Flame Con, created and produced by the LGBTQ+ non-profit Geeks OUT, continues to celebrate its tenth anniversary this year with the announcement of new special guests and expanded programming on a new third floor! The tenth annual Flame Con expo will take place on August 17 – 18 at the Sheraton Times Square Hotel in New York City. Featuring a comics, arts and entertainment expo that showcases creators and special guests from all corners of the LGBTQ+ community of fans, the two-day venture will include thoughtful discussions, exclusive performances, cosplay and more.
Tickets for the con are now available HERE.
Flame Con is also adding a third floor to this year’s convention space as they expand their Gaymer Lounge, a gaming-focused area to kick back and get immersed in a multitude of board games, card games, video games and TTRPGs. The Gaymer Lounge is operated by NYC Gaymers, a community-led LGBTQIA+ non-profit whose mission is to uplift the voices of marginalized gamers and sustain a diverse and passionate space that reflects both New York City and gaming culture. Through the Lounge, Flame Con and NYC Gaymers hope to continue to encourage members to learn new games, meet new people, take part in tournaments, and participate in the official Flame Con game!
Learn more about The Gaymer Lounge HERE.
Flame Con is excited to announce two new special guests for the 2024 expo: ND Stevenson and Sara Myer. ND Stevenson is an Emmy- and GLAAD Media Award-winning cartoonist and animation producer. The cartoonist is perhaps most well-known for creating and producing the Netflix series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and for writing the science fantasy graphic novel Nimona. The novel was adapted into an animated feature film by Netflix in 2023 and went on to be nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 96th Academy Awards. Sara Myer is a comic artist, writer and colorist whose graphic memoir Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story was a finalist for the 2023 L.A. Times Book Prize. The graphic memoir also appeared on several Best of 2023 lists including the New York Public Library’s Top 10 Books for Teens and the Boston Globe Best of 2023. Myer is currently the illustrator and cover artist of several comic issues of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures.
Earlier, Flame Con announced Molly Knox Ostertag as the first of this year’s special guests. Molly Knox Ostertag is the acclaimed ABA Indies and New York Times bestselling graphic novel author-illustrator of The Deep Dark, The Girl from the Sea, and the Witch Boy trilogy: The Witch Boy, The Hidden Witch, and The Midwinter Witch, as well as a writer for animation. An animated musical adaptation of The Witch Boy has been announced on Netflix.
Other previously-announced guests for this year’s expo include JP Karliak and Kris Anka. JP Karliak has voiced iconic animated characters including Wile E. Coyote, the Boss Baby, Willy Wonka, and a slew of Marvel heroes and villains including Morph in X-Men ’97 and Green Goblin in Spidey and His Amazing Friends. In 2025, he’ll star opposite Rihanna in a new animated Smurf movie. Karliak is the founder and president of Queer Vox, a non-profit training academy that advocates for authentic and equitable casting opportunities for LGBTQ+ voice talent. Kris Anka is a designer and artist best known as a lead character designer on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. He has also worked as a designer on My Adventures With Superman and as a comic artist on titles like The White Trees at Image Comics, and on Marvel Comics titles such as Runaways, Uncanny X-men, Star-Lord, and Captain Marvel.
To celebrate the expo and its special anniversary, Fireball: The Official Flame Con After Party will be held on Saturday, August 17 at Hell’s Kitchen’s Industry bar. Fireball is a 21+ celebration of queer geek culture featuring drag, burlesque, dancing and all the queer joy you can handle. This year’s party will be hosted by Megami, cast member in the recent season 16 of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Get tickets for the tenth annual Flame Con and the Fireball After Party HERE.
Of the convention, Nic Gitau, President of Geeks OUT, says: “For years, the constant refrain we’d hear attending other conventions was ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if..? Wouldn’t it be cool if… there was a safe space for LGBTQ+ fans to connect?’ or, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if… there was a show that proved audiences were hungry for unapologetically queer storytelling?’ Over the last ten years Flame Con has become a home for queer fans, championed queer stories, and celebrated queer creators as their careers have sparked and exploded. We’re grateful for a community that’s grown exponentially each year and we’re excited to gather the best of LGBTQ+ comics and pop culture once more, in what will be a standout 10th anniversary show.”
Tickets to Flame Con are available through Eventbrite and will feature daily and weekend passes, as well as passes to the official 2024 Flame Con party. Tickets can be purchased at flamecon2024.eventbrite.com.
Exhibitor table sales dates will launch later this month. Stay tuned for announcements.
For more information on Flame Con, please visit www.flamecon.org and for more information on Geeks OUT, please visit www.geeksout.org.
