BIOS

9 to 5 Gay Pins

A.C. Esguerra

A.C. Esguerra is an award-winning cartoonist whose work blends fantasy and history in traditional ink and watercolor. Their debut original graphic novel Eighty Days was on YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens list and nominated for the GLAAD Media Awards in 2022. Recent work includes illustrating Who Was Amelia Earhart? with Melanie Gillman and creating The City of Poets public arts comics series for the San Francisco Arts Commission. They live in Los Angeles.

Aleasha Acevedo

LA-based Al Acevedo (they/them) is a queer, chicane artist currently working in children’s toys and tabletop game development. Their work includes storyboards, scripts, artwork and character design. They are the sole creator of HUSK, an aroace-led supernatural comic series crafted with a deep love for Mexican mythology and interwoven with threads from Al’s own journey to reconnect with their Mexican roots.

Barbra Dillon (Fanbase Press)

Barbra Dillon is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Fanbase Press, an Eisner Award-nominated publishing company and geek media outlet that seeks to produce new and distinctive works that give voice to the themes, ideals, and people that make “geekdom” so exceptional.  Fanbase Press’ graphic novels include the 2018 Eisner Award-nominated Quince, the 2022 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award-nominated Ripple Effects, and the 2022 International Latino Book of the Year Award-winning Nuclear Power. She also serves as an Advisory Board member and Co-Coordinator of Programming and Marketing for The Latinx Comic Arts Festival.

Bradley Rader

Award winning animation artist Brad Rader has worked in the TV animation industry as a storyboard artist on various animated series including Rainbow Brite, The Real Ghostbusters, Alf, Alftails, Batman, Gargoyles, Men in Black, Stripperella, King of the Hill and Bob’s Burgers, Bless the Harts, Big Mouth, Samurai Rabbit, Little Demon, Beavis and Butthead, and The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers among others.

His TV directing credits include Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys, Godzilla, The Roswell Conspiracies and HBO’s Spawn, for which he won an Emmy® in 1999.

He has illustrated the graphic novel, Fogtown, for DC/Vertigo and has illustrated Batman Adventures, Gotham Adventures and Catwoman comic books for DC Comics. Other comic work included The Mark (Dark Horse Comics), and occasional stories for the Bob’s Burgers comic.

In 2003, Mr. Rader instigated “Flaming Artist Press”, publishing adults-only comic/art folios “True Adult Fantasy” #1 and #2, and the graphic novel, “Harry & Dickless Tom”.

He recently published “True Adult Fantasy: Adult’s Only Coloring Book” in both horizontal and vertical editions.

Teaching experience includes Otis Parsons and Art Center College of Design, where he taught “Storyboarding For All Media”.

Raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Brad now lives with his husband, Richard Rangel, in Los Angeles, California.

Cathy Kutz

Cathy Kutz is an actress, author and cosplayer. Among her most notable cosplays are Gabrielle from Xena: Warrior Princess, Zelda Spellman from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and The Evil Queen from Once Upon a Time. Her debut novel is a Sapphic romance called Garden of Forbidden Fruit which was released in 2022.  You can catch her in the upcoming feature film Dryspell, which is set to be released in fall of 2023.

Christie Shinn (CAPS Comic Arts Professional Society)

Christie Shinn is an illustrator and comic artist that lives in the city of Los Angeles. She draws funny, mean stuff like ‘Demon Bitch’ and other terrible illustrations and comics showing the world in its vapid, gross entirety, plagued by a completely self-serving bunch of losers that only are in it for themselves. She won the 2018 Ringo award for “Mine! – a comics collection to benefit Planned Parenthood for Best Anthology. She is currently the President of CAPS- Comic Arts Professional Society, founded by esteemed cartoonists Sergio Aragonès and Don Rico, and writer Mark Evanier – and wants to promote, nurture, and network artists and writers in the sequential and non-sequential art aspects of the comic arts.

Cort Lane

Cort Lane is the author of the Monster And Me children’s books and showrunner on the My Little Pony: Make Your Mark series for Netflix. Cort has served on GLAAD’s Kids & Family Advisory Council since 2017. He recently Executive Produced the documentary No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics, which premiered at Tribeca, won the Grand Jury Prize at Outfest and aired on PBS in January.

With two decades of experience producing animation for Hasbro, Marvel/Disney and Mattel, his credits include Barbie In A Christmas Carol, The Super Hero Squad Show, Avengers Assemble, Ultimate Spider-Man and Spidey And His Amazing Friends. He’s received Emmy nominations (Rocket ‘n Groot and Marvel’s Spider-Man) and NAACP Image Award Nominations (Black Panther’s Quest). 

Dave Davenport

Pronouns:  he/him/they/them

Titles: Feral and the Ghost Skater, Hard to Swallow

Bio: Dave Davenport is a comic creator and tattoo artist working in the industry for over 20 years. His works have appeared in various magazines and anthologies including Alphabet and Theater of Terror: Revenge of the Queers. He co-created the gay erotic comic series Hard to Swallow with Justin Hall, published through his own Marginalized Publications, the sibling to his Marginalized Tattoo shop in LA. His characters Feral and the Ghost Skater have become fan favorites, and received the 2015 Prism Queer Press Grant. Dave now continues creating through Tannis Comix, a publishing collaboration with his partner William O. Tyler.

David M. Booher

David is a multiple Eisner­ and GLAAD nominated writer of comics, television, and film. His most recent comics work includes Eisner- and GLAAD-nominated KILLER QUEENS (Dark Horse), Eisner-nominated RAIN (Image/Syzygy), CANTO (IDW), SPECS (Boom! Studios), ALL NEW FIREFLY (Boom! Studios), and DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: SATURDAY MORNING ADVENTURES (IDW). His all-ages fantasy series CANTO is in development as a feature film, which he is set to adapt. His LGBTQ-led KILLER QUEENS was featured in the New York Times as a must read in honor of Pride Month. A lawyer by training, he lives in Los Angeles with his husband and the true brains behind their operation—their adopted greyhounds.

David Reddish

David Reddish is the award winning novelist behind The Passion of Sergius & Bacchus and the Sex, Drugs & Superheroes series. He’s also a noted entertainment journalist having written for such publications as ScreenRant, Queerty and Playboy.

Ed Luce

Ed Luce is the San Francisco-based creator of Wuvable Oaf, a two-time Ignatz nominated comic series about a big hairy dude’s search for love… and cats. The first five years of Oaf stories were collected by Fantagraphics Books in 2015. A second color volume hit shelves in 2016 and won the Lambda Literary Award for Graphic Novel/Comics. Ed has created covers, stories and illustrations for Image Comics, Skybound Entertainment, Dark Horse Comics, Oni Press, IDW, Heavy Metal Magazine, Vault Comics, Bear Magazine, the Eisner nominated No Straight Lines anthology and the Eisner winning Love Is Love. In 2021, he designed and installed an eighty foot Wuvable Oaf mural at Titmouse Animation Studios in Burbank, CA. He has exhibited his works internationally, including Toronto, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo and the Rockhampton Museum of Art in Australia.

Fernando Velez (Kraven Comics)

Born to a humble low-income family in a small town south of Puerto Rico, Fernando Velez has always been writing. Fernando had to experience his older brother’s loss at an early age when he was five years old and his brother was six. He saw how his dad got deeper into alcohol, and his mom struggled to provide everything for Fernando.

“Writing was a way out of my difficult reality; growing up gay in a traditional religious family was tough” Fernando always knew he was gay since “I have memory.” Through writing and stories, he got through those difficult times. When Fernando came out of the closet at an early age, about 14 years old, his parents took him to the church, and they sent him to a religious camp for a week. Family and friends were trying to convert little Fernando. During these difficult times, he found himself trying to commit suicide, a wake-up call to family and friends to see the real struggle Fernando was experiencing. Things change but not as fast. After the third attempt at suicide and a week in a psychiatric hospital, Fernando decided to leave his home and find another purpose and a new family outside his native island. 

Fernando then came to the US. Working hard, sometimes two jobs, from working as a dishwasher to working as a producer for cases at Caso Cerrado in Miami, Fernando wasn’t scared of going after his dreams.

Years passed, and in 2014 Fernando founded Kraven Comics. Later, his partner Waiyen Wong joined the company as a co-founder. They manage a team of 11 Latin artists from Venezuela. His style of comic book is political, inclusive, SciFi and LGBTQ. He takes inspiration from life-real heroes who are often not celebrated or represented. 

Fernando is now determined to give chances to others within his community by publishing the work of other LGBTQ creators and authors. He is currently working on an animation feature film adaptation of the series Class6. His company has released a Children’s Picture Book about two moms and their pubs and a Self-help book from a first-generation immigrant LGBTQ+ perspective. He is also working on a documentary about Kraven with the message of inspiring others to never give up on their dreams. Other future projects in work are Pride, a Madagascar movie kind of graphic novel about two gay penguins that stole an egg in an attempt to become fathers, and The Order of The Sister, an all-drag nun superhero comedy. 

Fernando believes that through the entertainment industry, he can create the change required for a more inclusive world. When you buy their comics or their projects, you are supporting this vision and enabling him and his team to continue impacting other artists and creators from within his community. 

Gladys Ochoa

Gladys is a Latinx illustrator and cartoonist with a focus on mental health and the human condition. She enjoys drawing animals and people in strange and often humorous situations to express the mundane activities in everyday life. 

Gladys es una ilustradora y caricaturista latinx que se enfoca en la salud mental y la condición humana a través del uso de personajes animales.

Hi De Ho Comics – Kristen Parraz, Sara Bazan, Jennifer Lopez

Comadres y Comics began as an idea when, as a comic retailer, Kristen was asked by a customer to recommend comic books with Latinx characters and discovered that she was hard pressed to find more than a handful that were known to mainstream story lines. She found a few websites with information but nothing that recommended any Indie titles as well. With a problem to solve, she approached Sara and Jen with the vague idea of starting a podcast that brought Latinx creators and content to readers.

Additionally, all three felt strongly that it was important to include the presence of women in the industry as well. Over a pitcher of beer, they streamlined the idea into Comadres y Comics a podcast dedicated to highlighting the women and Latinx presence in the comic book industry as creators, characters and fans.

Sara Bazan resides in Compton and was enamored with Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and the Sandman Universe from its inception. She loves Indie comics and attending small, local conventions that highlight lesser known creators from marginalized communities. She also has a place in her heart for superhero comics featuring Batman and the X-Men. Before Comadres y Comics, Sara co- hosted three comic related podcasts but never quite got them off the ground. She is blessed to be a part of the Comadres y Comics Podcast that fits so perfectly with her personal experience with comics and that is comprised of what she declares to be her “dream team” of co-hosts.

Jennifer Lopez is a Comparative Literature major from South Central Los Angeles with a life-long love for comic books and manga. She has worked in comic book retail for four years, both at Hi De Ho Comics and Geoffrey’s Comics, and prides herself in being the “salty” side of the Comadres y Comics podcast. Jennifer is a Queer Latina whose love for comics originated from a High School teacher who provided them for students. Her journey has led her to strive to provide access to comics for others in similar ways. She is currently obsessed with Overwatch, Dungeons & Dragons, space, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Comics and dragons. She can be found confronting anyone who says, “Girls don’t read comics” with “Fight Me!!”.

Kristen Parraz co-owns and manages Hi De Ho Comics, the longest still running comic book shop in Los Angeles County, located in Santa Monica. Before managing Hi De Ho Comics, Kristen worked with gang involved girls within the juvenile justice system. She has 20 plus years of experience working in the non-profit sector with a variety of diverse communities, her passion being gender specific work. Presently, she works to integrate the experience and passion she’s built over the years into comic retailing by making diversity a priority at Hi De Ho and working to provide access to the comic book industry to marginalized groups and communities. Kristen has a love for horror comics with some of her favorites being Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Walking Dead and Harrow County.

Jack Foster

Jack Foster is an LA based artist & writer and creator of the comic book GUN which he publishes through Reckless Eyeballs Press. His painted work is lush and dreamlike and harkens back to the great old Epic and Eclipse books at the bleeding edge between comics and fine art.

Jeff Krell

Jeff Krell created the long-running gay-themed humor strip “Jayson,” which debuted in the Philadelphia Gay News in 1983 and enjoyed long runs in Gay Comix and Meatmen. Since 2005 Krell has been publishing original “Jayson” graphic novels including “Jayson Goes to Hollywood” and “Jayson Gets a Job!” In 2023, in collaboration with Sue Bielenberg, Krell debuted the all-ages Jayson spinoff “Arena Takes Manhattan,” a career girl humor comic starring Jayson’s sidekick Arena Stage. Krell also translates comics for famed German cartoonist Ralf König. 

Josh Trujillo

Josh Trujillo is a writer, editor, and narrative designer based in Los Angeles. He has worked with clients including Marvel, HBO, Google, Telltale Games, Netflix, and DC Comics, among others.

Trujillo is the creator of the colorful children’s book Lost Beast, Found Friend, the sports comedy Dodge City, the historical romance Declaration, and the romance anthology Love Machines. His work spans different genre and audiences, including children’s fiction, history, gaming, and queer issues.

Josh recently wrapped work on Hogwarts Legacy, and AllStar Destruction for next-gen consoles. In addition, he wrote Farmville 3 for mobile devices. Previously, he wrote on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series,  Batman: The Enemy Within, and The Wolf Among Us 2 (unreleased.)

Trujillo has written for various iconic characters, including Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash. He has also written official comics based on Rick and Morty, Dream Daddy, Aggretsuko, and Adventure Time.

In 2020, he contributed to the Ignatz award-winning anthology Be Gay, Do Comics. Trujillo’s work is also featured in DC Comics and IDW’s Eisner award-winning Love is Love, benefiting victims of the Orlando nightclub tragedy, and the Ringo award-nominated Mine!, benefiting Planned Parenthood. In 2018, Dodge City was named one of the year’s best comics by AV Club.

In 2021, Christopher Cantwell, Jan Bazaldua, and Josh Trujillo created the character Aaron Fischer for Marvel Comics. News of Aaron’s first appearance was featured in outlets including Entertainment Weekly, The Today Show, and The Hill. He debuted in The United States of Captain America #1.

Julian Jetson

Lvl 35//Prince of Palm Springs//DC Comics Geek.
Producer of Gay Geeks And Where To Find Them panel.

Knave Murdock

Knave Murdok is a cartoonist living in the California Bay Area who writes and draws the comic book “TransCat”, the story of a transgender cat girl superhero and her fight against evil. Knave released the first issue in May of 2014 and has been putting out new issues ever since. when Knave isn’t drawing you can find her at karaoke or organizing local indie film events. 

Mark A.J. Nazal

Mark A.J. Nazal – Co-Founder, Writer, Creator, Chief Creative – is a multicultural writer/director and a multi-nominated, Primetime Emmy® Award-Winning Visual Effects Artist & Supervisor best known for his work on Fox’s hit show, Gotham.

He was responsible for heading the Environments and Digital Matte Painting team on the 3rd season of HBO’s groundbreaking show Westworld and supervised visual effects teams on several hit sci-fi/fantasy shows such as Lucifer, The Walking Dead, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel’s Runaways, and more.

Along with writing, producing, and directing content with his company, SurrealArts – Diwata Komiks’ parent company, he is also the Director of Digital Content at a global visual effects studio in Los Angeles.

He is committed to telling stories that blend sci-fi and fantasy elements with real-world themes and current issues in a globalized, multicultural setting and showcasing new stories from underrepresented cultures in the mainstream media.

Maximus Spragovsky

Creator/Writer and Artist for W.O.O.F. Galaxy Comic Book, who turns people into Superheroes. DM on Instagram or Twitter for Commission info.

Mei

Hello, My chosen name is Mei and I am a (Trans-Woman) married to a lovely ginger and with the cutest (I think toddler ever) I am also a Co-Owner/Co-Writer and the big idea chaos gremlin for Qi-Shift our original Graphic Novel. We are an all POC mostly LGBTQIA+ group 2 Trans-Mascs, 1 Trans Fem and one Johnathan Standford-Carey, my co creator and all around best cis het friend ever.

Michael Derry

Michael Derry is an art director, illustrator, graphic designer, comic artist, and writer. His work has been featured in movies, TV, Netflix’s “The Get Down,” books, magazines, interactive media, games, t-shirts, and toys. 

His comic strip “Troy” ran for fourteen years in LGBTQ+ newspapers and magazines all over the world and was adapted into the animated short “Troy: Naked Boys Behind Bars, Sing!” 

His sexy, satirical cartoons have been featured on SwishEmbassy.com and in the collection “POP Boys Explosion.” He is currently working on the animated feature, “Maxxie La Wow: Drag Super Shero.” He lives in Los Angeles with his partner and two dogs.

MK Palmer

In 1992, X-Men: The Animated Series premiered. I was immediately hooked and couldn’t get enough of it. Each week, I would drag a cousin or a sibling along to my local comic book store.

In 2014, I made the decision to pursue my dream and create my own comic. With the help of my team, the world of MERAKI came to life. My goal is to introduce more fierce female and LGBTQ+ lead characters in the realm of comic books.

Prism Comics

Prism Comics is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization championing LGBTQ+ diversity, visibility and inclusion in comic books, graphic novels and popular media. Founded in 2003, Prism is celebrating its 20th Anniversary supporting comics creators, professionals, readers, librarians and educators as a resource and community for LGBTQ+ comics. Prism Comics is producing Q Con with the support of the City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division as part of the 2023 WeHo Pride Arts Festival.

Qweerty Gamers – Ray Lancione

Qweerty Gamers’ is a 501c3 nonprofit with a mission is to provide resources, support, and networking access to advance visibility and representation of LGBTQIA+ individuals in the global gaming and media industry.

We hold various events, including meetups, mixers, and online game nights, to create a productive and inclusive space for LGBTQIA+ gamers and professionals to connect and collaborate.

Qweerty Gamers also offers the Victoria Kennedy Microgrant, which provides up to $1500 every three months to individuals and projects that are making the video game industry more inclusive and diverse.

We are proud to have supported projects like Drag Her! and Call Me Cera through our microgrant, which have contributed to making the industry more inclusive. By supporting Qweerty Gamers, you are helping to advance the visibility and representation of LGBTQIA+ individuals in the gaming and media industry. We appreciate your support and encourage you to spread the word about our organization and our mission to create a more inclusive gaming community. Thank you for being a part of this important work!

Rainbow Arc of Fire – Gregory Earl Sanchez

Greg Sanchez, creator of Rainbow Arc of Fire, says “I was born in Florida in 1949; raised in California in the 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s; and have lived in Colorado since 1978, when, as a captain, I was stationed at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and taught freshman English for three semesters. More than a decade before “Don’t ask; Don’t tell,” I was then outed and discharged in 1979, for being gay.

I currently live in Indio, CA, with my incredible husband (we were married May 4th, 2019), Mark Gallegos, as well as with our two delightful cats, Tabby and Pudge, who allow us to feed and care for them on a daily basis. I have written and edited the RAINBOW ARC OF FIRE series since March of 1994, publishing the first volume, A MILE-HIGH SAGA, in the fall of 1996. All ten published paperback volumes are available through amazon.com as inexpensive print-on-demand copies. In addition, all ten volumes are available as amazon Kindle editions.”

Rex Ogle

Rex is an award-winning author and the writer of nearly a hundred children’s books, comics, graphic novels, and memoirs—most notably Free Lunch, which won the ALA/YALSA award for Excellence in Non-Fiction.  

Rex writes under the pen name Rey Terciero when re-imagining classics as modern queer literature.   

Now, Rex lives in Los Angeles where he writes in his spare time—that is, when he’s not outdoors hiking with his dog Toby, playing MarioKart with friends, or reading.

Richard Fairgray

Born completely blind in one eye and with only 3% of vision in the other, Richard Fairgray is an award-winning creator who has published over 200 titles, ranging from children’s books like Gorillas in Our Midst and My Grandpa Is a Dinosaur (Sky Pony) to graphic novels and ongoing comics like Shed (Blue Fox Comics), Ghost Ghost (Stacked Deck Press), and Haunted Hill.  He splits his time between his home in Hollywood and his home in Canada, where he lives with his husband and dogs.

Robert Frankel

Robert Frankel is a queer writer, filmmaker, and Air Force veteran. His work has placed at the Austin and Nashville Film Festivals, as a finalist in the ScreenCraft and WeScreenplay competitions, and twice in the top 15% of the Nicholl Fellowship. His feature screenplay Bitter Root was an official selection of the 2021 Stowe Story Labs, and he is an alumnus of the Writers Guild Foundation’s Veterans Writing Project. His short film, May I Speak, Now?, was a finalist for the Best Comedy Micro Film Award at the 2021 Portland Comedy Film Festival. He tells stories about wonder, passion, and cruelty.

Frankel earned a BA in Economics from the University of Washington, Seattle, and an MFA in screenwriting and producing from the Brooklyn College Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema.

Shannon Watters

Shannon Watters is the co-creator and co-writer of the New York Times-bestselling and award-winning hit comic book series LUMBERJANES. Her new graphic novel HOLLOW is out now! She is also a former senior editor and the founder/head of BOOM! Box line at BOOM! Studios, the imprint behind critically acclaimed comics and graphic novels like GIANT DAYS, THE BACKSTAGERS, LUMBERJANES, FENCE, GOLDIE VANCE, HEAVY VINYL, THE AVANT-GUARDS, and many, many others. She loves vintage nonsense, cooking elaborate meals, and funny words, and lives in Los Angeles.

Sina Grace

Sina Grace is the author and illustrator of the autobiographical Self-Obsessed, and Not My Bag, which recounts a story of retail hell. He acts as the artist for Shaun Steven Struble’s cult hit, The Li’l Depressed Boy, and handles art chores along with co-writing the Image Comics hit series, Burn the Orphanage.

Grace has also done illustrations for all-ages readers, including Among the Ghosts, written by Amber Benson, and Penny Dora & the Wishing Box, written by Michael Stock. His previous works include the slice-of-life Books with Pictures, and the neo-noir urban fantasy, Cedric Hollows in Dial M for Magic. For a time, he acted as Editorial Director for Robert Kirkman’s Skybound imprint at Image Comics. To date, he’s worked for Marvel Comics, IDW, Boom, Dynamite, Valiant and more. His essays have appeared on several websites, most notably Thought Catalog.

He lives in Los Angeles, where he can be found in coffee shops working on whatever the next thing may be.

Sonya Saturday

Sonya Saturday is an internationally published cartoonist, writer and photographer. Her books include two volumes of Presidential Candidates Coloring and Activity Books, Why Do You Cry When I’m On Top?, and A Ninja Dinosaur Christmas!!!. She has contributed comics to several award-winning anthologies, including Anything That Loves and We’re Still Here. Sonya is currently producing an autobiographical online comic strip called The Greatest Thing You’ve Ever Seen in Your Life. sonyasaturday.com

Stacked Deck Press – Tara Madison Avery

Founded in 2015, Stacked Deck Press is a publishing imprint devoted to comics, coloring books and prose of LGBTQAIU+ interest. Among their publications are the 2016 Bisexual Book Award-winning Primahood:Magenta and the 2019 Ignatz Award-winning We’re Still Here: An All-Trans Comics Anthology. Upcoming SDP projects include the graphic memoir, A Good Sport, and the all-Black, all-queer sci-fi and fantasy anthology, We Belong. Excellence is in the cards.

Tara Madison Avery is a cartoonist, a board member of Prism Comics, and the publisher of Stacked Deck Press, an imprint devoted to comics, coloring books, and prose of LGBTQAIU+ interest. She is known for her queer-themed webcomics Dirtheads and Gooch, as well as her print work in such publications as ALPHABET: The LGBTQAIU+ Cartoonists from Prism Comics and We’re Still Here: An All-Trans Comics Anthology, an Ignatz-Award winner which she also edited and published.

Steve MacIsaac

A expat Canadian living in California after several years in Japan, Steve MacIsaac’s comics and illustrations explore contemporary gay culture, identity, and sexuality. MacIsaac has released five issues of his solo series SHIRTLIFTER, with the sixth due for release later in 2018. His wordless collaboration with Dale Lazarov, STICKY, was recently re-released in a 10th anniversary edition by German publisher Bruno Gmuender. MacIsaac is an enthusiastic contributor to comics anthologies, including BEST AMERICAN COMICS 2010 (Houghton Mifflin), BLOCKED (Little Red Bird), and ALPHABET (Stacked Deck Press).His 240 page graphic novel UNPACKING will be collected by Seattle LGBT Comics publisher Northwest Press.

Tim Sheridan

TIM SHERIDAN is a writer who, happily, never grew up–playing with the same toys he played with as a kid, only now in movies, TV and comics! In movies, he’s penned DC’s Batman: The Long Halloween, Reign of the Supermen and the Critic’s Choice-nominated Superman: Man of Tomorrow. On TV, he’s written for Netflix’s Transformers: War For Cybertron, Dragon Age: Absolution, Masters of the Universe: Revelation (for which he also scripts the Dark Horse tie-in comics) and more. At DC Comics, Tim is the co-creator of Teen Titans Academy, Flashpoint Beyond and the upcoming Alan Scott: The Green Lantern.

Tini Howard

Try harder, Marvel Girl. Writes comics.  EXCALIBUR – X OF SWORDS – EUTHANAUTS – X-CORP – ASSASSINISTAS

William O. Tyler

Pronouns: he/him/they/them

Titles: Theater of Terror: Revenge of the Queers, Anxious Ax

Bio: William O. Tyler is a comic creator, editor and critic whose work often focuses on the intersection of love and horror. His own comics include The Goth Queen Needs a Mate, Cinephilia and his newest project Anxious Ax, exploring the horrors of anxiety from a Black and queer perspective. He co-edited the queer horror anthology Theater of Terror: Revenge of the Queers with Justin Hall, the queer erotic anthology Yellow is the Warmest Color, with Sonya Saturday and is currently working on the queer Black anthology We Belong from Stacked Deck Press. William is also half of Tannis Comix, a collaboration with his partner Dave Davenport.

Yaoi Revolution – Sharon Barela

Yaoi Revolution is a U.S. based English Yaoi Publisher, founded in 2012 to innovate the Yaoi genre and give new artists from all over the globe a place to get their works in print! We publish original yaoi novels, yaoi comics, doujinshi, artbooks and posters.

Chrissy Lynn Carpenter

Published Cosplayer/Makeup Artist, Wig stylist, Maker/Creator, Interior Decorator. Artistic Engineer, Cat Mom!

DR Costumes

Dragpool

Not a Page Model. Not an Influencer. Not exactly a Superhero. Just a freak. Let’s show them that weirdness and sass are the real superpower.

Jacqueline Goehner

Jacqueline Goehner has been a cosplayer for over 20 years and a costume designer for over 15 years. She is most known for her work as Witchblade, Princess Zelda, Red Sonja, Vampirella, Lisa, Dejah Thoris, and many others. Throughout her cosplay journey, she has competed and won many prestigious awards from conventions and events, including her epic win the season finale episode of Cosplay Melee on SyFy.

Jacqueline also does costume work and design for various forms of media. Her costume design work she is mostly known for are various episodes of Smosh, Curse of Sleeping Beauty, and various film projects. She is currently the co-owner of WestmoreFX and Underground Cosmetics, specializing in cosmetic and personal care manufacturing.

Joe Pryde Zuniga

“My name’s Joe Pryde and I draw homoerotic queer nerdy art! My work varies from superheroes, horror and spookies, and even some day in the life work all with a queer, sexy angle! “

Jose Rivera

“Since I was little, I was always interested in creating art. It was something that I could work on my own. As an adult, I became interested in cosplay. It allowed me to start piecing together a lot of different art forms. I started sewing, something I always wanted to learn. I’ve been making cosplays for over five years now. This has led me to share my art to many people and make a lot of friends. I have been lucky to experience a lot of wonderful things, like being a featured Cosplay Guest at MegaCon Orlando in 2021.”

Kelsey Fernandez

Kelsey Fernandez is a queer thirty-something Los Angelean transplant of ten years. They grew up further north in Santa Barbara and went to university near San Francisco. The Hollywood bug bit early in high school and they continued chasing those dreams through years of internships and odd jobs, all while attending the local comic convention circuit and getting heavily into cosplay. They’ve worked for half of the “Big Six” and manage to balance their professional life with both conventions and charity cosplay work. They’ve cosplayed for over a decade and their favorite cosplays are Batwoman, Mysterio, and Poison Ivy.