Here is our list of panels featuring diverse and often marginalized voices happening on Wednesday and Thursday at San Diego Comic-Con 2023. In this list, you will also find panels that focus on education and supporting books in libraries and schools that are written by marginalized communities.

Comic-Con International, also known as San Diego Comic-Con, celebrates diversity and inclusion, both in terms of its attendees and its programming. This year, the convention is continuing that tradition with a number of panels featuring diverse voices. These panels will explore a wide range of topics, from the representation of marginalized groups in pop culture to the importance of diversity in the entertainment industry.

If we missed your panel and want us to include it email info@templeofgeek.com. Check back often for updates.

List of Panels with Diverse Voices

Wednesday (Preview Night) Panels at San Diego Comic-Con 2023

Preview night programming is often overlooked. Here is our list of panels for Wednesday at San Diego Comic-Con 2023.

• Teaching and Learning with Comics: An Interactive Workshop

Wednesday, July 19, 2023, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm PDT
Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library

This is the hands-on workshop for anyone looking to use comics in a classroom. Peter Carlson (Green Dot Public Schools), Susan Kirtley (Portland State University), and Antero Garcia (Stanford University) guide educators in curating powerful classroom curriculums, from mini-lessons to complete units, that incorporate the medium of comics. Participants engage in all new activities that model how to develop superhero readers and writers in K-12 classrooms.

Thursday Panels at San Diego Comic-Con 2023

Here is our list of panels for Thursday at San Diego Comic-Con 2023.

• Libraries and the Challenges They Face in 2023

Thursday July 20, 2023 10:00am – 11:00am PDT
Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library

Think working in a library is easy? The truth is libraries are facing unprecedented upheavals in 2023 including an astronomical rise in challenges to books and programs, threats to staff and patron safety, calls from legislators to pull library funding, and much more, mostly in an effort to prevent libraries from representing marginalized communities. Moderator Betsy Gomez (Office of Intellectual Freedom) will provide ripped-from-headlines topics for panelists Moni Barrette (president, GNCRT; co-founder, Creators Assemble!), Mychal Threets (supervising librarian, Solano County Library), Xaime Aceves Equihua (associate therapist), and Jack Phoenix (collection development manager, Cuyahoga Falls Library; author, Maximizing the Impact of Comics in Your Library) to discuss what is happening, why, how library workers can protect the freedom to read, and how the public can help.

• Women Artists in the Rise of New Technology

Thursday July 20, 2023 10:00am – 11:00am PDT
Omni Hotel, Omni Grand Ballroom DE, 4th Floor

GirlsDrawinGirls members discuss the current state of entertainment art in the rise of AI-generated images. Panelists include Tricia Buchanan-Benson (Star Wars collectible art), Danni Shinya-Luo (renowned illustrator), Asher Benson (renowned illustrator) Karina Gazizova (WB director and storyboard artist), Aisling Harbert-Phillips (lead compositor Marvel Studios). Moderated by Melody Severns (artist, The Simpsons).

• Ms. Marvel and the Power of Representation

Thursday July 20, 2023 10:30am – 11:30am PDT
Room 29CD

Superhero and science fiction stories have long inspired young adults to become scientists, engineers, and STEM professionals. But often the stories have lacked diversity and inclusion. Ms. Marvel makes strides toward showing representation. Show creators and scientists Ana Maria Porras, Ph.D., Chante Summers, Kay Savagee and Sydney Hamilton explore how Ms. Marvel could change the worldview and what’s possible for the next generation of scientists and engineers.

• 4th Annual Hollywood Game Changers: A Conversation with the Women Behind Popular Film and TV Projects

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm PDT
Room 7AB

“Hollywood Game Changers” is back with a powerhouse of women leading the charge behind your favorite film and television projects. Featuring makeup department head Alisha L. Baijounas (Abbott Elementary), hair department head Jaala Leis Wanless (Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies), production designer Sara K. White (Swarm), voiceover artist and actor Queen Noveen, costume designer Rafaella Rabinovich (The Imperfects), and editor Maura Corey (Kevin Can F*** Himself). Moderated by journalist and staff writer at io9 Gizmodo, Sabina Graves. Part 1 of Impact24 PR’s Panel Superblock.

• @SuperheroIRL: Mental Health and Changing the World with Comics

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm PDT
Room 29AB

@SuperheroIR hosts a panel that delves into the realm of women and violence in comic books. Panelists will explore how current trends have reshaped the portrayal of female characters, highlighting their journey from victims to victors. Writers Shawna Benson and Julie Benson, Dr. Britanni Oliver Sillas Navarro, Natasha Lee (Sony Studios), Sonya Saturday (The Greatest Thing You’ve Ever Seen in Your Life), Ajuan Mance (Drawing Power), and Lorran Garrison (Little Brainstorm) will dissect recent groundbreaking works that have challenged traditional narratives and paved the way for stronger, multidimensional female protagonists. They’ll examine how these comics have redefined violence as a tool for empowerment and storytelling, fostering inclusivity and representing diverse experiences. There will be giveaways.

• Spotlight on Mariko Tamaki

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm PDT
Room 32AB

Eisner, Ignatz, Printz, and GLAAD award–winning author Mariko Tamaki has written comics about everything from mainstream superheroes to turbulent teens. She is also the curator of Abrams’ LGBTQIA+ imprint, Surely Books. Her upcoming graphic novel with co-creator Jillian Tamaki, Roaming, will be on bookshelves this fall. Join Mariko and Kat Calamia (Reed Pop’s Popverse; creator of Bi Visibility: A Bisexual Comic Anthology and WEBTOON’s Slice of Life) for a one-on-one interview and Q&A session.

• Spotlight on Ricardo Caté

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 11:30 am – 12:30 pm PDT
Room 4

Meet Ricardo Caté, the most prominent Native American cartoonist working today. His popular cartoon Without Reservations is published daily in the Santa Fe New Mexican and Taos News and explores the irony and poignant humor found in the Native American experience of living in dominant culture. In addition to being a cartoonist, Caté is also an activist, stand-up comedian, writer, teacher, veteran, former college athlete, tribal official, four-time Dakota Access Pipeline protester at Standing Rock, and filmmaker. Ricardo follows the ways of his Kewa Pueblo heritage and teaches on the reservation.

• Defending Comics Today: Anti-Drag Laws and the Freedom to Cosplay

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm PDT
Room 11

How might new laws aimed at banning drag performances affect cosplay and geek fashion? Professor Susan Scafidi (founder of the Fashion Law Institute) and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s interim director Jeff Trexler discuss the latest news in anti-drag legislation and what it means for fandom.

• fREADom Fighters on the Front Lines: Advocating Against Book Bans

Thursday, July 20, 2023 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm PDT
Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library

Amanda Lorge (SDPL Adult Programming Librarian, primary source literacy instructor), Joel Bakker (SDPL librarian, Educators Unite! chair), and Helen Schalk (SDPL youth service librarian) provide examples of visual literacy education and Banned Books Week programming to spread awareness about the importance of comics and graphic novels in libraries in the wake of rising bans on comics and graphic materials.

• Indigenous Futurisms: Transcending Past/Present/Future

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm PDT
Grand 12 & 13, Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina

• Art from the Holocaust: The Tattoo 

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Room 32AB
Ben Midler (Auschwitz Holocaust survivor), Karin Babbitt (daughter of Dina Babbitt, the portrait artist of Auschwitz), Edmundo Godinez (graphic artist), and Sandra Scheller (Art From the Holocaust creator and daughter of an Auschwitz survivor) will focus on graphics and comics showing the tattoo branded on prisoners in Auschwitz along with personal stories about Auschwitz tattoos. Moderated by Matt Dunford (chairman of San Diego Comic Fest) followed by a Q&A.

• Change the Ref: Activism Through Fandom

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm PDT
Room 7AB

Manuel Oliver, the father of Joaquin “Guac” Oliver, one of 17 victims of the horrific Stonemason Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, FL, founded the organization Change the Ref to amplify and support tomorrow’s leaders today. Oliver makes his first appearance at this year’s Comic-Con to introduce a collectible made to both immortalize his son and raise further awareness around the incredible need for gun reform and an end to violence and suffering. Longtime pop culture personality and journalist Ryan J. Downey leads a discussion with Oliver, Black Mask publisher and founder Matteo Pizzolo, Public Enemy co-founder Chuck D, and others to discuss how to turn art into action and inspire change from the floor of Comic-Con to the floor of Congress.

• Queer Anti-heroes

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm PDT
Room 28DE

Tina Horn (SfSx), Sina Grace (Superman: Harvest of Youth), Josh Trujillo (Blue Beetle), Robyn Warren (Geek Girl Strong), and Jazzlyn Stone (freelance marketer) discuss how creators portray complex and flawed LGBTQIA+ characters without falling into harmful tropes, and explore what it means to be a fan of queer anti-heroes.

• Salaam Fandom! Muslim Futurism, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy

• Coming Together: Honoring AANHPI Voices in Pop Culture

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm PDT
Grand 10 & 11, Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina

Unearth the profound impact of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander representation in pop culture in this panel discussion. Moderators Ariel Landrum (therapist) and Stefanie Bautista (educator), along with panelists Earl Baylon (actor and producer), Thien Pham (graphic novelist and teacher), Lorran Garrison (school psychologist), and Jessica Tseang (comic historian), share their personal stories of promoting AANHPI representation in their work and celebrate recent films and animation that have championed these diverse voices.

• Transgender and Nonbinary Stories in Comics: Past, Present, and Future

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm PDT
Room 9

In recent years, transgender and nonbinary comic readers have been fortunate enough to find stories that reflect their own experiences. However, all over the country comics by trans creators are being banned by culturally conservative authorities, and harsh legal measures threaten the rights and well-being of trans and nonbinary Americans themselves. Join Prism Comics and moderator Tara Madison Avery (We’re Still Here, The Transgender Heroes Coloring Book) and panelists Sonya Saturday (The Greatest Thing You’ve Ever Seen in Your Life, J.K. Rowling and the Ungrateful Fans), Maddie Jacobus (The Out Side, Bummer Corp), A. C. Esguerra (Eighty Days), Kristen Enos (Berserker, Active Voice), Rebecca Kaplan (The Beat, Prism Comics Board Member), and Gaia WXYZ (We Belong) for a lively discussion of these and other questions.

• Won’t Back Down Preview: Comics for Reproductive Rights

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm PDT
Room 28DE

• Telling Our Stories: Making LGBTQIA+ Comic Anthologies

Michele Abounader (The Color of Always, Sharp Wit & the Company of Women), Liana Kangas (Know Your Station, Trve Kvlt), Jazzlyn Stone (Trve Kvlt, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts 40×40), Tilly Bridges (The Color of Always, Begin Transmission: The Trans Allegories of The Matrix), and Kat Calamia (Bi Visibility, Slice of Life) explore the process of creating LGBTQIA+ comic anthologies with LGBTQIA+ creators, highlighting and encouraging authentic stories and voices within the community. They will discuss the planning and creation of crowdfunded anthologies and the importance of allowing creators to tell their own stories without sanitizing the content or messaging.

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm PDT
Room 9

• Gay Geeks and Where to Find Them

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm PDT
Room 26AB

Josh Trujillo (writer, Blue Beetle: Graduation Day), David Booher (writer, Canto, Killer Queens), Ted Biaselli (television producer, toy collector), Chrissy Lynn (cosplayer, stylist, hair/makeup artist), Ember Vain (drag queen), and Jordan Blaza Olsen (cosplayer, performer), gather to discuss how to turn your favorite geeky fandom’s into flourishing careers, the challenges, and rewards of growing up LGBTQIA+, seeking diversity and representation, and how being a member of the community influenced their work. Moderated by Julian Jetson (stylist and host).

• MENA Representation in Arts and Entertainment

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm PDT
Room 10

The conversation surrounding the importance of representation in Western media has often overlooked the Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) communities. Fortunately, there has been a growing MENA American presence in various forms of arts and entertainment over the last few years, and it’s time for that to be both discussed and celebrated. This panel is hosted by Paul Zecharia (actor/filmmaker) and features Kristina Giblin (animator), Yas Modares Ghasiri (actor/writer), Esraa Darwish (assistant director), Sarah Mohand-Saïd (illustrator), Kaveh Taherian (illustrator), and Sarah Fatemi (comedian) as they share their experiences and challenges working in their respective fields as well as what more could be done for MENA representation.

• Spirituality in Pop Culture

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm PDT
Room 29CD

Religious and spiritual ideas abound in pop culture. Through stories, humans relate to others and find, define, or even redefine their place in the world. Rev. Brian Weis (interfaith minister, pop culture blogger) Dr. Marty Lloyd (The Joker Psychology, Westworld Psychology), Ruby Villaluz Boyden (music educator, occasional superhero), Allison Lehr (singer, actress, cosplayer), Tony B. Kim (Hero Within), and Sebastian A. Jones (president of Stranger Comics) delves into spiritual themes from a variety of traditions and discusses how comic books, films, television shows, and more use such themes so that both religious and non-religious people find meaning and motivation.

Fil-Am Diaspora in Pop Culture

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm PDT
Room 23ABC

The Philippine Diaspora experience has been intertwined with popular media and entertainment for generations; influencers can be found in every facet and corner of pop culture. But have there been times when the culture has been pushed away from representation, or does the general population know how many Fil-Am creators are behind their favorite media? Alix Catherine (host, The Welcome Party), Law Sharma (producer and entertainment journalist), Mitch Narito (actor, The Good Place), Danice Cabanela (actress and co-founder, Filipinx Actors Barkada), Joy Gordo (casting producer, Studio Lambert), and Jason Patrick Galit (JPG) (content creation consultant, InterMyth) come together for a lively and educational panel featuring Fil-Am talent, covering topics like unique industry struggles, content creation, and how they can bridge understanding with their unique backgrounds and experiences.

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