The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture invites comic book fans of all ages to participate in its eighth annual Black Comic Book Festival.
The festival will be held on Friday, January 17 from 10 AM – 8 PM and on Saturday, January 18 from 10 AM to 8:00 PM. Registration for both days is free and is open to the public.
Each year, the Schomburg Center’s Black Comic Book Festival brings creators, illustrators, writers, and independent publishers together with thousands of collectors, blerds, and nerds for two days of programming and activities. The highly-anticipated community event includes interactive panel discussions, a vendor marketplace featuring exclusive titles by Black creators, a cosplay show, and more.
Black Comic Book Festival participants are encouraged to wear their favorite cosplay costumes and to register on-site for the annual cosplay show. Participants are also invited to contribute to the Schomburg Center’s growing collection of Black independent comic books by bringing single copies of old or new titles from their home collection. All donations will become a part of the Schomburg’s unique and growing archive documenting Black comix and the Black speculative arts movement.
Rap icon and comic book publisher Darryl “DMC” McDaniels will be a speaker at our panel discussion “Hip Hop Comics in 3D ” on Saturday, January 18 at 2:00 PM
McDaniels joins a high profile lineup, which includes graphic novelists John Jennings and Damian Duffy (Parable of the Sower), Ron Wimberley (Prince of Cats), award-winning creator and writer Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez (La Borinqueña) and award-winning artist and writer Alitha Martinez (Marvel’s Iron Man, DC Comics’ Batgirl). Scholar, poet and Marvel writer Eve L. Ewing (Ironheart, Team-Up) will also make her first appearance at the festival.
For more info: Spread Love: The Schomburg Center’s 8th Annual Black Comic Book Festival
Friday, January 17, 2020 | Schomburg Center – Langston Hughes Auditorium
Program 1:
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Black Anime Unleashed presented by Black Sands Entertainment
Screening
Program 2:
11:30 am – 1:00 pm
#StrongFemaleLeads in Comics and Graphic Novels
Panelists: Eve L. Ewing, Dhonielle Clayton, Greg Burnham, Vita Ayala, Shauna Grant
Moderator: Janicia Francis, Tea with Queen and J. Podcast
Panel and Q&A
Program 3:
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Critical Race Comics
David Crownson, TJ Sterling, Robyn Smith, Jerome Walford
Moderator: Deirdre Hollman, Black Comics Collective
Panel and Q&A
Tribute
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Celebrating the Legacy of Robert Garrett and Xmoor Studios
Niya Garrett, N. Steven Harris, Eric Nocella Diaz
Moderator: Regine Sawyer
Program 4:
4:00 pm – 4:45 pm
Beyond Wakanda: Self-Published Comics and their Effect on Mainstream Media
Kwanza Osajyefo, Dedren Snead, Micheline Hess, Jamila Rowser
Moderator: Camilla Zhang
Panel and Q&A
Program 5:
5:15 pm – 6:15 pm
Epic Narratives in Comics: Sci-Fi, Afrofuturism, and Beyond
Tim Fielder, Newton Lilavois
Moderator: Erika Hardison, Fabulize Magazine
Panel and Q&A
Program 6:
6:45 pm – 8:45 pm
Page to Screen: Characters Come to Life
Che Grayson, David Walker, Steven Lowe
Moderator: Jonathan Gray
Panel and Q&A
**Shop and Sip Happy Hour**
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
**LATIMER SIGNINGS (FRI)**
1:15 – 2:30
Eve Ewing – Ironheart
Dhonielle Clayton – The Belles
Vita Ayala – Nebula, Livewire
Saturday, January 18, 2020 | Schomburg Center – Langston Hughes Auditorium
Program 7:
10:00 am – 11:00 am
MALIKA presented by Roye Okupe/YouNeek Studios
Roye Okupe
Moderator: Olu Animashaun
Screening and Talkback
Program 8:
11:00 am – 12:00 PM
Growing Up Black: Graphic Memoirs for YA
Jerry Craft, Joel Christian Gill
Moderator: John Jennings
Panel and Q&A
Program 9:
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Parable of the Adapters: Making Parable of the Sower, A graphic novel adaptation
John Jennings and Damian Duffy
Moderator: Jonathan Gray
Panel and Q&A
Program 10:
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Hip Hop and Comics in 3D
Darryl McDaniels (DMC), Andre Leroy Davis, Dawud Anyabwile Osaze
Moderator: Chuck Creekmur, AllHipHop.com
Panel and Q&A
Program 11:
4:15 pm – 5:15 pm
The Color of Power
Ronald Wimberly, Alitha Martinez, David Walker
Moderator: Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez
Panel and Q&A
Program 12:
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Cosplay Showcase & Contest presented by BLERDCON
Queerly Femmetastic and Kanene Holder, BlackIssuesIssues
Public Presentation
**LATIMER SIGNINGS (SAT)**
11:15 am – 12:15 pm | Roye Okupe
12:15 pm – 1:30 pm Jerry Craft
1:45 pm – 2: 45 pm | John Jennings & Damian Duffy
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm Jerry Craft
5:30 pm – 6:30 pm | Ronald Wimberly & Alithia Martinez
Saturday, January 19, 2019 | Countee Cullen Library
12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Superheroes Station: Mask Making and Coloring Book Corner
All ages
Mezzanine
12:00 pm – 1:00pm
World Building
Glenn Cantave, Movers and Shakers
Teen & Adult Workshop
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Kickstarter Presents: How to write a logline
Camilla Zhang
Teen & Adult Workshop
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
How to Draw Comics
Tim Fielder
Youth Workshop (10 yrs & up)
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Kickstarter Presents: How to build a community around your work
Camilla Zhang
Teen & Adult Workshop
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
How to Draw Fantasy Characters
Sheeba Maya
Youth Workshop (10 yrs & up)
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
How to Draw Comics
Tim Fielder
Youth Workshop (10 yrs & up)
All programs will be live streamed at Livestream.com/SchomburgCenter and on Facebook.com/SchomburgCenter.
For festival updates, follow the Schomburg Center on Twitter and Instagram @SchomburgCenter and #SchomCom2020
For more info: Spread Love: The Schomburg Center’s 8th Annual Black Comic Book Festival
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