Press Release: In the popular Japanese cartoon, Dragon Ball, a band of martial artists search the world over for the mystical 'dragon balls' a set of orbs that grant one wish of the finder when all seven are located and assembled.

Your wish has just been granted.

On April 5-7, 2013 at the Lansing Center in Lansing, Mich., seven voice actors from the epic anime will reunite for one weekend to hold panels, sign autographs, and discuss the time they worked on the series, at Lansing's premiere anime convention: Shuto Con.

The final guest announced this week is the Dragon Ball franchise's starring hero, Goku, as voiced by Sean Schemmel, who also voices King Kai and Nail in the internationally acclaimed anime series. Additional roles include: Batman in The Dark Night Rises game adaptation, Onsakumaru in Ninja Nonsense, and dozens of voices in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles remake.

Schemmel will be joined by the following veteran Dragon Ball voice actors:

Christopher Sabat:  Voice of Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, Mr. Popo, Kami, Jeice, Recoome, Korin, Burter, Shenron, Zarbon, Guru, Porunga, and more, as well as voice director for the series.

Monica Rial:  Voice of Bulma.

Sonny Strait:  Scriptwriter for Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, as well as the voice of Krillin, Lieutenant Blue, and more.

Colleen Clinkenbeard: Voice of Gohan, Android 18, and Baby Trunks.

Chris Rager:  Voice of Mr. Satan/Hercule and King Yemma.

Greg Ayres:  Performer of one of the Dragon Ball Z Kai opening themes and voice of Guldo.

A special industry guest from Funimation, the studio that dubbed and distributed the English-language Dragon Ball, will also be holding panels and special previews of newly released anime.

Special artist guests will include Doug Smith, who also voiced Kintaro in the cult anime Golden Boy; Rikki Simmons, who voiced Gir in  Invader Zim ; and Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simmons, artist behind studio Tavicat (with Rikki Simmons).

Several bands will also perform a marathon Saturday concert including: Armcannon, Those Who Fight, Knights of the Round, The Pillowcases, The X-Hunters, and Arc Impulse.

Returning to this year's two-day rave will be DJs Freddy D and TKR.

More information about individual guests can be found at shutocon.com/guests.html

Pre-registration for admission badges ends Friday, Mar. 22. More information at: shutocon.com/registration.html

 

Press Release: Chicago's hot new anime convention, Anime Midwest, is pleased to announce that A-list voice actor Quinton Flynn will be appearing at Anime Midwest 2013 to sign autographs and participate in Q & A sessions throughout the weekend. Anime Midwest will be held July 5-7, 2013 at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare right next to the O'Hare airport. The convention's website is http://animemidwest.com

Quinton’s voice has been burning up film and television ever since arriving in LA from native Cleveland, as such extremely popular characters as Axel in Kingdom Hearts, Reno in Final Fantasy: Advent Children, Raiden in MGS, and Iruka-sensei in Naruto.

Quinton is an A-list voice actor, having played dozens of famous animated characters such as Jonny Quest, Spiderman, Speed Racer, The Human Torch, Timon, Snowbell in Stuart Little, among countless others. His television and film appearances include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, King of Queens, Animaniacs, Woody Woodpecker, Robot Chicken, Digimon Data Squad, Blood+, and many more. Voice acting is in his blood, as even his younger brother, Bart Flynn, is also a voice actor, the the two of them have both voiced characters on The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.

Fans will get several chances to ask Quinton questions during Q&A sessions throughout the weekend, in addition to getting free autographs. Previously announced guests include GLaDOS from Portal (Ellen McLain), Doug Walker (The Nostalgia Critic), Todd Haberkorn, Sonny Strait, Spike Spencer, Dr. Awkward, YTCracker, The Pillowcases, V is for Villains, Russell Lissau, Alan Evans, Trevor Mueller, Steve Horton, and Sleeping Samurai. A full list of guests can be found athttp://animemidwest.com/guests

Anime Midwest is a top-notch anime convention held in Chicago, with epic events every year ranging from a Lolita Fashion Show to a Fantasy Ball. Featured events are listed at http://animemidwest.com/events
 

Press Release: The Baltimore Comic-Con is thrilled to announce the addition of artists Ivan Reis and Joe Prado to the growing line-up of talent attending this year's show. The show will take place the weekend of September 7-8, 2013 at the Baltimore Convention Center.

Brazilian artist Ivan Reis began his career in American comics in 1996 working on the Dark Horse series, Ghost, beginning with issue 17. After stints on The Mask, Time Cop, and Xena: Warrior Princess, he left Dark Horse to work on several Lady Death mini-series at Chaos! and several fill-in issues at Marvel and DC Comics. While having worked on several books for both Marvel and DC, including Captain Marvel, Avengers, Rann/Thanagar War, and Infinite Crisis, he s most widely-known for this work with Geoff Johns on Green Lantern and Blackest Night. After the launch of DC's New 52, he worked with Johns again on the relaunch of Aquaman and has since taken over art duties on Justice League.

Joe Prado, who also hails from Brazil, broke into the American comic scene in 2004 while sharing art duties with Reis on DC Comics' Action Comics. Since then, Prado has worked on such DC titles as Superman, Teen Titans, Birds of Prey, and Rann/Thanagar War (again working with Reis). His work has also been featured on the covers of such Dynamite Entertainment books as Red Sonja and Battlestar Galactica. His most recent work includes covers for DC Comics' Resurrection Man, Aquaman, and Earth 2.

 "We are so pleased to have both Ivan and Joe joining us here in Baltimore this year," said Marc Nathan, Show Promoter of the Baltimore Comic-Con. "Their art has graced the pages of some of the best comics published in the last decade, and their art styles have helped shape the look and feel of the modern DC Universe."

In addition to Reis and Prado, other confirmed guests for the show include: Mark Buckingham (Fables); Frank Cho (Savage Wolverine); J.M. DeMatteis (Phantom Stranger); Dave Gibbons (The Secret Service); Keith Giffen (Masters of the Universe); Adam Hughes (Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan); Barry Kitson (Empire); Paul Levitz (World's Finest); Kevin Maguire (World's Finest); Mike Mignola (Hellboy In Hell); George Perez (World's Finest); David Petersen (Mouse Guard); Chris Samnee (Daredevil); Louise Simonson (X-Factor); Walt Simonson (The Mighty Thor); Allison Sohn (sketch card artist); and Mark Waid (Indestructible Hulk).

In the coming weeks, look for more announcements from the Baltimore Comic-Con. We are looking forward to highlighting our guests, the Harvey Awards, industry exclusives, and programming. The latest developments can always be found on our website, Twitter, and Facebook pages.

Contact Information
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About The Baltimore Comic-Con
The Baltimore Comic-Con is celebrating its 14th year of bringing the comic book industry to the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area. For more information, please visit www.baltimorecomiccon.com.

About The Harvey Awards
The Harvey Awards are one of the comic book industry's oldest and most respected awards. With a history of over 20 years, the last 9 in conjunction with the Baltimore Comic-Con, the Harveys recognize outstanding achievements in over 20 categories. They are the only industry awards nominated and selected by the full body of comic book professionals. For more information, please visit www.harveyawards.org.
 

Press Release: Film and television legend Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future, Taxi, Who Framed Roger Rabbit) is the eighteenth special celebrity guest announced for the upcoming Emerald City Comicon taking place on March 1st – 3rd, 2013 at the Washington State Convention Center. He will be appearing all three days!

Christopher Lloyd is one of the most vesatile actors in the industry. After all, how many people can claim to have been a reverend that drives a taxi, flown over the cuckoo’s nest, illuminated light bulbs in their mouth, erased cartoon characters from existence, journeyed across the Eighth Dimension, ridden alongside The Lone Ranger, traveled through time in a DeLorean and battled Captain Kirk to the death?

A Connecticut native, Lloyd began his acting career at age 14 doing summer stock before moving to New York and performing on Broadway. He would be in his 30s before he landed his first movie role in the Academy Award-winning 1970 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest starring Jack Nicholson. In 1978, he made a guest appearance on the popular sitcom Taxi as the zany “Reverend Jim Ignatowski.” His character became such a hit with viewers that he quickly became a regular on the series, for which he won an Emmy in 1982.

But it is perhaps Lloyd’s role as “Doctor Emmett Brown” in the 1985 sleeper hit Back to the Future that made him a household name. The film about a whacky scientist that makes a time machine out of DeLorean became a mainstream smash and yielded two sequels, an animated series, a video game and even a ride at Universal Studios. Fans of Star Trek will certainly know him for his turn as the merciless Klingon Commander “Kruge” in Star Trek 3 The Search for Spock, where he fought hand-to-hand combat with “Captain James T. Kirk.”

Throughout the 80s and 90s, Lloyd appeared in a number of cult films that still support a large following including Buckaroo Banzai Across The Eigth Dimenson, The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Man on the Moon (the Andy Kaufman docudrama where he played himself) and the comedy Clue. He also maintained his share of mainstream hits including his memorable role as the evil “Judge Doom” in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Disney’s Angels in the Outfield and as kooky “Uncle Fester” in both “The Addam’s Family” and “Addam’s Family Values.”

While still maintaining a successful big screen career, Lloyd continues to make appearances on the small screen, including guest spots on FOX’s Fringe, The West Wing, Numb3rs and the NBC comedy Chuck. He can next be seen in the upcoming The Return of Captain Kidd.

Joining Lloyd at ECCC 2013 will be previously announced guests Sir Patrick Stewart (“Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek The Next Generation, “Dr. Charles Xavier” from the X-Men films), Billy Dee Williams (“Lando Calrissian” from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi), Walter Koenig (“Chekov” from classic Star Trek), Natalia Tena (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones), Paul McGillion (Stargate Atlantis), Michael Shanks (Saving Hope, Stargate SG-1), Kristin Bauer (“Pam” from HBO’s True Blood), Gillian Anderson (“Agent Scully” from The X-Files), Chandler Riggs (“Carl Grimes” on AMC’s The Walking Dead), Adam West and Burt Ward (TV’s classic “Batman” and “Robin”), Dirk Benedict (“Faceman” from The A-Team, “Starbuck” from Battlestar Galactica), Danai Gurira (“Michonne” from The Walking Dead), Chris Sarandon (“Prince Humperdinck” from The Princess Bride), Carrie Fisher (“Princess Leia” from Star Wars), Lexa Doig (Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda, Continuum, Jason X) and Felicia Day (The Guild, Eureka). More fantastic celebrity guests yet to be announced!

Tickets for Emerald City Comicon 2013 are ON SALE NOW by visiting www.emeraldcitycomicon.com or any number of local comic book stores, also listed on the website!

ECCC 2013 will feature its most expansive variety of film/television stars, voice actors, comic guests, vendors, merchandise, gaming, contests, artists, speakers and pop culture yet!

With record-breaking attendance of over 53,000 attendees in 2012, Emerald City Comicon has established itself as one of North America’s largest and most respected shows of its kind anywhere in the world and has become the premier event of its kind in the Northwest. Founded in 2003 by Seattle-area entrepreneur and Geekwire’s “Geek of the Year” Award winner Jim Demonakos, ECCC has become highly regarded in both national and international circles as one of the most fan and family-friendly shows in existence.

Look for regular press releases containing all of the latest news leading up to the show in March 2013. For more information, please visit ECCC’s website at www.emeraldcitycomicon.com