PANELIST

Lara Antal (she/they) is an award-winning artist who uses black comedy and colorful critical lenses to tell really human stories. Their debut graphic novel as an illustrator, Ronan and the Endless Sea of Stars: a memoir by Rick Louis, was the recipient of the 2023 Graphic Medicine Award and a finalist for both the Ringo Comic Awards and Pop Culture Classroom’s Book of the Year. Lara has been an artist-in-residence at The Peter Bullough Foundation, Ragdale Foundation, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Their work has been featured by WNYC-NPR, Kirkus, Paris Review, and The Washington Post’s Best Illustrations of 2022 column. If you dine in NYC you might see one of their infamous Choking Victim posters. Lara is also a creative producer on the Witch Wave Podcast, hosted by Pam Grossman. Hailing from Wisconsin, they live in Brooklyn with their nearly-toothless chihuahua, Chuck.

PANELIST

Jeffrey Burandt is a writer and performer living in Brooklyn, New York. Having earned an MFA in fiction writing from Brooklyn College, he has written for DC Entertainment, Details Magazine, Devil’s Due Comics, Heavy Metal Magazine, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, Oni Press, Overflow Magazine, and Scout Comics, as well as several online magazines and indie publishers.

PANELIST

Chris Miskiewicz is a graphic novelist and award nominated writer of the science-fiction western “This is Where We Fall”, the biographies “Grateful Dead Origins", and "Elvis: The Graphic Novel", as well as the award-winning series, "Thomas Alsop". His work has been recognized with two Best Non-Fiction Graphic Novel, one Best Writer, and one Best Graphic Novel of the Year Ringo Award Nominations and is the winner of Denmark's esteemed Claus Deleuran Award for Best Graphic Novel. As an actor, Chris has appeared on CBS's "Bull", HBO's "Bored to Death", and USA Networks’ "White Collar”.

PANELIST

Sean Von Gorman is an NYC based Comics Illustrator & Writer. He is known for Co-Creating TOE TAG RIOT (Black Mask Studios), SECRET ADVENTURES OF HOUDINI (Alterna) and PAWN SHOP with Joey Esposito (z2 Comics). He has also contributed art for projects published by Image, Dark Horse Comics and Dynamite Entertainment as well as Anthologies such as Occupy Comics (Black Mask) and the Eisner Award Winning Love Is Love (DC/IDW). He has also contributed covers for IDW’s Star Trek line of books. In addition to his comics work, Sean has contributed art to The New Yorker, Alt Press Magazine, and The Quarantine Coloring Book. He is also a brilliant Guerrilla Marketer, who has been known to handcuff himself to things and escape straitjackets to promote his comics. His latest book THE PEDESTRIAN is on sale now from MAGMA COMIX!

MODERATOR

Cartoonist R. Sikoryak is the author of the graphic novels Constitution Illustrated, Masterpiece Comics, Terms and Conditions, and The Unquotable Trump (all published by Drawn & Quarterly) and many mini comics. He illustrated the comic books that appear in the novel The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, written by Tom Hanks. His comics and illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, The Nation, MAD, and more. He teaches illustration at Parsons School of Design, and he presents his live comics performance series, Carousel, around the United States and Canada.