This year’s Long Beach Comic Con guest list is amazingly diverse with over 175 guests, including:
- Popular TV, Film & gaming stars:
- John Barrowman (Merlin from ARROW);
- Chloe Bennet (Skye on MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD);
- Peter Shinkoda and Tommy Walker (Marvel’s DAREDEVIL)
- Maitland Ward Baxter (BOY MEETS GIRL).
- Acclaimed TV & Film writers:
- Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas (Marvel Entertainment's AGENT CARTER);
- Christos Gage and Ruth Fletcher Gage (Marvel's DAREDEVIL);
- Marc Guggenheim (ARROW);
- Jeff King (WHITE COLLAR);
- Man of Action's Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Duncan Rouleau and Steven T. Seagle), the creators of BEN 10 and the team/characters in BIG HERO 6
- More than 150 comic book writers and artists:
- Legendary artist Art Adams (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY TEAM UP);
- Kris Anka (Marvel’s CAPTAIN MARVEL)
- Joe Casey (SEX)
- Adam Kubert and the Joe Kubert School, making their first appearance at a Long Beach Show;
- Joshua Hale Fialkov (THE LIFE AFTER);
- Kyle Higgins (C.O.W.L.)
- Joe Kelly (I KILL GIANTS)
- Dustin Nguyen (DESCENDER);
- David Petersen, celebrating the 10th anniversary of MOUSE GUARD;
- Duncan Rouleau (THE GREAT UNKNOWN)
- Stan Sakai, the legendary creator of USAGI YOJIMBO;
- Steven T. Seagle (It's a bird …)
- Marc Silvestri, popular artist and CEO of Top Cow Productions;
- STAR WARS artists Stuart and Kathryn Immonen;
- Legendary writers Len Wein (SWAMP THING) and Marv Wolfman (NEW TEEN TITANS).
- Cosplay fan favorites:
- Nicole Marie Jean
- Miss Chrissy Lynn;
- Raychul Moore;
- Destiny Nickelsen;
- International Cosplayer Giada Robin;
- Vampy Bit Me;
- Vegas Power Girl.
“Long Beach Comic Con is a celebration of the creative arts,” said Long Beach Comic Con Executive Director and Co-Founder Martha Donato. “In addition to panels devoted to DC Entertainment, Marvel Entertainment, Aspen Comics, Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics, we have amazing, family-friendly programming dedicated to animation, tv, film and novels and exhibitors and sponsors such as Columbia Memorial Space Center, Lionsgate Films, and T-Mobile and sponsors like Bernina and Kettle.
Programming highlights include:
- Anniversary panels for 30 Years of ROBOTECH animation and 10 years of MOUSE GUARD graphic novels;
- Breaking Into Hollywood A conversation with Ralph Garman (BATMAN ‘66 MEETS THE GREEN HORNET), Joshua Fialkov (AFRO SAMURAI: RESURRECTION), Marc Guggenheim (ARROW) and Kyle Higgins (THE LEAGUE), moderated by Aaron Couch, LA Digital News Editor of People Magazine;
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer panel;
- “Couples Therapy”, in which KROQ ‘s Ralph Garman talks with Hollywood power couple Tara Butters (MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD) and Marc Guggenheim (ARROW);
- The Devastator Presents: Funny Book Fest;
- Dwayne McDuffie Awards Announcements of nominees for the award, to be presented at Long Beach Comic Expo next spring;
- GeekFest Film Fest, including three full length feature films, short films, web series and fan films including a “Star Wars Musical”;
- How to Conquer the Animation World with James Ganiere (CEO at Rio Vista Universal), Dean DeBlois (writer and director of HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3), Mike Morris (Animator for THE SIMPSONS), Terran Gregory (Project Director at Blizzard Entertainment) and Forrest Whaley (ForrestFire101 - Maker Studio/YouTube).
- #PerformanceMatters. Creating your Character in Video Games. Troy Baker (BATMAN: ASSAULT ON ARKHAM), Crispin Freeman (WORLD OF WARCRAFT), Phil LaMarr (MWETAL GEAR SOLID 2), Liam O’Brien (WORLD OF WARCRAFT), America Young (HALO 5) and Thom Willams (MIDDLE EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR)
- Psychology of Daredevil. Join Dr. Andrea Letamendi, who has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, Christos Gage and Ruth Fletcher Gage, writers on Netflix’s original DAREDEVIL series, and actors Tommy Walker (Francis) and Peter Shinkoda (Nobu) as they discuss the intersection of psychology and comic books, specifically focusing on the characters they write and play on DAREDEVIL.
- A Q &A with John Barrowman;
- Shades & Shadows Reading Series including a live show;
- A STAR WARS panel with Brian Miller , illustrator for Topps, novelist Cecil Castellucci (STAR WARS: MOVING TARGET), and Stuart Immonen, artist for Marvel's best selling STAR WARS comic books.
- 2 days of #MakeComics panels devoted to teaching aspiring writers and artists how to make comics.
