The ICON Festival of Comic & Narrative Art debuted at Los Angeles’ historic Biltmore Hotel over the weekend of November 7th-8th, 2026. The same team that hosts the annual Lake Como Comic Art Festival traveled west to bring original comic art, commissions, and signatures from a long list of living legends: Bill Sienkiewicz, Sanford Greene, Frank Cho, Ryan Ottley, Nick Dragotta, Daniel Warren Johnson, Dan Panosian, Mark Texeira, Dan Brereton, among many others. A weekend of timeless art and artists included the Alex Ross Exhibit showcasing dozens of Ross’ stunning original works. The fans were able to get up close to details that can only be fully appreciated in person. We here at Conskipper attended both days of the show to gather exclusive photos of the event and artwork for our readers.
The event organizers respectfully expressed their love of the comic con community, but ICON sets itself apart from other cons as an event exclusively for die-hard comic art fans. Fans of all ages and backgrounds gathered early Saturday to an ornate Biltmore room filled with table after table, legend after legend. The success and fandom of Absolute Batman guaranteed both Dragotta and DWJ with lines all weekend. Each line was no more than 15-20 people, a comically short length compared to the hours long lines at traditional cons. Fans gathered at artist tables to linger, chat, and take extended time to flip through artwork for sale. Invincible artist Ryan Ottley went all out, providing fans with first-time access to bloody pages of his successful Battle Beast series. Great panel discussions with Dragotta and DWJ focused on the success of their Absolute Batman run, while Frank Cho and Dan Brereton centered on story-telling as illustrators. In theme with the entire event, the panels were intimate and often set a tone as if chatting with the artists at dinner – truly a dream for any comic art fan! General admission opened Sunday at $75, making for a rush of signatures but lines were back to a mere 2-3 deep by noon.
ICON was a huge success and is set to return in 2027 with dates to-be-announced. For the fans who missed out, the same incredible ICON team is hosting the Hawaiian Island Comic Art Festival in January where you will be able to swim and snorkel with attending artists – a pretty wild time to be a comic fan!
Stay tuned to Conskipper for complete coverage of all of the hottest comic conventions around!