Who's ready for some Comic-Con?! Fantagraphics is getting ready to head to San Diego ourselves, and over the next week, we'll be rolling out our list of debuts and our signing schedule right here on the FLOG.
How about a list of panels featuring our fabulous Fantagraphics artists? See you there!
Thursday, July 12th
• 1:00-2:00 PM // CBLDF Master Session: Gilbert Shelton: With his creations The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Fat Freddy's Cat, and Wonder Warthog among others, Comic-Con special guest Gilbert Shelton is a master of establishing iconic characters and presenting them in scenarios that underscore his expressive cartooning abilities. Get a rare glimpse into the drawing process of this master of the Underground Comix movement, hosted by Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter. The pieces created in this Master Session will be auctioned off at CBLDF's Art Auction on Saturday night. Room 11AB
• 4:00-5:00 PM // Womanthology: One woman's (Renae De Liz) question on Twitter became a fully realized all-female graphic novel anthology in under a year. A legion of supporters helped fund Womanthology: Heroic through a considerably successful Kickstarter campaign, and recently IDW announced the continuation of Womanthology as an ongoing series, starting with Womanthology: Space. Meet some of the more than 170 creators who made the book happen, including our own Trina Robbins (The Brinkley Girls). Moderated by Womanthology contributor Barbara Kesel. Room 25ABC
• 8:00-9:00 PM // Artist As Brand, Rise of the Artist Entrepreneur: Greg Spalenka moderates a panel discussion on art career sustainability. Learn strategies on how to create an income off your talent on your own terms. Panelists include Dave McKean (an icon of popular art culture, professional artist, photographer, graphic designer, director, musician, Arkham Asylum, The Sandman, MirrorMask), Craig Elliott, Shiflett Brothers, Miss Mindy, and Daniel and Dawna Davis. Room 8
Friday, July 13th
• 2:00-3:00 PM // No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics: Queer cartooning has been one of the most vibrant artistic and countercultural movements of the past 40 years, tackling complex issues of identity and changing social mores with intelligence, humor, and an irreverent imagination. No Straight Lines, a massive anthology published by Fantagraphics Books, is the most definitive collection to date of this material, showcasing everything from lesbian underground comix, to gay newspaper strips, bi punk zines, and trans webcomics. The editor of the book, Justin Hall moderates an all-star panel of some of the true greats of LGBTQ comics: Alison Bechdel, Paige Braddock, Ed Luce, Trina Robbins, and Eric Shanower. Room 25ABC
• 2:30-3:30 PM // Dave McKean: My Two Years with Dawkins, Christ, and a Small Crab Called Eric: Dave McKean, illustrator of many books with Neil Gaiman, Ray Bradbury, John Cale, Heston Blumenthal, Grant Morrison, and occasional artist,photographer, director, musician, writer, and singer of forgotten songs, talks about two intense years spent exploring both sides of the theological divide. Room 5AB
• 2:30-3:30 PM // Comics Arts Conference Session #8: Jack Kirby, Modernism, and Abstraction: Jack Kirby is increasingly emerging as an important 20th century American artist even beyond the realm of the comics world. This panel will discuss the relationship of Kirby with abstract art, his deeply modernist artistic achievement, and his influence on art and abstract comics. Andrei Molotiu (Indiana University, Bloomington; Abstract Comics: The Anthology) will give a presentation on the topic, then will discuss the subject with artist Mark Badger (Batman: Jazz, Martian Manhunter) and other surprise guests. Room 26AB
• 5:30-6:30 PM // D+Q & Fantagraphics: North America's two most influential independent comics publishers, which have defined the literary comics medium for the past 25 years, preview their upcoming lists. Jacq Cohen (publicity director) and Eric Reynolds (associate publisher) of Fantagraphics, and Julia Pohl-Miranda (editorial marketing manager) and Tom Devlin (creative director) for D+Q present their 2012 and 2013 lists, with a few surprises. Room 26AB
Saturday, July 14th
• 11:30-12:30 PM // Save the Date: Your New Favorite Film: This may be the first comic book film that isn't based on an actual comic book; instead, Save the Date uses the style and sensibility of indie comics by renowned graphic novelist Jeffrey Brown as a jumping off point to tell a contemporary story of the trials, pain, and happiness of modern love. Explore the challenges and advantages of working in film versus comics with cartoonist/screenplay co-writer Jeffrey Brown, director Michael Mohan, and producers Jordan Horowitz and Michael Roiff, and the cast. Room 5AB
• 1:30-3:00 PM // 30th Anniversary of Love and Rockets: For 30 years Los Bros Hernandez have entranced comics readers around the world with their adventures of Maggie, Hopey, Luba, and the entire Love and Rockets cast of characters. Comic-Con special guests Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, and Mario Hernandez join with Fantagraphics Books co-publisher Gary Groth to talk about this award-winning series of comics and its decades-spanning durability. Room 24ABC
• 4:30-6:00 PM // Spotlight on Gilbert Shelton: Underground comix legend and Comic-Con special guest Gilbert Shelton makes a rare U.S. appearance to discuss his career (including The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and Wonder Warthog) with moderator Fantagraphics Books co-publisher Gary Groth, plus Ron Turner (publisher, Last Gasp San Francisco), and Shelton's literary agent, Manfred Mroczkowski (Interlicense Ltd., Mill Valley, CA). Room 5AB
• 5:30-8:00 PM // Gays in Comics: 25th Year Celebration!: This year, founding moderator and best-selling author Andy Mangels, chairs a new form of panel, a live documentary that will unfold for the audience, featuring a mixture of commentary, images, music and other surprises! Showcased with live appearances and video messages will be an army of awesome creators who have appeared on the previous 24 panels, including Roberta Gregory, creator of Naughty Bits and Bitchy Bitch and the godmother of the gay comic movement; Trina Robbins, remarkable writer and artist whose work on behalf of women in comics has helped redefine the industry; Justin Hall, author of No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics, creator of Glamazonia, and Prism Comics talent chair; and much more! Room 6A