♫ I applied for a rescue dog,
But if I get you dog,
You're rescuing me ♫
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2021 -- beyond.
Looks like cons are back on the menu!
I spent the weekend up in Sydney at the Oz Comic Con Pop Up, and it was great.
It did feel weird to be at such a public event, but there also were plans in place. The event was spaced out, the ticket sales were limited, and the day was broken into two parts so cleaning could occur in between. Everyone was pretty good about keeping their distance, and we were all given hand sanitiser for our tables, so I think it was a very safe event. But, still, weird to be around so many people. And weird to see everyone’s faces again after so long.
Many years ago, while driving back from a con, I realised that a con is just a big group therapy session for me. A bunch of people who all have the same problem as me gather around for a weekend to discuss that problem and celebrate and commiserate and then share in reading and creating comics. It’s so much fun, and it’s bloody helpful.
This weekend was my first con in nearly a year and a half, so there was a lot of therapy needed, and I definitely got it. It was great to see people again, and discuss tales of survival through 2020, and be there for each other. I had 3 really open chats about mental health with 3 different mates and it was great to be able to open up and be honest. I know I have support in the right places.
I also liked the tales people had of what got them through 2020 - rollerblading and home brew and gardening and design challenges. It’s awesome to hear all of the ways people learned to look after themselves, really inspiring. But it was good to note that everyone needed something, and I’m glad many people found it. I came away with a solid sense of hope for 2021, and beyond, for a lot of us.
I also did my favourite thing to do at a con - find new Aussie comics to buy/read.
Here’s my stack I came away with.
I was exceptionally impressed with THE SAGA OF THE SHIELDBREAKER - it’s a killer viking tale, and beautifully drawn. HONOUR BOUND is this really wild almost-D&D off-the-rails type story, and I loved it. I’m dying to dive into THE STRAITS. Seeing people tabling for the first time always makes me excited, and reading new comics that are genuinely awesome always fills me with a sense of pride and awe in the local scene.
I also got my mitts on all of GREENER PASTURES, because Tim McEwen is a god amongst men, and finally tabling with him meant I had easy access to picking these up.
I also managed to sell some comics. It was the first con for SHE and SKYSCRAPER, so I was glad to see them fly off the shelves. Both were designed with hand-selling in mind because they’re so damn gorgeous and they both did well - the beauty of the newspaper size and colour pushed SKYSCRAPER really easily.
It was a smaller crowd, so expectations were important to set, but knowing that people wanted to turn up, and do it sensibly, gives me hope for the coming weeks/months ahead.
Mostly, though, getting to talk with old mates, and hunt out a few back issues, and let my kids have time to wander the show floor was something I’ve been missing since 2019, so I’m a happy man today.
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How will the pandemic change me?
Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had it very chill in Australia. Case numbers are low, and case numbers in my neck of the woods are crazy low, and whenever something does pop up we seem to be pretty good at stomping down hard in reaction without too much kerfuffle.
I appreciate the safety and mental health bubble this has afforded me.
But I still live with Covid on the brain. I touch things less, I eat healthy, I make students soap wash and/or alcowipe on entry into the classroom, constantly. Covid is something I think about daily, but mostly just in a preventative way.
But I also think about things moving forward. I have kids, so I think that’s a large reason why. What will their views on Covid be? How will this have repercussions for them moving forward into the future? Are we setting them up for success if/when the next pandemic hits?
I think about the future a lot. What’s changed now, and where that points to and leads up in the coming years/decades.
This comic on The Nib looks at it all brilliantly.
Will we make sweeping societal change? Will we design things differently? Will cities look and operate in new ways? Will concepts like restaurants and cinemas and public parks have to adapt? Will we have to adapt?
I believe in our capacity to change, and I hope we make some smart decisions moving forward in regards to what we best need to stay safe.
And I just saw another comic on The Nib that links the response to Covid to that of Climate Catastrophe, and it is bleak af, but it ends with hope.
Hope always gets me to act in big ways. Fear limits my actions. So I know which one I want, and want to share, and want to inspire.
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ASD&D.
Today was a public holiday, so no afternoon D&D - a total shame.
I will play with my ates tomorrow night, though.
I also started sketching out what I would do if I made a D&D zine about education and the game. Little activities, fun writing prompts, etc. I’ve got the beginnings of a loose structure.
I’m considering it because Kickstarter does an annual Zine Quest every Feb, so if I start now, then I can probably get it ready by then. It’s really just something fun to do on the side, and that I’d be doing through the school club anyway, but this way I’d get to share it.
I think I just need an illustrator and a designer to help me out with it. Maybe.
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PERHAPS YOU'D CARE TO SAMPLE
HUNT FOR THE SOLAVORE on Kickstarter - Lane Lloyd has the coolest damn art. This is a graphic novella, with a cool premise, and it looks slick. Thank me later.
This comic on The Nib about transgender athletes - I think I shared this when it was posted in 2019, but it’s still relevant now. A great breakdown on some stats, and mythbusting, around trans athletes competing with others.
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GRIST FOR THE MILL
THE AVENGERS - rewatched this, and it isn’t a perfect piece of high lit, but be damned if the script isn’t a whole mess of fun. So many lines are set up and paid off well to define characters, and lead them towards a moment of growth. It’s pretty damn impressive, and has become iconic in many ways. Banner saying his secret is that he’s always angry is a hell of a character defining moment.
WandaVision - I dug this show. I know it was all leading to set up a certain status quo by the end, but I enjoyed how they got there. When a show like this has enough great moments like it did, I am all in. I view this like I view the Pixar flicks - if another Cars sequel gets us stuff like Inside Out and Onward and Soul, then I’m all in for the basic stuff to allow for the experimentation. Now it’s two weeks until FALCON & THE WINTER SOLIDER, and I’m just as silly keen for that one, too.
Be one of the good guys, because there's way too many of the bad.
POST CREDITS SEQUENCE
Still thinking about that Banner moment. Wondering what my “secret” would be.
I’m constantly pushing myself to do more, and then someone asks me my secret, and I turn to them and say:
“That’s my secret, I’m always thinking the worst about myself.”
Is that right? Or, I’m always unhappy with my performance. I’m always assuming it’s not enough. I’m always wishing I could do more.
I’m sure each of us has this defining tenet within ourselves that drives us to do...well, everything. I think there’s power in knowing what it is, but I don’t think you can control that. I think you might just be whoever you are, and change is like steering the Death Star, but acceptance is being able to fire it, with precision, at the right things.
Not to warp that great end note, but today I was discussing a Marvel V Star Wars type scenario, and I thought about putting a Kyber crystal into a Death Star, and whether that would turn it into a giant lightsaber, and if so, could Galactus wield it?
I like the thought about everyone having a secret to success, but I’ll admit that it hurts to hear you say that yours is never being happy with yourself. I think I want mine to be something my loved ones can get behind, like maybe mine is always trying new things to keep me on my toes - refreshed, challenged and curious. Does that work as a secret haha.
Glad to hear the con went well up there because we are just talking about Supanova in Melb. I’m encouraged by your experience of everyone being so respectful and courteous!
I’ve loved Wandavision. Am obsessed and I don’t but that the ending is any sort of ending at all. I feel like there’s gotta be a bigger story kicking off! Looking forward to seeing it all play out!