Hanah Stiverson — The Future Is Non-human: Examples of the Comic Book Mutant, Cyborg, and Alien

The gang takes on Night School Studio's supernatural mystery video game, Oxenfree! It's time to make some choices (ugh), fight some ghosts, puzzle over archaic technology like radios and tape players, and ask the unanswerable: who put this chair out here? 

Navigating a relationship with your spouse or partner can be challenging enough–so why would you willingly work together on a project that can take a year or more to complete? Anne and Jerzy Drozd, authors of Science Comics: Rockets, explore how they handled the creative challenges of making a nonfiction comic about science and answer the most important question facing humanity today: WHO. DID. WHAT.

About Anne:

We discuss two bone-chilling comics about ghosts: Animus by Antoine Revoy and Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol. We talk about vengeful spirits, cursed playgrounds, stories with no endings, and how important it is to always pack a snack, just in case you end up spending the night trapped in a hole with a dead body. 

Maris Wicks will be at AADL to talk about her art exhibit Gorillas, Guts, and Gastropods and to kick off the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival (A2CAF). We'll journey to the jungles of Africa, to the inside of human intestines, and to the sanctuary of slugs and snails…all with cartoons!  Fascinated by life on this big blue marble we call Earth, Maris Wicks shares the wonders of the world through her science-y comic strips and graphic novels. After the talk, stick around for some hands-on comics-themed activities and mingling.

Maris Wicks — Is It Cold In Here or Is It Just Me?
Everything you ever wanted to know about Antarctica, and probably some stuff you didn’t (like that time I pooped in a bucket).

About Maris:
Comic book artist and writer with an insatiable appetite for science. Especially science in strange places

Find her online here: @mariswicks

Judd Winick, the author of the Hilo series, Pedro and Me, and myriad comics for DC (and Real World: San Francisco alum) joined us at A2CAF 2018! In this talk, Judd demonstrates the process of making stories that people will care about and takes questions from the audience.

Watch Maris Wicks, Rafael Rosado, and even more of your favorite cartoonists battle it out in a series of themed drawing rounds with random elements thrown in by attendees! Watch guest cartoonists fight for the title of Iron Cartoonist under the watchful eye of host Zack Giallongo!

Cartoonist Gene Luen Yang gives a talk about Reading Without Walls: exploring books about characters who look or live differently than you, topics you haven’t discovered, or formats that you haven’t tried. Drawing on his own experiences as a reader and author, Yang promotes diversity and opens readers’ eyes to new ideas and experiences. 

Learn more about the Reading Without Walls Initiative here.

Why are graphic novels so good at capturing history? Find out when Nate Powell stops by AADL for this presentation. Best known for his work on the award-winning March series he co-created with Andrew Aydin and legendary Civil Rights activist Congressman John Lewis, Powell explores many of the unique and immersive storytelling principles used in comics.