COMFORT & ADAM |
Let's Make a Villain!

Comfort and Adam are an award-nominated comic creating team. Their acclaimed series The Uniques and Rainbow in the Dark put them on the map, and they also wrote and illustrated The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing Comics (Random House) and Kitty Game (with artist Corinne Roberts).

SCOTT HAMPTON |
Telling Stories with Ink and Paint

A freelance comic book artist known for his diverse storytelling, Scott Hampton has illustrated such iconic properties as Batman, Sandman, Black Widow, Hellraiser, and Star Trek in addition to work on his creator-owned projects such as The Upturned Stone. He recently won an Eisner award for his work on American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

JULIA KAYE |
Autobiographical Comics: We're All Weird and Complex and Beautiful

Julia Kaye is an award-winning cartoonist whose critically acclaimed webcomic Up and Out has garnered hundreds of thousands of readers worldwide. She's best known for her 2018 comic memoir Super Late Bloomer: My Early Days in Transition, which The Beat listed as one of the 100 best comics of the decade. Julia has worked as a story artist in the tv animation industry at major studios and also voiced the character of Snapdragon on High Guardian Spice.

AMY JACOBS |
Heroes and Horrors: Genre-Driven Comics as Guides to Greatness

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. 

CHRISTOPHER MOELLER |
Gaming, Comics and Back Again

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.

BRIAN W. PARKER |
My Journey in Comics and Publishing (Virtual Talk)

Brian W. Parker grew up in Alaska, then Mississippi, and has always been in love with storytelling in every medium. He earned a BFA in graphic design & illustration and an MA in writing & publishing, and now spends his days working in youth publishing through his company, Believe In Wonder, which he co-owns with his wife. He is the author of Crow in the Hollow, You Can Rely on Platypi, and The Wondrous Science.

DAVID PETERSEN |
Inside the Mouse Guard

David Petersen is the Eisner, Harvey, and NCS award winning artist, writer, and creator of the comic series Mouse Guard. He has also contributed covers for The Muppets, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Dark Crystal, and Usagi Yojimbo.

MARY RUGE |
Making Sense of the Fragments: Using Comics Structure to Give Form to Chaotic Text

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.

ROBERT ROZEMA |
Not With but Instead: A New Framework for Freeing the Source-Bound Graphic Adaptation in Secondary Teaching Contexts

Robert Rozema is a professor of English (secondary education) at Grand Valley State University, where he teaches courses on digital media, comics, literature, and teaching methods.

GUIN THOMPSON |
The Power of Cute: Using Shape Psychology in Comics Character Design

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.

LOUISA TSUI |
Zines and Self Publishing

Louisa Tsui is a designer and illustrator operating out of a colorful box in Vancouver, B.C. They create background, set and color work in animation with clients including Atomic Cartoons, Netflix, and Muji Canada. They specialize in Zine creation and publication.

JOHN VAN FLEET |
3D in Comics

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.