More info here:

Electric City Comic Con

And here:

https://www.facebook.com/electriccitycomiccon?fref=ts

This year I’m an official guest of Comic-Con International! This is a huge honor! I’ve been going to Comic-Con since I was a teenager!

I’ll have a table in the ARTIST ALLEY section table # HH15. Look for the Sisters & Teen Boat banners!

This my list of panel appearances and other places you can find me.

FRIDAY, July 10th

11AM-12PM Sci-Fi Comics Theater: Dave Roman & Tom Angleberger
A visual conversation between author Tom Angleberger (Origami Yoda) and cartoonist Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy, Teen Boat!) about self-publishing, dream jobs, graphic novels for kids, school misfits, and robot doppelgangers. Hosted by Noelene Clark (LA Times Hero Complex), this fun-filled panel will include interactive readings, improv drawing games, and surprise guests! ROOM 4

**THIS IS MY FIRST EVER SPOTLIGHT PANEL! I’d be the coolest to see you there!

2PM-3PM Signing at the :01 First Second Booth #1323
I’ll be signing copies of the Astronaut Academy books at my publisher’s booth.

SATURDAY, July 11th

12PM-1PM CBLDF Comics in the Classroom
w/ Cecil Castellucci (Odd Duck, The Plain Janes), Nathan Hale (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales), Matthew Holm (Babymouse, Squish), Matt Phelan (The Storm in the Barn, Bluffton),Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy, Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden) and educators Rose Brock and Dr. Meryl Jaffe. Room 30CDE

Time: 3PM – 4PM Kids Comics Panel
Room 23ABC

SUNDAY, July 12th

1PM-2PM Push Fun Forward: All-Agnes Comics Have Arrived
BOOM! Studios associate editor Whitney Leopard leads a discussion of the significance of all-ages comics—from what it has achieved thus far to what lies ahead—with creators Mairghread Scott (Transformers: Windblade), Thom Zaler (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic), Aron Steinke (The Zoo Box), Ian McGinty (Munchkin), and Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy).
Room 24ABC

Thursday July 24th

4pm: Kids’ Heroes, Capes and Journeys: Does One Size Fit All? (Room 29A)
Graphic novel authors and educators discuss how kids’ heroes have grown and changed over the years. Discussing “Hero” templates, they’ll explore old and new hero favorites and whether a mold helps or hinders the development of future heroes. Panelists will then ask the audience to help create an SDCC 2014 hero as artist panelists draw/design/experiment with hero templates. Implications for fans, educators, students, and aspiring writers, and critics will be discussed. Panelist include Jennifer Holm (Babymouse, Squish), Matthew Holm (Babymouse, Squish),, Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy) , Frank Cammuso (The Misadventures of Salem Hyde), TedNaifeh (Courtney Crumrin) , Marc Tyler Nobleman (Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman, Bill the Boy Wonder), and Alexis Fajardo (Kid Beowulf).

THURSDAY NIGHT OFF SITE EVENT:

7pm: Dave Roman & Gene Yang presentation, live drawing & book signing
Barnes & Noble Mira Mesa
10775 Westview Parkway
San Diego, CA 92126
More info & store locator

Sunday July 27th

10am Kids Draw! Interactive panel. (Room 30CDE)
This fun-filled draw-off pits cartoonist against cartoonist as kids help tell the story-with Kelley Jones (Space Mountain), Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants), Dave Roman(Astronaut Academy), Dan Santat (Comics Squad: Recess), and Kirk Scroggs (Snoop Troop) and as many monsters, aliens, princesses, and plot twists as they can fit into a single panel! Moderated by Matt and Jenni Holm (Babymouse, Squish).

11:30am Dave Roman signing all books at Sails Pavilion, AA09

12pm Dave Roman signing copies of Astronaut Academy at :01 First Second booth #1323

1pm – 2pm All-Ages Comics Have Arrived! (Room 24ABC)
Quality all-ages comics are back and better than ever! We’re not just talking about “kids” comics, we’re talking about amazing comics that can be enjoyed by young, old, and everyone in between. Join KaBOOM! editor Shannon Watters as she has a lively and fun conversation with several all-ages creators, including David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity), Gene Yang (American Born Chinese, Boxers and Saints), and Ian McGinty (Bravest Warriors, Adventure Time: Candy Capers).

Bolt City/Flight Comics is always the shining beacon of the convention. So many great people all in one place. Including Kazu Kibuishi, Jason Cafoe, Katie Shanahan, Becky Cloonan, Dik Pose, Johane Matte, Raina Telgemeier, & Tony Cliff.

Raina and I got to jump into Uncle Scrooge’s money bin to celebrate the new Ducktales remastered videogame.

Loved this family of cosplayers.

Always good to see the Ewoks getting some love!

John Green, Kazu Kibuishi, Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier, Jeff Smith & Faith Erin Hicks (hanging out after her spotlight panel).

Awesome kids drawing panel with Jennifer Holm, Jeffery Brown, Kazu Kibuishi & Matthew Holm.

I’m not actually sure if No-Face and I are friends or what. He’s kinda creepy at times.

This flute player wearing a classic Star Trek uniform at the Seaport Village sums up my love of San Diego Comic-Con.

I headed down to San Diego with John Green and Raina Telgemeier, but this was our first Comic-Con in almost 10 years without a table in the Small Press area.

Thanks to our great friends at Flight Comics, we still had a place to call home, but with so many contributors behind the table, it’s not the same level of responsibility as the usual set up. In some ways it was liberating. Rather than worrying about table costs and every book sold (or not), we just accepted that this was a business-related vacation.

(With Vera Brosgol and Mark Siegel at the :01 First Second booth)

Between my scheduled signings at :01 First Second and SLG Publishing, I had more of a chance to wander the convention floor than in years past.

(With Kevin Coppa, who gets stopped for photos every 10 seconds when he’s in his Doctor Who cosplay!)

Certain areas of the convention floor are the equivalent to being in a mosh pit. Costumes are more fun when they are parading by rather than bumping into you. I heard from a lot of friends and experienced for myself the pain of waiting in line, only to be cut off once the panel room was full. I don’t mind waiting in lines at Disneyland as long as I know I’m getting on the ride eventually. But with Comic-Con there are no real guarantees. That said, the comic book-themed panels never seemed anywhere near as crowded as the panels about even the worst shows on television.

(Banner for SpongeBob comics, which are edited by Chris Duffy and published by Bongo)

I heard a lot of complaints about how Comic-Con is increasingly less about comics. But there seemed to be about the same amount of comics-related content, booths, panels, and guests as always. It’s just that there are thousands more people who simply don’t care about that stuff. They may enjoy pop-culture, video games, and even superheroes, but buying books just isn’t in their budget. But they are passionate and dedicated to their fandoms, and are willing to wait in line to buy 4-day passes a year in advance, and will do anything for a chance to buy a limited edition Lego set.

(With Rikki Simons at the SLG booth)

Disappointing as the comics/print ambivalence may be, I don’t blame anyone for getting excited about all the other stuff. I love most of it, too. It’s hard not to get excited about a giant Jake the Dog balloon from Adventure Time!

One the highlights of the Comic-Con this year was meeting Karen Prell, the puppeteer/voice of Red Fraggle. She’s also an animator on the videogame Portal 2, and a really amazing person!

(With Karen Prell)

My favorite part of Comic-Con has always been a combination of meeting people whose work I really admire (especially when you least expect it, like on the convention floor) and running into old friends who are working hard doing what they love.

(With Gerard Way at the Embarcadero Marina Park )

(With C.H. Greenblatt at the :01 First Second booth)

(With Jhonen Vasquez and J. Goldberg at SLG booth)

I’m usually tired at the end of a convention day, and then end up giving myself an asthma attack from laughing so hard at dinner. Especially when I sit next to these guys:

(Thien Pham and Gene Yang, two of the most fun people to have dinner with)

(Gina Gagliano and Paul Pope)

The Eisner Awards were of course unbelievable, because Raina’s book SMILE won for Best Comic for Teens. I could not be more proud of her and was glad they announced her award at the beginning of the program, so she could relax and enjoy herself for the rest of the evening. Even though they can run long, I enjoy these ceremonies because I like seeing veterans and young talent getting a rare amount of recognition for their time dedicated to making great stories.

(Raina with her Eisner Award!)

I participated on several panels, including Love and Comics, Diversity in YA, a fan-run panel for “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” and a Teen Comics Workshop, which has a recap and photos over at GeekMom.com.

(Korra puppet, Kevin Coppa, Zuko puppet, Kim Miranda (“Isaia”), and Erin (“Booter-Freak”)

And of course a trip to San Diego wouldn’t be complete without getting together with my cousins! We had a post-con celebration at Filippi’s Pizza Grotto!

The five days of Comic-Con seem to go by way too fast. Luckily more and more people are coming to visit us at the New York Comic Con, but it still doesn’t have the same magic as San Diego!

(view from our hotel)

Lots more over at my Flickr photo set!