Friday looks busy, looks to have multiple interesting panels at the same time, and includes a couple of things that look … yeah. We’ll talk.

Friday
The Power Of Nonfiction Graphic Novels
10:00am — 11:00am, Room 32AB
Thi Bui, Abby Howard, Alex Irvine, Clifford Johnson, and Peter Tomasi in conversation with Travis Langley.

The Black Panel
10:00am — 11:30am, Room 5AB
Okay, there’s some interesting people on this one, but I think they may need to get a bigger room because GEORGE MUTHASCRATCHIN’ CLINTON will be there. He’s gonna bring THE FUNK.

Graphic Novels: From Eisner To Explosion!
10:30am — 11:30am, Room 24ABC
And overlapping with the previous two, Scott McCloud, Jeff Smith, and Emil Ferris on the evolution of the graphic novel and what the future holds with moderator Paul Levitz. Have fun running back and forth.

Comic Book Law School 202: “Someone Just Made Me An Offer. Should I Refuse?”
10:30am — 12:00pm, Room 11
Second session, pure crack for geeky lawyers and wannalawyers.

Publishers Weekly: Crowdfunding Ethics And Evolution
11:00am — 12:00pm, Room 28DE
I don’t believe I’ve seen a discussion of crowdfunding ethics before. This could be interesting. Calvin Reid, Kel McDonald, Josh O’Neil, and attorney Jeff Trexler, with Camilla Zhang from Kickstarter.

Girl Power Comics: Middle-Grade Fiction For Girls (And Boys)
12:00pm — 1:00pm, Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library
Or I could just stay at the library all day. Gigi DG, Molly Knox Ostertag, Yehudi Mercado, and Jennifer and Matt Holm.

Autobiography In Graphic Novels
3:00pm — 4:00pm, Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library
Still at the library: Raina Telgemeier, Jarrett J Krosoczka, and Tillie Walden.

Spotlight On Jen Wang
3:00pm — 4:00pm, Room 9
While I’m on record that there were issues with The Prince And The Dressmaker, Jen Wang remains one of the best graphic novelists out there. Ask me how much I love Koko Be Good; go ahead, ask me! In discussion with Cecil Castellucci.

LGBTQ Graphic Novels
4:00pm — 5:00pm, Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library
Library again, with Aminder Dhaliwal, Molly Knox Ostertag, and Ivy Noelle Weir.

Handling Challenges: Bans And Challenges To Comics
5:00pm — 6:00pm, Shiley Special Events Suite, San Diego Central Library
Library again, and maybe your only chance to hear from Gina Gagliano before she remakes the industry. Also featuring Judd Winick, Charles Kochman (editorial director, Abrams ComicArts), Candice Mack (teen services manager, Los Angeles Public Library), and David Saylor (VP/creative director/trade publishing/editorial director, Graphix).

The State Of The Industry: Animation Superstars
5:00pm — 6:00pm, Room 28DE
With all the shakeups going on in animation right now, particularly with all the women stating that they’ve had it with the shit they’ve put up with for too godsdamned long, I half expect to see a mob forming after this panel, demanding the industry do better. ‘Bout time, too. Includes Brooke Keesling (animation talent recruiter; director of communications and culture at The Animation Guild), Dave Thomas (not the Wendy’s guy, he’s dead), Katie Rice (John K nemesis, and good on her), Jorge Gutiérrez, and Ashley Long.

Best And Worst Manga Of 2018
6:00pm — 7:00pm, Room 4
A couple of my favorite people are on this one: Brigid Alverson and Christopher Butcher, along with Zac Bertschy and Deb Aoki.

Creator Origins: A Candid Conversation On How It All Began
6:00pm — 7:00pm, Room 9
C Spike Trotman sighting #3, along with Matt Kolowski and Kiersten Wing (from comiXology), Tim Seeley, Mike Norton, Sam Humphries, Alti Firmansyah, Magdalene Visaggio, Mark Sable, and Kristian Donaldson.

The Passage
6:00pm — 7:00pm, Room 6A
I have no idea what this about, but it says Mark-Paul Gosselaar will be there, and I’ll pay you a dollar if you ask him what he thinks of Zach Morris Is Trash.

#METOO To #TIMESUP: An Action Summit For Comics
6:30pm — 7:30pm, Room 8
Amy Chu, Sarah Gaydos, Taneka Stotts, Lilah Sturges, Aminder Dhaliwal, Pia Guerra, and Joan Hilty are, I suspect, going to give zero fucks and plenty of damns. Those wanting comics to revert to being by, about, and for straight white dudes approach at your own risk.

Breaking In And Monetizing Your Comics With Webtoon
7:00pm — 8:00pm, Room 4
I am deeply conflicted about Webtoon. I’m not sure I can articulate why. The fact that they promote a creators contest (never a good sign) in the description for this session is one reason. The focus on monetization from the beginning, instead of building good work, is another. Your mileage may vary.

Web Comics: The Four Panel Frontier
8:00pm — 9:00pm, Room 29AB
Searching for Alan Truong produces many results for a lawyer in British Columbia, an internist in New York, a choreographer, about ten or twelve other unrelated people, and eventually a guy who hired a PR firm to announce he’d been doing a twice-weekly strip for five years, and referred to himself unironically as Creator and Chief Officer. JR Gervais shows up as a client of A fully licensed management and PR company and with a single issue credit at Comic Vine and another single issue at comiXology. I can’t find evidence of either of them exhibiting at the show either. So maybe take their advice with a grain of salt as they (quoting here) take you through their 20-year overnight success and offer their insight into the limitless potential of this new-old medium.

Spam of the day:

Would you like 5,000 visitors coming to your website in one week?
These are people interested in your business category.
High quality website traffic at an affordable price.

Man, I’ve got traffic. My Project Wonderful balance after having ad boxes up for a dozen years reaches to nearly three hundred dollars. Woo, rolling in it!