HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, Arkansas – Twelve internationally recognized artists will be featured in panel discussions and workshops September 24 – 26 as Hot Springs hosts Spa-Con V, a multi-genre comics and pop culture convention at the Hot Springs Convention Center.
Among the featured artists will be Michael Golden, best known for his work on The Micronauts, Phil Ortiz, who played a large role on production of The Simpsons, and Tone (cq) Rodriguez, known for his work on The Simpsons and Futurama.
“Spa-Con has built a reputation for having an attractive list of celebrity guests, and cosplayers,” Spa-Con founder and Visit Hot Springs Marketing Director Bill Solleder said. “This September we are excited to host more comic artists than ever before. Our Artist Alley is going to be one of the best displays of comic art ever assembled in the state of Arkansas.”
“Spa-Con will have a jam-packed schedule of activities, workshops and panels led by some of today’s best creators,” he said.
The roster of artists in addition to Golden, Ortiz and Rodriguez, will include:
Georges Jeanty, Rags Morales, Rodney Ramos, Chad Maupin, Renne Witterstaeter, Gustav Carlson, Kody Sandwich, Jeremy Clark and Candice Daily.
Panel discussions and workshops will include:
• Comics Workshop – Dynamic Figure Drawing Class with Rags Morales
• Comics Panel – Storytelling with Michael Golden
• Comics Panel – Bringing Intellectual Properties to Life in Comics with Georges Jeanty.
• In addition to his work on The Micronauts and the co-creation of the characters Rogue and Bucky O’Hare, Michael Golden also worked on Marvel series Doctor Strange and Howard the Duck in the 1970s and 1980s. He got his start in 1977 working on DC Comics Mister Miracle and Batman Family.
• Phil Ortiz has spent over 30 years as a professional artist and played a large role in the character design for The Simpsons. He designed characters such as: Flanders, Otto, Herman, Lou and Eddie, Ralph, and Apu. He won five certificates of achievement for his work. Ortiz also won multiple awards for his work on Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies animated Series.
• Tone (cq) Rodriguez is best known for his work on The Simpsons and Futurama. He also worked for the The Office, creating the comic book Adventures of Jimmy Halpert. Additionally, he played Benjamin Alvaro in Showtime’s series DEXTER and created the art for The Dark Defender.
• For over 25 years Chad Maupin has worked as a graphic designer and illustrator. Maupin is an art automatron at Bio Bot Design, the creator and owner of CattyWampus Co-Op, and a developer of apparel designs such as FayetteChill and Houndstooth Clothing Company.
• Born and raised on a goat farm atop a mountain, Gustav Carlson spent his days naming an increasing number of goats Gruff. Partially in fear of bridge trolls that run rampant in the hills, but mostly because it adequately described most the goats he knew. Since then the trolls have gone extinct, and the goats Gruff are in his past. To fill that constant void, he now draws comics. Eventually he plans to retire to Goat Island, a very real place. He currently creates the comic Tourist Unknown.
• Little Rock sketchbook enthusiast Kody Sandwich is the creator/illustrator of She Hunts Monsters Y’all. Sandwich has also worked with radio DJ Bobby Bones and designed merchandise for MC Chris.
• Candice Dailey is a freelance illustrator and has worked on several comic and novel covers including Sera and the Royal Stars, Duskrider, and OMG! A Horror Anthology. She is a sketch card artist for Topps working on titles including Star Wars and Ninja Turtles.
• Georges Jeanty is an Eisner Award-winning, New York Times bestselling comic book illustrator. He is known for the graphic novel The American Way, and his work on the official continuation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Serenity. Additionally, his work can be seen in Age of X-Man: The X-Treamists and the Bishop: The Last X-Man.
• Jeremy Clark is an artist and inker who is known for multiple various comic projects including cover work for DC Comics, Image Comics, Zenescope Entertainment, Coffin Comics, Source Point Press, Caliber Comics, Coutherpoint Comics, and No Gravity Studios. He is currently working on the series, The Last Ronin and Punchline.
• Rags Morales is known for his work as an artist and penciler. He has worked on titles including: Identity Crisis, Nightwing, and Superman/Batman. Morales was also a big part of DC’s relaunch of their superhero line, and was announced as the artist on the new Action Comics #1. Morales is now doing work with Dungeons and Dragons Magazine.
• Renee Witterstaetter is a comic book colorist, editor, producer, and writer. Her list of works includes: The Avengers, Spider-Man, She-Hulk, and Superman. Witterstaetter was also featured as a fourth-wall-breaking character The Senstaional She-Hulk, on which she worked as an editor.
• Rodney Ramos is a penciler and inker. He worked on Marvel Comics such as: Thundercats, Marvel Presents, What If, Conan and Toxic Avenger. He also worked on titles including: Ironman, Gambit, Punisher War Journal, Spider-man and Peter Parker the Amazing Spider-man. He recently worked for DC Comics on 52, Countdown, Green Lantern, Batman, JSA, and Magog.
Lori Petty, known to comics fans for her portrayal of Tank Girl in the movie of the same name and for her starring role more recently in the hit TV show, “Orange Is the New Black,” was announced earlier as a celebrity guest at the rescheduled Spa-Con V.
Spa-Con V originally was to have taken place in September 2020, but was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic’s restrictions on gatherings.
Solleder said VIP passes, at $100, and weekend passes, at $35, are available on Spa-Con’s website: www.spa-con.org.
“Our celebration of pop culture and comics brings together a diverse audience that loves everything from Batman to ‘Stranger Things,’ Pac-Man to Mario Smash Bros, Dungeons and Dragons to Pokemon and everything in between,” he said, adding, “Spa-Con provides possibly the best people-watching fun in the state. It has hosted celebrities from ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Twin Peaks,’ ‘Battlestar Galactica,’ and ‘Stranger Things,’ not to mention, NASA scientists and 12-foot-tall robots.”
For more information call Bill Solleder at 501-321-2027