Comic-Con 2016

Could Lightsabers ever be a reality? How would Starkiller Base work in the real world? Which droid would NASA select for a real mission? Fon Davis (production designer, Star Wars Movies), Kim Steadman (NASA engineer, Mars Science Lab), Kieran Dickson (editor, Outerplaces), Travis Langley (editor, Star Wars Psychology), Steve Huff (fight choreographer), and moderator Jenna Busch (Legion of Leia) break down the science behind a galaxy far far away, field your burning questions and give away a prize or two.

Wayne Brady (actor, producer), Karen Hunter (The Karen Hunter Show, Karen Hunter Publishing, Pulitzer Prize winner), Rosalind Alexander-Kasparik (Recall & Given), and Tomiya Gaines (the perfect $20 date) are the 2016 Black Panel. This year's presidential election has seen much attention focused on race. There is a sea change in the air and creators of color, and their fans will feel it soon if they haven't already. It's a new start to the famed Black Panel and as always a surprise guest or two may join the fray.

While almost every creator will tell you their greatest joy is in their acts of creation, none will argue that equally (or perhaps more) important is earning a living from their efforts. But commercializing creative works is fraught with peril unless you're prepared. This second stage of the case study focusing on (fictional) author Fitzgerald Scott will concentrate on Scott's efforts to commercialize his critically acclaimed new work, "Shylock Homer: The Sirens of the Baskervilles." Noted attorney Michael Lovitz, author of the acclaimed The Trademark and Copyright Book comic book, and IP and entertainment attorneys David Branfman and Terri Lubaroff present an interactive seminar tackling a group of more advanced issues facing creators (and the businesses that they work with) when marketing their properties and creative ideas, including: licenses and transfers of rights; key things to know when Hollywood comes knocking; publishing, manufacturing, merchandising, and distribution agreements; understanding key terms in contracts, assignments, and licenses; and (and time permitting) how Mrs. Fitzgerald Scott spouse may affect his contracts and licenses. Please note: The Comic Book Law School seminars are designed to provide relevant information and insights to practicing attorneys, as well as practical tips to creators and other professionals who may wish to attend. [This program is approved for 1.5 credits of California MCLE.]

Recent work analyzing comics has turned to scientific methods. Neil Cohn (Tilburg University) will chair this panel discussing projects that annotate properties of comics from around the world, and discuss growing efforts for analyzing comics within the cognitive sciences. Then, presentations by Jessika Axner (University of California, San Diego) and Michaela Diercks (University of California, San Diego) will explore the differences between the structures found in comics from America, Japan, Hong Kong, and various European countries, such as France and Sweden. Finally, Nimish Pratha (University of California, San Diego) will describe how sound effects differ across genres of American comics and Japanese manga. Together, these presentations show the benefits of a data-driven, scientific approach to studying comics.

UPDATED: Thu, Jul 14, 09:23AM
Sven Larsen (VP of marketing, Papercutz), Betsy Gomez (editorial director, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund), and Lizette Serrano (director of library and educational marketing, Scholastic) explain how librarians can build programming to foster a love of graphic novels in their communities in a Q&A session moderated by Dawn Rutherford (teen services coordinator, Sno-Isle Libraries).

Censorship is affecting more comics than ever, especially comics made for young people. Recent months have seen attacks on award-winning books like This One Summer and Drama, as well as increased targeting of books by and about diversity. CBLDF editorial director Betsy Gomez leads a discussion with Gina Gagliano (First Second), and Carla Riemer (librarian, Claremont Middle School, Oakland, California) about what books are challenged, who's affected, and what you can do stop the spread of censorship.

Arguing that the visual narrative nature of comics requires recognizing and understanding the function of pictures in the medium, R. C. Harvey (Perpendicular Pronoun Press) shows how words and pictures function to create the unique narrative form that is comics. Derek Heid (Temecula Valley High School) demonstrates how Matt Fraction's Eisner Award-winning Hawkeye story, "Pizza Is My Business," makes heavy use of symbol and abstract storytelling techniques to communicate the thought processes of a dog and can be used to teach students, specifically at the high school level, higher-order analysis of literature and literary technique. Samantha Jakobeit-Meaux (Georgia State University) examines Bec Doux et ses amis, a dual language Cajun French and English comic strip with Kevin Meaux (Georgia State University), the son of the strip's illustrator Ken Meaux, to show how the strip subverts the established language/power dynamics of Louisiana speaking communities through the use of text placement, caricature, and trickster figures.

Before the comics, pulp magazines were the most popular and bestselling printed periodicals on the newsstands. Featuring genres ranging from westerns to heroic adventure to science fiction, the pulp magazines paved the way for the comics, providing much of the social, narrative, artistic, and financial groundwork, which inspired the nascent industry and helped it flourish into the popular culture phenomena it is today. This panel discusses the connections between the pulps and comics, from the creators who worked in both mediums to the direct lineage between the heroes of the pulps and their successors, so popular in today’s comics and films. Join Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson (Lost Hero: The Adventurous and Tragic Life of the Man Who Invented Comic Books), Harry Donenfeld, Brad Ricca (Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster-the Creators of Superman), Michael Uslan (The Dark Knight trilogy) and Nathan Vernon Madison (Anti-Foreign Imagery in American Pulps and Comic Books) for this investigation into the birth of the comic book. Gerard Jones (Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book) moderates.

Comic creators Nathan Hale (Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales series), Stuart Moore (Egos, Zodiac Legacy), Gene Luen Yang (Secret Coders, Boxers & Saints), and Ru Xu (NewsPrints, Saint for Rent) explain their process, demystifying comics creation for librarians. Moderated by Jack Baur (supervising librarian, Berkeley Public Library).

Comics are striving to create a more diverse culture of creativity for an increasingly varied audience. Gina Gagliano (First Second), Robin Herrera (Oni Press), and Sierra Hahn (BOOM! Studios) talk about what comics are doing to create a more diverse culture of material to serve the diversity of our readership. Moderated by Candice Mack (president, Young Adult Library Services Association).

UPDATED: Fri, Jul 15, 10:21AM
Long before the rescuing of Mark Watney became a cultural phenom, Mars and martians had captured the imagination of comic book and science fiction authors. For almost a century and a half, fictional visits to the red planet have been made by humans like John Carter and superhumans like Superman, Dr. Manhattan, and Dr. McNinja. Some, like the Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz) even call the fourth planet home. In this panel, Marshall Smith (Deputy Director, Cross-Program Systems Integration, ESD at NASA), Joseph Cassady (executive director, Space at Aerojet Rocketdyne), Grant Anderson (president & CEO at Paragon Space Development Corporation), William D. Pratt (Program Manager, Lockheed Martin's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP)), Patrick O'Neill (Marketing & Communications Manager at Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS)), Matthew Duggan (Space Systems Manager, Boeing Company), Rebekah Sosland Siegfriedt (Systems Engineer, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), and moderator Steve Broback (cofounder, Dent the Future) discuss the latest developments in the commercial and government partnership driving the 2035 mission to Mars.

In the U.S., young people (ages 16-24 years) are significantly affected by Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections (STI). Storytelling through comic books has been shown to be a useful method for HIV/STI education and prevention. The increasing popularity of comics-related media and advances in computerized graphics have created new ways of using comics to reach youth with HIV/STI information. Come and learn how scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Leigh Willis (behavioral scientist), Rachel Kachur (health scientist), Ted Castellanos (public health advisor), John Brooks (senior medical adviser), and from Terminus Media Mark Stancil (CEO). Artists Joe Phillips and Lexington Wolfcraft worked to create an HIV/STI focused motion comic that improves knowledge about, and reduces stigma around, HIV and STI, and encourages healthy behaviors by young people. Attendees will learn how audience feedback, behavioral research, and cutting-edge production methods were used to create the storyline and the look, sound, and feel of this motion comic. The first episode of the series will be debuted. Panelists will also provide information on how the public can access the full motion comic series and future plans for the series.

How are kids' graphic novels growing, and what does the future hold for this dynamic segment of the comics medium? Executives Mark Siegel (First Second), David Saylor (Scholastic), Greg Goldstein (IDW Publishing), and Terry Nantier (Papercutz) and moderator Calvin Reid discuss this growing market.

UCLA Extension instructors Dallas King (director and genre-filmmaker, U.Z.L.A.), Peter Gend (VFX producer, The Simpsons Movie), Quinton Peeples (feature film and television writer/producer, Netflix/Marvel’s Iron Fist, Hulu’s 11-22-63), Brooks Wachtel (animation series writer, X-Men, Spider-Man), Robert Bryant (video game producer & author, Slay the Dragon: Writing Great Video Games), and moderator Kim Adelman (indie filmmaker, Just Friends) discuss how they transitioned from a practical day job to a professional career in the creative fields of writing, filmmaking, and gaming. Explore best practices for making the transition to your own dream job and get answers to your questions during a Q&A.

What happens when you bring a nanotechnologist, an A.I. research scientist, and an entomologist together in a room? You form the League of Extraordinary Scientists and Engineers! Jeane Wong (LXS founder and educator) is obsessed with science and has a solid origin with superheros and discovering those same powers in the real world, from entomology to rockets to robots and beyond. Jeane, along with panel guests Dr. Sunny Fugate (engineer, A.I. research, space and naval warfare systems command), Dr. Paige Howorth (entomology curator, San Diego Zoo), Dr. Tom Darlington (nanoComposix), and Jeff McQuaid (marine biologist, J. CraigVenter Institute and Scripps Institute of Oceanography) discuss how comics and science fiction push scientists and engineers to rocket past what they know is possible at any given moment and into an otherwise unimaginable future. Come curious and leave inspired.

Why do you love to hate your favorite bad guys, such as the antihero, Disney villains, or characters like Deadpool or the Joker? A research study conducted by April Fugett, Ph.D. (professor, department of psychology, Marshall University), Keith W. Beard, Psy.D. (professor, department of psychology, Marshall University), Elijah Wise, Britani Black, and Jacob Mills (doctoral students, Marshall University) examined the psychological theory of personality traits called the Dark Triad (machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy). Research suggests that people with these personality traits are more likely to engage in self-promotion and be aggressive in their interactions with others on social media. In contrast, other personality theories focus on people being agreeable and open to new experiences. Personality traits for both approaches and over 650 pop culture characters were studied. Results indicate existing relationships between personality characteristics and favorite villains. This information could be used to better promote and best engage people with these traits in media and other venues.