7/17: John Romita, Jr. in New York, NY
Illustrator John Romita, Jr. will be signing copies of the recently released Superman #32 on Thursday, July 17 from 6–8pm at Midtown Comics Downtown in New York, New York. After a decades-long stint working for Marvel Comics, Romita, Jr. is making his DC debut, working alongside writer and DC chief creative officer Goeff Johns and illustrator Klaus Janson. The new creative team promises to take the Man of Steel in a bold new direction, beginning with a story centered around an interstellar orphan whose life mirrors that of Superman's. This event is free. Midtown Comics Downtown is located at 64 Fulton St., New York, NY 10038.
7/18: Bryan Lee O'Malley in Portland, OR
To celebrate the release of his new graphic novel, Seconds (Ballantine), cartoonist Bryan Lee O'Malley will be signing copies of the book on Friday, July 18 at 7:30pm at Powell's City of Books on Burnside in Portland, Oregon. Seconds, O'Malley's first major work since the bestselling Scott Pilgrim series, follows the tribulations of Katie, a young and restless restaurateur whose given a chance to undo her past mistakes. This event is free. Powell's City of Books on Burnside is located at 10005 W. Burnside St., Portland, OR 97209.
7/18–7/20: The International Graphic Novel and Comics Conference in London, U.K.
As part of the Comics Unmasked exhibition, the fifth annual International Graphic Novel and Comics Conference is taking place from Friday, July 18 through Sunday July 20 at the Conference Centre at the British Library in London, United Kingdom. The three-day event hosts a number of comic book creators and scholars enagaging in talks and panels about comic book creation and the industry at large. Speakers include Paul Gravett, Pascal Lefèvre, Scott Bukatman, Mike Carey, and Dave Baillie. Panels topics include "Creators, Art, Business," "New Directions in Asian Comics," "Producing a Long-Running Series," "Intertextuality and Postmodernism," "Subverting East/West Ideologies," "Political Dissent: Testimony, Reporting," "Rebel Girls," "Experiments in Narration," and "Producing Cultural Values." General admission is £85, £70 for 609 and over. The Conference Centre at the British Library is located at 96 Euston Rd., London NE1 2DB, United Kingdom.
7/19: Steve Lafler in San Francisco, CA
Join cartoonist Steve Lafler as he marks the release of his new comic, Death in Oaxaca (Alternative) on Saturday, July 19 at 5:30pm at Mission: Comics & Art in San Francisco, California. The series, which will run six issues, takes a surreal look at various fictional residents of Oaxaca, Mexico including lucha libre wrestlers, a blood-averse vampire, and a pair of ex-pats having a mid-life crisis. This event is free. Mission: Comics & Art is located at 3520 20th St. Suite B, San Francisco, CA 94110.
