Comics tell stories with a unique sense of wit, soul and full-color spectacle, limited only by the imaginations of their creators. This weekend, those star creatives are coming to Salt Lake City.
Dozens of comics writers and artists will grace the Salt Palace Convention Center for FanX, the springtime sister event to Salt Lake Comic Con, and we've highlighted five of them below. The convention might put its TV and movie stars front and center in its marketing banners, but don't miss these comics personalities, either.
Leth isn't just a self-taught writer and artist who's earned her spot working on "Bravest Warriors," "Adventure Time" and Marvel's "Patty Walker: Hellcat." She's also the founder of The Valkyries, a supportive, widespread network of women who own and work in comic-book stores, and a collaborator of the hit "Welcome to Night Vale" podcast.
Learn more about The Valkyries from Leth on Friday at a 6 p.m. panel in room 255B.
Anyone with fond memories of the "DuckTales" cartoon, and who is excited for Disney's upcoming revival, would enjoy Rosa's highly acclaimed comics about Scrooge and his feathery family. Life is like a hurricane for the ducks, with Rosa injecting a flurry of fun and humor throughout their richly detailed escapades.
His masterpiece, "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck," delves into the miserly mallard's adventurous origins as he solves a mystery and rewrites history. It's such a hit, the publisher released a new "Artist's Edition" — giving even more focus to Rosa's fine artwork — last year. Look for his booth on the convention floor.
Fontana writes the "DC Super Hero Girls" animated series and wrote its upcoming graphic novels, "Finals Crisis" and "Hits & Myths." Fontana — who's originally from the small Utah town of Roosevelt — is helping lead DC's push to reach more young, female fans. She'll even premiere new clips from the series at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the grand ballroom. And if you want to talk about more than superheroes, Fontana writes for a host of other cartoons like "7D" and is a warrior in the roller-derby arena.
If you're one of the millions of people who made the "Deadpool" movie an unexpected hit, you have Nicieza to thank. The artist co-created the "merc with a mouth" with Rob Liefeld 25 years ago. And as Associated Press writer David Betancourt recently noted, it's astonishing how much of the original concept has survived into 2016. You can join Nicieza for a retrospective of Deadpool's quarter-century career at 3 p.m. Friday in room 250A.
Another neat thing about Nicieza: Last year, he worked with artist Sean Chen and the Make-A-Wish Foundation to bring an 11-year-old boy's superheroes to life, while the young boy fights a life-threatening blood disorder.
There's a real good chance Maguire has brought your favorite superhero to life. Besides relaunching "Justice League" and later winning an Eisner (the comics equivalent of an Oscar) for a story about the team, he's drawn comics of Spider-Man, Captain America, X-Men, Hulk and Doom Patrol, to name a few. If you love them, Maguire's drawn them.
He will join Nicieza for a panel about their comics creations at 11 a.m. Saturday in room 250A.
mmcfall@sltrib.com
Twitter: @MikeyPanda
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Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience 2016
When • Thursday to Saturday, March 24-26
Where • Salt Palace Convention Center, 100 W. West Temple, Salt Lake City
Tickets • $5-$230 for wristbands, some events require an extra ticket; saltlakecomiccon.com/fanx-2016-tickets
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