New York Comic Con attendees with a soft spot for time travel, newspaper bikes and increasingly impossible mornings have one especially intriguing appointment on Saturday, October 10. Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang, the co-creators of Paper Girls, are scheduled for an Image Comics conversation at 4 p.m. in Room 1B02. The listing promises an in-depth discussion of their work together and adds that there may be “a surprise or two” for the people in the room.

What that surprise actually is has not been specified. That distinction matters: there is no confirmed new Paper Girls series, no named project, and no announced item tied to the session in the available details. Fans should treat the tease as just that—a reason to attend, not confirmation of a sequel, an ashcan, a poster, or any other particular giveaway.

There is, however, a very practical reason for collectors and readers to pay attention to the timing. A signing with Vaughan and Chiang is scheduled directly after the 4:00–4:45 p.m. panel. If the session does include a physical handout, attendees could potentially have it signed immediately afterward. That possibility has not been guaranteed, but the back-to-back scheduling makes the panel-and-signing combination more notable than a standalone talk.

The confirmed Paper Girls event details

  • Panel: Image Comics Presents: In Conversation with Brian K. Vaughan & Cliff Chiang
  • Date: Saturday, October 10
  • Time: 4:00–4:45 p.m.
  • Room: 1B02
  • Moderator: Jim Viscardi, Image Comics’ VP of Business Development
  • Follow-up: A signing with Vaughan and Chiang is scheduled after the panel

The panel description centers on the pair’s collaborative comics process. That focus is fitting for a creative partnership best known here for Paper Girls, a complete 30-issue comic series that ran from 2015 through 2019. Its premise begins with four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls in 1988, then sends them into a much bigger time-travel conflict. The book went on to receive Eisner Awards and was adapted into an Amazon Prime television series that was short-lived.

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For people new to the terminology, an ashcan generally refers to a small-format, limited comic publication. In convention culture, it can be used as a promotional item, an early preview, or a collectible variant-format release. Nothing in the event description confirms an ashcan will be distributed at this panel; it is only one of several possibilities fans may be imagining from the mention of surprises.

Why the wording is worth reading carefully

Convention schedules frequently use deliberately broad language when a panel has an element meant to be revealed in person. “There may be a surprise or two” is meaningful in that it signals something beyond a routine retrospective could be planned. It is not meaningful enough, on its own, to establish what form that something will take.

That is an important line for fans planning their day. A tease can cover many outcomes: an announcement, a preview, a guest appearance, a small attendee item, or simply an unusual part of the presentation. The supplied event information does not narrow it further. The most reliable expectations are therefore the confirmed conversation, the named creators, the room and time, and the immediately following signing.

There is also no basis yet to assume that the surprise will lead to Paper Girls 2. The original run is described as a full 30-issue series, and the panel listing does not announce a continuation. A new project from Vaughan and Chiang together remains equally unconfirmed. Fans looking for definitive news will need to wait for the panel itself rather than treating speculation as a schedule change.

A busy Image Comics weekend around the panel

The Vaughan and Chiang discussion is one part of a wide Image Comics presence at the convention, with panels spread across Thursday through Sunday. The range includes creator conversations, future-facing shared-universe sessions, a spotlight event and a live podcast recording. In other words, the Saturday afternoon Paper Girls slot arrives in a convention program built to serve several distinct comic audiences rather than one franchise alone.

Thursday: Exquisite Corpses

Thursday’s schedule includes Exquisite Corpses: The Game and Beyond, an 18-and-up panel from 3:00 to 3:45 p.m. in Room 1C03. Co-creators James Tynion IV and Michael Walsh are set to appear alongside Tyler Boss, Adam Gorham, Pornsak Pichetshote and Che Grayson. The stated topics include the creation of spin-offs, the response to the game, and what may come next for Exquisite Corpses. Sami DeMonster is listed as moderator.

Friday: Spawn and Skybound

Friday brings a Todd McFarlane spotlight from 1:30 to 2:15 p.m. in Room 406.3. McFarlane, associated with Spawn, is slated to discuss creating, building and overcoming obstacles across comics, movies and toys.

Later that day, Room 406.3 hosts Skybound Comics: Vision for the Future from 4:00 to 4:45 p.m. The listed participants are Stephen Graham Jones, Leandro Fernández, Tate Brombal, Matt Emmons, Doug Mahnke and Skybound executive editor Ben Abernathy, with Alex Antone moderating. The event is positioned as a reveal of a new Skybound slate, following the publisher’s work with properties including Transformers, Invincible and Universal Monsters.

Saturday: Energon Universe, Massive-Verse, then Paper Girls

Saturday begins with Transformers & G.I. Joe: What’s Next for the Energon Universe? from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in Room 406.2. Robert Kirkman, Dan Watters, Tom Reilly, Jason Howard and Conor Hughes are listed for a discussion concerning the shared setting that includes Transformers, G.I. Joe, Void Rivals and M.A.S.K., moderated by Abernathy.

The same room then hosts a Massive-Verse panel from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m., focused on Kyle Higgins, Radiant Black and related work. Higgins, Brian Buccellato, Kelly McMahon, Melissa Flores and Rod Reis are on the announced roster. Its description promises developments and announcements for the Massive-Verse across the current year and the next.

For a comic convention attendee, this creates a straightforward but important scheduling reality: the Paper Girls panel is later in the day and in a different room. Anyone moving from the Energon Universe or Massive-Verse programming to Room 1B02 should leave enough time to change locations rather than treating the panels as a single continuous block.

Sunday: live comics podcast

On Sunday, Let’s Talk Comics podcast LIVE & the Future of Comics! runs from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. in Room 1C03. Tony Fleecs, Mirka Andolfo, Franklin Jonas and Eric Zawadzki are listed for the live recording, moderated by Viscardi. The scheduled conversation is framed around creative rule-breaking, world-building and the creator-owned comics approach.

Cliff Chiang will also be in Artist Alley

Those unable to make the Saturday panel, or those hoping for another opportunity to find Chiang during the show, can look to Artist Alley. Chiang is listed at table L39. Artist Alley is the convention area where listed creators have tables, giving visitors a designated place to locate them during the event rather than relying solely on panel appearances.

The Image-affiliated Artist Alley list is extensive. Among the creators named are Bilquis Evely, Charles Soule, Dan Mora, Daniel Warren Johnson, Greg Capullo, Jock, Jason Aaron, Kyle Higgins, Mahmud Asrar, Melissa Flores, Rod Reis, Ryan Stegman, Sean Phillips, Tom King and Tyler Boss. Exact table locations vary, and Chiang’s L39 designation is the relevant one for Paper Girls fans.

For attendees focused on the possible Saturday surprise, the sensible approach is simple: regard the panel as the only confirmed place where the tease is attached, arrive in time for the 4 p.m. start, and remember that the signing follows. Do not make buying, trading or collecting plans around an unannounced item. If a physical giveaway does materialize, its format, quantity and availability have not been detailed in advance.

The strongest confirmed draw is still the conversation itself: two creators behind a finished, award-winning 30-issue series discussing their work together. Any reveal or giveaway would be an extra—not something the published schedule has defined. That uncertainty is likely the point, and Room 1B02 is where it is expected to be resolved.