• Festival at the Schomburg 2017. Cheryl Lathan/Schomburg Center
  • Festival at the Schomburg 2017. Cheryl Lathan/Schomburg Center
  • Festival at the Schomburg 2017. Cheryl Lathan/Schomburg Center
  • Festival at the Schomburg 2017. Cheryl Lathan/Schomburg Center
  • Festival at the Schomburg 2017. Cheryl Lathan/Schomburg Center
  • Festival at the Schomburg 2017. Cheryl Lathan/Schomburg Center
  • Festival at the Schomburg 2017. Cheryl Lathan/Schomburg Center
  • Festival at the Schomburg 2017. Cheryl Lathan/Schomburg Center
  • Festival at the Schomburg 2017. Cheryl Lathan/Schomburg Center
  • Festival at the Schomburg 2017. Cheryl Lathan/Schomburg Center
  • Festival at the Schomburg 2017. Cheryl Lathan/Schomburg Center
  • Festival at the Schomburg 2017. Cheryl Lathan/Schomburg Center

Black superheroes matter at this comic book fest

3 mins read

With over 9,000 people registered, this weekend, prepare to go back into the Spider-Verse at the 7th annual Black Comic Book Festival in Harlem.

Taking place once again at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City on January 18 and 19, this year’s festival will feature more than a dozen panel conversations with leading creators of color in the comic book industry, along with book signings, a cosplay show, youth programming at Countee Cullen Library, and a special free screening of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Free and open to the public, Schomburg’s Black Comic Book Festival begins at 10 a.m. this Friday. Register now and explore how creators of color are breaking down barriers in the world of comic books.

Highlights of the event include a program about creating black fantasy moderated by Mattie’s Rocket creator Tim Fielder of Dieselfunk Studios,  a panel discussion on social activism through comics, moderated by Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, creator of La Borinqueña and producer and contributor of Ricanstruction, and a program focusing on black women writers in comics, moderated by Karama Horne of  theblerdgurl.com.

The Harlemworld comic book fest comes out of a lineage of Black comic book creators who launched the first comic com focused on people of African descent in the early 90s.

The full schedule of the event is listed below.

The Schomburg Center’s 7th Annual Comic Book Festival

Program 1: 10:00 am – 11:15 am

“Little Apple” Sci-Fi/Drama Comic & Series

Riley Wilson, Writer & Director

Screening, Discussion and Q&A

Program 2: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Creating Black Fantasy

Dedren Snead (Sorghum & Spear)

Roye Okupe (Malika, E.X.O. The Legend of Wale Williams)

Moderator: Tim Fielder (Infinitum, Molly’s Rocket)

Presentation and Q&A

Book Signing 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Esmerelda Santiago (When I Was a Puerto Rican)

Crystal Velasquez (Hunters of Chaos)

Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez (Ricanstruction: Reminiscing and Rebuilding Puerto Rico)

Program 3: 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm

AfroPuertorriqueños: Cultural & Social Activism in Comics

Crystal Velasquez (PBS Maya and Miguel, Hunters of Chaos series)

Esmeralda Santiago (When I was Puerto Rican, Almost a Woman)

Moderator: Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez (La Borinqueña, Ricanstruction)

Panel Discussion and Q&A

Program 4: 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Curating Black Nerdy Spaces

Hilton George (Blerdcon)

Clairesa Clay (BlerdCity Con)

Cagen Luse (#ComicsinColor)

Deirdre Hollman (Black Comics Collective)

Moderator: Kadiatou Tubman

Panel Discussion and Q&A

Program 5: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

#FortheCulture: New York City in Comics

Andre LeRoy Davis (The Last Word)

Mikayla Brown (The Boogie Down Brigade)

Ray Felix (Bronx Heroes)

Robert Garrett (Ayala)

Stephane Metayer (Tephlon Funk)

Moderator: Deirdre Hollman

Panel Discussion and Q&A

Shop and Sip Happy Hour

5:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Special Program: 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Screening & Talkback

[Limited Seating Available]

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Location: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Program 6: 10:00 am – 11:15 am

Black Villains Matter

Janicia Francis (Tea with Queen and J. Podcast)

Kennedy Allen, (Black Tribbles Podcast)

Kevin Mambo (Marvel’s Luke Cage, Netflix)

Ron Simmons (You Don’t Read Comics)

Moderated by Michael Flood

Panel Discussion and Q&A

Program 7: 11:45 am – 12: 30 pm

Coming of Age: Black Boys in Comics

Greg Anderson Elysee (Is’nana the Were-Spider)

Kwanza Osajyefo (BLACK)

Victor LaValle (A People’s Future of the United States: Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers)

Panel Discussion and Q&A

Program 8: 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Animating History: Comics and the Archival Record

Rebecca Hall (Wake)

Kamau Ware (Black Gotham)

Moderator: Deirdre Hollman

Presentation, Panel Discussion and Q&A

Book Signing 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Kwanza Osajyefo (BLACK, Black AF)

Victor LaValle (A People’s Future of the United States, Destroyer)

Greg Anderson Elysee (Is’nana the Werespider)*

Program 9: 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

How to Launch Your Comic Kickstarter

Camilla Zhang

Presentation and Q&A

Book Signing 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Eve Ewing (Ironheart)

Jamila Rowser (Wash Day)*

Vita Ayala (Livewire, The Wilds, Submerged)

Shawnee and Shawnelle Gibbs (The Invention of EJ Whitaker)*

Program 10:4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Cosplay Showcase

Kanene Holder and Aixa Kendrick

Program 11: 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm

Scripting Our Stories: Black Women Writers in Comics

Jamila Rowser (Wash Day)

Eve Ewing (Riri Williams: Ironheart)

Shawnee and Shawnelle Gibbs (The Invention of E.J. Whitaker)

Vita Ayala (The Wilds, Livewire, Submerged)

Moderator: Karama Horne (theblerdgurl.com)

Panel Discussion and Q&A

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Youth Programming

Location: Countee Cullen Library

Program 12: 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Little Apple by Riley Wilson

Heroes of Color by David Heredia

Program 13: 12:00 pm – 1:00pm

How to Draw Comics Workshop

Tim Fielder (Dieselfunk Studios)

Presentation and Hands-on Workshop

Program 14: 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Superhero/ Supervillain Mask Making

Marcus Del Valle

Presentation and Hands-on Workshop

Program 15: 3:3 0 pm – 5:00 pm

Coloring Stations and Superhero Storytime

Marcus Del Valle

Hands-on Workshop

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