Long Beach Comic Expo 2016 Report: Photo Parade #3

Inhumans writer, Paul Jenkins

Batman/Superman & Dark Tower artist, Jae Lee

Comic publisher booth row

The Space Expo exhibit section

COLUMBIA MEMORIAL SPACE CENTER RETURNS TO LONG BEACH WITH SPACE EXPO AT LONG BEACH COMIC EXPO!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: COLUMBIA MEMORIAL SPACE CENTER RETURNS TO LONG BEACH WITH SPACE EXPO AT LONG BEACH COMIC EXPO!

(February 12, 2016) In a landmark collaboration, the popular Long Beach Comic Expo has once again partnered with the prestigious Columbia Memorial Space Center for SPACE EXPO at the Long Beach Convention Center, February 20-21.

For two days, the Columbia Memorial Space Center will be curating space science activities for all ages on the floor of the convention center as well as dynamic panels filled with scientists and researchers from NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), The Planetary Society, Caltech, Virgin Galactic and other organizations focused on the stars. With space once again in the minds of the public, through hit films such as “The Martian,” bringing cutting edge science to the Comic Expo makes sense.

Columbia Memorial Space Center President Ben Dickow explains, "“The Long Beach Comic Expo is a natural platform from which we can communicate the awesome-ness of science, innovation and exploration. We want to create a fandom for science - a fandom that will grow and support the next wave of space explorers and scientific progress. Space, the space program and science are just as much a part of pop culture as comics and sci-fi - both have influenced each other and have had a huge impact on the country.”

“Last year’s inaugural Space Expo programming saw rave reviews from attendees” said Martha Donato, Long Beach Comic Con Executive Director and Co-Founder. “We are so excited have Columbia Space Center return again for two full days of exciting programming that brings science to the science fiction audience.”

Entertaining and insightful panels will feature top aerospace industry notables, and explore the current hot topics regarding everything space including news from the team driving the rovers on Mars and a talk by one of the duo that may have discovered a ninth planet in our solar system. Fascinating and interactive exhibits will include robotics, 3D printing, and a real spacesuit – all expertly curated by the Space Center team. In fact, Saturday features Space Fashion, highlighting examples of space suits. All are encouraged to participate in Space Cosplay, visiting the Expo in your own space outfit! Sunday focuses on robotics and how you can build-a-bot! Outside, astronomers will be allowing the public to take a look at what happening on the sun, in real time and weather permitting.

Panels at Space Expo 2016 at Long Beach Comic Expo will include:

• Comics vs Real Space

This presentation will be based on what we think we know about comets, small bodies and space versus what is now known from space missions like Rosetta. This talk will reveal details about the Rosetta Spacecraft, Lander and Mission Status. There will be archived images and images of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 3D. There will also be a demonstration of a kitchen comet!

• Dawn Mission: The Asteroids Awaken

What do TIE fighters and Dawn have in common? Is there a Hoth-like planet hidden in the main asteroid belt? Find out the answers to these questions and learn more about the Dawn spacecraft, which has been orbiting the dwarf planet Ceres since March 2015. In this talk, follow along with Dawn's journey through time to explore some of the largest objects in the main asteroid belt and learn about the engineering behind the mission and the science that's come out of it.

• Mars Rover Engineering: Technology, Troubles, and Triumphs

The engineering behind the unprecedented success of the NASA/JPL Mars Rover Program: mechanisms, software, and infinite creativity. We’ll talk about design and operations of the rovers Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity, and how we learn and improve with each generation. We’ll also share some stories of the many unexpected challenges we have faced and how we overcame them, including hostile Mars environments and aging rovers.

• Mars Rover Science: Instruments, Investigations, and Images

The astonishing science brought to us by the NASA/JPL Mars Rovers Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity: the goals, the instruments, the results, and other cool stuff . We’ll talk about why we explore Mars and what we hope to learn, as well as the instruments we use to investigate these questions. We’ll share many of the things we have learned, and how our view of Mars has changed over the past 12 years as we explore the Red Planet. Finally, we’ll share some fun surprises and images from this beautiful and fascinating world.

• From Mars to the Stars

Louis Friedman will present a new paradigm about the future for human spaceflight -- it will reach Mars, and no further. Mars beckons, the only accessible planet that can support human life and there it will be determined if we are doomed to be a single planet species living on a fragile planet with existential threats to our species or one with an unlimited future. The settlement of Mars will take centuries, if not millennia, and thus it is a goal for a creative and exciting future. At the same time, human travel beyond Mars will become an obsolete idea, supplanted by evolving nano- and bio-technologies and by an ever expanding information age. Exploration on Mars will be physical, exploration beyond Mars will be virtual. Friedman will describe how the Mars goal can and should drive NASA's and other space agencies' human spaceflight programs beginning with the first flights to a Near Earth Asteroid and finally reaching Mars in the next few decades.

• Virgin Galactic: Building a Spaceline and Launching the Small Satellite Revolution

Staff from Virgin Galactic will talk about the progress of building and operating a fleet of suborbital space transportation vehicles (SpaceShipTwo) and building a production line of the world’s most responsive small satellite launch vehicles (LauncherOne).

• VR & AR What's the future? What's now? An Overview of the State of Technology

Join Mary T Duda, a 20 year veteran in designing Virtual and Augmented Reality in theme parks and games, for a discussion on the technology’s effects on the future of entertainment & education from comic book Apps to Location Based Experiences.

• Konstantin Batygin on the New 9th Planet

You may have heard that recently there was evidence found for a distant giant planet in the solar system. Konstatin Batgin is the 28-year old assistant professor at Caltech who is poised to become the next physics rockstar. Join him as he discusses his discovery and takes the rare opportunity to participate in a Q&A.

Space Expo debuted at the Long Beach Comic-Con in Spetember 2015 to tremendous success. The Space Center counted over 10,000 meaningful interactions with visits over that weekend and saw a big uptick in attendance at the Space Center in the weeks after. This February’s Long Beach Comic Expo is noted for consistently attracting fans of all ages year after year. Space Expo is meant to be engaging, enlightening and great fun for kids and adults alike.

Follow Long Beach Comic Expo on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and information on Space Expo 2016 and all LBCE events.

About the Columbia Memorial Space Center:

The Columbia Memorial Space Center, located in Downey, California, is a hands-on learning center dedicated to bringing the wonder and excitement of science and innovation to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.  Through world-class programs and engaging exhibits, the Space Center strives to ignite a community of critical and creative thinkers.  

About Long Beach Comic Expo:

Long Beach Comic Expo is an annual event held at the Long Beach Convention Center that celebrates comic books and pop culture and showcases the exceptional works of talented writers, artists, illustrators and creators of all types of pop culture. At Long Beach Comic Expo, you’ll find exhibitors promoting and selling all types of related products, as well as entertaining and educational programs for all ages, guest signings and meet & greet sessions with celebrities. Long Beach Comic Expo is a MAD Event Management, LLC production. To learn more and purchase tickets, please visit www.longbeachcomicexpo.com.

Don't Miss Your Chance To Get A Photo With Con Man Star Alan Tudyk at LBCE '16!

Don't Get Shut Out! Alan Tudyk Photo-Ops Are Available For Advanced Sale!

There's been a lot of excitement about the Con Man & Firefly star's appearance next Saturday at the Long Beach Comic Expo. If you are one of those people we are happy to offer you the chance to get a professional photo with Alan.

Alan will only be taking a limited amount of photos with fans so to guarantee your spot in line be sure to purchase your photo-op in advance. 

You may be asking "Hey, LBCE! What is a photo-op and how does it work?" 

Well here's how it's done. You just follow this link over to the Epic Photo-Ops website and pick out your favorite celeb coming to LBCE '16. From there you can get info on prices and when the photo sessions will take place. Some guests may only be available on certain days. 

If you like you can pre-purchase your photo-op on Epic's website and you will be emailed a receipt. Bring that receipt to Epic's booth at the 2016 LBCE to check-in during your designated photo-op time. Photo-Ops can also be purchased at the Epic booth at the LBCE, but all on site sales will be cash only. 

From there you get in line with other fans, you enter the photo studio, pose with your celeb, snap a photo and Epic will print a beautiful 8x10 for you right there! Or you can get digital copy or both! You can have up to 4 people in a photo so bring your friends!

For more info and to purchase your photo-ops click here.

In addition to photo-ops with fans and signing autographs in our Celeb area, Alan will be taking part in a special Con Man/Spectrum panel. 

Taking place 2/20 at 1:30pm in our Thunderdome programming room, Alan will be joined by Con Man Executive Producer PJ Haarsma and comic writer & editor Shannon Eric Denton to discuss the IndieGoGo financed series and Spectrum, the comic based on the fictional sci-fi show featured in Con Man.

Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics

For Immediate Release: Announcing the Finalists for the Second Annual

Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics

February 10, 2016) The finalists for the second annual Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics were announced today. The five nominated titles are:

ANDRE THE GIANT CLOSER TO HEAVEN by Brandon Easton (writer), Denis Medri (artist) (IDW Publishing);

FRESH ROMANCE edited by Janelle Asselin (Rosy Press);

MOON GIRL AND THE DEVIL DINOSAUR by Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder (Writers), Natacha Bustos (Artist) (Marvel Entertainment);

MS. MARVEL by Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist) (Marvel Entertainment);

ZANA by Jean Barker (writer), Joey Granger (Artist) (Emet Comics)

The winner will be announced at the second annual Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics ceremony event to be held later this month at Long Beach Comic Expo on Saturday February 20 at 2:30 PM PT, on Dwayne McDuffie’s birthday. Acclaimed comic book writer (GENIUS) and reporter (THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER) Marc Bernardin will be the event’s Keynote Speaker.

“We were thrilled to receive more than three times as many submissions this year as we did for the inaugural award,” said Neo Edmund, the Director of the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics. ““After weeks of careful deliberation, we were able to narrow down the submissions from over 100 titles to the five nominees, all of of which speak to Dwayne’s inclusive vision for the industry in unique and significant ways.”

The Award is named in honor of Dwayne McDuffie, the legendary writer and producer who co-founded Milestone Media. As a writer, Dwayne created or co-created more than a dozen comic book series, including DAMAGE CONTROL, DEATHLOK II, ICON, STATIC, XOMBI, THE ROAD TO HELL and HARDWARE. Nilah Magruder was the recipient of the first annual Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics for M.F.K..

“It’s hard to believe Dwayne has been gone for 5 years this month,” said his widow, Charlotte McDuffie, “but it is gratifying to know that his presence continues to be felt in the comic book industry, through this award in his name shining a spotlight on those creators and content that are carrying on his mission to make the world of comics more accurately reflect the diversity of the real world.”

The Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics Selection Committee consists of six prominent comics and animation professionals who knew McDuffie and have demonstrated a commitment to inclusiveness:

Neo Edmund – Novelist, animation and comics writer;

Joan Hilty – Nickelodeon Comics Editor; editor-in-chief of Pageturner, former DC/Vertigo Senior Editor;

Joseph Illidge – Former Editor, Milestone and DC Comics; Columnist, Comic Book Resources; Writer, First Second Books;

Heidi MacDonald – Editor in Chief, The Beat;

William J. Watkins – Writer; Former owner, Chicago's first African American-owned comics store;

Matt Wayne, Former Managing Editor Milestone Media.

“Diversity has been central to Long Beach Comic Con and Long Beach Comic Expo since I co-founded the event seven years ago,” said Martha Donato, Executive Director of Long Beach Comic Expo. “The Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics ceremony is one of the highlights of our programming slate and it’s a great honor to have this historic and important event return to Long Beach Comic Expo this month.

Follow Long Beach Comic Expo on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and information about Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics.

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ABOUT LONG BEACH EXPO: Long Beach Comic Expo is an annual event held at the Long Beach Convention Center that celebrates comic books and pop culture and showcases the exceptional works of talented writers, artists, illustrators and creators of all types of pop culture. At Long Beach Comic Expo, you’ll find exhibitors promoting and selling all types of related products, as well as entertaining and educational programs for all ages, guest signings and meet & greet sessions with celebrities. Long Beach Comic Expo is a MAD Event Management, LLC production. To learn more and purchase tickets, please visit www.longbeachcomicexpo.com.

ABOUT THE DWAYNE MCDUFFIE AWARD FOR DIVERSITY IN COMICS SELECTION COMMITTEE:

Neo Edmund (Member of WGA-W/SFWA) is a native of Long Beach California, who has worked in the entertainment industry as a Screenwriter, Comic Book Writer, Story Development Exec, Novelist, Virtual Reality Producer, and Actor. He is the author of the bestselling novels ‘The Red Riding Alpha Huntress Series’ published by WordFire Press, and the comic series Clan of the Vein. Several of the graphic novels he has written are listed among titles that meet the United States Common Core Standards for English Education. He is currently the V.P. of Creative Development for Reverse Engineering Studios, overseeing the creation of numerous projects for Film, TV, and Virtual Reality.

Joan Hilty is Comics Editor at Nickelodeon and editor-in-chief of Pageturner, a boutique comics/graphic novel production house. She was formerly a Senior Editor at DC/Vertigo and syndicated cartoonist. She teaches at the School of Visual Arts in NYC and the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Joseph Phillip Illidge is a writer, editor, columnist, and public speaker on the subjects of race, the medium and business of comics, and the corporate politics of diversity. His editorial career began at Milestone Media, Inc., the first Black-owned mainstream comic book company and creators of “Static Shock!”. His work as an editor of the Batman line of comic books for DC Entertainment included the introduction of Detective Crispus Allen, appearing in the FOX television series “Gotham”, and the female vigilantes Black Canary and Huntress, appearing on the top-rated CW series, “Arrow”.Joseph is the Head Writer for Verge Entertainment. Verge has developed an extensive library of intellectual properties for live-action and animated television and film, video games, graphic novels and web-based entertainment.His graphic novel project, "The Ren," about the romance between a young musician from the South and a Harlem-born dancer in 1925, set against the backdrop of a crime war, will be published by First Second Books, a division of Macmillan.Joseph's newest comic book project is the upcoming Scout Comics miniseries "Solarman," a revamp of a teenage superhero originally published by Marvel Comics. His weekly column, “The Mission”, appears at Comic Book Resources.

Heidi MacDonald is the editor-in-chief of Comicsbeat.com and a former editor for Disney and DC Comics. She also edits the graphic novel review section for Publishers Weekly and can be heard on PW's weekly podcast More To Come.  

William J. Watkins is a freelance Writer, the former owner of Chicago's first African American-owned comic shop and a former DC Editorial Assistant.

Matt Wayne is the former Managing Editor Milestone Media and was a Story Editor for Justice League Unlimited, Ben 10: Omniverse, and Niko and the Sword of Light.

Long Beach Comic & Horror Convention 2012: Convention Report

Here is the report for the 4th Annual Long Beach Comic & Horror Convention held in Long Beach, California 2013. 


A fun convention with the ability to interact with the creators in a more personal, less-heavy traffic convention compared to San Diego Comic Con. Attendance seemed a little lower this year than last year with the possibility of the Con being held after Halloween this year and also not being part ofa  "Zombie Walk" that Long Beach held last year to try and break a record.

A few non-returning creators such as David Finch, Bob Layton, etc. also meant a few less artists to drive fans on attending both Saturday and Sunday. My eye spotted less buyers as well unless a booth had 50% off trades or the one 50 cent back issue booth which stayed packed.

Purchasing your tickets in advance allowed you to get a free copy of Creator Owned Heroes by Jimmy Palmiotti and Steve Niles with a special Long Beach Con cover by Amanda Conner as well as a 30 minute early admittance to the convention on Saturday.

Photo Report Review! Images are called out clock-wise.

A. The convention and cosplayers.

• The line to get in the comic convention which is at the bottom floor at the Long Beach Convention Center with panels on the main floor. There was an indoor garden expo happening that same weekend.

• Thundercat's Cheetarah and Pumyra

• Lady Punishers x2

• Walking Dead-type Zombie

• She-Ra

• Baroness and Ms. Marvel

• Stilt-Waking Spider-Lady with Dr. Who and Angel Baseball Fan

B. The Artists & Creators

• JonBoy Meyers (G.I. Joe, Hulk)
• Tim Vigil (Faust)
• Bernard Chang (Deadpool, Wonder Woman)
• Trent Kaniuga (Creed, Ghost Rider, Twilight Monk)
• Amanda Conner (Silk Spectre, Power Girl)
• Tommy Yune (Speed Racer, Robotech) being interviewed
• Jon Bogdanove (Superman, Power Pack)

Long Beach Comic Expo 2011 Event Review

I attended my first Long Beach Comic Expo 2011 this year and did have fun even though the venue was smaller than expected and some locations blocked off due to filming.

The Long Beach Comic Expo is indeed a small comic convention, it doesn’t use the main convention center’s ballroom (compared to the regular Long Beach Comic Con) and actually the event is held in one of the side banquet rooms. Even though the room and Expo event wasn't gigantic by any means, the room was packed and by noon you could expect to bump into people while traversing the aisles or going through comic long boxes.

I originally thought that since the convention hall was small that I would be out of there in less than an hour… I ended up spending most of the day there mostly checking out the artist area and a few comic booths. You could actually walk through and see all the booths in about 10 minutes if you wanted to at a brisk pace.

I arrived an hour early to the Long Beach Convention Center and since the Expo is a one-day event compared to the 3-day Long Beach Comic Con, I was able to park in the main parking lot underneath the center. I recommend arriving early to park in the underground parking since if you plan on buying items and do not want to haul them around all day, being able to hop into the elevator and drop-off the items in my car multiple times was a plus.

This is a comic-related focused event, and unlike the LBCC or Wizard World Anaheim shows, there were no “celebrities” manning booths here. Booths were primarily comic-oriented with a good amount of golden/silver/bronze age dealers, comic artists (seasoned & independent) as well as a few booths selling cosplay-related goods.

Personally, I’m a modern comic reader/collector and this Expo only had a few booths selling modern comics. Bargain hunters note that I spotted only a three bargain-related booths; one booth with a couple short boxes of 50 center comics and a big booth selling dollar comics that was packed full of buyers throughout the day.  I still prefer the Frank & Sons event for bargain-basement cheap reads, but I was able to get a backpack full of comics here as well to help fill in some gaps in my collection.

Since the Con lacked wide-berth spacing, I was constantly being bumped into while looking thorough boxes in the floor where someone would end up swooping above my head or bumping into me if they didn’t pay attention that someone was indeed on the floor. I had to stand up and elbow a few people off me a couple of times for those that don’t realize a thing called “personal space.” Thank goodness I’m not a scrawny little geek and doesn’t mind standing up to let people know to back off me to give me some breathing room. As usual, there were some smelly con-attendees there; oddly they mostly consisted of late-middle aged gentlemen.

The main reason to attend the Expo you ask? The artists and professionals there of course! Almost half the booths at the event were manned by artists, publishers, writers, etc. I was able to bring some comics from my collection and get them signed by notables such as Bernie Wrightson, Mike McKone, Marv Wolfman, Drew Johnson, and Eric Canete. I ran out of time the night before otherwise I would have looked through my collection a bit more thoroughly to find some Trent Kaniuga, Dustin Nguyen, and Peter Nguyuen comics for them to autograph. I was bummed that Peter Nguyuen was the artist on Secret Six (which I dig a lot) and I have at home, but didn’t realize he was attending.

Note to the Long Beach Comic Con program writers: When you list the artists attending the show, it would be very helpful if you can include next to their name the comics they worked on as a quick reference.

With the small venue, you were assured being able to communicate directly with the artists and get yourself a print, sketch or original art. I ended up purchasing several original art pieces as well as getting a couple sketches. Conventions like these I think help visitors get into learning about artists they may never have dealt with or know about their work before. Generally some basic sketches ranged from $40 for head/busts to $80+ for full body commissions. Don’t have a lot of cash to splurge on OA? Go ahead and support your artists and help pay for their booth by buying an art print or sketchbook. Most of the artists there were mainly amicable and nice to talk to. My suggestion for artists looking to sell sketches or drum up more traffic to their booths? Smile, there were a few “name” artists that weren’t too happy looking sitting at their booths which I think contributed to their less than stellar audience traffic.

I did enjoy artist’s booths with low general sketching prices. I missed out on one artist that was selling roughs and preliminary sketches for between $10-$20 that I planned on buying but missed out since he packed-up earlier than the show’s closing and I was caught up at another booth.

Shame that a couple aisles and the front of the center were blocked off where they were filming some web-show thing and the crew kept telling people that certain areas you couldn't walk into.

The positive part was the artists for me (I'm not a big GA/SA comic collector), so being able to meet, get signatures/sketches/OA was cool. Some artists seemed very busy throughout, though some did start packing up around 4p.m. Most of the artists did say they were planning on attending the Wizard World Anaheim Convention, a few saying only on Saturday though.

A few Cosplayers attended with mainly the Star War’s 501^st Legion group in full-force. Since the ballroom was small, there was not much space for the cosplayers to march around and show their wares. Many of the cosplayers were nice and didn’t mind picture taking with some of the attendees.

Looking forward now to the full-blown Long Beach Comic Con in October!