Gail Simone to headline this year’s Fanaticon

This year’s Fanaticon event will feature comics writer Gail Simone (Birds of Prey, Secret Six) as its special guest.

Full announcement from Fanaticon below:

On May 21, 2011, the Asheville Art Museum will host the second annual FANATICON, a free event for fans of comic books, science fiction, fantasy and pop culture. Headlining the event is acclaimed comic book writer Gail Simone.

Simone is a multiple award-winning writer of comics and animation and enjoys a devoted following among comic book readers and fans. She began her career writing the popular comics parody column, You’ll All Be Sorry for Comicbookresources.com, which then led to writing Simpsons material for Bongo Comics, Deadpool for Marvel, and the creator-owned Killer Princesses (with co-creator and artist Lea Hernandez) for Oni Press.

She has since written for many different publishers, including popular runs on iconic books like Birds of Prey, The All-New Atom, cult favorite Secret Six and everyone’s favorite Amazon, Wonder Woman.

She has also written prose, game material and animation, including episodes of Tomb Raider, Justice League Unlimited and Batman: Brave and the Bold. Simone was also a co-writer of the critically-acclaimed Wonder Woman animated film released in 2009.

FANATICON’s organizers are thrilled to have a professional of Simone’s caliber headlining the convention. Event Coordinator Chance Whitmire said, “Gail Simone is a rock star! She’s one of the best writers working today. Her scripts always blow me away with their wit, emotion and intelligence. She can take characters that have been around for 60 years and make them feel absolutely contemporary and vibrant.”

As a special guest, Simone will be featured in a presentation on the day of the event, which will be open to the public and will include audience Q&A and a limited autograph session. “FANATICON is all about having fun, making new friends and celebrating popular art,” Whitmire said. “And with Gail at the show, Asheville will get to interact with a writer who’s working at the highest level of the industry. It’s going to be a really exciting day.”

In addition to Simone’s appearance, FANATICON boasts a full schedule of programming, including panel discussions, costumes, games, live musical performances and more! Over 70 artists and vendors will be on hand, promising an amazing opportunity to interact with Asheville’s own independent comic book creators and to shop for comics, graphic novels and collectibles.

A great event for the whole family and for fans of all ages, Asheville and the Asheville Art Museum are the perfect venues for this unique celebration of comic books and pop culture. The inaugural FANATICON in 2010 drew over 3,500 attendees to the convention and downtown Asheville.

 

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