Guest Creators
Fabian Nicieza
Fabian Nicieza has been in the entertainment industry for over thirty years as a writer, editor, publisher and chief creative officer whose signature co-creation, Deadpool, has become one of the decade’s biggest entertainment and consumer product phenomenon for teens and adults. He has written thousands of characters and his titles have sold over 100 million comics, including X-Men, X-Force, New Warriors, Thunderbolts, and Robin. The children’s animated series he developed, Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten with Arnold Schwarzenegger debuted on the Kartoon Channel! in 2021. His debut novel, Suburban Dicks, published by Putnam, was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America as Best First Novel by an American Author. His second novel, The Self- Made Widow, was released in 2022.
Larry Hama
Larry Hama is an American comic-book writer, artist, actor, and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s. During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live, and appeared on Broadway in two roles in the original 1976 production of Stephen Sondheim‘s Pacific Overtures. He is best known to American comic book readers as a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he wrote the licensed comic book series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, based on the Hasbro toyline, revered by many fans as "the Godfather of G.I. Joe". He has also written for Wolverine, Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja, Elektra and more. Hama co-created the character Bucky O’Hare, which was developed into a comic book, a toy line and television cartoon. Larry also created Spider-Ham, who was recently voiced by John Mulaney in the movie Into the Spider-Verse. He is currently working on a new project, Mounties vs Werewolves.
Special Events / Reunions
1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Reunion
Big Lick Comic Con - Roanoke brings a historic event to our February 2025 celebration - a reunion of the 1987 classic animated series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Featuring Rob Paulson, Barry Gordon, Cam Clarke, Townsend Coleman and Renae Jacobs all appearing for both days of our event for autographs, photos and a can't-miss on stage Q&A! Early bird discount tickets go on sale Monday, September 16th at 10am EST at our website and the Berglund Center Box Office!
Media Guests
Rob Paulsen
Rob Paulsen is an award-winning voice-over artist, coach, and author of Voice Lessons. With over 2,000 half-hour programs, dozens of films, video games, and other animated media to his credit, Paulsen has been one of the industry’s hardest-working, most in-demand, and most beloved voice artists, earning him a Daytime Emmy, Peabody, and three times winning the Annie Award. For nearly three decades Paulsen has voiced some of the most beloved animated characters such as Pinky from Pinky and the Brain, Yakko Warner and Dr. Scratchansniff from Animaniacs, Raphael and Donatello (2012) from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Carl Wheezer from Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius, and many many more. From the start of his career voicing the character, Snow Job from G.I. Joe to his most current job reprising his characters Yakko, Dr. Scratchandsniff and Pinky in Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, Paulsen’s voice has reached millions of people worldwide.
Barry Gordon
Barry Gordon is a legendary voice actor. Most notably for Donatello and Bebop in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and as Jake "Razor" Clawson in SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron (1993). Gordon's voice was also featured in other animated series Mostly Hanna-Barbera shows such as Jabberjaw (as Clamhead), Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! (as Captain Marvel Jr.), Meatballs & Spaghetti (as bassist Clyde), Pac-Man (as Inky), Mighty Orbots (as Robert Simmons), Pole Position, The Jetsons, The Smurfs, The Adventures of the American Rabbit (as the titular character), Superman, Snorks (as Junior Wetworth), Gravedale High (as Reggie Moonshroud), Space Cats, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (as Englebert Newton), Darkwing Duck (as Dr. Fossil), Tom & Jerry Kids and its spin-off Droopy, Master Detective, Batman: The Animated Series (as the Penguin's henchman Sheldrake), Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Timon & Pumbaa, Fantastic Max, and The Pirates of Dark Water. Gordon also provided the voice of "Quicky" the Nesquik Bunny in television commercials for Nestlé. In May 2009, Gordon played the Cocker Spaniel in the Webkinz Pet of the Month Music Video for May 2009. He reprised the roles as the original Donatello and Bebop in three seasons of Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. On April 20, 2022, it was revealed that Gordon would reprise his role as Donatello for the video game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge. This marks the first time that he would play Donatello for a video game and his first video game role in general. Gordon became a familiar face in numerous feature films and television series. In the last two seasons of the sitcom Archie Bunker's Place, Gordon had the recurring role of Gary Rabinowitz, Archie's Jewish attorney and love interest of Barbara Lee "Billie" Bunker (played by Denise Miller). Gordon also had notable guest-starring roles on Barney Miller as an embezzler, on Fish as a social worker, on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as a Ferengi businessman, and on Star Trek: Voyager as Ardon Broht, an alien publisher. More recently, he appeared as the Rabbi in Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Renae Jacobs
Renae Jacobs was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in East Lansing, Michigan where she began creating voices at the age of nine for a local children’s show, The Land of Play. At the age of 11 she moved to Los Angeles with her family and began singing and performing on stage. She is a graduate of the USC School of music and attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Renae has performed nationally and internationally throughout her career and has worked in voice over for radio, television, instructional DVDs, and animation. She is best known as the voice of APRIL O’NEIL in the original animated series THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. Renae has been heard on numerous animated shows such as Rose Petal Place and Rose Petal Place: Real Friends as the voices of Orchid and Lilly Fair in 1984 and 1985 with Marie Osmund. In 1985 she voiced characters on a series of books on tape from the toy line “The Land of Pleasant Dreams” as well as characters on the Hanna Barbera series, It’s Punky Brewster! That same year she worked with Carroll O’Conner on the The Glo Friends Save Christmas . In 1986 she a series regular on The Moon Dreamers.. Of course she created the voice for April O’Neil, Lotus Blossom and other characters along the way on The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles during the show’s amazing 9 year run. She provided voices for Hanna Barbera’s The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda , The animated film, The Page Master and the voice of Baby Glen in Bride of Chucky . You would have also seen her on the game series Masters of the Maze (1994–1996) as the “Lady of the Maze” hosted by J.D. Roth. Most recently Renae played the role of April O’Neil mother in The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Nickelodeon under the direction of Andrea Romano and voicing another mother in the critically acclaimed, award winning docudrama “Who will Write our History?”.
Cam Clarke
Cam Clarke began his career in short pants and knee socks in 1965 as a member of T.V.’s “The King Family Show”. His mother is Alyce King of The King Sisters. His father is actor Robert Clarke, who starred in many of the science fiction films of the 1950s and ’60s. Since the early eighties, Cam has been working in voice-overs, particularly in animation, Voicing such characters as Leonardo in the original “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”. Cam has voiced many other characters as well including Der Fledermaus in “The Tick”, Mac on “Clifford the Big Red Dog”, He-Man in “He-Man: Masters of the Universe”, and Freddy the Ferret in “Back at the Barnyard”. He has also been the voice of Snoopy, Simba, and can currently be heard as Heath, Hoodude, and Professor Rotter in “Monster High”. Anime fans will know him from the 80’s cult favorites, as Keneda in “Akira”, and as Max Sterling in “Robotech”. He has supplied voices for numerous video games, most notably Kratos in “Tales of Symphonia”, Blood Elf in “World Of Warcraft”, and the voice of Liquid Snake for the popular “Metal Gear Solid” series wherein the sequel his character came back as an arm.
Towsend Coleman
Townsend Coleman is best known for his voiceover work on countless animated television series, his best known being the character Michelangelo from the popular animated program "Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles." Coleman first entered show business as a disc jockey working for WGCL-FM in Cleveland during the late 1970s, and also appeared in several theatre productions during this time. By the mid 1980s, Coleman had entered the world of voiceover work, landing the role of Corporal Caperman on the popular children's cartoon "Inspector Gadget." Further work on animated series would come Coleman's way soon after, including a 21 episode stint as the lead character on "Teen Wolf" (an adaptation of the popular Michael J. Fox film of the same name), from 1986 through 1988. But it would be as part of the aforementioned hit "Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles" that Coleman would score his breakthrough role, appearing in over 100 episodes of the show from 1987 through 1996. (He did not perform Michelangelo's voice in the early 1990s hit films, however; noted voiceover actor Robbie Rist took over the character on the big screen.) In the 1990s, Coleman began playing the title character in the cult-favorite animated hit "The Tick," and continues his voiceover work in the early 21st century. In addition, he is the voice of NBC, providing the narration of the network's promos.
More announcements on the way!
Let's celebrate the things we love!
Welcome to Big Lick Comic Con in Roanoke, Virginia – where the pop culture universe and cosplay fans collide! Our celebrity guests include actors, actresses, TV hosts, voice actors and comic book creators who have captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Whether you're a fan of comic books, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, or action, you're sure to find something to love at our con. Our team is committed to creating a welcoming and exciting atmosphere where comic lovers from all walks of life can come together and celebrate their passion for all things pop culture. We can't wait to see you there!