4th Annual Khem Comic Book Fest Returns to Newark With Special Guests

NEWARK, New Jersey – April 10th, 2018 – This Saturday, April 14th, the Khem Comic Book Festival returns to Newark, NJ at Central High School. The annual convention, now in its fourth year, covers a wide array of entertainment, including comics, film, video games, and books. This year the festival will also include a special panel dedicated to Marvel’s Black Panther Movie featuring members of the hit movie’s stunt team Niahlah Hope and Jeremy Sample, as well as Marija Abney who played a member the Dora Milaje. The Black Panther’s All-Female Guard in the record-breaking Marvel film. Tickets can be purchased

I didn’t realize it but artist Shawn Martinbrough is the first African-American to draw regularly for Batman starting in 2000 with Detective comics #742 (written by Greg Ruckas). There’s more I didn’t know, like, how he grew up in the Bronx, or how he went to LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts (the FAME school). I learned most of this new information in a recent TED Talk that Shawn gave at Sydney Harman Hall in Washington, DC. If you’re an artist curious about what it took to get into the business years ago. Definitely check this out.

This is a guest post written by Octavius A. Newman

How many times have you seen Black Panther? Five weeks out and the World of Wakanda is still breaking records! While some have been fans of the Black Panther for years, for others Ryan Coogler’s cinematic adaptation of Marvel Comics’ first Black Superhero will be their first trip to Wakanda. Upon rewatching the movie, I picked up on a few things that I missed during my first viewing. So with that said, here are a few Black Panther insights, comic book references, and Easter eggs that you may have missed.

from official press release

March 20, 2018 – Somos Arte, the studio behind the critically acclaimed La Borinqueña graphic novel, is pleased to announce the publication of RICANSTRUCTION: REMINISCING & REBUILDING PUERTO RICO, a comics anthology created to benefit ongoing relief efforts in Puerto Rico. Conceived and produced by EDGARDO MIRANDA-RODRIGUEZ, Ricanstruction teams up his original character LA BORINQUEÑA with some of the most iconic DC Comics superheroes (used with permission) of all time: Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, Aquaman, The Flash, Harley Quinn, and many others.

The CW’s Black Lightning, the new show based on the DC comic book character of the same name is actually an icon in the comic book world in that Jefferson Pierce was one of the first black comic book characters created by DC comics. I decided to explore 10 more Things You Might Not know about him and his daughters Jennifer and Anissa, ultimately heroes “Thunder” and “Lightning”. Check out the list below and see if you knew all of these:

There’s a lot going on in the world of comcis and superheroes MLK weekend. If you’re in the D.C. area and you can’t make it up to New York to the Black Comic Book Fest in New York or out to San Francisco to BCAF, then I suggest you get over to the DC in D.C. Event  January 12-13 at the Newseum featuring Black Lightning stars Cress Williams (Black Lightning), China Anne McClain (Lightning) and Nafessa Williams (Thunder), Krondon (Tobias Whale) executive producers Salim Akil & Mara Brock Akil and more including Black Girl Nerds founder Jamie Broadnax! There will also be appearances by casts of Supergirl, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and the new Freedom Fighters: The Ray. The events culminate with the world premiere of Black Lightning. Not all events are open to the public however, so read on to get all the details!

Besides Black Panther tickets going on sale this week, the other big news (at least if you’re in the New York area) is the Annual Black Comic Book Festival at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture this Friday and Saturday January 12-13. As usual, there will be vendors, artists, plenty of kids programming, as well as panels all covering everything from African comics, to indie comics and even a special Black Panther Presentation featuring Florence Kasumba, the first member of the Dora Milaje that we met in Marvel’s Captain America: Cilvil War! I also have the honor of moderating a panel at the event as well! To get all of the details and the full schedule read on.

I’m back! Three bouts of laryngitis and one new job later and I am finally back with a new podcast! This week’s guest is Greg Anderson of FuseFX. Greg is the visual effects supervisor for several Marvel properties including Luke Cage (remember that punch scene in s1?), The Punisher (remember that kill Frank made from a mile away in the first episode?) Spiderman and The Black List. Currently, Greg is the highest-ranking African-American visual effects supervisor in North America. (You read that right.)

So if you’ve always wanted to know how they created all those cool superhero effects, this is the podcast for you. And keep an eye out, there will be a youtube version of this interview dropping soon so you can really see what Greg’s team does every day! Don’t forget to comment and subscribe! The podcast is currently available on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud and  Google Play).

Where to find Greg:

FuseFX Website

Facebook: Gregory Anderson

IG: @gregoryanderson

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