SLICE Announces 2025 Special and Featured Guests
The St. Louis Independent Comics Expo (SLICE) has happily invited Ngozi Ukazu, Trung Le Nguyen,
and Rori as special guests to headline the 2025 expo. SLICE’s special guests will participate in an
opening night panel discussion, exhibit their work at the expo, and lead lectures as part of SLICE’s
expo programming.
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. Her
cartoons regularly appear in The New Yorker.
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. He has also contributed work 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).
Rori is a local cartoonist, designer, and illustrator whose 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.
SLICE has also invited Karenza Sparks as a featured guest. Featured guests are creators who are
marketing new project releases and/or will contribute to the overall community impact of SLICE.
These featured guests participate in a workshop or lecture leading up to and during the expo.
Karenza Sparks is a multidisciplinary designer, comics creator, animator, and fossil hunter from
Cornwall. She has a particular interest in gamification, storytelling, interactive experiences, and
participatory artworks. Sparks graduated from Kingston School in 2020 and is based in Cornwall.
Her debut graphic novel, The Corus Wave, is releasing later this fall.
SLICE is excited to return to The Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries, following the building’s
renovations scheduled for completion in fall 2025. The expo weekend kicks off with the Opening
Night Reception on Friday, October 17, 6–10 p.m., in The Sheldon’s Ballroom. The reception will
feature a panel discussion with SLICE’s special guests, the presentation of the second annual
Local Best in Show Award, and a raffle prize. The reception is free to attend and open to the public.
The expo takes place the following day, October 18, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., in The Sheldon’s Konneker
Room. Programming throughout the day will include lectures and workshops by SLICE’s special
and featured guests, as well as activities provided by local artists and organizations.
