Join us for ComicKey!, a family-friendly CELEBRATION of all things comic book at the Annapolis Book Festival!
AMAZING creator & author panels!
May 2 is free comic book day!*
The Time Tunnel Comics will be at the Festival all day and handing out free comics.*
Stop by and say hi in the Arts Building!
* While supplies last, of course.
| 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. |
A Fictional Fireside Chat: Roseanne A. Brown - Engage with and learn from fiction writer Roseanne A. Brown, author of A Song of Wraiths, Ruin and A Psalm of Storms and Silence, as well as the Serwa Boateng's series of books. Moderator: Javon Goard, Director of the Blerds Leading and Advancing Diversity in Education. |
| 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. |
Illustrations & Illusion: Brent Peeples Light and shadow. Bright and muted. There’s more to panels than pictures. Learn how imagery, light, and shadow become stories with one of Marvel Comics’ most celebrated illustrators, Brent Peeples. |
| 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. |
Rise of the G.E.M.S.: Marian Dealy Meet the author of Rise of the G.E.M.S. Five lab mice who gain superpowers after an experiment must learn to work together and survive on the International Space Station after being abandoned there. Will they make it? |
| 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. |
The Impact of Color: Matt Webb We see it in our favorite comics, but do we think about the impact and meaning color has in the story. Hear from one of the masters and legends of color, Marvel and DC Comics’ Matt Webb, and learn how he chooses the right colors for his scenes. |
| 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. |
More Than a Game: How Digital Storytelling Shapes Who We Become - Trinidad Hermida Black In today’s world, storytelling is no longer confined to books or film, it’s interactive, immersive, and deeply personal. Video games have become one of the most powerful storytelling mediums of our time, shaping how we see ourselves, our cultures, and our possibilities. Moderator: Javon Goard, Director of the Blerds Leading and Advancing Diversity in Education. |
More than a Game: How Digital Storytelling Shapes Who We Become
In today’s world, storytelling is no longer confined to books or film, it’s interactive, immersive, and deeply personal. Video games have become one of the most powerful storytelling mediums of our time, shaping how we see ourselves, our cultures, and our possibilities.
Trinidad Hermida Black is a strategic leader, storyteller, and community builder with over a decade of experience across gaming, technology, and culture. She currently serves as chair of the board for the Black in Gaming Foundation and is the founder of the Hermida Company, where she advises organizations on leadership, growth, and building meaningful connections through empathy-driven strategy. Previously, she served as executive director of the Black in Gaming Foundation and held leadership roles focused on expanding access and opportunity within the gaming industry. Her work sits at the intersection of storytelling, community, and impact, helping to shape spaces where diverse voices are not only included, but empowered to lead. She is passionate about the power of narrative to transform lives, believing that the stories we tell, and the ones we choose to engage with & have the ability to shape identity, culture, and the future of creative expression. Connect - @thisistrini
Moderator: Javon Goard earned a B.A. in sociology with honors from the University of Maryland, College Park (2016), and his M.S. in informatics from Indiana University, Bloomington (2018). Mr. Goard’s research takes an interdisciplinary approach in studying the intersections of Black player experiences and Black digital representation. He believes in building community via videogames by way of sharing information and knowledge within academic spaces and anime/geek/comic book conventions. He is the director and co-founder of the Blerds Leading and Advancing Diversity in Education (B.L.A.D.E.) which is the official education initiative for Blerdcon. He is also adjunct faculty at the University of Cincinnati teaching “Race, Gender & Videogames”. Lastly, he is the academic specialist for the Hopkins Center for Safe and Healthy Schools and Program Coordinator for the Institute in Critical, Quantitative, Computational, & Mixed Methodologies.
Illustrations & Illusion: Brent Peeples
Light and shadow. Bright and muted. There’s more to panels than pictures. Learn how imagery, light, and shadow become stories with one of Marvel Comics’ most celebrated illustrators, Brent Peeples.
Brent Peeples is an accomplished comic artist for Marvel and DC who has worked on such titles as Action Comics, Ghost Rider, Flash, Major X and most recently on Spider-Man & Venom.
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The Impact of Color: Matt Webb We see it in our favorite comics, but do we think about the impact and meaning color has in the story. Hear from one of the masters and legends of color, Marvel and DC Comics’ Matt Webb, and learn how he chooses the right colors for his scenes. Matt Webb was born in England and then moved to the US in 1964 where he fell in love with the storytelling and artistic techniques used to tell a good story. He became a professional comic book color-artist. He has been doing it since the 1980s and is still working today. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and cat!  Moderator: Brée Nachelle is a writer, AI strategist, and former NASA digital media specialist who helps creators and entrepreneurs build sustainable systems for visibility and growth. With over 20 years of experience across government and private industry, she blends editorial clarity with data-driven strategy—making complex ideas around AI and automation practical, human, and usable. Her writing has been featured in Essence and on Medium. She is the author of Aligned, Not Automated, a guide to building with technology without abandoning yourself in the process. @baronessbree • breenachelle.com |
A Fictional Fireside Chat: Roseanne A. Brown
Engage with and learn from fiction writer Roseanne A. Brown, author of A Song of Wraiths, Ruin and A Psalm of Storms and Silence, as well as the Serwa Boateng's series of books.
Roseanne A. Brown was born in Kumasi, Ghana before immigrating to the wild jungles of central Maryland as a child. Writing was her first love, and she knew from a young age that she wanted to use the power of words to connect the different cultures she called home. Her debut novel A Song of Wraiths and Ruin received six starred reviews and was an instant New York Times Bestseller, an Indie Bestseller, a Goodreads Choice Award Semifinalist, and a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection 2021 among other accolades. Her debut middle grade novel Serwa Boateng’s Guide to Vampire Hunting launched as part of the critically acclaimed Rick Riordan Presents line and was a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of 2022, a Michigan YouPer Award 2023 Top 10 Title, a Junior Library Guild Pick, and received three starred reviews among other accolades.
Moderator: Javon Goard earned a B.A. in sociology with honors from the University of Maryland, College Park (2016), and his M.S. in informatics from Indiana University, Bloomington (2018). Mr. Goard’s research takes an interdisciplinary approach in studying the intersections of Black player experiences and Black digital representation. He believes in building community via videogames by way of sharing information and knowledge within academic spaces and anime/geek/comic book conventions. He is the director and co-founder of the Blerds Leading and Advancing Diversity in Education (B.L.A.D.E.) which is the official education initiative for Blerdcon. He is also adjunct faculty at the University of Cincinnati teaching “Race, Gender & Videogames”. Lastly, he is the academic specialist for the Hopkins Center for Safe and Healthy Schools and Program Coordinator for the Institute in Critical, Quantitative, Computational, & Mixed Methodologies.
 Rise of the G.E.M.S.: Marian Dealy Meet the author of Rise of the G.E.M.S. Five lab mice who gain superpowers after an experiment must learn to work together and survive on the International Space Station after being abandoned there. Will they make it?
 Marian Dealy is an author, filmmaker and award-winning Ph.D. in biology. Throughout her life, she has gravitated toward the excitement of cutting-edge science. As a young adult, MS. Dealy worked as an AIDS researcher at the National Institutes of Health, helped decipher the sequence of human DNA at Human Genome Sciences, then traveled across the country to UC San Diego where she did her thesis project in genetics. After getting her Ph.D. in biology, she pursued her other passion in life—storytelling. She has worked as a filmmaker for the last 20 years and was recently inspired by her young son to write books that convey her love of science to the next generation. Ms. Dealy uses her scientific background to weave the latest and greatest in science and technology into her fictional stories in fun and unexpected ways. |
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