San Diego Comic-Con is days away and we are taking a look at the diverse panel programming available at San Diego Comic-Con 2022. And sharing with you our must-see panel picks that focus on representation, inclusion, and diversity in entertainment, pop culture, and fandom.
Thursday Panels with Diverse and Inclusive Voices at San Diego Comic-Con 2022
We try to list all of the important conversations around diversity and inclusion being had at San Diego Comic-Con. We also strive to support members of underrepresented communities by bringing awareness to their panels. If you see that we missed any panels email us at info@templeofgeek.com to be added to the list or leave a comment!
Disability Representation On and Off-Screen
This panel will explore disability representation both on-screen and behind the camera and will serve to raise the profile of disability as an essential pillar of diversity, as well as celebrate the diversity that exists within the disability community. Featuring Ryan O’Connell, Lauren Ridloff, Alaqua Cox, Gail Simone, Timothy Omundson, and Josh Feldman.
How to Support LGBTQIA+ and Neurodiverse Communities Through Comic Books and Pop Culture
From cosplay to fan fiction, how do we create a more diverse and inclusive community? How do we apply this knowledge in a cultural context and through social-emotional learning? What is neurodiverse? Neurodivergent? Neurovariant? What is trauma-informed? What would Gene Roddenberry think of all of this? Moderator Lorran Garrison (school psychologist, Little Brainstorm) joins Chance Calloway ( Pretty Dudes, Amazon Prime), Robert Rice ( Demonhuntr, Amazon Prime/HereTV), Tara Madison Avery (Stacked Deck Press, We’re Still Here), Natasha Lee (Insomniac Games, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales), Mark Nazal (Diwata Komiks), and Perry Clark (Untangle and Grow Counseling) to discuss how to support creative thinking in students and adults. There will be giveaways!
3rd Annual Hollywood Game Changers: A Conversation with the Women Behind Popular Film and TV Projects
“Hollywood Game Changers” is back at Comic-Con with another panel featuring women behind such popular film and television projects as Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Flight Attendant, P-Valley, and more. Get insight into how they navigate their careers and how they use their craft to champion women’s empowerment, diversity, and inclusion in the industry. Featuring Jennifer Phang (director, The Flight Attendant episodes 203 and 204), Hannah Friedman (writer/ producer, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Willow, Muppets Mayhem), Arlene Martin (hair department head, P-Valley), Melanie Jones (production designer, Bill and Ted Save the Music), Kameron Lennox (costume designer, Pam & Tommy), Kaylie Whitcher (VFX producer at FOLKS Toronto, Titans), and Brigitte Bourque (VFX supervisor at FuseFX, 9-1-1: Lone Star). Moderated by voiceover artist and actor Noveen Crumbie. Part 1 of the Impact24 PR Superblock Panel Series.
Spotlight on Sophie Yanow
Sophie Yanow ( The Contradictions) discusses her Eisner Award-winning autofiction graphic novel about a queer Californian (also named Sophie) who takes a study-abroad semester in Paris. During her time in Europe, she encounters anarchist squats, fixed-gear bicycles, and realizations about the gap between radical political ideals and lived reality.
Afro-Futurism–Black to the Future V: No Jive–Talk Black to Me! (The TED Talk)
For generations, the only scientist of color widely recognized for his accomplishments was George Washington Carver. Hidden within the pages of history are countless scientists, inventors, and explorers from the African Diaspora. Today, the hands that reach toward the stars are melanated. Featuring astronaut Dr. Yvonne Darlene Cagle, M.D. (colonel, U.S. Air Force, Ret., space and life sciences directorate Johnson Space Center) and panelists Dr. Sureshi M. Jayawardene, Ph.D.(associate professor of Africana studies at San Diego State University; assistant director, Digital Humanities), Dr. Lauren Thomas Quigley, Ph.D. (technology curriculum specialist, HackTheHood.Org), Dr. Akilah Weber, M.D.(California State assemblymember, board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist), and Ajani Brown, MFA (lecturer, Africana Studies Department, academic senator, San Diego State University). These distinguished panelists will discuss emerging technologies and discoveries that uniquely impact the Pan-African Diaspora. The Q&A session will be moderated by Jimmy Diggs (screenwriter, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).
Diversity and Comics: Multimodal Media and Comics
Graphic India co-founder and creator, Sharad Devarajan ( Chakra The Invincible, Shadow Tiger, Astra Force, The Legend of Hanuman, Baahubali The Lost Legends) offers an engaging session about globalization, east meets west, the new diversity, and culture in comics and the renaissance of new Indian and global superheroes. Graphic India representatives will also discuss their projects, including the top Indian animated series The Legend of Hanuman on Disney+Hotstar; as well as new comic book projects to be unveiled.
Spotlight on Jim Lee
Comic book artist, writer, publisher, and chief creative officer of DC, Jim Lee (Batman, Superman, Justice League, Suicide Squad) talks about his 25+ years in the comics industry and sketches your favorite characters live on the big screen in this engaging panel. Watch the creative process first-hand and learn the tricks of the trade that bring DC’s characters to life.
Filipinx Voices in Pop Culture
Filipinx/Filipinx-American influences can be found in every facet of pop culture. But have there been times when this culture has been pushed away from representation? Does the general population know how many Filipinx people are behind their favorite media? Alix Catherine (content creator, The Welcome Party) is joined by Earl Baylon (voice actor, Tomb Raider series), Mitch Narito (actor, The Good Place), Andrea A. Walter (film director and cinematographer), Law Sharma (senior content producer, Cinemablend), and JPG (pop-culture consultant, InterMyth) for a fun and educational all-Filipinx panel.
Art from The Holocaust: Art as a Lifeline
David Beck Brown (artist/creator, The Unknown Artist-History Erased), Sandra Scheller (USC Shoah Foundation interviewer), Stephen D. Smith (CEO, StoryFiles), and Heidi S. Straus (USC Shoah Foundation interviewer, Holocaust educator) examine and discuss drawings, illustrations, and graphics made by Holocaust prisoners in the face of potentially mortal consequences. They will discuss such prisoner artists as Horst Rosenthal, Dina Babbitt, and Otto Ungar and offer a special tribute to Neal Adams, creator of the Artist from Auschwitz graphic.
Meet Muslim Comics Creators, Gamers, Cosplayers, and Superfans
Charles 3X Alexander ( We Are Our Ancestors’ Keepers), Kareems Dreams (cosplayer), Margari Hill (MuslimARC executive director), and Naseed Gifted ( P.B. Soldier) discuss what’s happening in the industry, their projects, and their fandom. Moderated by comics editor, writer, and professor Dr. Shamika Mitchell (State University of New York, Rockland/Women in Comics).
Spotlight on the Hernandez Brothers: Love and Rockets 40th Anniversary
Award-winning artists Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez discuss 40 years of creating their iconic comics series. They’ll be joined in conversation by Carol Hernandez (photographer and actress) as they talk comics, the punk scene, and creating art over the decades.
Women on The Dark Side
Whether it’s comic books, films, novels, or art, these women are creating content that connects with the deeper, darker side of all of us. Featuring Sandy King Carpenter (president, Storm King Productions), Anne Toole ( Horizon Zero Dawn), Debbie Smith Daughetee (CEO, Kymera Press), Dr. Suzana Flores ( Untamed: The Psychology of Marvel’s Wovlerine) . Moderated by Susan Lee (founder, Women on The Dark Side).
Behind the Popular Creations: Taiwanese Artist Penguin Noodle
Check out how Penguin Noodle, author of Crispy Fried ABC and a YouTuber who specializes in bizarre and humorous storytelling, transforms the minutiae of life, his personal experiences in the U.S., and has successfully captured the ingredients of popularity in art and created a wildly acclaimed graphic content production channel. He’ll share exclusive experiences, graphic video clips, and methods to create a healthy creative mindset.
Diversity and Inclusion in Comics, TV, Film, Games: What You Can Do
Experts in comics, TV, film, and games share how they got into the industry and how they’ve helped increase representation in their work. Then, panelists and the audience will brainstorm ways in which fans and creators can help increase diversity and inclusion in their fandom and their work. Speakers: Nhut Le (actor, JudoMaster on Peacemaker), Silvia Olivas (co-executive producer & head writer for Disney’s Elena of Avalor and Netflix’s Maya and the Three), Amy Chu (writer, Wonder Woman, DOTA), Lamont Magee (writer/producer, DC/CW Black Lightning, Green Lantern), Joelle Sellner (writer, DC Super Hero Girls, Lego Friends), Cherry Davis (host, Afterbuzz), Patrick Dougall (digital creator, Marvel cosplayer), with moderator Kevin Winston (Digital LA).
Webcomics: The Frontier of LGBTQ Comics
Webcomics have created a whole new platform for LGBTQ comics creators to tell their stories without the costs of printing, publishing, and store distribution. They can be a stepping stone to print comics, television, and film, but the medium has grown extensively in its own right. Webcomics enable writers and artists to create works and characters that speak to specific, diverse LGBTQ communities like never before. Prism Comics moderator Tara Madison Avery (Gooch, We’re Still Here) and webcomics creators The Kao (Mondo Mango, Magical Boy), Viktor Kerney (StrangeLore, MEGASHEEN podcast), Sonya Saturday (The Greatest Thing You’ve Ever Seen in Your Life, A Ninja Dinosaur Christmas), Josh Trujillo (United States of Captain America, Hulkling and Wiccan), and Sophie Yanow (The Contradictions) discuss creating comics for the web, promoting webcomics, and bringing webcomics to print and other media.
Celebrating Indigenous Comic Books and Pop Culture
This panel of Indigenous writers and illustrators celebrates Indigenous comic books! participants include Sonny Chargualaf (Chamorro illustrator from Guam, The Dark Reaches), Aaron Cuffee (co-founder of IndigiPop X, Indigenous Comic Convention), and Mark Nazal (Diwata Komiks), and Dr. Stanley Rodriguez (professor and Kumeyaay expert and tribal member). There will be giveaways! Moderated by Lorran Garrison (school psychologist, Little Brainstorm).
Enhancing Indigenous Storytelling with Comics, Animation, and More
Storytelling in traditional ways has been important to the indigenous peoples of what is now California for thousands of years. These days, Native people also explore new ways and media to enhance and enrich their traditional storytelling. This panel will focus on the Kumeyaay wild cat story as told through traditional songs with bird singer Hunter Nyemil Banagas (Barona Band of Kumeyaay), sculpture by panel moderator Johnny Bear Contreras (San Pasqual Band of Kumeyaay), animation by Malani Navarro (San Pasqual band of Kumeyaay), along with cultural background by Stan Rodriquez (Santa Ysabel band of Kumeyaay), and a look at indigenous traditions in comics from graphic novelist Chag Lowry (Yurok author of graphic novels Soldiers Unknown and My Sisters).
The Rise of the Manga Style in Mexican Comic Books
Adalisa Zárate (artist, Building Blocks), Fers Sanchez (creator, Soulkeepers), and Liz Huerta (illustrator and cosplayer) talk about the rise of the Manga style in Mexico and how it changed the landscape of the Mexican publishing industry in the late 1990s, early 2000s, creating a whole new generation of artists. Moderated by Sebastian M. Finck (host, NerDos Podcast).
The Astonishing Origin of the Deep Fried Universe and the Uncanny Lumpia Wrappers
After an amazing film festival circuit run, the savory, award-winning, independent action-comedy feature Lumpia with a Vengeance (screening separately afterward in Grand 5, Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina) embarks on its next challenging chapter. Patricio Ginelsa (writer/director), Mark Muñoz ( UFC), April Absynth ( Blindspotting), Darion Basco ( The Fabulous Filipino Brothers), Katrina Dimaranan ( Miss Universe Philippines Tourism 2021), Lawrence Iriarte (producer), Edward Baon ( Lumpia), Gerald Pilare (illustrator), Vania Hardy (artist), Patrick Ballesteros (concept artist), and Patrick Michael Strange ( Nerds of Color, ShoPowSho) reveal insider secrets on how representation and community building play a vital role in the future of their film and companion indie comic book series Legendary Lumpia Squad. Includes a free print giveaway by Stephen Segovia. Panel moderated by Winston Emano ( mano Y mano Media).
¡Comics con Comics: En Vivo!
¡Invita a nuestros amigos Rafael Navarro (artista) y Adriana Rodriguez Leon (artista) y otros invitados a reírse con nosotros! Hablaremos de crear cómics y de las alegrías de estar de vuelta en SDCC. Hablaremos de cómo los últimos años han cambiado nuestra forma de crear. Únete a nosotros y ríete.
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