Fandom Fest 2023

Fandom Fest is upstate New York’s largest gathering for fantasy enthusiasts! Transforming four floors of Proctors into all of your favorite fandoms. Fandom Fest – featuring the Geek Garage, the Dragon Dungeon and the Arcade Arcade – is returning in 2023.

Celebrating all things pop culture, Fandom Fest has something for everyone! With panels, cosplay contests, a vendor hall and more, you’ll be sure to find something that captives your inner fan.

Fandom Fest held its inaugural event in 2022 and we can’t wait to show you what we have to bring in 2023. Stay tuned for more information, schedules, and celebrity panelists.

Fandom Fest 2022’s celebrities included James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Amber Benson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants), Rob Paulsen (Pinky from Pinky and the Brain), Maurice LeMarche (Brain from Pinky and the Brain), Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh) and more!

This year’s lineup features Alan Tudyk (Firefly, Serenity, Resident Alien), Summer Glau (Firefly, Serenity, Terminator), Todd Haberkorn, Keone Young, Adrian Paul (Highlander), David Barclay, Bart Sears, Bill Anderson, Keith Haugen, Delaney King, Ron Marz, and more!

For more information, contact FandomFest@proctors.org. Fandom Fest is an initiative of Proctors Collaborative.

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Bart Sears has been drawing comics professionally for over three decades, working for DC, Marvel, Valiant, CrossGen, Image, Dark Horse and a number of independent publishers. A few of the many titles he’s worked on include Valiant’s “X-O Manowar” and “Turok,” Marvel’s “Captain America and Falcon” and “Blade,” and  DC’s  “Justice League Europe” and  “Legends of the Dark Knight.” Well known for the cult classic art tutorial column “Brutes and Babes” that appeared in Wizard Magazine, which inspired a generation of artists, Bart has recently spawned a new series of how-to-draw books called “Drawing Powerful Heroes.”

Bart also works extensively in the toy and gaming industry, designing C.O.P.S., G.I. JOE and WWF boys toys for Hasbro and X-Men figures for Toybiz, and in video games, producing concept art for multiple titles.

The creative force behind Ominous Press, telling relentless, powerful, compelling tales of heroes, creating “Dread Gods” and “Demi-God” as well as writing and drawing “Giantkillers,” he is busy creating lessons and content for the Drawing Powerful Heroes series of books, along with a slew of other IP and creative projects.
bartsearsart.com // ominouspress.com

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Bill Anderson has hundreds of inking credits, for Marvel (“Silver Surfer,” “Spider-Man,” “Cosmic Powers,” “Uncanny Origins”); DC (“Action Comics,” “Superman,” “Superboy,” “Batman and the Outsiders”); Mirage (“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Turtle Soup”); Image (“Vanguard,” “Ethrian”); Comico (“Elementals,” “Robotech,” “Jonny Quest”); Claypool Comics (“Elvira”) and countless other publishers.

More recently he has worked on Adidas’ Marvel-inspired Heroes Among Us sneaker line, and Hasbro’s Marvel Legends action figure series.

He’ll have original art, comics, and prints available at the show, or bring some back issues from your collection, and he’ll be happy to sign it all for you.
Instagram // @bill_anderson_comics

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Keith Haugen, a former student of the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic art, is an artist from the Albany, NY area. His credits include: “Shriek No. 1” and “Shriek No. 2” by FantaCo Enterprises, “Ghost Investigator No. 1” by Spirited Comics, “Hudson Valley Zombie Apocalypse GN” by Eagle Press, “Argo5 38” by Argo Comics and “Quandary Magazine No. 1.” Keith also has a self-publishing project, “WTF (What The Freak) Comix Anthology.”
Facebook Keith Haugen Comix Artist // Instagram @khaugenartist

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Delaney King is a sculptor and special effects artist located in Los Angeles with a passion for creature and makeup design. After dedicating her work to the haunt scene for over six years, she studied and graduated from Cinema Makeup School to pursue special effects full-time. Some of her notable creations include vampires, goblins, sentient fungi, and beasts of all varieties. Recently, Delaney has been working alongside talented artists, bringing anything into reality from cut-up corpses to beloved children’s characters for film and TV. With a fervor for inducing fear and creating wonder, she hopes her next design will be something you can’t forget.
Website // delaneykingsfx.com Instagram // @delaneykking_sfx

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Ron Marz has been writing comics for three decades, starting his career with a lengthy run on “Silver Surfer” for Marvel. Since then, he has worked for virtually every major publisher and compiled a long list of credits, including stints on “Thor” for Marvel, “Green Lantern” and “Superboy” for DC, “Star Wars” for Dark Horse, and the historic “Marvel vs. DC” crossover.

Among Marz’s numerous credits is his acclaimed run on “Witchblade” for Top Cow/Image, the “Skylanders” series for IDW, “Turok” and “John Carter: Warlord of Mars” for Dynamite, and “Fathom” for Aspen. He is the Editor-in-Chief and Lead Writer for the revived Ominous Press, penning “Dread Gods”, “Demi-God”, “Beasts of the Black Hand”, and “Harken’s Raiders.” Recent projects include the “Justice League: Endless Winter” crossover of DC, and “Swamp God” and “World Traveler”, two new series for Metal Metal magazine.

Marz’s creator-owned series include the all-ages tale “Dragon Prince” at Top Cow; the historical adventure “Samurai: Heaven and Earth” at Dark Horse; and the vampire tale “Shinku” at Image. Marz has also written for video games, including multiple “Skylanders” titles, “Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2”, “Spider-Man 2”, and more.
Website // www.ronmarz.com Twitter // @ronmarz

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