Hours
Friday (9/27) 10:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday (9/28) 10:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Sunday (9/29) 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Welcome to Laker Con 2024, September 27-29, 2024
Laker Con 2024, celebrates comics literacy and will take place Friday, September 27 to Sunday, September 29, 2024. This FREE comics convention will feature:
• Guest Artists
• Artist Market
• Panel Discussions, Presentations and Workshops (All-Ages)
• Cosplay Contest
• Comics Gallery and Zine Alley
• Animations, Movies and More!
Check in to this site for parking, programming and additional updated information!
Guest Artists and Presenters for Laker Con 2024
HANNAH BATSEL |
Hannah Batsel is a book artist, writer, and illustrator based in Chicago, IL. She received a degrees in Printmaking and Book Arts from the University of Georgia and from Columbia College Chicago. Her handmade artist book work can be found in library and museum collections around the country, and her mass-market picture book, A is for Another Rabbit, can be found wherever books are sold. She lives with her friends and partner in a spooky old house filled with books, taxidermy, and hundreds of houseplants.
GENE HA |
Gene Ha is the artist on Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons with writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and fellow artists Phil Jimenez and Nicola Scott. He has won five Eisners for his art on Alan Moore’s Top 10 and sundry DC & Marvel superhero comics. Gene both writes and draws Mae from Oni Press, the story of Mae Fortell, a girl who follows her long missing sister Abbie to a world of mad science and mystery. Gene lives outside Chicago with his lovely wife Lisa.
GEORGE PRATT |
George Pratt is an award-winning painter, writer and photographer. He is a recipient of the Eisner Award for his graphic novels, a Spectrum Gold Medal, and Best Feature Documentary at the New York International Independent Film Festival for the documentary film "See You In Hell, Blind Boy."
In addition to his gallery work, he is currently working on the International Black Light Project on the genocide in West Africa, his blues novel, See You In Hell, Blind Boy, Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream from Locust Moon Press, and Above the Dreamless Dead from First Second books. He teaches full-time at the Ringling College of Art and Design, and summers with the Illustration Academy in Kansas City, MO.
BRIAN STELFREEZE |
With Special Guest | STINE WALSH
As a painter, penciller, inker, and colorist, Brian Stelfreeze has worked for nearly every major U.S. comic book publisher, and was one of the original members of Atlanta's famous Gaijin Studios. To be clear, Brian has never worked for the CIA. While Stelfreeze has been known throughout his career primarily as a cover artist, painting more than 50 consecutive cover illustrations for DC Comics’ Batman: Shadow of the Bat, he's also produced a significant amount of sequential work, including his Eisner Award-Nominated run as the artist (both interior and cover art) on the 2016 revival of Marvel's Black Panther with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. Brian will not answer any questions about the Orion Incident during this event.
Stine Walsh was the owner/operations manager of Gaijin Studios. Walsh’s artwork is a mixture of watercolor, ink washes and acrylic practices and currently focuses on wildlife illustration and art.
COMFORT & ADAM |
Comfort and Adam are an award-nominated comic creating duo who's acclaimed series, The Uniques and Rainbow in the Dark, put them on the map. They wrote and illustrated The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing Comics (Random House) and Kitty Game (with artist Corinne Roberts). Comfort and Adam are currently working with K College, MSU, and The Local Scientist Initiative to help create science awareness in local communities. They've done work for the Aliens RPG, and are writing for another core book for an as yet unannounced major RPG. On top of all that, they're doing storyboards, working with the West Michigan Dems, and creating art for major voice actors Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt, and Todd Haberkorn.
CHRISTOPHER MOELLER |
Christopher Moeller has worked on Justice League, Lucifer and Wonder Woman for DC comics as well as many cards for Magic the Gathering. Moeller’s signature creation is the Iron Empires science-fiction universe, comprising painted graphic novels and a role-playing game. He creates boardgames including the just released Burning Banners.
JOHN VAN FLEET |
John Van Fleet has worked on Batman for DC comics, Typhoid Mary for Marvel and The X-Files for Topps Comics. His client also includes book publishers, video game makers, film studios and toy companies with traditional painting and 3D models.
SERENA GUERRA |
Serena Guerra is a comic book artist from IL who has worked on stories such as the Harvey Award winning series The Mice Templar from Image Comics, as well as the EGL Award-Nominated series Solution Squad by Jim McClain. She has created and self-published an educational coloring book about Goddesses from around the world, Wise, Wild, Divine. Serena is now working on writing and illustrating her first creator-owned Solarpunk series It Takes a World!
MIKE KENNEDY |
Sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship
Mike Kennedy is the publisher and design director of Magnetic Press, an independent graphic novel and games company which has earned 31 Eisner Nominations and 1 Award since its launch in 2014. Previous to Magnetic, he spent 20 years writing comics (Star Wars, Aeon Flux) and producing video games (EA, Namco, Activision). His inherent interest in interactive narrative has led Magnetic Press into tabletop gaming, highlighted by the recent PLANET OF THE APES RPG.
GUIN THOMPSON |
Guin Thompson is an illustrator, cartoonist and designer. She is Co-Coordinator of Illustration at Grand Valley State University. Her academic focus is historical women in illustration. She works primarily with sequential narrative, decorative and dimensional illustration. Her client list includes DC Comics, Upper Deck, Image Comics, Boom!/Archaia Comics, and a range of advertising and publication design and illustration. She is co-creator on the graphic novel Beautiful Scars.
AMY JACOBS |
Amy Jacobs is a professor of English at Grand Valley State University, where she teaches courses on genre. She's never met a comic book or horror work she didn't like. Her research interests are how these genre works present lessons on morality and humanity, and she has presented on these ideas at various comic cons, including San Diego Comic Con.
MARY RUGE |
Mary Ruge is a liaison librarian at Grand Valley State University. Mary has worked in libraries for over a decade, both public and academic. She has spent a large portion of her career talking about comics at different conferences about the benefits of comics, and was awarded a grant from the ALA and the National Endowment for the Humanities to start a zine collection. Mary is most interested in the unique structures of comics, and how they can be applied in other disciplines.
Expanded Art market
For Laker Con 2024, we will have over 50 tables in throughout the Main Atrium at the Idema Pew Library for GVSU students, alumni and others to sell and share their art, stories and curiosities!
Comics Gallery and Zines
Comics Gallery
Laker Con 2024 will be exhibiting comics stories created by GVSU students, displayed throughout the library. Traditional comics, zines (printed out and displayed), and digital, web and multimedia comics (displayed on monitors) will collected for your viewing.
Zine-Topia
Laker Con 2024 will be displaying and selling zines created by GVSU students in a Zine section of the Artists Market.
If you are interested in participating in either creative event, please contact Guin Thompson ([email protected]) for more information.
Parking Information: How to Obtain Your Free Event Permit
GVSU is a permit-only campus. Visitors may obtain one from University Library staff, the Parking Service office, or utilize the pay-to-park locations.
** Active Students, Faculty, and Staff are not eligible for visitor permits. Please visit the student and faculty/staff permit pages for more information.**
GVSU Parking Regulations Apply. Please see GVSU Parking for details on visitor requirements.
- Guests and visitors may utilize the pay-to-park areas marked in green on the campus maps. When parking in pay-to-park, we highly recommend using ParkMobile.
- If you would prefer a permit at no cost, visit the Service Desk on the first floor of the Mary Idema Pew Library to get a parking permit from Library staff when you arrive on campus.
A parking permit is required for Laker Con Weekend (from 09/27/2024 - 09/29/2024.) The visitor permit is valid in Lot H3, Lot H4 ONLY. The permit must be printed and displayed on the dashboard of each vehicle. It must be placed on the lower left corner (driver's side) of the dash. - Or please stop into Parking Services in the Service Building off of Service Drive with a valid photo ID and license plate number to obtain a visitor permit.
- (ADA) parking is available in the Kirkhof Center (KC) Parking Lot.
More wayfinding information can be found at campus maps.