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Tickets for ITHACON 2023 are on sale now!

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Tickets for this year’s ITHACON comics convention are now available for purchase. The event will be held at Emerson Suites on Ithaca College campus the weekend of April 22 to April 23.

ITHACON is the nation’s second longest running comic convention, and this will be its 46th iteration. This event highlights comics, cosplay, gaming, anime, manga, and pop culture. The convention is presented by the Comic Book Club of Ithaca, and continues to highlight the local fan experience.

Membership tickets for adults cost $20.00 for both days of the convention, while tickets for Sunday access cost $10.00. Youth memberships for ages seven through seventeen are priced at $5.00, and adults are eligible to bring up to two kids under six for free admission. As a bonus, anyone who purchases tickets by April 16th will receive a special “swag bag” upon check in.

Ithacon 2023 poster

Ithacon announces Return Favorites and New Faces for Ithacon 45

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ITHACON 45 has announced the guest list for the upcoming ITHACON convention. The long-running convention will be live this year April 23 and 24th.

Local hero Will Dennis returns to his alma mater –  he is graduate of the Roy H. Park School of Communication at Ithaca College. He was an editor at Vertigo/DC Entertainment for more than fifteen years, specializing in genre fiction comics and graphic novels. His award-winning titles include 100 Bullets, Y: The Last Man, Scalped, DMZ, Joker and many more. Since then, he has worked as a freelance editor for Image Comics, comiXology, and DC Entertainment. He was the editor for the Eisner nominated Where We Live, A Benefit for the Survivors in Las Vegas. Dennis is currently spearheading Scott Snyder’s ComiXology Originals Clear, Night of the Ghoul and We Have Demons.

AHOY Comics’ publisher, Hart Seely returns to ITHACON this year.  As an author, Seely has written numerous books, including THE JUJU RULES: A MEMOIR OF A FAN OBSESSED (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012) and MRS. GOOSE GOES TO WASHINGTON (Simon & Schuster, 2007) He also edited several books of “found poetry,” including O HOLY COW: The Selected Verse of Phil Rizzuto (ECCO/Harpers, 1993) and PIECES OF INTELLIGENCE, the Existential Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld (Simon & Schuster, 2003). His works have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Slate, and on National Public Radio. He is now publisher and co-founder of AHOY Comics, which has been creating innovative comics since 2019.

Frank Cammuso is the author/illustrator for THE MISADVENTURES OF SALEM HYDE series (Amulet Books, 2013). Cammuso also created the graphic novel series called KNIGHTS OF THE LUNCH TABLE (Graphix/Scholastic, 2009). Frank also wrote and illustrated the Eisner nominated MAX HAMM FAIRYTALE DETECTIVE. Frank Cammuso is a former award-winning political cartoonist for The Post-Standard newspaper in Syracuse, N.Y. He has collaborated with Hart Seely in a number of projects. Together, their work appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Village Voice, Slate, and on National Public Radio.  Cammuso currently splits his time between creating graphic novels, AHOY Comics and teaching at Syracuse University.

Nick Parisi is the author of the definitive, Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination, Parisi serves as president of the Rod Serling Memorial Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the creative genius’ legacy.  

Ithacon is proud to welcome Don Simpson, the creator of the satirical superhero series Megaton Man for Kitchen Sink Press and Image Comics, the science fiction saga Border Worlds (collected by Dover in 2017), and DC’s Wasteland. A veteran of the 80s-90s indie movement, Don worked for every major comic book imprint in the late twentieth century including Mirage Studios (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Image Comics (Splitting Image, The Savage Dragon vs. Megaton Man, 1963), Fantagraphics (King Kong), and DC (Wasteland, Secret Origins, Action Comics Weekly). Under his Fiasco Comics imprint, Don self-published 17 issues of Bizarre Heroes, a universe of characters surrounding the cast of Megaton Man. More recently, Don has been authoring his weekly prose novel, The Ms. Megaton Man Maxi-Series, at msmegatonman.blogspot.com, a sober but wry sci-fi take on his imaginative universe. Most recently, Don teamed up with William Messner Loebs, Jason Moore, and Tom Orzechowski on Victory Folks—The Golden Age Public Domain Supergroup in the newly-released YEET! Presents #50 in 2022.

ITHACON Wants YOU, Cosplayers!

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ITHACON 45 is excited to announce that the Cosplay Runway will be back at this year’s live, on-site convention.

For over 45 years cosplay has been an integral part of the ITHACON convention. The convention celebrates cosplay as an important way to connect artists with fans and fan interpretations of their work. ITHACON’s Cosplay Runway allows fans a creative way to express themselves while showing their love and appreciation for their favorite characters.

Along with fan cosplay, the 501st Legion, a Star Wars cosplay group, will return to ITHACON. The innovative group is an all-volunteer organization formed to bring together cosplay enthusiasts and promote an interest in the Star Wars franchise.

ITHACON will feature cosplay panels, a cosplay repair station and numerous photo opportunities. The annual Cosplay Runway is scheduled for 1:00 on both days of the event, Saturday April 23rd, and Sunday April 24th.

Star Wars Cosplay

Want to Learn How to Plan and Manage a Comic-Con? Head to Ithaca College

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Comic book fans, assemble! Ithaca College will be offering a new course for the spring 2019 semester: Creating and Promoting Ithacon. Students enrolled in the course will help organize and promote Ithacon, the second-longest running comic convention in the nation.

Designed for students interested in learning about event planning, celebrity management and pop culture marketing, the course will provide a unique hands-on learning opportunity. Students will take a lead role in planning for Ithacon 2019, from assessing material and staffing needs, logistical preparation, and managing the weekend-long event, in addition to marketing the convention by preparing press releases, crafting social media campaigns and developing partnerships with local and national businesses, publishers and entertainment properties. 

The course will be co-taught by faculty from the School of Humanities and Sciences and the School of Business. English professor Katharine Kittredge, the coordinator of Ithacon, will guide students in creating aspects of the event that promote literacy and creativity. Ed Catto, a lecturer in the Department of Management, will leverage his deep experience in “geek culture” and convention planning to educate the students about marketing and branding, in addition to assisting them with planning and promoting the event.

Catto and Kittredge plan to bring in an impressive list of guest speakers with experience in the comic book and convention industries, including former DC Comics president Paul Levitz, Bill Schanes of Diamond Comic Distributors, and comic book editor Will Dennis.

While much of the coursework will focus on management and marketing, students will also learn about entrepreneurship as they work with up-and-coming companies to ensure a successful Ithacon. The course will also highlight post-event analysis and foster an understanding of the importance of trade shows in the business world. The course will also have a focus on pop culture, particularly publishing, filmed entertainment, licensing, collectibles and fan communities.

Ithacon 2019 will be held March 23-24 in Ithaca College’s Emerson Suites. The convention will spotlight “The Twilight Zone”and celebrate the 60th anniversary of the groundbreaking show. “Twilight Zone” creator Rod Serling taught at Ithaca College from 1967 to 1975, and the college houses the Rod Serling Archives, a comprehensive collection of his television scripts, film screenplays, stage play scripts, films, unpublished works, awards and other materials.

Ithacon is funded by the Ithaca College School of Humanities and Sciences.