Comicon.com’s Mission Statement:
The origin of Comicon.com as a website dates back to the late 1990’s and the origin of comics communities online. The first iteration of Comicon.com acted as a virtual platform where creators and fans could meet, and fans could encounter new works to spur their enthusiasm for the medium. That focus on enthusiasm for the medium of comics, as well as for the popular culture that is so much a passion in fans’ daily lives, is what has led to the re-launch of Comicon.com.
Comicon.com aims to light that spark of enthusiasm in readers once more, leading them to explore the world of comics more fully, as well as the worlds of TV, Film, and many other fandoms. Comicon.com’s goal is to engage with fans in ways that create a personal drive to support these arts and build communities that continue to celebrate them in the future. The role of Comicon.com is to be educative, incisive, balanced in critical approach, and also relentlessly inclusive in attitude.
Staff
Erik Amaya, our Editor-in-Chief, is a film and television critic, specializing in comic book media and genre work since 2007. His work has appeared on Rotten Tomatoes, Bleeding Cool, CBR and Comics Alliance. He is the Comics on TV columnist at Rotten Tomatoes and a contributor to Rotten Tomatoes: Rotten Movies We Love, the book about the lowest rated movies on the site’s infamous Tomatometer. He is also a co-host of the television podcast Tread Perilously and a life-long fan of visual storytelling. He considers The Legion of Superheroes (v4) #4 as the moment he truly fell in love with comics and Robotech as a seminal experience in long-form storytelling.
Olly MacNamee, one of our Senior Editors, has been reporting about comics for a number of years now, having cut his teeth at Bleeding Cool before taking up the gauntlet as thrown down by comicon.com. A comic book fan since his very early years, Olly is a life-long DC Comics fan, but that hasn’t stopped him developing a larger addiction to other books by other publishers. To him, we are living in a new Golden Age of comic book publishing and just wishes he had more time to read all the great comics out there. When he’s not reading, reviewing or breaking comic book news, he teaches too, where he has often used comics in the classroom to support the literacy development of his students over the years. He lives in the UK’s second city, Birmingham, where he is also involved in the organisation of Birmingham’s premium graffiti and street art festival, High Vis Fest, his second love after comic books.
Brendan M. Allen, one of our Senior Editors, has probably had more jobs than you would reasonably believe. Flooring contractor? Yep! Dog trainer? He’s done it. EMT? Army NBC specialist? Road dog for a Celtic rock band? Yes, yes, and och aye! Now he reads comics and writes about them. Brendan’s comic book interests tend to lean into horror, noir, weird indies, and pro wrestling. You can follow him on Twitter @SaintAmish where he mostly rants about comic books and cystic fibrosis.
Contributors
If Rachel Bellwoar could guest star on any TV show it would be Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Her beta fishes’ names are Philip for The Americans and Max for no reason. Coca Cola is her coffee, and when she’s not writing for Comicon you can find her reviews at That’s Not Current, Flickering Myth, The Geeked Gods, and Diabolique Magazine.
Tito W. James writes action adventure comics for all ages that juxtapose creepy content with beautiful imagery. He is the mastermind behind CROSSBONE JONES and GANGSTERS VS GATORS. Tito’s goal is to create comics that capture the bombastic fun of old comics with the emotional resonance of new ones.
Ben Martin is a life-long movie & TV lover. In his teens, he decided he wanted to do more than just watch the things he enjoyed. So Ben decided to start writing his opinions on TV & movies a well. Mr. Martin also writes screenplays, short stories and opinion columns.
Sage Ashford is a freelance writer that’s been covering a variety of geek-related things for his blog, Jumping in Headfirst, since 2008. He stopped being awful at it around 2012. He’s written for Bleeding Cool, Tokusatsu Network, and CBR. When he’s not writing, Sage enjoys geeking out over anime, video games, comics, nostalgic TV, and more stuff he probably forgot to mention. Follow him @SageShinigami on Twitter.
Gary Catig is West Coast raised, East Coast educated, and has a touch of Southern charm. He has spent most of his adult life making science fiction a reality as an engineer conducting research in the military, microprocessor, and biotechnology fields. While currently living in San Diego, he enjoys all facets of pop culture including but not limited to comics, TV, movies, and music.
Koom Kankesan has loved comics ever since he first laid eyes on them. His other interests include film, literature, and the narrative arts in general. His published works of fiction include The Panic Button (2011), The Rajapaksa Stories (2013), and The Tamil Dream (2016). He lives in Toronto.
Among Benjamin Hall’s many credits he is the creator and writer of the comic Time Trio; a writer/editor of various works for Sequart Organization; Blogger for rippersspot.wordpress.com; a columnist for Comicon. He holds a Bachelor’s in film studies and a Master’s Degree in Media Communications. He is also an Aspie.
Tony Thornley is a Mormon geek dad, blogger, Spider-Man and Superman aficionado, X-Men guru, autism daddy, amateur novelist, and all around awesome guy. He was born and raised in Utah and has been reading comics since age five. His first comic series was GI Joe and he was doomed from there. You can follow him on Twitter @brawl2099.
Cesareo Garasa is a freelance writer and musician based out of Bakersfield, CA. He’s a Libra married to a Leo who enjoys watching movies, playing drums and re-reading old Heavy Metal magazines. You can follow him on Twitter @cesareog or on Facebook.com/cesareo
Northern California born and raised, Scott Redmond is a freelance writer that has been a loud and proud nerd for his entire time on this planet. He holds an AA degree in Journalism while spending four years working for a college newspaper. He currently works in high school Special Education as an aide while pursuing a bachelor’s degree/teacher credential and a degree in photography. Marvel & DC facts are constantly rattling around his brain, coffee is his fuel, and the SF Giants are his ride-or-die sports team. He is a pet parent to two adorable fluff ball cats, a gamer, photographer, film lover, and stalwart friend. He can be followed on Twitter at @ScottPRedmond
Tom Smithyman is a former newspaper reporter turned marketer/executive communications executive. When he’s not extoling the virtues of engineering simulation or appearing in a local theatre production in Pittsburgh, he’s reading and writing about comic books.
Anton Kromoff is an all-ages game designer, storyteller, disability advocate and TTRPG journalist. Some say he was born in the hollow of an old birch tree thrice struck by lighting. Others have mentioned he was taught his first words by a band of friendly Bigfoot who taught him the secret language of the hills and sheltered him until he was old enough to forage for himself. These days he can be found in the company of his wife and their cats in a little home by the sea. You can chat with Anton on Twitter at @AntonTaleTeller
Ariel Dyer is a librarian and musician who lives in Bakersfield, CA. She loves horror in any and all mediums (films, books, comics, video games, immersive theatre, whatever other form it can possibly exist in) and co-hosts horror podcast Not Your Final Girl where she gets to talk to cool horror people about horror movies. You can follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @nyfgpod.
Candace Sluder is a reader/writer, collector of book-related jobs, and lover of descents into madness. She also talks about movies on Not Your Final Girl. You can follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @nyfgpod.
Deconstructing Comics is a podcast of comics reviews and creator interviews, with a focus on how comics are made and how this storytelling medium works, and providing inspiration and tips for comics creators. Every week, a rotating cast of contributors reviews a current or classic comics work, or interviews a creator who either is famous or may soon be. And twice a month, Tim and Mulele critique a comic made by a listener on the spinoff podcast Critiquing Comics. Find them online at: http://deconstructingcomics.
Past Contributors
CJ Stephens wants to be a ninja or a rock star when he grows up. For now he works as an Adjunct Professor of English. He may one day actually finish his PhD, but at this point in time his part-time superhero gigs and binge TV habits tend to take up too much time. He taught himself to read at the age of 4 using a secret combination of Sesame Street, superhero comics, and the love of his mama, and once came in 4th in a High School spelling bee… when he was in 6th grade!!! Cash him outside at https://twitter.com/CJStephen1 and http://cstephensjr.tumblr.com/
James Ferguson loves comics. He’s been reading them and talking about them for as long as he can remember and writing about them since 2008 on his own blog, WhatJamesKnows.com and HorrorDNA.com. He hosts Funny Book Splatter, a horror comics podcast. James is a fledgling comics writer with a few shorts under his belt. When he’s not reading comics or writing about them, he’s advocating for cord cutters and collecting enamel pins. He lives in the suburbs of New York with his wife, Monica and his two kids, named after comic book characters, Oliver and Parker. He is @JamesFerguson on Twitter.
Malissa White is an indie comics writer, creator, producer and reviewer from Los Angeles, CA. Her works include the comic Nightmare, Soundbox with Kamikaze Animated’s Short Circuit anthology, and short horror story “Vessel” with Black Women Are Scary. She also interviews creators on the Comics Creators Club YouTube channel. Like most 90s nerds, Malissa fell in love with comics after watching Storm on X-Men. Since then, her mission is to bring complex WOC to the forefront of genre storytelling. When not writing, she’s watching horror movies, drinking coffee, and probably on Twitter. Follow her there, or everywhere, at @Malissifent.
Noah Sharma is a freelance comic editor living in Brooklyn and trying to ignore what a cliché that makes him. He started writing about comics on his own blog, Reviews by Lantern’s Light, and was then brought on as a reviewer and convention correspondent for Weekly Comic Book Review. He has a soft spot for character driven stories and loves his old copies of Spectacular Spider-Man #200 and the original New Mutants graphic novel. When he’s not writing, Noah can usually be found having strong opinions about media you outgrew years ago and teaching children how to play board games at his day job. You can see even more nerdery from him by following his twitter: @N1ghtwing17.