The Fanbase Press staff is thrilled to return to the third annual Q Con 2024, Southern California’s LGBTQ+ comic convention presented by Prism Comics. Taking place on Saturday, June 15, 2024, from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. at Fiesta Hall in Plummer Park (7377 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA), attendees will have the chance to meet a host of talented comics creators, cosplayers, actors, and organizations, including X-Men ’97‘s Holly Chou (voice of Jubilee) and JP Karliak (voice of Morph), David M. Booher (Killer Queens, Canto, Joe Hill’s Rain), Tini Howard (Excalibur, Catwoman), Shannon Watters (Lumberjanes, Hollow), Josh Trujillo (Hulkling & Wiccan, Blue Beetle), Sina Grace (Rockstar and Softboy, Iceman), Comadres y Comics, the Comic Art Professional Society, and many more! Be sure to stop by the Fanbase Press booth, where you can purchase all of our award-winning comics and graphic novels, including the 2024 GLAAD Media Award-winning Four-Color Heroes by writer/artist Richard Fairgray!

Q Con is free to the public and family friendly, providing pre-teens through adults with the opportunity to find a wide variety of comics and graphic novels affirming LGBTQ+ representation at one exciting, colorful event. Q Con will celebrate the amazing diversity of LGBTQ+ comics, games, and popular media today and feature creators from indie comics to major publishers. Meet creators, get autographs and sketches, and mix with other comics fans. Cosplay is encouraged. Enter the Q Con Costume Contest for fun and prizes! 

Fans in attendance will have a chance to stop by the Fanbase Press table to purchase the publisher’s award-winning comics and graphic novels, including the 2024 GLAAD Media Award-winning Four-Color Heroes, 2023 Eisner and Harvey Award-nominated Ripple Effects, 2018 Eisner Award-nominated Quince, the 2020 IPPY Award-winning Quince: The Definitive Bilingual Edition hardcover, the 2022 International Latino Book Award-winning Nuclear Power, and much more.

Q Con is supported by a grant from the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division as part of the City’s WeHo Pride Arts Festival (May 22 – June 30). More info at wehopride.com/artsfestival, @wehoarts, and @wehopride.

PANEL PROGRAMMING

• 12:00 – 12:45 p.m. – X-Men ’97 – Mutant & Proud (Plummer Park Community Center Room 3) 
Get ready to celebrate mutant pride at Q Con with our panel on X-Men ’97! Join Holly Chou (voice of Jubilee) and JP Karliak (voice of Morph) as they discuss bringing to life these iconic characters in the revival of the beloved ’90s animated series. Moderated by Chris Riley from The Uncanny Experience & X-Reads Podcast and Kevin Winston from Digital LA, this panel will delve into the vibrant new adventures of the X-Men, exploring themes of identity, acceptance, and community. Don’t miss this chance to hear behind-the-scenes stories and gain unique insights into how X-Men ’97 continues to resonate with and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community.
• 1:00 – 1:45 p.m. – A Creator’s Guide to Indie Comics (Plummer Park Community Center Room 3) Are you a comics creator in need of a few helpful hints to get your project off the ground? Are you unsure of how best to print, promote, and distribute your story to find its audience? Led by Barbra Dillon (editor-in-chief, Fanbase Press), this panel of professional comics creators – including David M. Booher (writer, Killer Queens), Josh Trujillo (writer, Blue Beetle), Viktor Kerney (co-editor, We Belong), and Kayden Phoenix (writer, A La Brava) will guide you through the self-publishing process, providing helpful advice for making your story into a reality.
• 2:00 – 2:30 p.m. – Spotlight on Dragpool (Plummer Park Community Center Room 3) Join Q Con The Podcast host Julian Jetson for a lively interview with Dragpool, the fabulous parody creation of the famous ‘merc with the mouth’ by Reel Guise FX. A comic convention fan favorite, Dragpool was named “more sassy than the Ryan Reynolds’ version, by Neatorama. Dragpool skit videos have gone viral on social media, and he has been featured in Disasterina’s “Sado Psychiatrist” and “My Drag is Valid.” She’s performed live for the international horror convention, Midsummer Scream, and has been featured by San Diego Fox 5 TV, the Los Angeles Times, OUT TV, and SyFy.
• 2:30 – 3:00 p.m. – Spotlight on Rex Ogle (Plummer Park Community Center Room 3) Join moderator David Reddish (Managing Editor of Entertainment at Wealth of Geeks), as he talks to Rex Ogle, the award-winning author of nearly 100 graphic novels, comics and memoirs including Northranger (2024 GLAAD Award nominee for best graphic novel); Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy (under the pen name, Rey Terciero); Free Lunch (YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction); Four Eyes and the upcoming Pizza Face; and his newest book, the autobiographic Road Home. Rex has also written for DC Comics and Marvel.
• 3:00 – 3:45 p.m. – Transgender and Nonbinary Comics Chart New Paths (Plummer Park Community Center Room 3) Transgender and nonbinary comics creators are doing things in the comics medium that have never been done before and putting new spins on old genres. How do trans characters change the stories they’re in, and what aspects remain the same? What will trans creators bring to the medium we all love in the years to come? Join Sonya Saturday (J.K. Rowling and the Ungrateful Fans, The Greatest Thing You’ve Ever Seen in Your Life); A.C. Esguerra (Eighty Days, Who Was A Daring Pioneer of the Skies? Amelia Earhart); Tilly Bridges (Begin Transmission: The Trans Allegories of the Matrix, Color of Always); moderator Tara Madison Avery (We’re Still Here, The Out Side); and others to be announced for a lively discussion of these topics and more!
• 4:00 – 4:45 p.m. – Costume Contest (Fiesta Hall) Event producer and stylist Julian Jetson and cosplayer/fashion model Puma Does Cosplay are the hosts for the very popular Q Con Costume Contest. The Contest is open to cosplayers of all ages, and this year’s judges include Chrissy Lynn, LuckyGrim, and Jacqueline Goehner. Artisan Studios has created the fabulous Q Con Costume Contest trophies and is donating prizes along with Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, What’s Your Passion Jewelry and others. The Contest will also feature performances by Jimmy Sherfy, known for his creative cosplay and drag performances at clubs in San Diego and Los Angeles.
• 5:00 – 5:45 p.m. – Geek Crossfire (Plummer Park Community Center Room 3) What’s the state of geek pop culture today? Did the X-Men save the MCU? Which acclaimed directors are over? Will toxic fandom ever get reigned in? Join moderator David Reddish (author and Managing Editor, Wealth of Geeks; Geek Crossfire panel founder), and a panel of industry experts and insiders including Tara Madison Avery (We’re Still Here; publisher, Stacked Deck Press); Nelson Moses Lassiter (creator of the digital series Single Record); Stacey Yvonne (Journalist at Pride & Black Girl Nerds); Sonya Saturday (JK Rowling and the Ungrateful Fans); and Michael Varrati (screenwriter Tales of Poe; host of Dead for Filth Podcast) for a high-energy, hard-talking, and humorous debate about the present and future of all things geeky in Hollywood.
• 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. – Special Sneak Screening of Surge of Power: Where There’s Smoke (Plummer Park Community Center Room 3) See an exclusive sneak screening of the new movie, Surge of Power: Where There’s Smoke, featuring cinema’s first out gay superhero, Surge, and hosted by creator/producer/star Vincent Roth. In this fifth film of the landmark series, Surge teams up with guest superhero, The Smoke (former pro wrestler Eric Moran), as they uncover a mysterious plot of the villain group called The Council. The film features many LGBT-friendly celebrities, some in recurring roles continuing to show their LGBT support, including the late Nichelle Nichols who has been portraying Omen, a transgender hero in the Surge of Power movies for 20 years! Surge of Power creator and star, Vincent Roth, will lead a Q&A after the film.

EXHIBITOR TO BE IN ATTENDANCE

Aleasha Acevedo (Husk)
Aviva Artzy (The Washi Station)
Tara Madison Avery (We’re Still Here; Stacked Deck Press)
David Booher (Killer Queens; Ghostbusters)
Tilly Bridges (Monster High, Begin Transmission: The Trans Allegories of The Matrix)
CAPS Cartoon Art Professional Society
Natalie Do Carmo (Shrug Club)
Dave Davenport (Feral and the Ghost Fighter)
Lee Dawn (We Are Frogs)
A.C. Esguerra (Eighty Days)
Leslie Ewing (Gay Comix, Wimmen’s Comix)
Fanbase Press
Jack Foster (Gun)
Fuego Unlimited
Sina Grace (Rockstar and Softboy; Iceman)
Tini Howard (Excalibur; Catwoman)
Huck and Puck Books
Jeff Krell (Jayson; Arena Stage)
Steve MacIsaac (Shirtlifter; Unpacking)
Sam Maggs (Tell No Tales: Pirates of the Southern Seas)
Knave Murdok (TransCat)
Los Angeles Film School
Ed Luce (Wuvable Oaf)
Mallory (Doors of Darkness)
Sian Marshall; Mei (Qi-Shift)
Mumopins; Mark A.J. Nazal (Diwata Komiks)
Rex Ogle (Four Eyes; Northranger)
Kristen Parraz (Comadres y Comics Podcast)
Kayden Phoenix (A LA BRAVA)
Mike Pingel (Channel Surfing: Betty White)
Prism Comics
Daniel Quasar (Prism; creator of the Progress Pride Flag)
Qweerty Gamers
Brad Rader (Bob’s Burgers, Batman: The Animated Series)
Rainbow Arc of Fire
David Reddish (Sex Drugs and Superheroes Trilogy)
Mike Rossi (Branches; Here We Go)
Vincent Roth (Surge of Power)
Llynx Rufus (Lighthorse and Cannon)
Jeffrey Schuetze (Monster You)
Sonya Saturday (J.K. Rowling and the Ungrateful Fans)
Christie Shinn (HoraTora Studios)
Sippy Crumbs; Josh Trujillo (Blue Beetle)
Maximus Spragovsky (W.O.O.F. Galaxy)
Stacked Deck Press
William O. Tyler (We Belong; Theater of Terror)
Shannon Watters (Lumberjanes; Hollow)
Kendra Wells (Tell No Tales: Pirates of the Southern Seas, Real Hero Shit)
Fernando Velez (Kraven Comics)
Yaoi Revolution
9 to 5 Pins
and others to be announced!

COSPLAYERS TO BE IN ATTENDANCE

Chrissy Lynn Carpenter
Dragpool
Dkarthall and Rye_n_cosplay (DR.Costumes)
Kelsey Fernandez (Futuristik)
Jacqueline Goehner
Julian Jetson
Jimmy Sherfy
Megachromatic
PumaDoesCosplay
Rachael Sanderson
Joe Pryde Zuniga
Bryan Gomez

 

Everyone at Fanbase Press is greatly looking forward to Q Con 2024, and we hope to see you there!  Interested attendees may register for tickets in advance at qconprism.org or get free tickets at the door.