If you’re a comic book fan within striking distance of The Biltmore in Los Angeles, keep the sixth, seventh, and eighth of November open. Why? The industry’s biggest names, including Alex Ross, Thomas Jane, John Wick creator Derek Kolstad, and Absolute Batman‘s Daniel Warren Johnson and Nick Dragotta, will join a sea of guests to host panels celebrating comics and the artists behind them at the inaugural ICON Festival of Comic & Narrative Art.
io9 has the distinct privilege of revealing the ICON Festival of Comic & Narrative Art‘s official programming slate and its absolutely packed guest list. Dragotta and Johnson will host a panel talking shop about their mega-popular Absolute Batmanseries. Next up: Kolstad and comic book artist Frank Cho will dive into their takes on iconic Marvel heroes like Wolverine and the Hulk, plus deep-cut characters like Shanna the She-Devil. Lastly, for the art collectors among us, Heritage Auctions and attorney Steve Morger are hosting an Estate Planning event, where they’ll dish out advice for folks flirting with starting their own comic book collections. In tandem, the ICON Festival will also host The Art of Alex Ross Exhibit, featuring over 100 original works of heroes and villains in the Chicago native’s iconic painterly art style.
Getting down to brass tacks: the ICON Festival offers three pass options at three price points for budget-conscious ballers. The first is the $75 Sunday Pass, which gives attendees admission on November 8. Next is the $225 Weekend Pass, which includes Saturday, November 7, and Sunday, November 8, admission, plus a collector’s swag bag and a festival poster. Lastly, the $375 VIP Pass gives attendees with deeper pockets admission to the opening reception on November 6, admission to a special event on Saturday night with Bill Sienkiewicz (Moon Knight/Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), Thomas Jane (The Punisher/The Expanse), Glen David Gold (Carter Beats the Devil), and host Borys Kit of the Hollywood Reporter, an ICON angel lithograph print (seen above) signed by Alex Ross, and everything the Weekend Pass offers.
Alongside the above guests, here’s an exhaustive list of comic book folks that’ll be in attendance at the ICON Festival and where you might’ve seen their names/work before:
Ryan Ottley (Invincible), Eric Basaldua (Withchblade), Jim Cheung (Young Avengers), Frank Cho (Skybourne), Ace Continuado (Robyn Hood), Sanford Greene (Bitter Root), Megan Huang (Star Wars), Dave Johnson (Superman: Red Son), David Mack (Jessica Jones), Dustin Nguyễn (Robin & Batman), Alex Niño (Creepy), Jason Palmer (Firefly), Dan Panosian (Wolverine Paradise), Bill Sienkiewicz (Elektra: Assassin), Cat Staggs (John Carpenter’s Tales for a Halloween Night), William Stout (Guillermo del Toro’sPan’s Labyrinth), Dean Yeagle (Mandy), Joel Adams (King of the Hill), Alice Darrow (Futurama, Exploding Kittens), Shannon Denton (X-Men: The Animated Series), Escorza Brothers (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin), Brian Haberlin (Witchblade), Willie Ito (Lady and the Tramp), Andy Park (The Avengers), Scott Shaw (Oddball Comics), Babs Tarr (Batgirl), and Mark Texeira (Ghost Rider).
Should the smorgasbord of special guests, events, and the price of admission prove worth it for comic book-loving LA-natives (or those willing to make the trip to the Golden State), you can look forward to the ICON Festival rolling into town this November. You can purchase tickets here.
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