Normally at this time of the year we’d be deep into con season. The Covid-19 crisis means that all of the conventions where we’d usually be hanging with friends, supporting our local artists, and gushing about the things we love on panels have been cancelled. Despite our sadness, something that’s been uplifting to see is the way people have organized online equivalents. And now two powerhouse publishers, Penguin Random House and First Second, have announced that they’re holding virtual conventions for fans this month!
First up is graphic novel publisher extraordinaire First Second. The publisher behind some of your favorite award-winning comics like Check Please!, On a Sunbeam, The Adventure Zone, and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me will be running Comics Relief: A First Second Festival on April 18th. As the tweet below demonstrates, the all-day event will feature artists like Gene Luen Yang, Ngozi Ukazu, Lucy Knisley, and many more who will showcase how to create comics. There will be sessions on multiple different skills as well as some chats between creators and First Second Editorial & Creative Director Mark Siegel.
We're coming to you virtually on Saturday, 4/18 with #ComicsRelief: A @01FirstSecond Festival featuring @geneluenyang, @ngoziu, @kaymlay, @lwbean, @LucyKnisley, @lisabrowndraws, and more! Register now! https://t.co/RonNcwT20G pic.twitter.com/QS6qk6Bazc
— First Second (@01FirstSecond) April 14, 2020
Penguin Random House
Book lovers everywhere can rejoice as Penguin Random House has announced that on April 24th, they’ll be hosting Virtual Con! Their addition to the digital con landscape will feature “exclusive content, giveaways, online author appearances, an interactive Geek Geek Revolution game show, and much more!” And if readers want to know more they can join the Unbound Readers Community on Facebook or follow the publisher on Twitter and Instagram. Something we can’t wait for is the Random House Graphic comic drawing contest which will run throughout the day of the convention. It encourages fans to create their own graphic novel cover in order to potentially win a rad swag bag full of gorgeous graphic novels.
Hey Art Nerds❤️
— Random House Graphic (@RHKidsGraphic) April 14, 2020
We are excited to host a comic drawing contest on 4/24 as part of #PRHVirtualCon
On this day, we want you to show us your own graphic novel cover sketch!
Join us with #RHGArtNerdContest and tag @RHKidsGraphic & @randomhousekids on 4/24
Logo by @LucyKnisley pic.twitter.com/OSbjXum8HL
We’re excited to take part in both of these awesome virtual conventions and hopefully learn something new to get us through these strange days whilst we’re sheltering in place!
Header Image: Flickr via user 蔡小璇