Anime Expo announced on Tuesday that it will host NBA basketball player Johnny O'Bryant, comic writer Corey Mikell, comic creator Marcus Johnson, comic creator Nikolas A. Draper-Ivey ( Black Panther soundtrack album cover), and D'Art Shtajio studio founder Arthell Isom for a screening of the pilot episode of D'Art Shtajio's XOGenaSYS project.

The XOGenaSYS pilot is based on Draper-Ivey and writer Tre McIntosh's original comic of the same name. O'Bryant's creative agency Noir Caeser Entertainment hosts XOGeneSYS and several other comic titles by various creators on its website. Four chapters of XOGeneSYS are available for purchase. O'Bryant, McIntosh, and Draper-Ivey are credited as the creator, the writer, and the artist, respectively.

Noir Caeser Entertainment's website describes the story of XOGeneSYS:

The future has grown into a decadent, overcrowded gang-ridden cesspool. If you're not living uptown, you might as well be dead. Such is the case of Darius Smith, an artistic youth living in the hood, doing his best to avoid trouble and live life. Unfortunately, Darius has a hidden talent – he's an explosive fighter! This makes him the target of many gangs and pits him in many brawls, landing him in the sight of the honorable Timothy Mustafa, powerful prince and owner of one of the most successful XOGeneSYS teams in the country. XOGenaSYS is a successful gladiator sport fought with powered exoskeletons, and Mustafa wants Darius to become the next new fighter! Can Darius become the next champion or will he fall like so many before him?

Arthell Isom (A Letter to Momo, Blood-C, Gintama), his brother Darnell Isom ( Avatar, Pacific Rim, TMNT ), and Henry Thurlow ( Sweetness & Lightning, Naruto Shippūden, Tokyo Ghoul ) established D'Art Shtajio in Tokyo to act as a bridge between the Japanese animation industry and outside markets. In particular, the studio aims to assist foreigners seeking to produce anime-style videos from Japanese studios.

D'Art Shtajio's first project was a pilot episode based on the independently published comic Indigo Ignited by Americans David Pinter and Samuel Dalton. It also produced a teaser for Stephane Metayer's Tephlon Funk comic and, most recently, the first half of an original short titled "Shojo no Piero" or "The Doll."

This year's Anime Expo will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 5 to July 8, with a pre-show event on July 4.

Source: Anime Expo's official website