s diverse and ever-evolving universe. The book will include seven Marvel’s Voices stories, spotlighting creators and characters from different cultures, communities, and identities.

In addition to a brand-new story starring Moon Girl by writer Nadia Shammas and artist Luciano Vecchio, Free Comic Book Day 2022: Marvel’s Voices #1 will reprint the following stories from past Marvel’s Voices one-shots:

  • Writer Evan Narcisse and artist Jahnoy Lindsay’s tale showcasing the heroic journey of Brother Voodoo from MARVEL’S VOICES (2020) #1
  • Acclaimed artist Jeffrey Veregge’s showcase of Marvel’s greatest indigenous heroes from MARVEL’S INDIGENOUS VOICES (2020) #1
  • Oscar winning writer John Ridley and artist Olivier Coipel’s action packed Miles Morales adventure from MARVEL’S VOICES: LEGACY (2021) #1
  •  Writer Alyssa Wong and superstar artist Whilce Portacio’s Wave and Bishop teamup story from MARVEL’S VOICES: IDENTITY (2021) #1
  • Artist Luciano Vecchio’s rousing exploration of the history of LGBTQ+ representation in Marvel Comics from MARVEL’S VOICES: PRIDE (2021) #1
  • Writer/artist Leo Romero’s celebration of Brazilian culture with the X-Men’s Shark-Girl from MARVEL’S VOICES: COMUNIDADES (2021) #1 by Leo Romero

Free Comic Book Day 2022: Marvel’s Voices #1 will be available exclusively through Diamond Comics. Check with your local comic shop regarding availability.

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