Emerald City Comic Con 2024: Pro and creator programming track revealed
Four days of classes, mentorship, portfolio reviews, and more await in Seattle at the first big convention of the year
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Emerald City Comic Con is almost here, bringing with it the chance for creators to once again meet their peers, their partners, and their customers. As with previous conventions — most notably New York Comic Con 2023 — ReedPop (which owns and operates both ECCC and Popverse) is once again featuring a number of panels at the show specifically for professionals and future professionals, with an advanced Pro Track of programming across all four days of the convention. There’s a lot to dig into, so keep reading for a guide on everything that’s on offer.
ReedPop Artist Mentorship Program
ReedPop Artist Mentorship Program places emphasis on helping the next generation of creators get to where they’re going, including portfolio reviews, special drawing classes, and a mentorship program featuring some of the most successful creators of today offering advice, with programming across the entire four-day event.
| Day | Time | Topic | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, February 29 | 11:15AM | Portfolio Prep | Summit - Room 432 |
| Thursday, February 29 | 2:15PM | ReedPop Artist Alley Application, How to Stand Out | Summit - Room 432 |
| Thursday, February 29 | 3:45PM | Kickstarting Your Indie Publishing Project | Summit - Room 432 |
| Thursday, February 29 | 5:15PM | Stone Tablet to Digital Tablet the Growth of Digital Comic Art | Summit - Room 432 |
| Friday, March 1 | 11:15AM | Don’t Break, Break in! to Comics | Summit - Room 432 |
| Friday, March 1 | 2:15PM | Authentic and Effective Social Media Marketing | Summit - Room 432 |
| Friday, March 1 | 6:45PM | This is Your Brain on Comics with Chip Zdarsky | Summit - Room 432 |
| Friday, March 1 | 6:45PM | Fighting in Fiction: Writing a Knockout Scene | Summit - Room 434 |
| Saturday, March 2 | 12:30PM | Everything You Need to Know about Indie Publishing | Summit - Room 434 |
| Saturday, March 2 | 12:45PM | Creating Your Brand | Summit - Room 432 |
| Saturday, March 2 | 3:45PM | AI Ethics in Comics | Summit - Room 432 |
| Saturday, March 2 | 6:30PM | Outline in 60 | Summit - Room 434 |
| Sunday, March 3 | 11:00AM | Writing for Comics with the Pro's | Summit - Room 432 |
| Sunday, March 3 | 12:30PM | Comics are collaborative | Summit - Room 432 |
| Sunday, March 3 | 2:00PM | Demystifying BookTok for Indie Authors and Publishers | Summit - Room 432 |
Drawing classes with Mark Matessi
Former Disney animator Mark Matessi, the author of FORCE: Dynamic Life Drawing, will be holding three drawing classes during the four-day show, with one per day beginning Friday.
| Day | Time | Topic | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, March 1 | 5:15PM | The Basics of FORCE | Summit - Room 432 |
| Saturday, March 2 | 6:30PM | How to Push Poses with FORCE | Summit - Room 432 |
| Sunday, March 3 | 3:30PM | Drawing Clothes with FORCE | Summit - Room 432 |
Educator’s Day: Thursday, February 29, 2024
Running on the first day of ECCC, Educator’s Day is intended to “bridge the gap between formal education and pop culture” in a way that allows educators to uncover the connections between students’ interests and educational goal, with the end goal being a more dynamic, innovative and practical way to approach teaching.
Here are the Educator’s Day panels that will offer complimentary clock hours through PDenroller.e:
| Day | Time | Topic | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, February 29 | 11:00AM | Battling Bullies: A Pop Culture Perspective for K-12 Educators | Tahoma 2 • Arch at 800 Pike Building |
| Thursday, February 29 | 12:30PM | SPED Superheroes: Using Pop Culture to Support Neurodiverse Affirming Learning | Tahoma 2 • Arch at 800 Pike Building |
| Thursday, February 29 | 2:00PM | Feeling Super: Representation of Mental Health Pop Culture | Tahoma 2 • Arch at 800 Pike Building |
| Thursday, February 29 | 3:30PM | Superqueer: A Discussion on LGBTQ+ Representation in Superhero Media and Power Structures | Tahoma 2 • Arch at 800 Pike Building |
| Thursday, February 29 | 5:00PM | Fight the Power - With Powers! Representations of Black Heroes Across the Multiverse of Marvel | Tahoma 2 • Arch at 800 Pike Building |
| Thursday, February 29 | 6:30PM | Why Your School Needs a Role Playing Club | Tahoma 2 • Arch at 800 Pike Building |
Portfolio Reviews at ECCC
Two different top level editors are going to be at ECCC conducting portfolio reviews for artists — the amazing Marie Javins (DC editor-in-chief), and the iconic Shelly Bond (the editor behind such books as Bodies, iZombie, Lucifer, Fables, and Image Comics’ Bitter Root). Both will be handling reviews Friday through Sunday, but portfolios should be dropped off at specific times the day prior to review. Here are some rules to remember:
- Portfolios can be submitted at the show office, located on Level 4 of the Summit Building, during Thursday, February 29 from 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Friday, March 1 from 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM, and Saturday, March 2 from 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Review sessions for these submissions will take place the following day.
- Portfolios must contain your contact information. This includes your full name, cell phone number, and e-mail address.
- The portfolio review schedule will be posted each morning at the SHOW OFFICE on Friday March 1, Saturday March 2, and Sunday March 3. Please visit this location to confirm your scheduled review time and location for the reviews.
- Do not leave original work with us. Whatever your portfolio contains, make sure you keep the original work. We cannot be responsible for any lost or misplaced work. Portfolios will not be returned.
Please note that these are two separate reviews. Artists who hope to have both editors review their work should submit two separate copies of their portfolio.
More details about all of the Pro Track programming — including details on each of the panels, as well as more information about the portfolio reviews — can be found right here.
All programming (unless otherwise stated) on the Pro and Creator track is open to all badge-holders.
ECCC 2024 will take place Thursday, February 29 through Sunday, March 3 at the Seattle Convention Center. We won’t just be at the event, we’ll be sharing the highlights with you, including live-streaming the biggest panels from the show.
