Old News:

• 4/4/08: Pre-registered list updated!
• 4/1/08: New sponsors! Deux Press and Luv-Luv Press
• 3/31/08: Added a new sponsor! Aurora Publishing has sent us posters and manga for the reading room. Woot!! (Our manga room is going to kick butt!)
• 3/25/08: Updated the pre-registration list.
• 3/16/08: Added a new sponsor! Go! Comics, woot!! (They're sponsoring our manga reading area with books for attendees to read during the con. WOOHAA for awesome!)
• 3/14/08: NEW GUEST!
  
  Tom Brown is a sequential artist-illustrator and founder of Copper Age. He lives in the USA, drinks copious amounts of coffee, spends too much time thinking about demons and describes himself as a 'lunatic' on his myspace page. Although he's heavily influenced by Manga, Tom's artwork also owes a great deal to Western artistic traditions, creating a striking blend of the gothic, cute, and stylised whilst keeping his characters human and expressive (apart from the demons and the things with the tentacles, although admittedly they don't often count as 'characters'). He is particularly adept at sinister trees, unspeakable monstrosities, and endearing experimental occultists. Rumour has it that he was exposed to HP Lovecraft at a delicate age.
  
  For the past few years, Tom has been collaborating with English author Brynneth N Colvin (whose day jobs include novel writing and being a Druid). There are plans for future collaborations with Witchunter's Vincent Ferrante as well (Witchunter being Ferrante's comic title, not his day job!).
  
  Tom's career to date includes cover art, illustration, graphic novel work, Chuthulu Christmas Cards, and other commissioned enterprises. http://copperage.deviantart.com/
  
• 3/12/08: NEW GUEST!
  
  Michael "Mookie" Terracciano is the author and artist of the fantasy manga webcomic, "Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire." Since its humble beginnings over six years ago it has received acclaim for its unique characters, addictive storylines, painful puns, awful alliteration and (gasp!) reliable update schedule. With updates seven-days-a-week and an archive of over sixteen hundred strips, it's no wonder people are talking about this cult webcomic! Want to know what's so interesting about a grumpy seer, his deformed girlfriend, his angelic little brother, his talking cat, his archmage mother and rock-star father? See for yourself at www.dominic-deegan.com!
  
  
• 3/10/08: The hotel is starting to get full- there's only 20 rooms left in our block! So make sure you call and reserve your room as soon as possible. Once they fill up we'll be listing other local hotels nearby- but keep in mind we're in the Old Port, downtown area this year! That means local hotels aren't going to be at the same discounted rate as the Eastland is offering us!!
  
  The vendors room is full and we're starting to list the new vendors! Added today: Asmadi Games and PopCult Anime!
  
  Now for the super-mega-huge guest update of glorious great good (there are 4 new guests! WHOA. and yes, we have more coming!):
  
  Michele Knotz: A native of the Jersey Shore, Michele Knotz has always had a passion for acting. She was cast in her first animated voice-acting role as Hajime Yagi in The World of Narue in 2003. Since then she has also voiced Takako Kawashima in Shootfighter Tekken, Matsumoto and various additional characters in To Heart, and Razali, Cindy, Greta, and The Fairy in The Third. In 2006, Michele landed the lead roles, Jessie, May, Misty and Nurse Joy for the Pokémon 10th Anniversary Special, The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon, and continued to voice these characters throughout Season 9 of Pokémon, the Battle Frontier. She has also voiced the characters May, Jessie, and Manaphy for the Pokémon Movie 9, Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea. She has voiced the lead character, Chikorita in the Pokémon special, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Team Go-Getters Out of the Gate. Along with human-speaking characters, she has voiced various Pokémon in the series such as Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Chimecho, Beautifly, Masquerain, Dustox, Cacnea, Mudkip and many others. You can catch Michele as May, Jessie, Misty and Nurse Joy at http://www.pokemonlearningleague.com/; an interactive web site dedicated to educating children in math, science and language arts. In Season 10 of Pokémon, Diamond and Pearl, Michele returned as Jessie and Nurse Joy as well as the Pokédex, Piplup, and many other Pokémon characters. Just released, Michele voiced the Pokémon trainer, Squirtle and various other Pokémon in the Nintendo Wii video game: Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Michele is extremely excited and happy to be a guest at PortConMaine this year and can’t wait to meet all the fans throughout the weekend!
  
  

  Bill Rogers: Since his debut in Assemble Insert back in 2001, Bill has been providing voices to some of your favorite characters in some of your favorite shows. If you’ve watched KO Beast, Madara, His and Her Circumstances, Gokudo, Comic Party and To Heart you’ve probably heard his voice. But he is best known for his work in Gravitation (Touma Seguch), Boogiepop Phantom (Yamamoto), Genshiken (Tanaka Souichiro), Shingu (Kanata Mouken) and more recently in The Third (Kevin). He can also be heard on Saturday mornings as the voice of Brock in Pokémon, (as well as various creatures that appear in that show).

  Outside of the anime field, Bill has worked on the children’s show Tarchin and Friends, and the series of Universal Safety Squad educational films.

  In the world of video games, Bill has lent his voice to the X-Box game Bullet Witch and m&m’s Kart Racing on the Wii console. He has also voiced various Pokémon including Bonsly, Weavile and a hidden talking Pokémon (you'll just have to find him) in the Wii smash hit Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
  

  He is happy to be making his PortConMaine premiere and looks forward to meeting and chatting with lots of anime fans.
  
  Daniel Kevin Harrison is best known as the voice of Hiro in Gravitation. A Maine native, his anime credits include Gokudo, Madara, KO Beast, and Shingu. People with really sharp eyesight might recognize him from movies like The Langoliers, Bird, or Wake. This is his seventh year at PortConMaine and he eagerly awaits seeing old friends from years
  past.
  
  
  Ninja Studios: Jon and Mike are back for their 3rd year at Portcon's Artist Alley. Created in 2003 by Jon Kneeland, Ninja Studios has been striving to bring something different and much-needed to anime cons: A group of artists that each specialize in completely different, yet complimentary, art styles and talents inspired by the anime and comic lifestyle. Jon is a digital artist that is known for his fanart pinups and custom drawn ID cards. Mike is a amazing sculptor who has studied with some of the top people in the field, including makeup and special effects from the horror SFX king, Tom Savini. They both have a TON of new stuff to show us this year, like wearable cosplay masks, giant posters, and more! A couple of super-nice dudes. Check 'em out at www.ninjastudios.net for more info.
  
  

• 3/5/08: The artist alley has been filled! Updated the pre-registered list... Also! NEW BANNER!
  
  
  
• 3/1/08: BOOYAH! Artist Alley Sign Up now available! Get the spots while they're available-- limited spaces this year with a beautiful windowed downtown Portland area for the room! (HELLO Attention Via the Street! ^_^)
• 2/19/08: NEW GUESTS:
  

  Stacey Kardash and Elizabeth Jackson are illustrators back for their third time in the PortCon artist's alley! They are currently illustrating images for a new game design studio based in Maine, as well as working on creating comics of their own. Every Saturday night from 6pm to 8pm, they are guaranteed to be drawing at Weekend Anime in Westbrook.

  Stacey's comic project is entitled Harbinger and is set in a post-apocalyptic desert world with an old west flair. Liz's project is shrouded in mystery, but it is set in the jungle and follows a family clan named Bruiseye.

• 2/5/08: First: whoa is our schedule filing up! And second: look! A pre-registered list! ^_~ (Note: we're still accepting pre-registrations until May 1st. This is simply the list of so far... :) )
  
  NEW GUEST:
  

  Michelle Pinard: Chaotic Kiss has been touring various New England Artist alleys since 2004! It is the first comic published by independent manga studio MKT Productions. Growing a fan base through two hit parody comics Magical Girl for a Day and Chaotic Con, CK follows the story of a young transgendered girl trying to find her place in an ever more confusing world of deadly cosplay rivals, philandering bishouned, and hopelessly obsessed otaku gamer boys. A romantic comedy drama, CK has helped to introduce anime and manga fans to genuine GLBT issues in real life, love, and spirit. To learn more about CK and MKT Productions News check us out at www.chaotickiss.com

  Mariko is also the creator of the New England Plushie Panels! She is added by her seam stressing partner, Magick, to provide plushie panels to most of the Northeast’s major anime conventions.
  
  Also, Look at this cute banner that was donated to PCM! Woot!
  
  
  

• 1/29/08: NEW GUEST:
  
  Andi Wrede discovered very early in life that she was good at 2 things- drawing, and sarcasm. After years of honing those skills, and entering the realm of hardcore nerd-ery, she also found out she was adorable. :-) Using her newfound powers, she became a Booth Babe and assisted other artists for a short period before she figured out she, too, could draw a webcomic and began her plans for Intarweb Domination. Some of her comics have been compared to early Penny Arcade, so she figures she doesn't entirely suck. :-) She enjoys long walks on the beach, orange tic tacs, violence, and music from the 90's that everyone says they hate but secretly love. You can read her comics at www.Easy-Skankin.com.
• 1/28/08: More detailed cosplay information up!
• 1/22/08: Our schedule continues to develop. More and more panels are being added daily. Remember: you can only attend Thursday if you pre-register ahead of time! So fill out our mail in form or register online as soon as possible. (That includes Thursday's ball!)
  
  NEW GUEST:
  

  CJ Henderson: Returning guest CJ Henderson is the creator of the Teddy London supernatural detective series and the Jack Hagee hardboiled PI series. Writer of over 50 books and novels, such as "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies" and "Black Sabbath: The Ozzy Osbourne Years." he is also the author of hundreds upon hundreds of short stories and comics, as well as literally thousand of non-fiction articles. Chosen by the H.P. Lovecraft estate to continue the master's characters, he is one of the leading mythos writers today. And yet, despite his international fame and world-wide adoration, he is still one of the most wonderfully cheerful, down-to-earth and humble human beings God ever blessed mankind with by giving him unto the world. We know it's true because he told us so himself. For more details on this most fascinating of human wonders, we refer you to www.cjhenderson.com where you can read free short stories, browse through important news items and find other ways to waste time when you really should be doing something important.

• 12/31/07: Added Emo Gear Designs as a new confirmed vendor!
• 12/14/07: New sponsors! Atlas Games & Noble Knights Games
• 11/11/07: New Vendors added. Games Unlimited will be attending from Bangor! Yoshiya clothing will be attending from New Hampshire! Events added to the schedule. Staff updated.
• 11/1/07: Updated staff and schedule.
• 10/4/07: Worked on the schedule. Added some staff.
  
  NEW GUEST:
  

  Kori Michele is a Portland based painter whose work is heavily influenced by comics and manga. She has experience creating anime mascots for conventions and businesses, but now spends her time dissecting drawings and paintings with superhero content and mechanical comics techniques. Her current body of work involves blowing up drawings of herself as a manga heroine with hand drawn halftoning and bitmapping. Past works have involved yaoi themes and classical figuration. She presides over the Maine College of Art Manga Club and enjoys studying the impact of anime and otaku culture on the fine art scene.

  http://homepage.mac.com/werkers

• 9/23/07: Updated the vendors page with links to vendor sites. Added Neko-Jin Designs as well as a link to the Garage Sale information. Sponsor information now online. Contest information online.
  
  NEW GUEST:
  

  Clayton McNally: Clayton McNally writes in a story-telling manner that is fast-paced and exciting. His stories grab your interest from beginning to end, ‘To The Stars’, will engage the imagination of Science Fiction enthusiasts. This action-packed novel includes hand-to-hand combat using Kenpo Karate and major space battles utilizing unconventional ingenuity. Follow mankind across Galaxies in search of peace. Forced to fight for survival, his battles display unconventional ingenuity against overwhelming forces.

  The second in the Galactic Star Force series ‘Surviving Behind Enemy Lines’ will grab you from the first page and hold you until the end. It is a compelling story of battles and human survival when the odds are overwhelming.

  The third in the Galactic Star Force series 'Liberty and Freedom - To Die For' set the Commonwealth and Galactic Star Force into battle on three fronts; Sol, Pegasus and Alpha Centauri. Can humanity win one or even two fronts? Will a third front be too much?

  Already a screenplay is being written for ‘To The Stars’, read it and ‘Surviving Behind Enemy Lines’ and see what has captured the attention of readers and the media.

  ‘To The Stars’ and ‘Surviving Behind Enemy Lines’ can both be purchased at the publishers web site:

  www.choicereadingbooks.com

• 8/14/07: IMPORTANT NEWS. PortConMaine 2008 will be held at a different hotel than 2007. Due to popular demand, hotel constraints, and wacky wacky reasoning, PortConMaine will be at the Eastland Park in Portland. The dates have also changed; instead of being the third weekend in June we'll be running from July 3rd - 6th in 2008. See the forums for more details.
  
  Again, for 2008 we'll be at the Eastland Park in Portland from July 3rd to July 6th! More space, the Old Port, and more days! Hoozah!!!
  
  Registration information and hotel information will be up by the end of today.
• 7/30/07: Whoa! Read above! We're going to open for Thursday! o.O More info coming as it developes. ^_^
• 7/21/07: Posted the Weapons/Prop Policy. Added more staff.
• 6/26/07: Our FAQ is beautiful! As is our online gallery. ^_^
• 6/25/07: SHAZAM! New site! Check out feedback from 2007 on our forums. We'll upload con photos asap and get info on the site in a month or two. ^_^
• 6/19/07: Getting the site prepped for upload. Might not make it up until the day after the day after the con. o.O A PortCon first! ^_^ But it'll sure look perty when it's uploaded! Woot for Archimer sexying up the site design for 2008!