DIVERSITY

around a “Women in Comics” panel that was all male.

But MacIntosh said DCC tries to make sure the guests reflect the broader diversity of the city it’s based in by bringing in creatives and hosting panels that many groups will find interesting.

And it seems to be working. Last year, slightly more women than men attended, he said, and the diversity of guests is evident just walking around.

While the Con will play host to plenty of women, minority and LGBTQ creators from the national stage — Alitha Martinez who did art for “Black Panther,” Larry Hama who wrote “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero,” and Amy Chu who wrote “Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death” — several of the diverse writers and comics showing work are from the local scene.

The metro Denver area comic scene is “winning” when it comes to diversity, said local comic writer and podcast host R. Alan Brooks. And he would know. Brooks has often spoken on panels or his podcast about diversity in comics. His own work tends to explore those themes as well.

(Brooks will be on several panels throughout Denver Comic Con and will soon be premiering “Burning Metronome,” a 164-page hardcover graphic novel that he described as the “Twilight Zone” meets “Usual Suspects.”)

Brooks laid out some of the local women, people of color and LGBTQ artists and writers to check out.

Lonnie MF Allen is one of the biggest players in the local comic scene. For the past eight years, he’s organized Denver Drink and Draw, a weekly gathering of comic artists, and Doodle Fights!, a local comics showcase and competition. He has been published in Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics and was nominated for the Eisner Award. His book “Delineate,” which he’ll be showing at Comic Con, won the 2017 DINKy for Outstanding Work by a Colorado Creator.

Alex Graham draws penand-ink comics that are reality-based with alien narratives. She started as a painter about 14 years ago but adapted to comics roughly two years ago. She recently finished a graphic novel “Angloid” that was released in parts in the last couple years but she’ll soon be gathering into a book. She also does a series called “Cosmic Being,” a series of short stories with aliens and cosmic overtones. Graham will only be showing the first day of Comic Con June 30.

Gerhard Kaaihue has been showing at Denver Comic Con since it started. Born in Maui, much of Kaaihue’s work has Hawaiian influences. He studied in Japan and many say there are anime influences as well. Kaaihue said he usually focuses on emotional pieces, typically pulling from his own struggles. Kaaihue self-published “Stella Noir,” a series on a secret agent who has to protect her ex-boyfriend, and is working on the final pages of a book with Brooks called “Falling Deep.”

Cori Redford has several artistic styles but the main thread through all of her pieces is humor, which is obvious in the “Journal of Scientific Inquiry,” which is not at all scientific, and “Denver Deviations,” which is a guided city tour you would not want to be stuck on. Redford will be at the Doodle Fights! party at Mutiny Information Café on June 30 for the launch of the Denver Public Library comics newspaper starting at 7 p.m. She’ll also be hanging out at the Comic Con booth for the comic “Specialists.”

Dylan Edwards’ comics focus on queer and trans people and spread through a variety of genres, including autobiography, science fiction and horror. A Colorado native, he moved to Denver in 2013. He currently has an on-going webcomic and a couple of stories in anthologies coming out later this year. He’ll be at the Denver Comic Con Founder’s Booth on Friday, June 30, in the morning. But Edwards said it’d be easiest to find him after a panel.

Stan Yan is best known as the zombie caricature guy — although, he can draw you as My Little Pony, too. Most of Yan’s early work focused on a sick and twisted slice of life, which he pulled from his time as a stockbroker for 13 years. He was laid off, though, and turned to his art full time. Yan had been focusing on caricature work for awhile but has recently returned to other projects, such as a memoir comic on his best friend’s battle with cancer called “Regret” and a children’s book “There’s a Zombie in the Basement.” He’ll be selling a DVD of his son narrating the children’s book.

Anubis Heru, whose given name is Brandon Cole, creates SciFi drama, action and fantasy with Pan-African and martial arts influences. Anubis will be releasing “Acid of the Godz,” which is illustrated by Ryan Best, on July 8 with a launch party at Vinue Food and Wine Bar at 7 p.m. In the book, a horde of genetically engineered creatures terrorize people as weather anomalies begin to surface and cause substantial damage. A young prince and three unlikely heroes must find an ancient artifact to bring balance to the world. Anubis created the original manuscript in 2005. Anubis and Best will have a 4-foot sword held by Chuma, one of the characters in the book, at their booth.

Thea Hunt has been in the Denver scene for nine years. She does a lot of fantasy and dystopian-future work in a traditional pen-and-ink style that mostly focuses on young black kids. “That’s my thing,” she said. “I write stories about kids that look like my siblings.” Hunt’s recent work is called “Amelia.” It’s a story about a little girl raised by gods who were terrible at raising humans. The story operates between the world of the gods and the world of humanoids, so one isn’t sure if what’s happening is really in this world or all in her head.

Dailen Ogden is a sixthgeneration Boulder County person who tends to focus on urban and historical fantasy stories, drawing in an art nouveau style that favors scrolling design, patterns and flowers. She’s currently working on a web comic called “The Liminal.”