The two-day Long Beach Comic Expo will arrive at the Long Beach Convention Center this weekend, bringing in the traveling Geekfest Film Fest, Space Expo and McDuffie Awards once again, over 120 guests and more than 80 panels.
Film and television guests include Butch Patrick (The Munsters), Blake Foster (Power Rangers), Tony Todd (Candyman/The Crow), Kelly Hu (X-Men 2), Scott Koblish (Deadpool), Fabian Nicieza (Deadpool), Art Thibert (Ultimate Spider-Man), Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects), Chris Claremont (The Uncanny X-Men), Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner (Harley Quinn), Greg Weisman (Star Wars: Rebels) and Beth Sotelo (Grump).
Publisher panels will feature writers and artists from DC, Marvel, Dark Horse and Image. There will also be #MakeComics workshops on the entire process of making comics from comic book greats all weekend long. Topics include: how to build a portfolio, breaking into comics, writing and marketing. Animation panels will feature major voice actors from Disney Afternoon, Gargoyles and Young Justice.
Here’s a snapshot of what to expectt:
Saturday, February 20
11:00AM – Noon Geekfest Filmmakers Panel
A panel with Geekfest filmmakers about creating genre films and webseries, followed by a question-and-answer portion.
Noon – 7:00PM – Geekfest Films
Screening of films such as Dark Specter, Goblin Queen, and She Got Game.
2:30PM – 3:30PM – Dwayne McDuffie Awards for Diversity
The winner among five nominees of the Dwayne McDuffie Award will be announced. Marc Bernardin of The Hollywood Reporter and Genius comic book, will be the keynote speaker.
3:00PM – 4:00PM – Star Wars Steampunk Universe panel
An afternoon exploration of steampunking classic Star Wars costumes and weapons such as the Stormtrooper, TIE fighter, Boba Fett body armor, lightsabers and Victorian era versions of Princess Leia and Queen Amidala costumes. Guests will see slides of steampunk outfits, paintings, sculptures and computer art created by fans preparing for the premiere of The Force Awakens, and find out how to salvage their everyday watch, bicycle gears and old leather and lace.
4:00PM – 5:00PM – Breaking the Fourth Wall with Deadpool
Deadpool co-creator Fabian Nicieza and Deadpool artist Scott Koblish discuss the character’s evolution from villain to anti-hero and his appeal. A Q&A will follow.
6:00PM – 7:00PM – The Hollywood Science Fiction Museum and Hollywood Horror Museum
Check out the traveling exhibit and hear from founder Huston Huddleston on what began as restoring the Star Trek Enterprise Bridge will soon be the world’s largest nonprofit educational museums for both genres.
7:00PM – 9:00PM – Academy of Art University Presents the LBCE Cosplay Competition, hosted by Nerds Like Us
The contest will feature cosplayers of all shapes and sizes.
Sunday, February 21
10:30AM – 11:30AM – Celebrating Women in Comics
Female artists discuss the climate of women in comics, moderated by Barbra Dillon, managing editor of Fanboy Comics. A Q&A will follow.
10:30AM – 11:30AM LGBT Cosplay Panel
Cosplayers gather to discuss hot topic issues that face the LGBTQIA community in pop culture today. A Q&A will follow.
10:30AM – 11:30AM – Mars Rover Engineering: Technology, Troubles, and Triumphs
A discussion on the NASA/JPL Mars Rover Program, the mechanisms, software, and creativity with Rover driver and JPL robotics software engineer Ashley Stroupe and Rover driver and lead spacecraft systems engineer Mike Seibert.
11:00AM – 5:00PM Geekfest Films
Screening of films such as Star Wars a Toy Story and 21 Days. A screening of horror indie films will begin at 2:00PM, followed by an awards show at 3:00PM.
1:30PM – 2:30PM – Virgin Galactic: Building a Spaceline and Launching the Small Satellite Revolution
Virgin Galactic staff will discuss the progress of building and operating a fleet of suborbital space transportation vehicles and building a production line of the world’s most responsive small satellite launch vehicles.
4:00PM – 5:00PM – Live Long in a Galaxy Far, Far Away
Join host Scott Mantz in a conversation about Star Wars and Star Trek fan films with filmmakers George Shaw (Star Wars Musical) and Raymond Montemayor (Star Wars: A Toy Story).
For more general information, visit Long Beach Comic Expo’s site here, while tickets can be purchased online here. To view the entire program schedule, click here.
Above, left photo courtesy of LBCE website.