Get ready for the 6th Annual Black Comic Book Festival, Friday and Saturday, January 12-13 at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Black Panther Star Florence Kasumba will be joining the lineup!
The Schomburg’s Annual Black Comic Book Festival celebrates “the rich tradition of Black comix featuring panel discussions, film screenings, a cosplay show and competition, and exhibit tables with premiere Black comic creators from across the country. The annual extravaganza, which drew close to 12,000 attendees in 2017, connects comic readers, creators, bloggers, nerds, independent publishers, and collectors of all ages.”
This year’s highlights will include panels and discussion on topics including diversity and social justice in comics, black comics in digital spaces, black masculinity in comic books, and more. The festival will feature exclusive content from Black Panther: Soul of a Machine, a graphic novel created by Lexus and Marvel.
And just announced ~ Florence Kasumba, who plays “Ayo” in the highly anticipated film Black Panther, will join the lineup of creators, illustrators, writers and characters at the Schomburg Center’s 6th Annual Black Comic Book Festival on January 12 and 13.
Kasumba will join Schomburg Director Kevin Young for a sneak peek of exclusive content from the film, a one-on-one discussion, and the “Black Panther: A Hero and A Movement” panel exploring the context, impact, and legacy of Black Panther as a ground-breaking character and a social-political movement.
There will also be new offerings including a limited edition 6th anniversary program book, festival t-shirts, and the opportunity to donate samples of your comics to the Schomburg Library’s Comic Book Archive.
Schedule for Friday and Saturday will be as follows:
FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2018
10:00AM – 8:00PM
10:00AM | All Locations
Exhibitor Tables Open to the Public
10:00AM – 10:15AM | Langston Hughes Auditorium
Welcome to Day 1
10:15AM – 12:30PM | Langston Hughes Auditorium
Youth Program: Heroes of Color & Super Kids!
*Free books for kids! (Donations from Scholastic in progress + 2 boxes from last year)
- Part 1: 10:15AM-10:45AMScreening of Heroes of Color Animated ShortsPresented by David Heredia
- Part 2: 10:45AM-12:30PMSuper Kids! Panel Presentation
1:30PM – 2:45PM
Black Characters Matter: Social Justice and Representation in Comics
3:30PM-5:00PM
Digging Through the Crates: Chronicling Black Comics Culture
6:00PM-8:00PM
Black Panther: Soul of the Machine Panel
Presented by Lexus
SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 2018
10:00AM to 7:00PM
10:00AM | All Locations
Exhibitor Tables Open to the Public
10:00AM – 10:15AM | Langston Hughes Auditorium
Welcome to Day 2
10:15AM – 11:15AM
Film Screening: White Scripts and Black Supermen
Black Masculinities in Comic Books by Jonathan Gayles
11:30AM – 12:45PM
Panel on Comics and the African Diaspora
1:45PM – 2:45PM
Reimagining the Past: Historical Fiction and Alternative Histories
3:00PM – 3:30PM
Cosplay Showcase and Competition
3:45PM – 4:45 PM
The Brown Universe: Diversity in Comics
5:00PM – 5:45 PM
KickStarter Workshop
5:45PM – 6:45 PM
Black Comics and the Digital Community: How Black Geekdom has taken over the Worlds of Social Media
*Festival program subject to change
The event will be located at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a research unit of The New York Public Library, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard, at 135th Street in Harlem. The 6th Annual Black Comic Book Festival is presented by festival co-founders Jerry Craft (Mama’s Boyz), John Jennings (Black Kirby /University of California-Riverside), Deirdre Hollman (Black Comics Collective), and Jonathan Gayles (White Scripts and Black Supermen /Georgia State University), and with generous support from Lexus.
This is a Free Event, however Registration is required. Better hurry!