ReggieCon will welcome guest panelists Sara Al-Fageeh and Nadia Shammas to the panel From Amulet to Squire from 7-8:30 p.m., April 14 via Zoom.   

There is no cost to attend. Those interested can join the Zoom webinar at the ReggieCon website. 

In recognition of National Arab American Heritage Month, the April panel will focus on the graphic novel Marvel’s Amulet, written by Saladin Ahmed and illustrated by Al-Fageeh. The character of Amulet is Lebanese American high schooler Fadi Fadlalah, who appears in the Magnificent Ms. Marvel comics.  

Al-Fageeh and fellow guest panelist Shammas co-authored Squire, a graphic novel set in a Middle Eastern-inspired fantasy world about a 14-year-old-girl, Aiza. She dreams of becoming a knight to elevate her people’s lives in an empire wracked by famine and escalating border wars. 

ReggieCon panelists include Dr. Scott Jordan, chair of the Department of Psychology at Illinois State University; Victor Dandridge, founder of Vantage Inhouse Productions; Dr. Theresa Rojas, professor of English at Modesto Junior College and director of the Latinx Comic Arts Festival; and Dr. Eric Wesselmann, associate professor of psychology at Illinois State. 

ReggieCon is a series of virtual panels with experts in comic and popular media, focusing on issues of race and diversity. Sponsored by the Office of Enrollment Management and Academic Services, the Harold K. Sage Fund, and the Illinois State University Foundation, ReggieCon is entering its second year with panels throughout the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters. 

Upcoming panels include: 

My Neighbor Totoro 
May 5 
Asian Pacific Heritage Month