From East Coast to West Coast, June 17, 2023, is the day to celebrate LGBTQIA+ comics and graphic novels. The Beat announced earlier this week that queer and allied fans in Brooklyn, New York, would once again be able to celebrate queer liberation month on June 17 with Brooklyn Pride Comics Fair, which is put on by Anyone Comics’s Dimitrios Fragiskatos. Now, we have the pleasure of announcing Southern California’s newest LGBTQIA+ comic convention, the second annual Q Con, presented by Prism Comics. Like its Brooklyn Pride Comics Fair counterpart, the West Hollywood event will take place on June 17, making for the ultimate day of coast to coast queer comics shenanigans. Be gay, do cons!
Q Con will take place on Saturday, June 17 from 10 am to 5 pm at Fiesta Hall in Plummer Park, located at 1166 North Vista Street, West Hollywood, CA. Q Con is FREE to the public and family friendly, providing pre-teens through adults with the opportunity to find a wide variety of comics affirming LGBTQ+ representation at one exciting, colorful event. Register for the event at qconprism.org.
Prism Comics is a nonprofit championing LGBTQIA+ visibility, diversity and inclusion in comics, graphic novels and popular media. Founded in 2003, Prism Comics has become “LGBTQ+ Comics Central” at San Diego Comic-Con, WonderCon Anaheim, Los Angeles Comic Con, other conventions and online providing a safe, welcoming community for queer and queer friendly comics creators, readers, librarians, educators and families. Prism has helped foster many comics creators who have become major voices in comics and graphic novels.
Last year, Prism Comics held the first annual Q Con to great success with over 900 people attending. This year’s Q Con will once again celebrate the amazing diversity of LGBTQIA+ comics, games, and popular media today and will be expanded with exciting panel presentations on diverse comics topics. Attendees will be able to meet creators from indie comics to major publishers, get autographs and sketches, and mix with other comics fans. In addition, attendees are encouraged to cosplay their favorite characters as there will be a fun and festive all-ages costume contest at 3:00 pm.
Here is the list of creators who are scheduled to appear:
SCHEDULED TO APPEAR: Aleasha Acevedo (Husk); Tara Madison Avery (We’re Still Here, Stacked Deck Press); David Booher (Rain; Killer Queens); CAPS – Cartoon Art Professional Society; ClexaCon; Dave Davenport (Feral and the Ghost Fighter); Lee Dawn (We Are Frogs); Michael Derry (Troy; Derry Products); A.C. Esguerra (Eighty Days); Richard Fairgray (Four-Color Heroes); Fanbase Press; Jack Foster (Gun); Sina Grace (Rockstar and Softboy; Iceman); Hi-De-Ho Comics; Tini Howard (Excalibur; Catwoman); Jeff Krell (Jayson; Arena Stage); Steve MacIsaac (Shirtlifter; Unpacking); Knave Murdock (TransCat); Cort Lane (The Monster And Me book series); Los Angeles Film School; Ed Luce (Wuvable Oaf); Mei (Qi-Shift); Mark A.J. Nazal (Diwata Komiks); Gladys Ochoa (Ribbons of Thought); Rex Ogle (Northranger; Four Eyes); M.K. Palmer (Meraki); Kristen Parraz (Comadres y Comics Podcast); Mike Pingel (Channel Surfing: Betty White); Prism Comics; Qweerty Gamers; Brad Rader (Bob’s Burgers, Batman: The Animated Series); Rainbow Arc of Fire; David Reddish (The Passion of Sergius & Bacchus); Sonya Saturday (The Greatest Thing You’ve Ever Seen in Your Life); Tim Sheridan (DC Pride Through The Years); Christie Shinn (HoraTora Studios); Josh Trujillo (Hulkling & Wiccan; Blue Beetle); Maximus Spragovsky (W.O.O.F. Galaxy); Stacked Deck Press; William O. Tyler (Theater of Terror); Shannon Watters (Lumberjanes, Hollow); Fernando Velez(Kraven Comics; Class6); Yaoi Revolution; Cosplayers: Chrissy Lynn Carpenter; Dragpool; rye_n_cosplay and dkarthall (DR.Costumes); Kelsey Fernandez; Jacqueline Goehner (Underground Cosmetics); Julian Jetson; Cathy Kutz; MegaChromatic; PumaDoesCosplay; Rachael Sanderson (Lucky Grim Creative); Joe Pryde Zuniga and Bryan Gomez; and others to be announced!
For 2023 WeHo Pride, Q Con has announced a schedule of panel presentations for the first time. All panels will be held in the Plummer Park Community Building, Art Room 2, which is a short walk from Fiesta Hall.
Here is the Q Con panel schedule:
11 – 11:45 am What Does Healthy Queer Representation in Comics Look Like?
Plummer Park Community Building, Art Room 2
Moderated by Barbra Dillon (editor-in-chief, Fanbase Press), this panel will provide a thoughtful conversation that goes far beyond the fact that representation is necessary. Featuring David M. Booher (Killer Queens); Shannon Watters (Lumberjanes, Hollow); Richard Fairgray (Four-Color Heroes); Kristen Parraz (Comadres y Comics); and A.C. Esguerra (Eighty Days), the conversation will include how each panelist defines healthy queer representation, whether it’s necessary to only tackle the positive stories and aspects of life, and much more.
12 – 12:45 pm Spotlight on Sina Grace and Josh Trujillo
Plummer Park Community Building, Art Room 2
Join us for a spirited interview with Sina Grace (Rockstar and Softboy; Superman: The Harvests of Youth) and Josh Trujillo (Blue Beetle; Hulkling & Wiccan). Moderator, David Reddish (Sex Drugs & Superheroes), will talk with Sina and Josh about their work and their inspirations for comics as BFF’s in real life.
1 – 1:45 pm Pride Story Hour
Plummer Park Community Building, Art Room 2
Host Julian Jetson (Gay Geeks And Where To Find Them) and Q Con welcome Tara Madison Avery (We’re Still Here; The Outside); David Booher (Killer Queens), Richard Fairgray (Four-Color Heroes; Ghost Ghost); Jeff Krell (Arena Takes Manhattan; Jayson Goes to Hollywood); Cort Lane (Monster And Me: Too Cool For School); William O. Tyler (Theater of Terror; We Belong), Shannon Watters (Lumberjanes; Hollow), and others to announced as they present selections from their LGBTQ comics.
2 – 2:45 pm Geek Crossfire
Plummer Park Community Building, Art Room 2
What’s the state of geek pop culture today? Can the MCU solve its villain problem? Is Kathleen Kennedy to blame for the Star Wars movie drought? Get in on the dish as Moderator David Reddish (The Passion of Sergius & Bacchus) leads a panel of industry experts and insiders for a high-energy, hard-talking and humorous debate about the present and future of your favorite genre franchises in Hollywood. Featuring Tara Madison Avery (We’re Still Here; Stacked Deck Press); Sonya Saturday, digital artist and content creator); Stacey Yvonne (Journalist at Pride, Black Girl Nerds); William O. Tyler (Theater of Terror; We Belong); and Joshua Yehl (Editor at IGN).
Q Con is supported by a grant from the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division as part of the City’s WeHo Pride Arts Festival, taking place from May 22 – June 30.
