SDCC ’25: Dark Horse packs in panels for Might & Magic, Resident Alien, legend Frank Miller and more

Dark Horse is spotlighting some of the biggest titles in its stable at SDCC 2025. We’ve got the full list of star-studded panels.

Panels galore

This morning we filled you in on the massive list of signings that Dark Horse Comics is planning to hold at its booth this SDCC. But that’s not even close to the full set of events that the publisher will be putting on. To go along with all those autograph sessions, there’s an almost equally impressive collection of panels coming.

Those will cover a ridiculous amount of topics, from individual titles to general topics like Manga, digital comics, and even actors who’ve turned into comics scribes. Big industry names will be highlighted for their own panels as well, with Kevin Smith and the legendary Frank Miller both scheduled.

Scroll down for the full list of what DHC will have on tap, plus locations, times, and dates.

DARK HORSE SDCC PANEL SCHEDULE

Please join us at the panels below, brought to you by Dark Horse Comics and friends! Please visit https://comiccon2025.sched.com/list/descriptions for more panels featuring Dark Horse creators and guidelines for attending panels.

Dark Horse Comics press release

THURSDAY, JULY 24

• True Crime, True Terror with Dark Horse Comics
  • 12:00pm – 1:00pm
  • Room 25ABC
  • From the true tales of Ed Gein and Fredric Wertham to stories of battling demons (within and without), storytellers gather to discuss what makes these types of stories so interesting to explore and what truly haunts us. Featuring David Dastmalchian (Count Crowley, Late Night with the Devil), Eric Powell (Dr. Werthless, Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done), Harold Schechter (Dr. Werthless, Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done), Leah Kilpatrick (Headless Horseman Annual), Soo Lee (Carmilla: The First Vampire, The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos), and David Ian McKendry (Barstow, All the Creatures Were Stirring).
  • Moderated by Rebekah McKendry (Barstow, Tales of Halloween).
• Minor Threats: A Roundtable with Patton Oswalt and Friends
  • 2:00pm – 3:00pm
  • Room 6DE
  • Come be a (bar)fly on the wall as Minor Threats co-creators Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, and others discuss the C-list villains and henchpeople that populate the world of Minor Threats and share a peek at what’s coming next. Additional panelists include collaborators Heath Corson, Gerry Duggan, Soo Lee, Hannah Rose May, Dan Hernandez, J.M. DeMatteis, and Timmy Heague. Moderated by Cara O’Neil (VP marketing, Dark Horse Comics).
• From Page to Pixel: Legendary Comics for a New Generation on WEBTOON
  • 10:00am – 11:00am
  • Room 28DE
  • WEBTOON and panelists from IDW, Dark Horse, and Saturday AM explore how legendary publishers are redefining iconic stories for the digital age. Featuring Quinn Sonsa-Spears (WEBTOON executive producer), Ethan LeBlanc (WEBTOON managing editor), Bixie Mathieu (IDW associate editor), Cara O’Neil (Dark Horse Comics VP of marketing), Whyt Manga (Saturday AM co-owner and creator), and moderated by Borys Kit (writer, The Hollywood Reporter).
• Neon Ichiban: The Future of Digital Comics and Manga
  • 3:00pm – 4:00pm
  • Room 25ABC
  • Discover Neon Ichiban, a new all-in-one digital comics and manga hub from Comixology vets David Steinberger and Chip Mosher. Launching with a stellar lineup of publishers (Dark Horse Comics, DC, DSTLRY, Kodansha, Marvel Comics, Oni Press, Vault Comics) and more to be announced, Neon Ichiban lets fans read, buy, sell, and collect digital comics like never before. This panel offers a first look at key features, including same-day releases, limited digital collectibles, re-sellable digital comics, and Neon Ichiban’s exclusive remarques technology, where creators can sign and sketch on your digital comics.
• How the Newest Generation of Comics Creators Are Breaking into the Industry
  • 5:00pm – 6:00pm
  • Room 32AB
  • The writers and artists of some of Marvel, DC, Image, and Dark Horse Comics’ freshest breakout titles talk about how the newest generation of comic creators broke into the industry. Featuring Chris Condon (Ultimate Wolverine, Green Arrow), Tate Brombal (Green Lantern Dark, Batgirl), Soo Lee (Maleficent, Cheetra, Carmila), Julio Anta (Blue Beetle, Frontera), and Jacoby Salcedo (Blue Beetle, It’s Only Teenage Wasteland).
  • Moderated by BOOM! Studios editor Ramiro Portnoy.
• Manga Publishing Industry Roundtable
  • 5:00pm – 6:00pm
  • Room 29AB
  • Manga is one of the top-selling book categories in North America. Today, there are more manga and webtoons available in print and digital than ever, and more companies are entering the scene. But what are the opportunities and obstacles facing publishers today? Get a taste of what’s hot, what’s not, and what’s next from top publishing industry pros, including Hope Donovan (editorial director, VIZ Media), Sullivan Rouaud (founder, Mangetsu), Shuichi Mochida (COAMIX, Silent Manga Audition), Ben Applegate (director, publishing services, Penguin Random House), Morgan Perry (marketing manager, book publishing, Square Enix America), Ed Chavez (president and editor-in-chief, Denpa Books), and Michael Gombos (senior director of licensed publications, Dark Horse).
  • Moderated by Deb Aoki (Mangasplaining).

FRIDAY, JULY 25

• Death Strikes: An Opera Survives WWII and Comes to Comics
  • 5:00pm – 6:00pm
  • Room 4
  • In 1943, two prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp wrote a sci-fi/fantasy opera that imagines Death going on strike to protest a dictator’s forever wars. Eighty years later, Berger Books/Dark Horse published the acclaimed graphic novel adaptation Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis. In this musical panel, creators Dave Maass (writer) and Patrick Lay (illustrator), violinist Adam Millstein (Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices), pianist Sebastian Chang, and singers from the University of Colorado Boulder will discuss the process of turning this remarkable composition into a graphic novel and then back again into a staged, comic-inspired opera production with the Louisville Orchestra. There will be exclusive video and even live vocal performances!
• Resident Alien Season 4 Panel
  • 10:00am – 11:00am
  • Ballroom 20
  • Go behind the scenes with showrunner/executive producer Chris Sheridan and stars Alan Tudyk, Sara Tomko, Corey Reynolds, and Alice Wetterlund from the fan-favorite series Resident Alien. Based on the Dark Horse comic of the same name, the comedy sci-fi series is currently in its fourth season and follows an alien who has crash-landed on Earth and hides in a remote Colorado mountain town, assuming the identity of the town doctor, Harry Vanderspeigle.
• Actors-Turned-Comic-Writers
  • 12:30pm – 1:30pm
  • Room 6DE
  • Actors use writers’ words to make fans laugh and cry. What happens when they start writing their own stories? How do you transition from actor to writer? How alike or different is writing to acting? What happens when you go from being fan-favorite characters to creating them—from playing in someone else’s world to building your own? Emmy and Grammy Award–winning comedian, actor, and writer Patton Oswalt, SAG Award nominee Aimee Garcia (Lucifer, Dexter), A. J. Mendez (New York Times bestselling author of Crazy Is My Superpower), Hannah Rose May (Ghosts, Ballers, Curb Your Enthusiasm), and Utkarsh Ambudkar (Pitch Perfect, Free Guy, Ghosts) will explore these questions on a panel moderated by Jordan Blum (co-creator of Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. and Minor Threats).
• Comixology: Your Horror Comix Fix
  • 2:30pm – 3:30pm
  • Room 5AB
  • Actor Thomas Jane (Troppo, The Punisher, The Lycan), Eisner Award-winning writer/artist Becky Cloonan (Somna, By Chance or Providence), writer/artist Phillip Sevy (The House, Headless Horseman Annual), and artist Drew Zucker (The House, The Feeding) discuss creating the plot, setting, and characters of some of the most creepy and hair-raising comics out now and why we love to be frightened. Moderated by Jonathan James (Daily Dead).
• Water, Earth, Fire, Air: Continuing the Avatar Legacy Panel
  • 6:00pm – 7:00pm
  • Room 25ABC
  • Abrams Books, Dark Horse Comics, WEBTOON, and Magpie Games are thrilled to treat fans to a panel worthy of the Avatar! Join publishing’s creators and writers of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra for an exploration of the beloved world.
• Timeless and Built to Last: Conserving Comics and Manga Through High-Quality Editions
  • 7:00pm – 8:00pm
  • Room 4
  • Collectible editions of manga—from Berserk and Vinland Saga to Gundam and Vagabond—are among the top-selling comics in English, and most are international collaborations with no equivalent in Japan. Hear from the minds behind these deluxe artifacts as Ben Applegate (Penguin Random House director publishing services), Michael Gombos (senior director of licensed publications, Dark Horse), Ed Chavez (Denpa publisher) and Gary Groth (editor-in-chief of The Comics Journal), co-founder of Fantagraphics, and editor of dozens of important archival editions of comics including Popeye, Love & Rockets, Prince Valiant, Krazy Kat, and many more. Hear never-before-shared details, see copies of the latest collectible editions before they go on sale—and maybe even go home with a free book!

SATURDAY, JULY 26

• Usagi Yojimbo: Past, Present, and Future
  • 10:00am – 11:00am
  • Room 23ABC
  • Learn more about the wandering rabbit ronin when Stan Sakai (Usagi Yojimbo) discusses 40+ years of creating his beloved comic book series. From past adventures to new horizons, Jared Cullum (Kodi) and Zack Rosenberg (T.S. Hullabaloo) join Sakai for a lively conversation moderated by Justin Eisinger (editor-in-chief, Dogu Publishing; It Rhymes with Takei).
• Spotlight on Frank Miller
  • 3:00pm – 4:00pm
  • Room 6DE
  • Comic-Con special guest and legend Frank Miller, one of the most important creators of the last half century, returns to San Diego for a career-spanning conversation. From Ronin Rising to Sin City, from Pandora to The Dark Knight Returns, this panel will give attendees insight into Miller’s storied collaborations, the resonance of his work, and the highly anticipated projects to come.
• An Evening with Kevin Smith
  • 7:15pm – 8:45pm
  • Hall H
  • If you let him, Kevin Smith is going to use his mouth on you—in front of everyone at Hall H! Come celebrate the 30th anniversary of Mallrats and the 25th anniversary of Dogma with the hack who made ’em! Hear all about the next movie he’s making and see a slew of new comics from Kev, including Archie Meets Jay and Silent Bob, the Marvel and DC crossover, and his Quick Stops from Secret Stash Press and Dark Horse. End your Comic-Con day with hours of chatter from Silent Bob!

SUNDAY, JULY 27

• American Caper: New Crime Comic from Grand Theft Auto Series Writers
  • 12:00pm – 1:00pm
  • Room 7AB
  • American Caper, the new crime fiction universe and upcoming original comic book series from the writers and creative team behind Grand Theft Auto, will be revealed at this talk with the talent team, including Lazlow (GTA, Red Dead Redemption), David Lapham (Stray Bullets), Chris Anderson (Lost Angels), and Shelly Bond (Sandman). This murderers’ row of crime-fiction and comic book creatives will discuss what to expect from the upcoming saga, releasing in late 2025 from Absurd Ventures and Dark Horse Comics. Moderated by Cara O’Neil (Dark Horse Comics).
• Heroes of Might and Magic: 30th Anniversary
  • 12:15pm – 1:15pm
  • Room 5AB
  • Heroes of Might and Magic introduced the world to a new hybrid genre of strategy roleplaying games, spawning several sequels and inspiring countless imitators. The original creator Jon Van Caneghem and franchise alums Mark Caldwell, David Mullich, and other New World Computing vets share insights into the birth and development of this beloved game that’s grown into a hit international phenomenon. Moderated by Neal Hallford, author of Heroes of Might and Magic: 30th Anniversary Retrospective.
• Iyanu’s Journey: The Next Chapter
  • 1:00pm – 2:00pm
  • Room 24ABC
  • Roye Okupe (creator, executive producer, showrunner), Brandon Easton (story editor), Kerri Grant (writer), and Vincent Edwards (supervising director) take you behind the scenes of Iyanu, the hit animated superhero series on Cartoon Network and Max. Learn how this indie Dark Horse comic became a global fantasy adventure, and get an exclusive first look at the upcoming movie, Iyanu: Age of Wonders, along with new details from season 2. Moderated by Karama Horne (Lion Forge Entertainment, integrated marketing lead).

Be sure to follow DarkHorseComics on social media and check our website, www.darkhorse.com for more news, announcements, and updates.

Dark Horse Comics press release