We on the Panel Patter team are super-excited to be once again joining 200,000 of our closest friends (they're ALL followers of the site, of course) in San Diego for a show unlike any other.
Last year, I went for the first time and I was just blown away by how awesome it was. I'm super happy to be back again this year as press (and I hope for many years to come). This time around, I'll be joined by
In terms of show coverage, I'll be doing as many interviews as I can manage while Kirk probably handles more of the panel side of things, since I'm pretty tied up most of the time. We may attempt to send reports back to the Mothership (aka Scott and James, our Contributing Editors Extraordinaire), but no promises on if we'll be able to do that until after the Con is over.
For the best in breaking news at San Diego, we recommend our friends at The Beat, CBR, Comicbook, and Newsarama, who will be all-hands-on-deck to make sure you know what's happening in the comics world at the show, alongside the media work they also feature that we do not.
Additionally, if you ever wanted to hear me speak on comics, you'll have two chances at panels this year! I'll be doing the following two, plus presenting a Prism award on Saturday night, when I'll have a few brief words on why I love anthologies, and queer ones in particular. Here's the complete rundown:
Thursday July 19, 2018 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Room 23ABC
The Annual Comics Journalism Panel: Chronicling the New Comics Canon
Panelists look at reviewing, whether journalists need a canon, and how to cover the vast world of not only print comics but webcomics, Kickstarters, and more. With Heidi MacDonald (The Beat), Valerie Complex (Braxton), Rob McMonigal (Panel Pater), Kat Overland (Women Write About Comics), and Fred Van Lente (The Comic Book History of Comics).
I'm gonna be on a panel with Fred Van Lente! Holy crap!
Friday July 20, 2018 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Room 4
Best and Worst Manga of 2018
There's a lot of manga available in English now, but what's really worth reading? A panel of opinionated manga bloggers and comics curmudgeons spotlight the best new manga that hit the shelves in the past year. In rapid-fire rounds, see them rave about their favorite continuing series! Watch them rant about the excruciatingly mediocre manga that they were forced to read (so you won't have to)! Find out what Brigid Alverson (SmashPages, School Library Journal), Zac Bertschy (Anime News Network), Christopher Butcher (Toronto Comic Arts Festival), Megan Peters (ComicBook.com), Rob McMonigal (PanelPatter.com), and Deb Aoki (Publishers Weekly) loved and loathed to read in the past year. Hear about their picks for the most anticipated upcoming releases for fall 2018 and beyond, and discover their favorite underappreciated manga gems that are worth picking up.
Warning you in advance that I may or may not spend too much time talking about Viz...
Saturday July 21, 2018 8:00pm - 9:00pm
Room 29AB
Prism Awards: Diversity and Recognition in Comics
The winners of the Second Annual Prism Awards will be revealed in this new awards ceremony. Founders Ted Abenheim (Prism Comics) and Nina L. Taylor Kester (Cartoon Art Museum/QCE), Prism Awards chairperson Maia Kobabe (Gender Queer: A Memoir), judges Ajuan Mance (1001 Black Men, Gender Studies), William O. Tyler (WoT's Cinephilia), Heidi McDonald (The Comics Beat), Mey Rude (Autostraddle), and Rob McMonigal (Panel Patter) will discuss the origins of the awards and their emerging role in recognizing, promoting, and celebrating diversity and excellence in the field of queer comics as they present the handcrafted Prism Awards to the winning creators to celebrate their contributions.
I'm super-excited to be a part of the Prism awards for the second consecutive year.
We'll see you at the show! Please make sure you say hello if you see either Kirk or I!
