Voice actress Lisa Ortiz, known for voicing the elf Deedlit in "Record of Lodoss War," Lina Inverse in "Slayers" and Amy Rose in "Sonic the Hedgehog," will be a guest at Otakon 2016.

In addition to her roles in "Record of Lodoss War," "Slayers" and "Sonic the Hedgehog," she has gone on to record dozens of anime, series, audiobooks, video games, and films, both as a voice actress and as a producer, director and adapter. She is currently the director of "Pokemon XY" and has worked on the show in various capacities over the years since "Indigo League," from Misty’s older sister Daisy, to Sabrina, to Flannery, to Oshawatt, to Fletchling and present-day gym leader Korrina. She can currently be heard as Noembelu in "Street Fighter V."

Ortiz is president of Noise of O Productions, and currently resides in NYC with her fabulous feline Fitz. Her website is: LisaOrtiz.com

Otakon 2016 will be held August 12-14 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, MD.

Small Press Expo has announced several guests for this year's convention to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Fantagraphics. The current special guests to attend this year's SPX will be:

Joe Sacco is a cartoonist and journalist. He is best known for his comics journalism, in particular in the books Palestine (1996) and Footnotes in Gaza (2009), on Israeli–Palestinian relations; and Safe Area Goražde (2000) and The Fixer (2003) on the Bosnian War.

Trina Robbins is an American cartoonist. She was an early and influential participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the few female artists in the fledgling underground comix movement. Both as a cartoonist and historian, Robbins has long been involved in creating outlets for and promoting female comics artists.

Daniel Gillespie Clowes is an American cartoonist, illustrator, and screenwriter. Most of Clowes's work first appeared in Eightball, a solo anthology comic book series. An Eightball issue typically contained several short pieces and a chapter of a longer narrative that was later collected and published as a graphic novel, such as Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron (1993), Ghost World (1997), and David Boring (2000). Clowes’s illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, Newsweek, Vogue, The Village Voice, and elsewhere. With filmmaker Terry Zwigoff, Clowes adapted Ghost World into a 2001 film and another Eightball story into the 2006 film, Art School Confidential. Clowes’s comics, graphic novels, and films have received numerous awards, including a Pen Award for Outstanding Work in Graphic Literature, over a dozen Harvey and Eisner Awards, and an Academy Award nomination.

Carol Tyler is an American painter, educator, comedian, and eleven-time Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist known for her autobiographical stories.

James William Woodring is an American cartoonist, fine artist, writer and toy designer. He is best known for the dream-based comics he published in his magazine Jim, and as the creator of the anthropomorphic cartoon character Frank, who has appeared in a number of short comics and graphic novels.

Ed Piskor is an alternative comics artist operating out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a former student of The Kubert School and is best known for his artistic collaborations with underground comics pioneers Harvey Pekar of American Splendor fame, and Jay Lynch who illustrates Garbage Pail Kids. He has a cult following amongst minicomic fans with his series Deviant Funnies and Isolation Chamber.

In the coming months, there will be more special guests to be appear at this year's SPX. Alongside the special guests that was announced today, several events at this year's SPX was also announced including:

• Publisher Gary Groth will give the SPX Lecture at the Library of Congress on Friday September 16 at Noon in the Madison Building.
  
• There will be a separate track of programming at SPX 2016 dedicated to Fantagraphics and its creators, with details to be announced mid-August.
• Attendees will be able to get an SPX exclusive, a free newsprint commemorative booklet with artwork by Fantagraphic artists
  

Alongside these announcements, the 2016 Ignatz nominees will also be announced at this year's Small Press Expo. The Ignatz Award is a festival prize held every year at SPX recognizing outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning, with the winners chosen by attendees at the show.

SPX 2016 takes place on September 17-18, in Bethesda, Maryland.

sources:
http://www.smallpressexpo.com.

Voice actor Michael Liscio, who has lent his voice to characters on the show "Pokémon," has been added to the guest roster for Otakon 2016, according to Otakorp Inc.

Liscio wears many hats as a voice-over artist, actor of stage and screen, singer/songwriter, and writer. He is best known for his work on "Pokémon" (Clemont and Inkay) and "YuGiOh: Arc V" (Yuya, Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri) and can also be seen eight times a week in "Avenue Q."

For more information on Liscio’s current projects, check out his website: MichaelLiscio-Jr.com. Otakon 2016 will be held August 12-14 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, MD.

Sources:
http://www.otakon.com/

Voice actress Sarah Natochenny, best known as the voice of "Pokémon's" Ash Ketchum for over a decade, will be a guest at Otakon 2016, according to Otakorp Inc.

In addition to voicing Ash Ketchum, Natochenny has done commercials and promos for Nickelodeon, McDonalds, Wendy's, Fisher Price and Scope, which was awarded a Lion at the Cannes Film Festival. Her other animated series include "Super 4" (Twinkle), "Robin Hood" (Marian), "Peter Pan" (Tinkerbell), "Yoko" (Vik) and "World of Winx." Her feature films include "Axel: The Biggest Little Hero" (Boca) and "Sheep & Wolves" (Xavi).

As for video games, her work can be heard in "Batman: The Dark Knight," "Thor," "Gangstar: Vegas," "My Littlest Pet Shop," "Dungeon Hunter 4," "Bullet Witch," "Dragon Hunter," "GTA V," and more.
Natochenny has also been working as a film editor for the last six years. She studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade and Magnet Theaters. Otakon 2016 will be held August 12-14 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, MD

Sources:
http://otakon.com/

This past weekend we received news that Aniplex will be hosting their own anime convention this year. The convention, Akibafest, will take place in Los Angeles, at the Little Tokyo plaza on October 15th-16th. Aniplex's goal with Akibafest is not only to host their own anime convention, but bring the experience of what it feels like to attend Akihabara in Japan.

AkibaFest is a cooperative venture between Aniplex of America, other notable anime and video game publishers, technology partners, and the Little Tokyo business community. Fans will be able to enjoy exclusive film screenings, expert panels and workshops, playable video game demos, technology demos, cosplay contests, themed cafés, exclusive merchandise offers, Japanese food and beverages, and much more. The website is now live for people to sign up to Akiafest's newsletter to be notified of updates for the upcoming convention, and other information including prices for the tickets will be in the near future.

It is interesting to see Aniplex host their own anime convention. While many anime companies have participated in many big anime conventions, this may be the first time I seen an anime company actually host their very own. I am very curious to see how this will go for Aniplex, and if this starts out very well, we may see other big anime companies do the same in the future.

Sources:
http://akibafest.com/