New World Comic Con 2024 welcomes 'Venom' artist and more

Word Balloons #1224: Homegrown comic show at State Fairgrounds will be held Saturday and Sunday

New World Comic Con is leveling up in its ninth year and now takes place over two days at the Oklahoma State Fair Park. 

Comic creators who have worked on top-tier characters like Spider-Man and Superman will appear at the family-friendly comic-book convention. 

New World Comic Con returns for its ninth year this Saturday and Sunday (July 13-14) at the Oklahoma State Fair Park. The convention offers opportunities to meet comic creators, actors and other creatives, and to dress in costume and take part in costume contests. 

Organizer Brian “Buck” Berlin, owner of Oklahoma City’s New World Comics, is the organizer of the event, set for 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Pavilion at State Fair Park. 

Some of the comic book creators appearing at the show include the following: 

Sam de la Rosa 

Perhaps best-known as an inker on “Venom: Lethal Protector” in 1993, de la Rosa has worked on a wide variety of Marvel characters, including Spider-Man, Daredevil, Iron Man and Deathlok, among many others. He helped launch “Predator” for Dark Horse, and has worked on Superman, Batman and Green Lantern at DC Comics.  

Ande Parks 

Kansas-based Ande Parks wrote the graphic novel “Ciudad,” adapted as “Extraction” with Chris Hemsworth for Netflix. Parks has inked titles including “Daredevil,” “Superman” and “Nightwing,” and was part of the creative team for the early 2000s’ “Green Arrow” series with artist Phil Hester and writers Kevin Smith, Brad Meltzer and Judd Winick.  He also counts among his writing credits the graphic novels “Capote in Kansas” and “Union Station.” 

Phil Hester 

Hester worked as an artist on the aforementioned “Green Arrow,” plus Mark Millar’s “Swamp Thing,” Robert Kirkman’s “Ant-Man,” and many more. 

Meltzer wrote the "Archer's Quest" arc in the "Green Arrow" comic book for DC Comics, taking over as writer from filmmaker Kevin Smith and joining the art team of Hester and Parks.

In "Archer's Quest," the recently resurrected Green Arrow and his former sidekick Roy Harper collect artifacts from Green Arrow's past. Along the way, Meltzer explores the character of Green Arrow Oliver Queen.

Hester has been the writer of “The Darkness” and “Wonder Woman,” among others, and co-created “The Coffin” with artist Mike Huddleston, and Firebreather with artist “Andy Kuhn,” which became an Emmy-winning feature on Cartoon Network. Hester received an Eisner nomination for “The Wretch,” which he wrote and drew. 

Peter Smith

Smith is creating, illustrating, and writing “The Chronicles of Zelaria,” a comic novella that combines Sci-Fi, Steam Punk and Fairytales.

John "Joltin' Johnny" Lucas 

Lucas is a cartoonist who has worked for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, MAD Magazine, 2000 AD and many more. John co-created the original graphic novels “After Houdini” and “Before Houdini.”

Robert Wilson IV 

Wilson is the co-creator and artist of “Heartthrob” at Oni Press with writer Christopher Sebela and colorist Nick Filardi. He is also the artist for “Barbaric: The Harvest Blades at Vault Comics.”

Natasha Alterici 

Alterici is a writer-artist best known for the Viking series “Heathen.” She’s also worked on titles including “Gotham Academy” and “Grayson” for DC Comics and “Women of Marvel” for Marvel.  

Artist Jerry Bennett (Photo by Matthew Price)

Jerry Bennett

OKC-based Bennett was the 2018 Skirvin artist-in-residence and is the artist of the series “Glamorella’s Daughter.” Previously, Bennett has created sketch cards for Star Wars, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Marvel and The Walking Dead, among others. He’s created art for comics, storyboards, graphic novels and children’s books in his storied career. 

Lots more creators, vendors, and cosplayers will be on hand for the homegrown show. 

A weekend ticket for the show is $40. Single-day tickets are $25 for Saturday and $20 for Sunday.  The event address is The Pavilion, 3212 Wichita Walk, Oklahoma City, OK, and the building is located on the west side of Oklahoma State Park. 

Matthew Price, matthew@matthewlprice.com, has written about the comics industry for more than two decades. He is the co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman.