Sep. 3 – Sep. 7, 2026 in Atlanta, GA Buy

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Guests

The Definitive Guide

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Dragon Con welcomes guests from around the globe – with new people announced all the time! Take a look at the inventive minds, luminaries, and celebrities you’ll be spending the weekend with.

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For a list of guests, performers, and attending professionals ordered by confirmation date:

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A

  • Lynn Abbey

    Lynn Abbey has been writing science fiction and fantasy stories since the 1980s. She was a guest-of-honor at the first Dragon Con.

  • Don Aguillo

    Don Aguillo is a comic artist and illustrator whose work includes projects with DC, Image, Marvel, Boom, Dark Horse, Disney/Ravensburger, Upper Deck, and indie creators.

  • Jarrod C Alberich

    Independent comic book creator. Creator/writer of Hamilton vs. Burr: A Werewolf Tale. Published comic writer for Image and Z2 Comics. Trading card artist for Marvel Comics and Upper Deck Trading Cards. Cover artist and inker for White Rocket Books. US Air Force combat veteran.

  • Jon Armstrong

    Jon Armstrong tours around the world and is a headliner for Disney. He has amazed on The Today Show, cause Penn on CW's Penn and Teller's Fool Us to exclaim his act as “the most original I've ever seen!”, and wowed on The Tonight Show.

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B

  • BREED

    BREED is a professional artist whose work has been featured by Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Zenescope Entertainment, 20th Century Studios, IDW, Source Point Press, Counterpoint Comics, Stranger Comics, Action Lab Entertainment, Mountaineer West Productions, UpperDeck Co./MCU, Kymera Press, Entity Eye Entertainment, Warrant Publishing, and various film/TV production companies.

  • Jennie Breeden

    Jennie Breeden is the creator of the autobiographical webcomic The Devil's Panties. She has a BFA in sequential art from Savannah College of Art and Design. Ms. Breeden has been updating her comic daily since 2001 with over 3,000 comic strips online and multiple graphic novels.

  • Patricia Lynne Briggs

    Patricia Briggs is the #1 NYT bestselling author of both the Mercy Thompson series and the Alpha and Omega series. She has also written many high fantasy novels and short stories.

  • Greg Burnham

    Greg Burnham is a writer based in Norcross, Georgia. He and artist Marcus Williams teamed to produce two children's books, and then in 2016 produced the very successful indie sci-fi action-adventure Tuskegee Heirs. As part of the Milestone initiative, he has worked on a couple of DC Comic properties.

  • Richard Lee Byers

    Richard Lee Byers has written numerous fantasy and horror novels as well as short fiction, material for tabletop and computer games, and graphic novels. The Plague Knight, an animated sword-and-sorcery feature he wrote, is currently in production.

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C

  • Jack Campbell

    Jack Campbell (John G. Hemry), retired U.S. Navy officer, writes the Doomed Earth series, New York Times bestselling Lost Fleet, Genesis Fleet, Lost Stars, and Pillars of Reality. His latest books are Squad Kill, Destiny's Way, Rendezvous with Corsair, and the new Isekai/portal fantasy Champion of the Goddess of Cats.

  • Catieosaurus

    Writer-educator Cate “Catieosaurus” Osborn has collaborated with Wizards of the Coast, Critical Role, Kobold Press, Chaosium, and Foundry VTT while pushing accessibility at every table. Her upcoming book, The ADHD Field Guide for Adults, builds on bylines in Playboy and The New York Times.

  • Elias Chatzoudis

    Elias Chatzoudis is a professional cover artist who began his career as a pin-up illustrator in 2006. Since 2011, he has worked with publishers such as Dynamite Entertainment, Zenescope, DC Comics, Archie Comics, Coffin Comics, and others, specializing in dynamic, stylized covers featuring strong female characters.

  • Freddy Clements

    Freddy Clements is a distinguished professor emeritus at Jacksonville State University where he taught classes in costume/make-up design and technology for 35 years. He holds an MFA in costume design from Virginia Commonwealth University and has extensive experience in early 20th century corsetry and kilt construction.

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D

  • Delilah S Dawson

    Delilah S. Dawson is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Star Wars: Phasma, Bloom, The Violence, the Shadow series (as Lila Bowen), the Arcadia Falls series (as Isla Jewell), and the Tales of Pell, written with Kevin Hearne. With Terry Brooks, she is continuing the Shannara series.

  • Keith R.A. DeCandido

    Keith R.A. DeCandido has written tons of novels, short fiction, and comics in licensed universes from Alien to Zorro, and also in worlds of his own creation. His latest novel series are Supernatural Crimes Unit: NYPD and The Inflictors. He also writes about pop culture for Reactor Magazine.

  • Matt Dinniman

    Matt Dinniman is the author of the New York Times bestselling Dungeon Crawler Carl book and manga series.

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E

  • Jennifer Leigh Estep

    Jennifer Estep is the New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author of more than 50 fantasy and science fiction books, who prowls the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.

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F

  • Bill Fawcett

    Bill Fawcett is a writer, editor, anthologist, and game designer. Fawcett has also written historical non-fiction books. He founded Mayfair Games and designs board and computer games. Bill Fawcett & Associates has packaged over 400 science fiction novels. His newest fiction is the Blood and Armor Mil SF novels.

  • Chandra Free

    Chandra Free is the creator of The God Machine YA novel series and co-founder of Machina Corpse imprint. She has illustrated on John Carpenter's Tales For A Halloween Night, Fraggle Rock, and Four Seasons of Fear. She has also worked on TTRPG books Carbon Grey and Planet of the Apes.

  • Esther Friesner

    Multiple Nebula Award winner Esther Friesner has published over 40 novels, more than 200 short stories, plus poetry and nonfiction. She has edited 11 anthologies including the Chicks in Chainmail series for Baen Books. Her YA credits include the Princesses of Myth series for Random House.

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G

  • Annie Stegg Gerard

    Annie Stegg Gerard is an oil painter based in Georgia, deeply inspired by the 18th-century Rococo masters. Their imaginative spirit have profoundly shaped her artistic approach. Gerard admires how these painters sought to transport viewers to fantastical realms, and she strives to evoke that same sense of wonder in her art.

  • Justin Chad Gerard

    Inspired by nature and mythology, Justin Gerard has made a career out of painting imaginative creatures, dragons, monsters, and the heroes. His narrative-driven work includes classics like Beowulf, King Arthur, St. George, and The Hobbit, as well as the modern fantasy worlds of Magic the Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.

  • Clay Griffith

    Clay Griffith writes fantasy and comic books. With his wife, Susan, he is the co-author of the Vampire Empire series, the Crown & Key trilogy, and The Flash and Arrow team-up. Their licensed fiction includes Kolchak, The Phantom, the Thrones & Bones rpg universe, and comics include The Simpsons and The Tick.

  • Susan Griffith

    Susan Griffith writes fiction and comics. She co-authored the Vampire Empire series, the Crown & Key trilogy, and The Flash/Arrow team-up with Clay Griffith. They have written licensed fiction for Kolchak and The Phantom, comics for The Tick and The Simpsons, and contributed to the Throne & Bones RPG universe.

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H

  • Chris Urbnpop Hamer

    Chris Hamer aka Urbnpop has been a professional artist for over 20 years working on comic books, trading cards, concert posters, and his own original art.

  • Robert E Hampson

    Dr. Robert E. Hampson is a neuroscientist by day, science fiction author by night, and a brain wrangler 24/7. When not decoding how memories work or building brain-computer tech, he is busy writing stories where imagination becomes reality.

  • A. J. Hartley

    A.J. Hartley is the bestselling author of 28 novels in various genres. Recent work includes Hideki Smith, Burning Shakespeare, Cold Bath Street, Steeplejack, and—with Tom DeLonge of Blink-182—Sekret Machines and Time Rider. He is Professor Shakespeare at UNC Charlotte, and hosts a J-rock YouTube channel. More: www.ajhartley.net

  • John G. Hartness

    John G. Hartness is an author, publisher, and editor from Charlotte, NC. He is the author of multiple series, including the award winning Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter series. He is also the publisher of Falstaff Books and founder of the SAGA Genre Fiction Writers' Conference.

  • Thomas Jay Heintjes

    Tom Heintjes is the co-founder and publisher of the Eisner Award winning Hogan's Alley magazine, one of the leading magazines on contemporary and classic cartooning. He is a former managing editor of The Comics Journal and for years wrote biographical essays for Will Eisner's Spirit magazine for Kitchen Sink Press.

  • Leanna Renee Hieber

    Actress, ghost tour guide, and author, Leanna's Strangely Beautiful saga won numerous awards and her nonfiction, A Haunted History of Invisible Women was a Bram Stoker Award finalist. America's Most Gothic was an instant USA Today bestseller. She has been featured on Mysteries at the Museum and Beyond the Unknown.

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J

  • D.B. Jackson

    D.B. Jackson/David B. Coe is an award winning fantasy author and has edited several anthologies. As D.B. Jackson, he writes the Thieftaker Chronicles. As David B. Coe, he has recently published The Chalice War Celtic fantasy series. He has a PhD in US History from Stanford University.

  • Steve Jackson

    Steve Jackson lives in Atlanta. He has been designing games for 50 years and has no plan to stop. His creations include Munchkin, Illuminati, the GURPS and Fantasy Trip RPGs, Ogre, Car Wars, and Zombie Dice. He was a GoH at the Dublin Worldcon and is still walking on air.

  • John Jennings

    John Jennings is a professor, award winning author, and graphic novelist, known for The Parable of the Sower, The Blacker the Ink: Constructions of Black Identity in Comics and Sequential Art, and co-creating the superhero, Ghost Light. Jennings's latest publications include The Adventures of Lion Man and Parable of the Talents.

  • Les Johnson

    Les is a physicist, author, Chief Technologist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (retired) where he led multiple robotic space flight missions, and CEO of Infinite Frontiers Consulting. His books include Crisis at Proxima (Baen), Pluto (Tor), and Monster Hunter International – The Alien Files (forthcoming / Baen).

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K

  • Bill Keel

    Astronomer Bill Keel is the author of The Sky at Einstein's Feet and The Road to Galaxy Formation. He hosts overnight live astronomy sessions and has spoken on cosmology, extrasolar planets, citizen discovery in astronomy, science in the Firefly and Avatar universes, spy satellites, and astronomical tourism.

  • Sherrilyn Kenyon

    Defying odds is what #1 New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon does best. She has placed more than 80 novels on the NYT list in all formats and genres. With more than 70 million books in print, her series include: Dark-Hunters®, Chronicles of Nick®, Deadman's Cross™, and The League®.

  • Gini Koch

    Gini Koch writes the bestselling Alien/Katherine “Kitty” Katt series formerly for DAW Books and now for Ginger Blue Publishing, and much more, in all lengths and genres, and under a variety of pen names, including G.J. Koch, Anita Ensal, Jemma Chase, A.E. Stanton, and J.C. Koch.

  • Mike Krome

    Mike Krome is an Australian artist whose work has been featured in magazines, computer games, film promotions, and comics. His illustrated covers can be seen featured by the likes of Dynamite, Coffin Comics, Zenescope Entertainment, Image, Aspen Comics, Valiant Entertainment, and BOOM!

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L

  • Cheralyn Lambeth

    Cheralyn "Cher" Lambeth is a professional costume, prop, and puppet builder, whose work includes films (The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Hunger Games), television (Dinosaurs!, Homeland), live properties (Star Trek: The Experience, Avenue Q), video games (Fortnite: Battle Royale), and books (Haunted Theaters of the Carolinas, Introduction to Puppetry Arts).

  • Leo Leibelman

    Leo Leibelman has worked as a comic artist for several companies and has worked in the film/tv industry on many movies.

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M

  • Mari Mancusi

    Mari Mancusi is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 40 sci-fi/fantasy books for kids, teens, and adults, including many Disney tie-in books.

  • Gail Z Martin

    Gail Z. Martin writes urban fantasy, epic fantasy, steampunk, and more. Urban fantasy series include Deadly Curiosities and Night Vigil. Epic fantasy series include Darkhurst, Chronicles of the Necromancer, The Fallen Kings Cycle, The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, and Assassins of Landria. As Morgan Brice, she writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance.

  • Mark Meer

    Mark Meer is known for his work on Bioware's Mass Effect trilogy, voicing Commander Shepard, Blasto, the Vorcha, and Niftu Cal. Other voice credits include the Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age series, Hinterland Studio's The Long Dark, ChaosForge's Jupiter Hell, Beamdog's MythForce, and Starro the Conquerer in WB Games' Gotham Knights.

  • Travis Scott Merrill

    Travis Scott Merrill currently works as a specialty costumer and break-down artist on some of the largest productions in the world. A proud member of IATSE local 479, you can see his art in professional theater, television, and film, with upcoming projects in the DC Universe.

  • John Jackson Miller

    John Jackson Miller is a New York Times bestselling author of novels and comics for Star Wars, Star Trek, Batman, Battlestar Galactica, and Marvel. His latest novel tying into the Tim Burton Batman movies, Batman: Revolution, is now available from from Random House Worlds.

  • Andrea Lorenzo Molinari

    Andrea Lorenzo Molinari is co-writer of The Shepherd series, with Caliber Comics, then Scout Comics. From 2020-25, Molinari was editorial director for Scout. Previously, he was submissions editor for Caliber Comics and staff editor for Amigo Comics. He has edited books published by Action Lab, Sumerian, Magma Comix, Antarctic, etc.

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N

  • Bobby Edward Nash

    Bobby Nash is an award winning author and artist. He writes novels, comic books, graphic novels, short stories, audio scripts, screenplays, and more. Nash is a member of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, International Thriller Writers, Southeastern Writers Association, and Atlanta Writers Club.

  • Larry Niven

    Hugo and Nebula Award winning author Larry Niven is a legend in the field of science fiction. Among his many stories and novels are Ringworld and The Magic Goes Away. He co-authored such bestsellers as The Mote in God's Eye, Lucifer's Hammer, Footfall, and the Bowl of Heaven novels.

  • Jody Lynn Nye

    Jody Lynn Nye lists her main career activity as "spoiling cats". When not engaged in this worthy occupation, she writes fantasy and science fiction. She has published over 50 books and 200+ stories. Nye teaches writing seminars and is coordinating judge for the Writers of the Future Contest.

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P

  • Harrison Giles Pink

    Harrison Pink has had a varied career in the video games industry, working on groundbreaking narrative titles such as Telltale's The Walking Dead and Tales from the Borderlands alongside designing and writing for genre-defining franchises such as Diablo IV and MYST.

  • Van Allen Plexico

    Van Allen Plexico is a grand master of pulp literature. He is best known for the Sentinels illustrated superhero novels and comics, 1960s crime novels, and military SF such as Alpha/Omega. His White Rocket Entertainment podcasts cover James Bond, Babylon 5, The Avengers, and more.

  • Robert Pope

    Cartoonist/animator Robert Pope currently draws the Peanuts gang for Simon and Schuster. He has drawn Scooby-Doo, Looney Tunes, Batman, Powerpuff Girls, and more for DC, IDW, as well as animating for CN classics Space Ghost Coast to Coast, ATHF, ANIMANIACS, The Brak Show, and others!

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R

  • Trina L. Ray

    Trina Ray retired from NASA/JPL after 36 years working various outer planet missions. Started on Voyager (Neptune encounter), decades on Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn (specializing in Titan), and finished out working development through launch of the Europa Clipper Mission.

  • Aaron Reynolds

    Aaron Reynolds is the four-time Webby award winning author of Effin' Birds, a comic strip pairing intricate artwork with mundane daily frustrations read by over a million people every day. His first book, Effin' Birds: A Field Guide to Identification, hit bookstores in 2019 and is a bestseller.

  • Naomi "Nao" Romero

    Naomi Romero is a character designer for animation and illustrator for children's literature. They have worked for DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, Sesame Workshop, Illumination Studios, Hasbro, Spin Master, and more. Romero is the current artist for the new baby dragon plush for Dragon Con.

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S

  • Steve Saffel

    At Marvel, Random House, Perseus Books, and Titan Books, Steve Saffel worked with N.K. Jemisin, Drew Struzan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Stan Lee, Douglas Adams, and more. He has developed projects for Alien, Mass Effect, Marvel and DC, Conan, Star Wars, and others. He now helps independent authors develop their story-driven concepts.

  • Anne Sowards

    Anne Sowards is an executive editor at Penguin Random House, where she primarily acquires and edits fantasy and speculative fiction for the Ace and Berkley imprints. The talented authors she works with include New York Times bestsellers Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, Louis Sachar, and K. X. Song.

  • Kim Steadman

    Kim Steadman is a systems engineer working in the space industry with over 27 years of experience in spacecraft operations. Currently she is a surface mission planner for the Dragonfly Mission to Titan. She has also worked on Opportunity, Curiosity, Cassini, and Perseverance.

  • TJ Sterling

    TJ Sterling is a former Marvel and DC creator that has worked in several spaces within the comic industry, as well as the indie space with his fan favorite comic company RAE Comics. Sterling is also a teacher at the Joe Kubert School of Comic and Cartoon art.

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T

  • Eric Talbot

    Eric Talbot is a comic book writer and artist known for his work on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series under Mirage Studios. He co-created the graphic novel The Melting Pot along with Kevin Eastman and Simon Bisley, which was used as the basis for the film Heavy Metal 2000.

  • The Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Nurese

    Downey enjoys acting and costuming. She is the organizer of the yearly Skeptic Parade Entry at Dragon Con. She created a character known as “The Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Nurse” to teach critical thinking skills every Friday-the-Thirteenth.

  • Lauren Thoman

    Lauren Thoman is the author of the speculative mysteries I'll Stop the World and You Shouldn't Be Here. She lives outside of Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and two children.

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W

  • Jean Marie Ward

    Jean Marie Ward writes fiction, nonfiction, and everything in between. Her credits include a multi-award nominated novel, numerous short stories, and two popular art books. The former editor of CrescentBlues.com, she is the author interviewer for BookBale.com and a frequent contributor to the online convention ConTinual. Learn more at JeanMarieWard.com.

  • Toni Weisskopf

    Toni Weisskopf has been the publisher of Baen Books since 2006. Weisskopf has been a guest speaker at many writers workshops and science fiction conventions across the country. She is also interested in space science and serves on the Board of Advisors of the Interstellar Research Group.

  • Robert Wilson

    Robert Wilson IV is a comic artist and illustrator living in Dallas, TX. He is the co-creator and artist of Heartthrob at Oni Press with writer Christopher Sebela and colorist Nick Filardi. He also co-created Knuckleheads at IDW/Monkeybrain with Brian Winkeler and Like A Virus with Ken Lowery.

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Z

  • Thomas Zahler

    Thom Zahler is a comic creator who created the Cupid's Arrows and Warning Label webtoons, and Love and Capes and Time and Vine. His latest is The Ghost Whiskerers for Storm King, about cats that see ghosts, He also works for My Little Pony and is drawing Rocketship's Angry Birds.

Cancellations

The following previously confirmed guests are unfortunately not able to attend this year’s Dragon Con.

  • Ryan A Consell
Featured Guests

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Performers

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