SLICE 2025 Event Poster by Alain McAlister – available for purchase at Opening Night and Expo Day!
SLICE 2025
When: October 18, 2025, 10am – 5pm
Where: The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108
Free and open to the public!
Plan Your SLICE!
Parking at the Sheldon
Parking is available at the Fox Theatre lot and the Fox Theatre parking garage on Washington Boulevard, and at meters along Washington, Olive Street and North Spring Ave.
Special Guests
Ngozi Ukazu
Ngozi Ukazu is a New York Times–-bestselling and award-winning author and the creator of Check, Please!, an online graphic novel whose printing campaign remains the most funded webcomics Kickstarter ever. Her other works include the young adult graphic novels Bunt! with artist Mad Rupert and Barda and Orion with DC Comics. She graduated from Yale University with a degree in Computing in the Arts, and received an honorary MFA from the Center for Cartoon Studies. She enjoys giving talks at colleges and all things fandom. Her cartoons regularly appear in The New Yorker.
Trung Le Nguyen
Trung Le Nguyen is an award-winning Vietnamese American cartoonist, artist, and writer from Minnesota. Trung’s first original graphic novel, The Magic Fish, was published in 2020 through Random House Graphic, an imprint of Penguin Random House. He has also contributed work both as an author and as an artist for a variety of comics publishers, including DC Comics, Oni Press, Boom! Studios, Image Comics, and Marvel. Trung has been nominated for an Eisner, a prize at Angoulême (France), and a GLAAD award, and has won two Harvey Awards and a Romics (Italy). He currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and raises a small flock of very spoiled hens.
Rori
Rori is a cartoonist, designer, and illustrator from St. Louis. Her illustration work has been the focus of two major exhibits and accompanying publications with the Missouri History Museum: Beyond The Ballot, celebrating the centenary of women’s suffrage in America,; and Coloring STL, showcasing St. Louis architecture. As well as several self-published comics, her sequential art has been published by IDW, Image Comics, and Z2. She has two forthcoming graphic novels in the works, History Comics: Titanic (First Second) in summer 2026 and Wuthering Heights (Andrews McMeel) in winter 2026, both with writer Gibson Twist.
Featured Guest
Karenza Sparks
Karenza Sparks is a multidisciplinary designer, comics creator, animator, and fossil hunter from Cornwall. She has a particular interest in gamification, story telling, interactive experiences, and participatory artworks. Sparks graduated from Kingston school in 2020 and is based in Cornwall. The Corus Wave is her first graphic novel.
Exhibit Hall Map
Exhibitors
Opening Night Ceremony
Expo Day Programming
THE MAIN EVENT • 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
St. Louis Independent Comics Expo
Konneker Room, 3rd floor
Activity • 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Tote Bag Screenprinting with Candice Corgan
Foyer, 1st floor
Tote bag screenprinting is back at SLICE! Purchase a tote bag and screenprint your own Mr. Slice tote bag in a color of your choice. And if you have the SLICE 2023 tote bag, you can screenprint for free!
Book Signing • 10:30–11:30 a.m.
Rori
Left Bank Books table, 2nd floor
Panel • 11 a.m.–12 p.m.
Ink and Drink 15-Year Anniversary Panel
Ballroom, 5th floor
For over a decade and half, Ink & Drink has been a staple of the St. Louis indie comics community. In their own words, what started as an excuse to drink beer and talk comics has now become an excuse to drink beer and make comics. Come join Jason Green, Steve Higgens, and Carlos Gabriel Ruiz and moderator Steenz as they discuss the history of the organization, the process of publishing biannual anthologies, and what’s on the horizon for the next fifteen years.
Workshop • 11 a.m.–12 p.m.
Create Your Own Reading Journal with Central Print
Workshop Room, 1st floor
Keep track of the books, zines, and prints you’ve seen at SLICE in a handy reading journal that you’ll be able to print yourself with the help of Central Print!
Book Signing • 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Karenza Sparks
Betty’s Books table, 2nd floor
Activity • 12–5 p.m.
Clickety Clack Typewriters Demo
Foyer, 1st floor
Discover vintage typewriters and learn how to use them with Clickety Clack Typewriters from Rolla, MO! Clickety Clack will also have typewriters available for purchase.
Special Guest Lecture • 12:30–1:30 p.m.
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at The Magic Fish with Trung Le Nguyen
Ballroom, 5th floor
Come join Trung Le Nguyen as he provides a detailed deep-dive into his origins and all of the behind-the-scenes work that went into his semi-autobiographical debut graphic novel, The Magic Fish. Learn about Trung’s creative influences and the work it takes to make a comic, and get a glimpse into different elements from scripting to thumbnailing.
Special Guest Lecture • 12:30–1:30 p.m.
Daily Comics Changed My Life with Rori
Workshop Room, 1st floor
Local artist Rori invites you to a conversation about how daily comics changed her life for the better. Learn about her journey and how the practice helped improve her craft and ushered her into making comics on an even more regular basis.
Book Signing • 1:30–2:30 p.m.
Trung Le Nguyen
Left Bank Books table, 2nd floor
Special Guest Lecture • 2–3 p.m.
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Flip with Ngozi Ukazu
Ballroom, 5th floor
Ngozi Ukazu’s latest graphic novel, Flip, just came out earlier this month, and now you get an opportunity to hear Ngozi’s perspective on how to make a graphic novel. Get a peek into her latest story and then learn the different parts of Ngozi’s writing and drawing process as she showcases the full comics creation process from inspiration to colors and everything in between.
Workshop • 2–3 p.m.
Bilingual Zines with David Velasco
Workshop Room, 1st floor
David Velasco is a teacher, zinester, and working artist who creates bilingual zines. David will walk attendees through his process, and then attendees will have an opportunity to make their own bilingual zine.
Book Signing • 3–4 p.m.
Ngozi Ukazu
Betty’s Books table, 2nd floor
Panel Discussion • 3:30–4:30 p.m.
Science and Curiosity with Karenza Sparks, J. Marshall Smith, and Blue Delliquanti
Ballroom, 5th floor
Science and curiosity: two defining instincts for our species and humanity’s collective intergenerational endeavors. Join featured guest Karenza Sparks, co-panelists J. Marshall Smith and Blue Delliquanti, and moderator Steenz as they discuss what intrigues about science and natural phenomena, what sparks their curiosity, and how it translates and presents in their own work.
Workshop • 3:30–4:30 p.m.
Top 10 Accounting Tips for Artists with the VLAA
Workshop Room, 1st floor
Being a freelance artist can be hard! Thankfully we have the Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts to help with locals’ legal and accounting needs. VLAA Executive Director Sue Greenberg will give attendees a few accounting tips to get their artistic careers on the right track.
Safe Space Policy
SLICE is a safe space, which means that it is intended to be a welcoming, engaging, and supportive environment free of oppressive actions, behavior, and language. Participants and attendees are asked to consider how their language and behavior impact others in attendance.
The following guidelines will help SLICE be a safer space:
• Respect people’s physical and emotional boundaries.
• Always get explicit verbal consent before touching someone or crossing boundaries.
• Respect people’s opinions, beliefs, differing states of being, and differing points of view.
• Be responsible for your actions and aware that they may have an effect on others regardless of original intent.
The following actions and forms of discrimination and abuse will not be tolerated:
• Racism, sexism, classism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and all other forms of discrimination
• Theft of money or property
• Physical, verbal, or mental abuse
• Sexual harassment or inappropriate/unwelcome comments and behaviors
• Disruptive or disrespectful behavior
• Causing a participant or attendee to feel distressed or unsafe
Should an issue arise with a participant or attendee during the Expo, please come to the information table and ask for a SLICE organizer. Organizers will be available to hear these concerns and find a solution that is in the best interests of making the community and the event a safer space. The SLICE organizers reserve the right to ask any attendees who are violating the safe space policy to change or address their unsafe behavior or language, or leave the event if necessary.
COVID-19 Policy
Masks are strongly encouraged for all attendees, exhibitors, and staff at SLICE. In order to protect immunocompromised folks in our community, we ask that you wear your masks in the expo hall.
SLICE recommends testing for COVID-19 within 48 hours prior to the event. If you test positive the day of the event, please do not attend.
SLICE staffers will provide free KN95 masks to those who need them. The Sheldon is equipped with HVAC filtration that meets CDC ventilation guidelines for COVID-19. We will also be supplying two portable HEPA air scrubbers to improve filtration in the expo hall. We are providing outdoor seating options and encourage guests to eat outside.
Thank you to the Cartoonist Cooperative for publishing the Masking Initiative and Resources guide, which was crucial to our planning!