AKRON COMICON 2026

 

This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and 8, I will be a special guest at the Akron Comicon in Cuyahoga Falls. The event has honored me with this status every year for several years and I couldn’t be happier. This “fans first” convention is one of my favorites. If you’re a regular, you feel the same way. If you’re a first time attendee, you are going to be very pleased.

Let’s get some of the basics out of the way:

The Akron Comiccon is held at Emodio’s Event Center, 48 E. Bath Road in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The hours are Saturday (10am-6pm) and Sunday (10am-4pm). There will be dozens of comics and media guests and vendors. One-day and weekend tickets are $15 and $25 respectively. Child tickets are $5 and $10 respectively. One child aged ten or under is admitted FREE with a paid adult ticket. The ticket price includes access to virtually all of the special presentations scheduled for the weekend.

Part of the Akron Comicon mission is placing an emphasis on what they call “Comics Future.” This means striving to keep the show affordable for all families so the adults have the opportunity to share and pass on their favorite comic-book traditions to the next generation. In my many years as a guest of the convention, I have seen kids and relationships grow before my eyes. I’ve seen several eager young creators take their places in Artists Alley as they develop their skills.

The special guests this year include include reality show actors the 1000-Pound Sisters, James L. Edwards, Susanna Malek, Chris Bores and the actor I most want to meet...Tony Cox! I have seen and loved Cox in fun movies like Bad Santa and a great many TV shows. He always brings the comedy to his roles.

Are you a fan of horror movie hosts? We have some of the finest:

Son of Ghoul, Leopold and Lenora and the Midnight Movie fellows. Who knows? I may join those ranks one day.

Artists and author special guests? The Akron Comic-Con has the legendary Joe Rubenstein, Jeff Gordon, Dirk Manning, William Russell and Bianca Roman-Stumpff. Also attending: the National Cartoonist Society and the crew of the USS Lagrange Star Trek Fan Club. I’ve been a proud honorary member of the LaGrange for decades. Even though I don’t wear the red shirt they keep asking me to wear. Hey, I’ve seen the show.

Artist Alley is just as impressive: Tom Batiuk of Crankshaft and Funky Winkerbean fame. Craig Boldman. Don Simpson. Dan Gorman. Chris Ehnot. Danny Phillips. Jay Fife. George Broderick, Jr. The Franklin Brothers. Mike Gustovich. Cory Holliday. Jason Moore. Tom Hutchinson. Damion Kendrick. Robert A. Kraus. Chris Lambert. Enrique Lopez. Ted Sikora. Rick Lozano. Dave Nestler. Michael Perczak. Robert Multari. Chris Thusat. Chris Kazmar. Just to let you know in advance, it is the policy of Akron Comicon to allow guests to set their own prices for signings and photo-ops.

At my booth, I’ll be selling collections reprinting my stories at roughly 20% off their original prices. If you buy any of these, I’ll sign them for free. I’ll also be offering an assortment of other hardcovers and trade editions at very low prices.

On other Isabella-written items, I charge $10 per signature with no charge for photos. I sign stuff I wrote as Tony Isabella with that name and stuff I wrote as Jenny Blake with that name. I do not sign Jenny Blake to my older work.

I likely won’t have time to do interviews, but I will do my best to answer any questions you have about my career, my transition and comics/entertainment in general. Some questions will be off limits, especially those concerning my family and my surgeries. Thanks for respecting my boundaries and privacy.

On Saturday, at 1 pm, I’ll again be hosting “Jenny Blake Live!,” the convention talk show. This shameless rip-off of my favorite network talk shows will feature a monologue, an interview with a special guest and a Q&A session wherein you can ask questions of either my guest or myself.

My special guest this year will be the amazing Craig Boldman. He wrote some of the best Archie comics of all time, the absolute best Jughead comics of all time, the Archie comic strip and much more, including his commercial acting. As part of the show, I’ll be subject my dear friend Craig to the “Isabella Questionella,” fifteen questions scientifically designed to allow the audience and me know him fully.

Other Akron Comic-Con events:

Saturday, Nov 7, 2026

11am – Kickstarter Success with Caleb Thusat and Russ Cassedey

12pm – Jasmine Gonzalez discusses making your way as a creative professional

1pm – “Jenny Blake Live!”

2pm – Route 8 Studios Interns talk about transitioning from School to the job market

3pm – A life in Cosplay with LorTH Cosplay

4pm – Cosplay Contest

Sunday, Nov 8, 2026

11am – The Barf and Garf Show!

12pm – Writing dialogue for Comics with Chris Lambert

1pm – James Edwards discusses getting into acting

2pm – Creating a brand in entertainment with Midnight Movie

I’m excited and thrilled to be back at the Akron Comic-Con, an event that has always been 100% supportive and welcoming to me. I hope you come to the show and that you stop by my booth to say “hi.” You make the convention for me.

My trans agenda remains as always. Be brave. Be kind, By myself. And always support my community, whether it be comics or LGTBQ+. We are stronger together and that’s the path we take to a better world for all of us.

© 2026 Jenny Blake Isabella

FRIDAY MORNING

With folks writing about Black Lightning's 50th anniversary, I thought it might be helpful to go over some basics.

 

The official Black Lightning creators credit is "Created by Tony Isabella with Trevor von Eeden."

 

DC approved this and agreed to refer to me as "creator" and Trevor as "co-creator." This recognizes that all the Black Lightning story elements were created by me before I pitched the character to DC.

 

Any previous published work by me is credited to Tony Isabella.

 

Any new work is credited to Jenny Blake.

 

I'm fine with being referred to as Jenny Blake Isabella in promotional material. I'm not fine with Jenny Isabella. 

 

I was amused to see one trash website get everything wrong, but the individual who runs that website has stated to me that he doesn't care what the official credits are. He, someone who has never created anything of value, gets to decide what those credits are and how people should be identified. 

 

Oh, you bloody ass. Never stop revealing yourself.

THURSDAY MORNING

I have a doctor's appointment on Friday. To prepare for it, I was asked questions on several subjects. When it came to questions about my anxiety levels, my answers alarmed me. I am feeling anxiety every single day of my life. 

 

One of the main causes is the relentless attacks on trans people from the Republicans and too many Democrats. Every choice I make, from what to wear and where I'm safe presenting as my authentic self and what restroom to use, is informed by all the dangers around me. 

 

Every day, I try to push past the anxiety to do what I must do. I usually succeed. Not always. Some days it hits so hard it causes physical pain. Yesterday was one such day. 

 

Today I have an appointment with my MetroHealth gender clinic doctor and an OutSupport Medina adults meeting. I'll wear a business appropriate dress for the former and a fun Halloween dress for the latter. The locations themselves are safe spaces. Traveling to them, who can say?

 

In so many ways, I'm fortunate. I'm wrapping up a project for a major publisher. I have a safe home with no food insecurities or other concerns. I have interesting things ahead of me, including Akron Comic-Con. But all it takes is one MAGA maniac to decide that I don't deserve to exist.

 

If you vote MAGA, you are one of those maniacs. You are okay with crooks and pedophiles, racists and rapists,You think every immigrant is an illegal immigrant and deserving of brutality. You aren't concerned if U.S. citizens are arrested, beaten and even killed. Until it happens to you, of course. 

 

You see a demented pervert tearing apart Washington D.C. because he doesn't think he will ever not be president and you don't care. You don't even care that he and his family have made billions by using his office for profit. 

 

I don't know what's wrong with your brains and souls if you are a MAGA supporter. I know I don't want you in my life. I know that I will be secretly happy if bad things happen to you and, in some cases, publicly happy. 

 

Love the queer people in your lives. We bring so much to this country and the world. Your lives will be diminished if we are erased. And, eventually, they will come for you. Because Trump Republicans will always need some group to demonize. Your fear gives them power.

 

I didn't sleep well last night. I'm going back to bed right now, hoping that I am so exhausted than I will pass out.

 

A SPECIAL DAY

 

OPPS! My record keeping isn't always the best. Earlier this fall, I listed an incorrect date for when I knew I was queer. 

 

It was Saturday evening, September 16, 2023. The Flaming River Con was held at the Fieldhouse in Lakewood, Ohio. The evening entertainment was a burlesque show in the venue's restaurant. I was sitting with people I had met doing panels and such at the convention. I have rarely felt so comfortable. Like a bolt of, well, lightning, it ht me that the reason I was so comfortable around LGBTQ+ people was because...I was one of them.

 

Admittedly, it took me a few weeks to figure out I was trans. My dear friend Shauna, who I had done a panel with, was the first person I came out to. I will always be grateful to her for her friendship and guidance. She told me about Cleveland Sex & Intimacy Counseling. 

 

Once I had my first therapy session with the wonderful Hannah, there were no doubt about who I really was. She asked me if I wanted bottom surgery and I said "yes" so forcefully that it surprised both of us. There was a quiet cry of horror from my pants. Hannah directed me to MetroHealth's gender clinic where I have received excellent care. 

 

There will be no going back no matter what obstacles I face and what sad losses I suffer. I know who I am and it's who I was meant to be. I know I am on the right journey. I even know that God or the Universe or whatever waited this long for me to figure it out for a reason. My age and my long career have enabled me to help many others on their journeys.

 

I owe my trans joy to a convention, the friends I made there, the wonderful care I've received, and the love I feel from so many in the comics community and elsewhere. My sincere thanks to all of you for being in my corner.

JENNY BLAKE'S BLOGGY THING WILL RETURN

 Look for new bloggy things soon.

CHRIS CLAREMONT DID THE HEAVY LIFTING

                                                                      

Outrageous stories abound when you’ve been working in the comics industry as long as I have. It was news to me that I would hide under my desk at Marvel Comics to avoid an artist waiting on a plot from me. I mean, really, under my desk was where I kept the sleeping bag I used on too many occasions because of the absurd work load I carried at Marvel.

In a related bit of comics history fake news, there’s a truly outrageous tale of how Misty Knight was created that’s also been going around. It involves a male character pitched to me when I was editing Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, a character who bears absolutely no resemblance to the Misty we know and love. The tall tale involves a trip to Queens and, my darlings, I lived in a not-as-impressive as it sounds penthouse apartment off Times Square. I only left Manhattan to get to an airport. Amusingly, when I did confront the person spreading this phony origin story, he said, “You’ve got Black Lightning. Can’t I have Misty Knight?” That’s not how credits work.

Sidebar. I’m on record as disliking the standard first writer and first artist creation credit. It doesn’t fit all scenarios. It fails to recognize editors who contributed to the process as well as other creators. My pal Bob Layton comes to mine as, while inking Iron Man, he also had a hand in the plots. I’m planning to write a blog on this subject in the near future. But I’ll swing back to it a wee bit later in this bloggy.

Back to Misty Knight. The true story of her creation is simple and one I’ve told before and never strayed from.

I had agreed to write at least three issues of Iron Fist. I had plotted the first of those issues and started scripting it. Which is when I realized how much I loathed the second-person narration of the strip.

“You are Iron Fist and you’ve just been punched in the face.” I would groan when I wrote those captions.

I went to see Black Belt Jones with some young Marvel artists, among them Arvell Jones and Ron Wilson. I went because I’d liked Jim Kelly in Enter the Dragon. This wasn’t a particularly good movie, but one character impressed me. Played by Gloria Hendry, she was this kick-ass martial artist. Inspiration came to me outside the theater. I shared it with Arvell who was drawing my issues of Iron Fist.

I’d give the naive Danny Rand a partner who would be like an older sister to him. She would always have his back but she’d also make fun of him in the way special older sisters do. Best of all, he’d have someone to talk to. I could start phasing out the second-person narration.

Arvell liked the idea and asked what I would call her. I went to my list of names I always had in my head chose Misty Knight. The only question Arvell had was “Misty with a Y or an I?”

“With a Y,” I responded. “I’m not a savage.”

Arvell laughed.

I told him to base Misty on Pam Grier instead of Gloria Hendry on account of everyone loves Pam Grier. I still hope to meet the talented actress one day.

That’s it. The entire story of how I created Misty Knight. If you are told something else, it’s not even remotely connected to the truth.

I only wrote Misty for three pages. When she next appeared in the Iron Fist series, she was written by Chris Claremont. I used to joke that my friend Chris did the heavy lifting on her but I’m still keeping the money. However…

Over the years, I have been thinking about all Chris brought to Misty. Her police background. Her bionic arm. Her romance with Danny Rand. Her friendship and partnership with Colleen Wing. Those are what made her the superstar she became.

Marvel should start listing Chris Claremont as a co-creator of Misty Knight alongside original artist Arvell Jones and myself. He deserves that recognition.

I told you I’d be swinging back to the creator credits issue. I always try to keep my word.

That’s it for this bloggy thing. I’ll be back soon with more of that voodoo that I do so well. Hugs.

© 2026 Tony Isabella

GARAGE SALE UPDATES

 

GARAGE SALE UPDATES!

 

We have garage sales today and tomorrow, Friday and Saturday, August 14 and 15, from 9 am to noon at 840 Damon Drive in Medina, Ohio. There will be no mystery boxes available.

 

There will be no garage sales on August 21 and 22.

 

Then, we'll have our FINAL garage sales of 2026 on August 28 and 29.

 

I'll go into more detail in a bloggy thing next week, but it boils down to needing more time for my writing. for my transition journey, for my family, my friends, my community.

 

The good news is that, if I haven't already lowered the prices on all sales items, I'll be lowering them at the check-out table. This is your chance to get great stuff at even lower prices. 

 

Hope to see you this weekend and two weekends from now.