Dark Horse announces Wizard World Portland schedule

Dark Horse Comics has their usual assortment of signings and panels scheduled for the Portland Con, and something new with a photo booth where you can get some souvenir snaps for free.

Who wouldn’t want to take a photo in something called a Happymatic Photo Booth? I mean seriously, if something screams ‘good time’ it’s that. All you need to do to get a free pic, is stop past the Dark Horse booth  with your friends or in costume (as whatever) and you can get a free shot. And you’re going to want to stop by pretty often from the sound of the slate that the company has planned.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer highlights things, it is her birthday after all, though there are plenty more properties that’ll be part of the festivities. Mass Effect, Plants vs Zombies, and Prometheus will all be in attendance for various panels and signings, as well as new IP’s like Lady Killer and Colder.

Should be another great show all-around; Wizard World Portland kicks off tomorrow (January 23rd) and wraps up this Sunday, the 25th.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Certain restrictions may apply. All events are subject to change.

SIGNINGS

Below are featured comics and the writers and artists who will be signing them. Free comics, prints, or posters will be available at each signing while supplies last. Comics will also be available for sale (availability pending).

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23

6:00 p.m.–6:50 p.m. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL & FAITH Christos Gage, Rebekah Isaacs

SATURDAY, JANUARY 24

10:30 a.m.–11:15 a.m. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL & FAITH Christos Gage, Rebekah Isaacs

12:00 p.m.–12:50 p.m. MASS EFFECT Jeremy Barlow

2:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m. LADY KILLER Joëlle Jones, Jamie S. Rich

3:45 p.m.–4:30 p.m.  MISFITS OF AVALON Kel McDonald

SUNDAY, JANUARY 25

12:00 p.m.–12:50 p.m. PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES Jeremy Vanhoozer (franchise creative director at PopCap Games), Paul Tobin, Ron Chan

1:00 p.m.–1:50 p.m. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL & FAITH Christos Gage, Rebekah Isaacs

2:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m. BANDETTE, COLDER, PROMETHEUS, THE WITCHER Paul Tobin, Colleen Coover (Bandette)

PANELS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 23

Getting Respect: Comics Go to College with Dark Horse’s Diana Schutz, Too Much Coffee Man’s Shannon Wheeler, PSU’s Susan Kirtley, and PSU’s Jon Holt

Room: C120
Time: 6:30 p.m.–7:15 p.m.
Comics and graphic novels have come into their own as subjects worthy of—indeed, demanding—attention from academia. Historians and cultural theorists teach courses, hold conferences, and publish books on various aspects of sequential art, and colleges and universities teach courses in comics as literature and social history as well as how to make them. Here to give an overview of various ideas about and approaches to comics studies are a cross section of comics scholars and teachers, including Diana Schutz (longtime Dark Horse executive editor and instructor at Portland Community College), Shannon Wheeler (creator of Too Much Coffee Man and instructor at Portland State College of the Arts), Susan Kirtley (director of rhetoric and composition at Portland State University; author of Lynda Barry: Girlhood through the Looking Glass), and Jon Holt (assistant professor of Japanese literature and manga at Portland State University). The panel is moderated by Danny Fingeroth (Superman on the Couch, Disguised as Clark Kent).

SATURDAY, JANUARY 24

Buffy Birthday Party!

Room: C120
Time: 1:30 p.m.–2:15 p.m.
Dark Horse Comics is hosting a party celebrating Buffy Summers’s birthday (just a bit belatedly—her birthday is January 19)! At this special panel, there will be Buffy trivia, Buffy “Hush” Pictionary, and more—fun times with PRIZES! Plus, find out what it’s like to continue the Whedonverse in comics with Dark Horse editor Sierra Hahn, writer Christos Gage, and artist Rebekah Isaacs! Happy birthday, Buffy!

Dark Horse Manga: An Afternoon with Carl Horn
Room: C123
Time: 2:30 p.m.–3:15 p.m.
Dark Horse’s history with Japanese comics can be traced back to the company’s earliest years, with a legacy that includes such legendary series as Oh My Goddess!, Lone Wolf and Cub, Berserk, and many more! Today the publisher continues to print some of the industry’s best-selling titles, including Neon Genesis Evangelion, Oreimo: Kuroneko, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Satoshi Kon’s Opus, Unofficial Hatsune Mix(as seen on David Letterman), and the works of the creative powerhouse CLAMP. Join Dark Horse’s resident manga guru and editor extraordinaire, Carl Horn, for a look at the past, present, and future of manga at Dark Horse!

Dark Horse Builds Characters
Room: C120
Time: 4:30 p.m.–5:15 p.m.
Dark Horse Comics kicks off 2015 at Wizard World, right here in Portland! Join Dark Horse president and publisher Mike Richardson, editor in chief Scott Allie, publicist Aub Driver, and special guests for a sneak peek at some of the year’s most newsworthy comics and programs, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Archie vs. Predator, The Strain, and more!

SUNDAY, JANUARY 25

Plants vs. Zombies!
Room: C120

Time: 1:30 p.m.–2:15 p.m.

Ready your PEASHOOTERS! Dark Horse Comics brought you the official Plants vs. Zombies comic series as well as The Art of Plants vs. Zombies, released in a partnership with PopCap Games, creators of the smash-hit video game. Now meet some of the people behind these hilarious, all-ages, action-filled zombie romps—Jeremy Vanhoozer, creative director of Plants vs. Zombies at PopCap; Paul Tobin, PVZ writer; PVZ artist Ron Chan; and Dark Horse PVZ editor Philip Simon!