Posted on 07/21/2017 7:04:55 PM PDT by Ciaphas Cain
Have never been to Comic-Con, going on this weekend in San Diego but I've got friends there now. Just out of curiosity I looked at the programming schedule and... well, see for yourself the kind of topics at the biggest science-fiction/fantasy/pop culture convention in the world:
Moonlight and Magic: Black LGBTQ Contributions to Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Comics, and Genre
The Black LGBTQ experience has brought unique and significant intersectional perspectives to our society and popular media: Black Lives Matter was founded by three black queer women; Black LGBT authors Octavia Butler and Samuel Delany created legendary works; bisexual writer Roxane Gay brought Marvel's Black Panther to deep critical acclaim; and Moonlight won the Oscar for Best Picture. Join Prism Comics with moderator Faith Cheltenham (BiNet USA VP, Tor.com co-creator) and panelists Viktor Kerney (Prism board member, GayMediaSoWhite creator), Ajuan Mance (8-rock.com), Sean Z. Maker (Bent-Con), Monica Roberts (TransGriot, National Transgender Advocacy Coaltion), William O. Tyler a.k.a. WOT (Queerbait), and Eliot Sutler, Esq. (BiWoCC) as they discuss the power of the Black LGBTQ experience and its positive effect not only on popular media but on society and the world at large.
LGBTQ Geek Year in Review
The past year has been filled with key moments in comics, TV, movies, animation, and games that every queer geek should know about. The panel will discuss the significance of these events to the greater LGBTQ community. Hosted by Prism Comics and moderated by P. Kristen Enos (Prism Comics, Active Voice the Comic Collection), the panel includes Diane Anderson-Minshall (editorial director, The Advocate, Plus Magazine, and Tiny Living Chic), Nick Adams (director of programs, GLAAD's Transgender Media), Mike Ciriaco (LA Weekly, WeHoTV News), Amber Garza (director of international licensing, Sequential Rights; West Coast coordinator, Geeks OUT!), Chelsea Steiner (AfterEllen.com, Autostraddle.com), and Amelia Vaughn (Huffington Post, Riptide Publishing).
The Trump Presidential Library Panel
Celebrants and detractors alike are chewing on the fact that Donald Trump was elected president. Shannon Wheeler and Robert Sikoryak will help you swallow. In their books Sh*t My President Says and The Unquotable Trump (respectively), these two cartoonists illustrate Trump's words for comedic effect and insight. There will be slides, a brief history of political satire, and laughter through the tears as they wrestle with an understanding of our current dystopia. Can satire keep up with reality? Shannon Wheeler is the two-time Eisner winning creator of Too Much Coffee Man and a New Yorker cartoonist. Robert Sikoryak started at Raw magazine, is a New Yorker contributor, and a Comic-Con special guest.
It Gets Geekier: Why Queer Representation Matters
Joshua Yehl (IGN Comics) brings It Gets Geekier back to discuss the importance of including LGBT+ characters in comic books, TV shows, and movies. Host Bryan Pittard (Flame On! Podcast) will lead the talk including Sina Grace (Iceman), Kris Anka (All-New X-Men), Megan Townsend (GLAAD), Marc Andreyko (Love is Love) and more.
What Rebellions are Built On: Popular Culture, Radical Hope, and Political Engagement
As America faces the drawing up of Death Star plans (or border walls, refugee bans, and faith-based registries), culture and politics have never felt so . . . pop culturian. But stories have always been political and fandom has, too. Today, themes of hope and resistance in stories such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Wonder Woman are serving not just as moral guides but as inspiration for plans of political action. Hear from geeks making activism their superpower as they wield nerd enthusiasms like the Force, hacking popular culture for social justice, civic activism, and participatory politics, including through anti-bullying initiatives, advocacy, and charity. Moderator Jennifer K. Stuller (GeekGirlCon, Ink-Stained Amazon) will talk with Robyn Jordan (Black Girls Create), Suzanne Scott (UT Austin), Josh Siegel (Geeks Out), Fox Smith (Super Heroines, Etc.), Amber Garza (Sequential Rights, Geeks Out), and Maddy VonHoff (ONE Campaign, GeekGirlCon) about how memes, cosplay, and performance challenge stereotypes and raise consciousness around identity politics, rebellions being built on favorite fandoms (and, of course, hope).
Bisexuality and Beyond: Deadpool Made Us Do It (Again and Again and…)
Definitions of gender and sexuality are becoming more and more open in popular media as comics, film, and television creators are telling stories with bisexual characters and affirming role models who are not limited to one definition. Join Prism Comics with moderator Faith Cheltenham (BiNet USA) for a spirited discussion of the present and future of sexuality in media with the real-life bisexual creators who draw, write, and perform these roles: Tara Madison Avery (Gooch, Anything That Loves), R. J. Aguiar (YouTube's TheNotAdam, NotAdamAndSteve.com), Lynnette McFadzen (BiNet USA), and Eliot Sutler, Esq. (BiWoCC). Last year, BleedingCool.com called this panel "One Of The Most Amazing Moments Of Affirmation At San Diego Comic-Con."
Queer Fear
The LGBTQ community has had a long history with the horror genre, from James Whale’s Frankenstein to the oft-cited “gayest movie of all time,” A Nightmare on Elm Street 2. Does a gay horror genre exist, and if so, what makes it different from mainstream horror? Furthermore, how does the current political climate alter the lens through which viewers celebrate and connect to the macabre? Join Prism Comics and moderator/screenwriter Michael Varrati (Tales of Poe, Darkest Night) and an array of panelists, including Christopher Rice (A Density of Souls, Ramses the Damned), Jaclyn Chessen (Shock Attack), George Aaron Climer (Bear Creek), Gary Entin and Edmund Entin (Seconds Apart, the Rest Stop series), Maria Olsen (Paranormal Activity 3, Starry Eyes), and Ira Madison III (pop culture writer, The Daily Beast).
Gays in Comics, Out in Comics: A 30th Year Celebration
The comic world's longest-running panel celebrates its 30th year with an all-star panel and celebration that will spotlight creators, comics, and fans from 1988 to the present. What a difference 30 years makes! "Diversity" has become a rallying cry in the comics world today. Almost every comic company is looking toward LGBTQ or LGBTQ-friendly creators for work that reflects the world around us today-gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender characters as well as people of color, other cultures, and more. This year, founding moderator and bestselling author Andy Mangels (Wonder Woman '77 Meets the Bionic Woman, Star Trek books) returns to chair the panel and welcomes Tara Madison Avery (Anything That Loves, Gooch, Alphabet), Roxane Gay (Black Panther: World of Wakanda, Bad Feminist, SDCC special guest), Sina Grace (Iceman, Self-Obsessed, Burn the Orphanage), Phil Jimenez (Superwoman, Wonder Woman, Infinite Crisis), Steve Orlando (Midnighter and Apollo, Supergirl, Justice League of America), and Molly Ostertag (Shattered Warrior, Strong Female Protagonist, The Witch Boy). Showcased throughout will be special video messages from an array of Hollywood and comic book celebrities sending special 30th anniversary messages to their LGBTQ fans and allies, plus a Prism Comics Fan Mixer including cool swag giveaways and a silent auction of incredible comics items!
Oh yeah, and one panel has as a guest one of the judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, along with a few other Obama appointees.
Even at Comic-Con, they can't stop their fixation with Trump.
Is it possible at all to believe in traditional values and be successful in this genre? Or has the gay agenda monopolized things too much than for that to happen?
The world is nearing the Tribulation period and then 3.5 years later, the Great Tribulation.
Oh wait, they don’t like Bible Prophecy being taught in churches, much, these days.
Or, one could go with the liars represented at the Christian firm I was at .... who believe and “preach” that the Book of Revelation has already been fulfilled up to about Chapter 20 (inclusive).
Gonna be a lot of surprises. Oh, and they hate you for telling them that.
I don’t understand all this resistance to LGBT.
How can anyone be against Liberty, Guns, Barbecue, and Texas?
Brother, they can’t just let people have fun. They’ve always got to preach their agenda.
Socialist Just-Us Warriors have infected the comic and sci-fi conventions for years now.
And they are age-ist. When they encounter legends in the fields who’ve been contributing for decades (and even helped establish fandom) they despise them personally and their views and publicly hope for the day when these dinosaurs die off.
And Marvel and DC helped drive this political correctness.
The gay guy who played Magneto and Gandalf got a kick that people were bringing their boys to see him.
And from what I gather about Comic Con, the “comics” are relegated to a small portion of the event these days with some artists and dealers and fans opting out altogether to attend upstart events held elsewhere in town.
Look at the people that attend comic-con or read the comic books then tell me you are surprised that they are a bunch of freaks.
I’ve never been to Comic-Con and really don’t see a reason to go.
For a few years, me and the spouse went to Dragon-Con regularly. It got so crowded and regimented, I gave up on it.
Basically Comic-con is on its way to being a converged event. The SJW are worming their way in. Eventually they will be booting cosplayers for wearing “insensitive” costumes.
SDCC and its ilk are no longer about “comic books” per say but about promoting corporate fantasy franchises owned by Disney (owns Marvel comics—Spider-Man) and Time Warner (owns DC comics—Batman). Giga-conglomerates that are full of screaming insane far lefties. Boycott ‘em.
Ian McKellen doesn’t appear to be in attendance there.
Comic-Con fans are stuck in a perpetual fantasy world. Every day is Halloween.
The rest of the drivel aside, Butler and Delany were very good.
I’m talking over a decade ago at the bigger cons.
Homosexuals prey on the lonely and vulnerable. “First time in San Diego?”
LOL I saw one that says LGBT = Liberty, Guns, Bacon & Tits
A few years ago at sdcc, I was relaxing outside the convention center. A Christian preacher with a megaphone was speaking. Some scrawny dweeb goes up to the preacher and started flinging some pro-homo crap. Eventually, the dweeb declared his homo-ness. He looked like he was AIDS ridden. Such a sick homo.
I read the old comics from decades past for free online thru a library archive. Check with your local library and see if they’re connected to such a service.
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