Latino Comics Expo
Saturday, November 23 & Sunday, November 24, 2024!
Established in 2011, the Latino Comics Expo is the premiere event to connect with Latinx and Latin American comic artists and animators, experts, and fans. This year, the Latino Comics Expo in collaboration with MOLAA, will be held in the Viva Event Center and runs from November 23th and November 24th! This event is included in the regular MOLAA Admission fee on Saturday and free of charge to the public on Sunday.
Comic Book Vendors and Illustrators; Panels and Meet&Greets! Food Trucks & Beer Tent; Children’s Chalk Area; El Verde Performance; Drawing Workshop; Cosplay and More!
Gates open at 11AM. Last call for the vendor hall is at 5PM each day.
#MOLAALatinoComicsExpo #LearnwithMOLAA #EducationwithMOLAA #LatinoComicsExpo
On Instagram @molaa.art @LatinoComicsExpo
2024 LCX Poster Design by Jorge Garza, Qetza Art www.qetza.com
Program (Viva Lecture Hall)*
*Panels subject to change
SATURDAY NOVember 23, 2024
12:00 PM Latina Power
Kristen Parraz, co-host of the COMADRES Y COMICS podcasts, hosts a discussion with Maxi Rodriguez (KASUTO PRODUCTIONS), Yuri E. Casco (Y&C COMICS), Candy Briones (TACO EL GATO COMICS), Alejandra Cisneros (El Verde and Dr. Pilar).
1:00 PM The Lucha Libre Panel
Cartoonist Javier Solorzano (LUCHA CATS) hosts a roundtable chat with fellow lucha libre comic creators Rafael Navarro (SONAMBULO), David Silbert (KALAKA), J Gonzo (LA MANO DEL DESTINO) and Jandro Gamboa (MONTY GOMEZ THE LUCHADOR). Get your ringside seat and check out the action!
2:00 PM Multi-Undisciplined & Multi-Locos
Lalo Alcaraz and Sergio Arau, Moderated by Bobby Hernandez
3:00 PM All these failed pilots and movies only made me stronger!!!
Go on a wild and hilarious journey as Jorge R. Gutierrez (El Tigre, The Book of Life, Maya and the Three) walks you through all his failed pilots and movies over the last 24 years.
Meet and Greet to follow in the Artist Alley!
SUNDAY NOVember 24, 2024
12:00 PM Pop Cult LatinX Charla with Professor Latinx & Mighty Peter
Award-winning scholar Frederick Luis Aldama and Emmy Award-winning Peter Murietta delve into the vast landscape of Latinx pop culture. They examine how contemporary mainstream pop culture oversimplifies representation of Latinx identities and experiences, while also highlighting the richness of Latinx-created pop culture phenomena that complicate and deepen understanding of Latinx identities and experiences.
1:00 PM El Verde v Doctor Pilar (Outdoor Stage)
Get ready superheroes for another thrilling episode of El Verde! In this action-packed performance, the heroic, El Verde, must face his latest foe, Doctor Pilar and her army of vicious caterpillars. Don’t miss this adventure that’s fun for the whole family!
Directed by Alejandra Cisneros. Featuring Anthony Aguilar, Melody Melendez, Stephanie Hoston, Oscar T. Basulto, & Juan Enrique Carillo. And for more El Verde fun, be sure to check out our workshops throughout Sunday!
2:00 PM Entrepreneurs of Art
An educational roundtable of what it takes to have a business that deals in art and creative endeavors. Featuring Luis Pichardo (Director of DSTL Arts), retailer Peter Mellini (NOSTALGIC COMICS SHOP), Marco Finnegan (CALAVERA P.I.) and Haydee Yanez (MEXICONS ARTE). Hosted by writer Henry Barajas.
3:00 PM Memorial Tribute to Ricardo Padilla
Ricardo Padilla co-founded the Latino Comics Expo in 2011 with Javier Hernandez. Sadly, he passed away in April of 2024. His legacy of the Expo continues this year, and we have assembled a panel of his friends and peers to honor his memory. Please join us in remembering our beloved Rico. With Rhode Montijo, Rafael Navarro, Crystal Gonzalez, Bobby Hernandez & Frederick Aldama. Moderated by Javier Hernandez.
Featured Artists (Artist Alley, Viva Events Center)
Jorge Gutiérrez - Saturday, November 23rd ONLY
Emmy-winning Jorge R. Gutierrez is a Mexican animator, painter, voice actor, writer and director. A CalArts Experimental Animation BFA & MFA graduate, Gutierrez has completed various films, cartoons, and paintings exploring his love affair with Mexican pop and folk culture. Gutierrez was Director & Co-Writer of the Guillermo del Toro produced animated feature The Book of Life, which earned him a 2014 Golden Globe Award nomination. Along with his wife and muse, Sandra Equihua, they created the multiple Emmy Award-winning animated series El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera for Nickelodeon. Gutierrez most recently created, wrote, and directed the event series Maya and the Three for Netflix which won 4 Emmys. Gutierrez is currently writing/developing the animated feature I, Chihuahua with Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias.
Lalo Alcaráz - Saturday, November 23rd
Lalo Alcaraz is the creator of the nationally syndicated daily comic strip, "La Cucaracha”. He is also an award winning editorial cartoonist. A Finalist for the 2020 and 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning and winner of the 2022 Herb Block Prize, Lalo is also a writer, producer, and Cultural Consultant. Credits include Pixar’s Oscar winning COCO, Nickelodeon’s “The Casagrandes”, (nominated for 3 Imagen Awards) and FOX’s animated series, “Bordertown”, plus writer for the video game Forza Horizon 5 on Xbox. His latest books are “Latino USA: A Cartoon History, 25 Year Anniversary Edition” and the forthcoming “Poquita’s Garden”, a children’s book about urban gardens and foodways. Lalo is currently Artist In Residence for Arizona State University’s California Center in Los Angeles and the ASU School of Transborder Studies. Lalo has a BA in Art, from San Diego State University and an Master’s in Architecture from UC Berkeley, and taught Illustration at OTIS College of Art & Design. He was born in San Diego to Mexican immigrant parents from Sinaloa and Zacatecas.
Sergio Arau - Saturday, November 23rd ONLY
Sergio Arau is a multi-undisciplinary artist. A celebrated filmmaker, artist, and musician, Sergio Arau is the director and co-writer of the hit feature film A DAY WITHOUT A MEXICAN. In 2016, the Museo de las Artes (MUSA) in Guadalajara, recognized his thirty-five-year career as visual artist and political cartoonist, with the exhibit ARTNACÓ.
Arau, regarded by many as the father of rock en español, formed his now legendary rock band, Botellita de Jerez in 1983. The group opened Rockotitlan, the club that birthed the likes of Caifanes, Café Tacuba, Maldita Vecindad, among many. Released in 2010, he directed the mockumentary, now a cult classic, NACO ES CHIDO: The story of Botellita de Jerez, more or less based on the real facts. Arau, stars in the Netflix Documentary series BRAKE IT ALL, about the History of Rock and Roll in Latin America. RUDO, his prior album with Sergio Arau & Los Heavy Mex can be found in all digital platforms and includes the single Quiero Ser Presidente which launched his Mexican Presidential Campaign in 2018.
Arau’s current and most ambitious musical project is TOCADA Y FUGA, where he has taken the top ten of the classical music repertoires and made them his own. Writing lyrics for each song, he invited top Latin rock and roll singers (his buddies) to participate: Ruben Albarrán (Café Tacuba), Andrea Echeverri (Aterciopelados), José Fors (La Cuca), Gurruchaga (Orquesta Mondragón),), Piro (Ritmo Peligroso), Cecila Noel, Camilo Lara (Mexican Institute of Sound) with mix and mastering by Gustavo Borner (Igloo). Born in Mexico City, Arau received his MFA in Film Studies at CUEC.
Maxi Rodríguez - Saturday, November 23rd & Sunday, November 24th
Maxi Rodriguez is a plus-size Latina who is a professional self-published cartoonist originally from Long Beach, CA but is currently residing in the small town of Norwalk, CA. Her works include Chronicles of a ChubbyBunny, Plus Size Girl Magic, BrownGirl Awkwardness, and ChibiBunny’s Rules of Boundaries. Maxi currently has two degrees, a BA in Graphic Design from CSU Dominguez Hills and an MFA in Comics from California College of the Arts. When not working on comics or art, she is either being smothered by her two dogs (lol), her cats or trying to revise ChubbyBunny’s “No Bunny Suit” clause in her contract.
Jaime Hernández - Saturday, November 23rd & Sunday, November 24th
Meet featured artist Jaime Hernandez! As a young, aimless Latino punk rocker in Oxnard, California, Jaime Hernandez, along with his brothers Gilbert and Mario, self-published the first issue of LOVE AND ROCKETS in 1981. It was picked up by Fantagraphics Books in 1982, and he has been doing comics since. He has also done illustrations for album covers and magazines and has won numerous awards, including being inducted into The Eisner Hall of Fame.
Pepe Moreno - Saturday, November 23rd & Sunday, November 24th
Pepe Moreno is a world-renowned author, artist, designer, and gaming entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in traditional and digital art forms and entertainment media. He is a digital pioneer and is best known as the creator of Batman: Digital Justice, the first-ever digital graphic novel and the second-best-selling in comics history. He has also been responsible for many other industry firsts, and his works, such as Rebel, Gene Kong, and Generation Zero, have been published in magazines and newspapers worldwide. He is the President of Digital Fusion Inc., a design and development studio in Los Angeles, and the driving force behind BeachHead (beachhead 2000), one of the most long-standing cult video game titles of the last three decades. His creative impatience and integrity bring about an art aesthetic that is uniquely his own, both in content and form, and his artwork is sought by collectors worldwide. Whether digital or analog, it is the sum of it all that defines PEPE's art and brand.
Crystal Gonzalez - Saturday, November 23rd & Sunday, November 24th
Crystal is a Latina comic book artist and animator with an MFA from The California College of the Arts. She is best known for her independently published graphic novel series, “In The Dark”, and the creator of the popular cartoon series, Skitzo the 1920s Killer Bear on YouTube with over 13 million views. Her works have been featured at the Charles Schulz Museum, The Museum of Latin American Art, and The Galeria De La Raza in San Francisco. Gonzalez is currently working on her next volume of In The Dark: Issue #5, a Spanish edition of Issue #1, and an upcoming first printed issue of her sci-fi webcomic S.A.H.U.-the Super Android Hero Unit.
Professor Latinx Frederick Aldama - Sunday, November 24th
Professor Latinx (Frederick Aldama) is an Eisner Award-winning scholar and prolific author whose work spans novels, children's books, comics, graphic novels, and scholarly publications. He has been inducted into the National Cartoonist Society, Texas Institute of Letters, and Ohio State University's ODI Hall of Fame. At the University of Texas, Austin, he holds the Jacob & Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities and serves as founder and director of the Latinx Pop Lab and as Editor-in-Chief of the Latinx Pop Magazine.
Mighty Peter - Sunday, November 24th
Mighty Peter (Peter Murietta) is a multiple Emmy Award recipient and winner of the Imagen Foundation's Norman Lear Writer's Award. As an author, producer, and showrunner, he has worked on numerous successful TV series, including Wizards of Waverly Place, One Day At A Time, Lopez, Superior Donuts, Mr. Iglesias, and Cristela. He is the author of the comic book Rafael Garcia: Henchman and currently serves as Deputy Director at Arizona State University's Sidney Poitier New American Film School.
Jorge Garza - Saturday, November 23rd & Sunday November 24th
Jorge Garza is an Illustrator/Storyteller known for his Aztec art and pop culture mashup style called, Azteca Pop.
His artwork has exhibited at the National Museum of Mexican Art. In 2022 his first children’s book, Sábado was published by Lil’ Libros.
He also writes and draws his own comic book creations. He is this year’s artist for the official 2024 Latino Comics Expo Poster.
Other Amazing Artists in Attendance! Luis Antonio Pichardo, Luis Blackaller, Javier Solorzano, Josh Figueroa, Rabbit.Print, Candy Briones, Jose Pulido, Haydee Yanez, Jesus Pedroza Mendez, Josh Trujillo, Emely Corona Sandoval, Veronica Flores, José Cardenas, Rafael Navarro, Edwin R Gomez, Ismael Galvan, Maxi Rodriguez, Tara Avery, Nathaniel Osollo, Michael Vasquez, Jandro Gamboa, Rhode Montijo, Erick Villegas-Núñez, Mission art and comic expo, Ralph Miley, Chente / Cris Valles, Rick Lopez, Emily Mata, Kristen Parraz, Erik Arreaga, Mark Jiro Okui, Barbra Dillon, Jose Pimienta, Pepe Melan, Y&C Comics, David Silber-Baker, Marco Finnegan, Jose Iturriaga, Peter Mellini, Stephen Boyd-Morales, Carlos Saldaña, J Gonzo + Henry Barajas
Workshops & Activities (Outdoor Lot)
Storyboarding Workshop with Sebastián Duran - Saturday, November 23rd & Sunday, November 24th
Lead by Netflix’s Sebastian Duran, this drop-in workshop encourages guests to draw their idea as a sequence of moments and real-world interactions!
Children’s Chalk Area - Saturday, November 23rd & Sunday, November 24th
Hosted by the MOLAA Education team and volunteer crew - create your own art right on MOLAA’s lot! Free and open to everyone!
El Verde Performance Group & Workshop - Sunday, November 24th ONLY
GET READY BOYS AND GIRLS FOR ANOTHER THRILLING EPISODE OF EL VERDE!
Live Stage Show Reading at 1:00PM Sunday November 24, 2024
El Verde v Doctor Pilar: Get ready superheroes for another thrilling episode of El Verde! In this action-packed performance, the heroic, El Verde, must face his latest foe, Doctor Pilar and her army of vicious caterpillars. Don’t miss this adventure that’s fun for the whole family!
Directed by Alejandra Cisneros. Featuring Anthony Aguilar, Melody Melendez, Stephanie Hoston, Oscar T. Basulto, & Juan Enrique Carillo
And for more El Verde fun, be sure to check out our workshops throughout Sunday.
WORKSHOP (DR. PILAR'S CATERPILLAR ARMY LED BY ANTHONY AGUILAR/ALEJANDRA CISNEROS)
11:30 PM - 12:00 PM
WORKSHOP (DRAWING WITH EL VERDE DESIGNER LUKE LIZALDE)
12:15 PM- 12:45 PM
WORKSHOP (DR. PILAR'S CATERPILLAR ARMY LED BY ANTHONY AGUILAR/ALEJANDRA CISNEROS)
2:30 PM - 3 PM
WORKSHOP (DR. PILAR'S CATERPILLAR ARMY LED BY ANTHONY AGUILAR/ALEJANDRA CISNEROS)
3:45 PM - 4:15 PM
Coloring page will be available throughout the day
Join the fun! Come in Cosplay!
Come in Cosplay! Random prizes handed out to the first 10 cosplayer of each day! Latino/a/x characters or characters by Latino/a/x creators and artists especially encouraged! Who will YOU be?
Rafael Navarro and Nancy G.
Javier Hernandez with “El Muerto” and “Chicano Batman” (Mike G.)
LA Rocketeer
Chicano Batman and Nancy G.
Gastronomy
In Memory of Ricardo Padilla, Co-Founder of Latino Comics Expo
Please be sure to stop by our ofrenda next to Booth 1 in honor of founding member of the Latino Comics Expo, Ricardo Padilla, and leave a message of gratitude and love for his family and legacy.
F.A.Q.s
We are excited to welcome you to our 2024 Latino Comics Expo on November 23th and November 24th!
Important to note the following:
Access to the event is included in MOLAA’s Admission fee on Saturday, November 23rd and FREE on Sunday, November 24th. Reservations are not required. Walk-ins are welcome.
Backpacks and large bags are NOT allowed in the Museum; please leave oversized items at home or in your vehicle (Limited small lockers available).
Bike rack space is available (limited); Skateboards, scooters, and roller skates are NOT allowed in the Museum, and storage is NOT available.
If you have any questions, please call us at 562-437-1689 or email education@molaa.org