Convention season is back, everyone! And it’s kicking off this weekend with Long Beach Comic Expo, held January 11-12 at the Long Beach Convention Center with guests including Dan DiDio, Steven Seagle, Cecil Castellucci, Amanda Deibert, Tad Stones, and cast members of Breaking Bad and Power Rangers. Run by MAD Events and Martha Donato, this is one of the best run local shows of the year.
You can read all the details below but of note are two ancillary events. First the C3 creator conference will once again be held tomorrow, Friday January 10. You can see the complete schedule below but this is a great chance to start the year with an industry focused gathering.
LBCE will also launch Sexy Cosplay Con on Saturday night, an after hours gathering for adult cosplayers to pursue their hobby.
We’re sad to be missing a show that we always enjoy but you can still get tickets here. Pack those bags and get ready for BarCon! Con season ahoy!
Details on all the events below.
Sexy Cosplay Con:
Who: all cosplayers ages 18+ are welcome to enjoy a safe place to pursue their cosplay hobby
- Celebrating Lodge 49: Meet the cast and celebrate your love for Lodge 49 at LBCE! Join the hosts of the Lodge 49 conversation podcast, POD 49, as they celebrate this remarkable show with an extra-length panel and live podcast recording. They will be joined by actors David Ury, Sam Puefua, Vik Sahay, and Alex Klein, director Alethea Jones (Circles, Estrella Y Mar), along with a few other special appearances!
- Crisis on Infinite Earths — What Comes Next: With the CW’s unprecedented Crisis crossover coming to an end this week, join DC Daily‘s Sam Humphries and Fatman Beyond podcast co-host Marc Bernardin for a discussion of what’s happened so far, what happens next, and what viewers have to say about it. Every voice counts!
- LBCE Annual Cosplay Contest: Charismatic costumed characters strut their stuff and show off their talents and compete in a variety of fun categories for a grand prize.
- Superheroes and Killing: From the Golden Age of comics to modern-day heroes such as Punisher and Deadpool, comics characters haven’t always had a code against putting bad guys to rest. Gerry Conway (Punisher), Howard Chaykin (The Shadow), and artist Scott Koblish (Deadpool) take part in a panel that takes no prisoners.
- Engineering Star Wars: Can’t get enough droids? Want R2 or BB-8 to join you on all your adventures? There’s a whole club of people dedicated to building R2-D2 and the other droids of Star Wars! Come learn the basics and see what it takes to craft your own Astromech droid from several women that build their own!
- Pop Paleo: Space Expo proudly presents Pop Paleo, a discussion about dinosaurs and other extinct creatures that have dominated pop culture. From classic films like Jurassic Park to modern tales like Game of Thrones, dinosaurs and other extinct creatures have inspired amazing stories! But just how well do these fictional depictions of long-gone animals reflect what scientists actually know about them? Join a special panel of paleontologists as they break down what’s real and what’s inspired.
- All Things DC: Join DC Publisher Dan DiDio as he leads a discussion about your favorite comic book memories and why the medium brings so many walks of life together.
C3: COMIC CREATOR CONFERENCE
FRIDAY JANUARY 10, 2020
4:00 PM, 15 minutes: Opening remarks, Martha Donato
4:15 PM Session 1, 30 minutes:
Steven T. Seagle, Quantum Storytelling: Writer/Producer Steven T. Seagle is the
co-creator of Ben 10 and Big Hero 6 and a founding partner of Man of Action
Entertainment. He’s a veteran of Marvel and DC Comics, and will discuss the tenants
of his “Quantum Storytelling” methodology designed to upend story construction
habits.
4:45 PM Session 2a, 45 minutes:
Breaking in and Staying in, David Avallone: Doc Savage and Zorro writer David
Avallone lays out strategies for beginning and building a career in comics. Topics
covered include: networking, conventions, social media, crowdfunding,
collaborations, and learning the business and the craft of comic books.
4:45 PM Session 2b, 45 minutes:
Building the Dream Team, Barbra Dillon and more: Are you a creator with an
idea for a new project, but you need help bringing it to life? Or have you found
potential members for the team, but you’re unsure how to coordinate contracts or
timelines? Led by Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon, this panel—
including Sebastian Kadlecik (Eisner Award-nominated Quince) and Justin
Peniston (Ben 10, Hunter Black)—will discuss the types of creators that can round
out your team, avenues for finding those creators, and ways to protect yourself and
your project throughout the process.
5:30 PM Session 3a, 45 minutes:
The Page behind the Paradigm, Howard Chaykin: Veteran writer and artist
Howard Chaykin takes you inside storytelling to walk you through page layout and
show you WHAT works and WHY.
Why horizontals? Why verticals? Why insets? Why white space?
What is the significance of panel size, of panel shape, and its relationship to the rest
of the panels on the page, and to the page itself?
A picture is not simply the depiction of an object, or a series of objects, with a panel
drawn around it. How do we define, and how do we create, a picture with narrative
value?
Participants leave with a three-page excerpt from a comic book script, to follow and
use what they’ve learned to create a layout based on the principles of the paradigm.
BONUS: Attendees of Long Beach Comic Expo can bring their finished three-page
samples to Chaykin’s Artist Alley table, and Chaykin will do an overview, pointing
out the virtues and weaknesses of the pages.
5:30 PM Session 3b, 45 minutes:
Entrepreneurs: Flexibility, Fears, Failures and Fun: We talk a lot about tactics
and strategies, but rarely get a first-hand and raw look at the challenges
entrepreneurs face. Listen as Vince Hernandez (Aspen Comics), Christie Shinn
(Shinn Studio), and Marty Glynn (MAD Event Management) share their stories and
dish out irreverent advice and humor on being your own boss.
6:15 PM Session 4, 30 minutes:
Beating Writers (or Artists!) Block, Ty Templeton: On deadline? Out of ideas?
Multiple Eisner Award-winning writer Ty Templeton, known for Batman
Adventures, Star Trek, and more, introduces sure-fire methods of writing a strong
plot, from blank paper to finished story, with memorable characters and happy
readers, all in under an hour. These techniques leave writer’s block a thing of the
past, and inspiration something one can fit into any schedule!
6:45 PM Session 5, 30 minutes:
Let’s compare notes! We had self-selecting breakout sessions. So tell the other
peeps! What were the highlights? What did you learn? What got you excited? This
fun, informal session hosted by Barbra Dillon will allow attendees to meet each
other and share information from their sessions, while getting a taste of how the
other half was living!
7:15 PM Wrapup, 30 minutes
Three Questions with Gerry Conway: No you don’t ask him three questions, but
Gerry Conway, the co-creator of the Punisher, writer for Law and Order, and forever
“the man who killed Gwen Stacy” will tell YOU the three questions you should ask
about your characters that can help solve story problems and create narrative drive
in comics, novels, movies, and TV!
7:45 PM END OF EVENT COCKTAIL HOUR: Go have a drink, you deserve it!
