ODB: Oddities, Discord, and B-Sides: Lyrical Ruckus in the City

Meet Ike Reed, the comic world's answer to a superhero without a cape. Co-founder of Lion Forge Comics and the brain behind hits like Quincredible and TriMaxx, Ike's the guy turning pages into adventures. When not crafting epic tales in comics and manga, he's penning scripts for Drawn In on PBS. Now he's cooking up some secret sauce for Big Fat Hero and Composition Media. His writing? A cocktail of sci-fi, superheroes, and a dash of street smarts. Spoiler: He's as legendary as his characters!



David Gorden is a creator, writer, and sequential artist who specializes in the creation of intellectual properties. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, he fell in love with art, particularly visual storytelling, at a young age. He began making his own comic strips and submitting them to the Post-Dispatch at the age of eight. The Post very graciously turned David down, with the editor at the time sending him a rejection letter that encouraged him to continue to pursue his dream of becoming a cartoonist. David went on to become a professional graphic artist and cartoonist and was a founding member of legendary St. Louis art crews Air Assault and later Mach One. David knows that today’s world has become predicated on people’s attention being captured by engaging stories and eye-catching visuals and has over two decades of experience applying his skills in character creation, sequential art, storyboarding, script writing, and concept creation, and he is also a founding member of Big Fat Hero, a social media hub and outlet for short stories, podcasts, geek culture, and production. David has written and created IP for Lion Forge Comics, Rampage Jackson, Scott Steindorff, and Nick Cannon. His creative credits include Rampage Jackson: Street Soldier, Trimaxx, Quincredible, Sympathy for the Soul (script adaptation), Make Believe (script adaptation), and more. David is the creator of Kwame Hightower and Quantum University. He released his first independent OGN, Kwame Hightower and the Man With No Name in late March of 2018. David has recently begun work on his next graphic novel, Kwame Hightower and the Exiles of Kalatheaa, and is actively promoting his books through touring, posts on social media, speaking engagements, and teaching workshops on visual storytelling.

Jason Pierre is a Los Angeles–based filmmaker and writer born to first-generation Jamaican immigrants and raised in the South Bronx. He received a BFA in creative writing from Brooklyn College. He was a production supervisor for BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, where he produced videos across several BuzzFeed YouTube channels and series. He has written four episodes of BuzzFeed’s animated The Good Advice Cupcake Show for Facebook Watch, and all the episodes of The Era, BuzzFeed’s Cocoa Butter channel’s show on Facebook Watch. He was then a staff writer on Season 3 of the CW show In The Dark, and co-wrote episode 6, “Arcade Fire.” He returned for Season 4 and wrote episode 8, “Tequila Mockingbird.” His 2018 short film Existential Donut follows a man on a quest to help a donut find its hole, and has screened at thirteen film festivals. He has a passion for art, animation, science fiction, and discovering ‘80s movies he never knew existed.

Troy-Jeffrey Allen is a comics writer, video producer, Internet personality, and host. He is known for his work on MF DOOM: All Caps, Chuck D Presents Apocalypse '91: Revolution Never Sleeps, Fight of the Century, and the Harvey Award–nominated District Comics: Unconventional History of Washington, DC.

A pioneering figure in the comic book industry, Regine Sawyer wears multiple hats as a writer, editor, and the founder of Women in Comics NYC Collective International. Her creative talents have given life to works like The Rippers, Eating Vampires, and Ice Witch. Sawyer is the driving force behind Lockett Down Productions, a small press that exclusively features female comic book artists, with a particular focus on women of color.