Comic-Con 2018

If you're a writer or artist attending the Comic Creator Connection, this is your chance to practice giving your pitch before the event and get some invaluable help from a professional writer and speaker coach. So what is a pitch? A pitch is simply a way to present yourself or your project to others. It is usually a brief speech designed to persuade your listener into supporting what you're doing or what you've made. Most creators have no trouble coming up with great ideas for new comics, but they often struggle to speak clearly and concisely about those ideas to other people. Giving a good pitch is a vital skill in bringing your project to life. Fortunately, it's also a skill you can learn and improve with practice-and Pitch Review is a great place to do that. Pitch reviews will be conducted by Douglas Neff, a professional speechwriter, speaker coach, and host of the Comic Creator Connection. This is not a panel. Instead, these are three- to five-minute individual coaching sessions for as many people as is possible to accommodate in the scheduled time. Spaces are allotted on a first-come, first-served basis, and observers are welcome.

Do you want to build a career in the "nerdy" industry you love, but you're not sure where to begin? This all-star panel of professional "Nerds for a Living" will share insights into a variety of careers within comics, literature, podcasting, animation, film, and more. Learn how these panelists got their start, and get advice on what it takes to create a path to the career you want. Travis McElroy (The Adventure Zone; My Brother, My Brother and Me), Susan Eisenberg (voice of Wonder Woman in Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited), Tomi Adeyemi (author of Children of Blood and Bone), Ben Blacker (Vertigo's Hex Wives; co-creator of The Thrilling Adventure Hour), Jaimie Cordero (CEO and Glitter Jedi of Espionage Cosmetics), Jazzlyn Stone (COO of Bombsheller), and others will engage in this fun discussion moderated by Wendy Buske (Fictitious; Nerd for a Living) that'll leave you ready to conquer your post-SDCC goals.

In a panel moderated by Jonathan Bacon-Liu (host of All the Time We Have podcast), Jonathan Maberry (author, V-Wars, Marvel Zombies Return) will bring his expertise in all things scary, as he is joined by Ronald Coleman, Ph.D. (regenerative medicine) and Sharon Schendel, Ph.D. (immunology) to talk about how these monsters might work in the real world and where science and imagination intertwine.

The Winner Twins, Brittany and Brianna, multiple award-winning and national bestselling science fiction authors known for their popular Strand series, explain how to create your own novel step by step, from building your universe to overcoming writer's block to the different paths to publishing. The twins, who are on staff at UCLA, have taught their unique creative writing method to hundreds of thousands of convention attendees, teachers, and students across the country. They will be joined by Todd McCaffrey (New York Times bestselling author, Dragonriders of Pern) and Steven Sears (writer and producer, Xena: Warrior Princess, The A-Team, Father Dowling Mysteries, Swamp Thing). This panel will be in loving memory of Richard Hatch, a friend, teacher, and inspiration to all.

Tony Chavarria (Museum of Indian Arts & Culture) examines Krazy Kat's fictional Coconino County as a presentation of how the indigenous peoples of the Southwest view their ancestral homelands. Jay Olinger (Portland Community College) places Fletcher Hanks' Fantomah as the first superheroine while also considering her mission within a modern context, proving that looking back at comics history can indeed help us move forward. Phillip Vaughan (University of Dundee) looks at the creation and ongoing production of Saltire, a Scottish superhero steeped in the mythology and folklore of Caledonian history, who served as a symbol for political feelings during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

UPDATED: Tue, Jul 10, 05:24PM
Teachers, administrators, and higher education professionals are increasingly called upon to respond to a variety of mental health concerns across the education landscape. This panel of educators and mental health experts including Dr. Andrea Letamendi (UCLA, The Arkham Sessions podcast), Dr. Brent Crandal (Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego), Alfred Day (UC Berkeley), Sherard Robbins (University of Arizona), and Kirk White (UCLA) share how they have applied their passion for fandom and the lessons they have learned from superheroes to develop new best practices for promoting mental health and resilience in schools and on campuses. Moderated by Alfred Day (UC Berkeley).

UPDATED: Tue, Jul 10, 05:26PM
The success of Wonder Woman and Black Panther have resulted in passionate discussions on college campuses around the importance of representation and inclusivity, and they have created common touchpoints for engagement both inside and outside the classroom. When exploring cultures other than their own, how can students have a true immersive experience rather than being colonizers? What courses and campus programs have been designed in reference to these and other stories? Higher-education professionals explore cultural identity issues in pop culture and discuss how they use this intersection to engage students at colleges and universities. Higher education professionals Alfred Day (UC Berkeley), Adrian Purdue (UCLA), Emily Sandoval (University of Southern California), and Rod Santos (UC Berkeley) explore cultural identity issues in pop culture and discuss how they use this intersection to engage students at colleges and universities.

Staff and special panelists will present a behind-the-scenes look at plans for the upcoming Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park.

Ayanni C. H. Cooper (University of Florida) addresses discrepancies between the anime and manga versions of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by focusing on the manga of Nausicaä and positioning the text as climate fiction, using Miyazaki's "ecophilosophy" and his Shinto-esque leanings as a lens. Golnar Nabizadeh (University of Dundee) looks at Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama's 1927 comic The Four Immigrants Manga: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco, which demonstrates the power of comics to capture and convey the complexity of migrant memories as it portrays the (mis)adventures of four Japanese Issei in San Francisco. Shirin E. Edwin (New York University Shanghai) argues that Al-Mutawa's The 99, hailed in North America and Europe as a timely response to the stereotypes of Islam, inspired in the Arab world responses ranging from fatwas to accusations of commercialism; it has in fact provincialized and not globalized Islam.

Ryan Claytor (MSU comics studio professor) discusses the high-caliber comics studies resources at Michigan State University, such as the MSU Special Collections library (the largest public collection of comic books in the world), the annual MSU Comics Forum, the MSU Comic Art and Graphic Novel Podcast, scholarship opportunities, and the recently minted Comic Art and Graphic Novel minor.

Learn what it takes to present a proper pitch to a client or company. In this panel, you will learn about presentation, body language, elevator pitches, standing out, interview skills, and how to make an opportunity when there isn't one. Back by popular demand, this is the perfect panel for those who are looking to make a name for themselves or trying to get their ideas in front of their company of choice.

Raymond Pun (librarian), Allison Mandaville (professor of English), Michelle Pratt (library specialist), and Jenny Banh (professor of anthropology) discuss strategies and practices for academic libraries to collaborate with teaching faculty to create a comic book culture in the classroom and in universities today.

Comic-Con offers students of popular culture an amazing venue to study how culture is marketed to and practiced by its fans. Jordan Bennet (Radford University), Margaret Clarke (Lynchburg College), Anthony Dannar (Auburn University), Carlos Flores (Arizona State University), Abbie Keane (Hollins University), Matthew Lunga (Radford University), Amari Page (University of Southern California), Abigail Tenshaw (Radford University), and Alison Woody (Hollins University) present initial findings from a week-long ethnographic field study of the intersection of fan practice at the nexus of cultural marketing and fan culture that is Comic-Con 2018. Matthew J. Smith (Radford University) moderates.

Panelists include Edmund Cronin and comic creators, story tellers, and doctors, each with a unique story to share. Mental health issues are not something that should be ignored by a caring society. Social stigma and general misunderstanding keep us from connecting with people who are different. Comics have been and are being used to bring attention to mental health issues in thoughtful and provocative ways. Come hear the discussion about how comics play a role in reversing the stigma of mental illness and explore ways to understand and connect with love ones.

UPDATED: Tue, Jul 10, 05:27PM
Have you ever wondered how you could earn a living during the hours spent reading comics or playing video games? Is your current major not tapping into your superpower? Come learn how these panelists used their nerdy interests in college to create a fulfilling nerdy career, and what college programs and services can help students to do the same. David Surratt (UC Berkeley), Aaron Trammell (UC Irvine), Tara Prescott (UCLA), Agustin Rios (HyperHeroes), and Kamil Oshundara (Monkeypaw Productions) set you up for your geeky future! Moderated by Brian MacDonald (UCLA).