Greater Austin Comic Con 2018: The Road to Geekery

Unlike Rickety Stitch, I know exactly how I arrived at the inaugural Greater Austin Comic Con; indeed, I recall my origin story in more than half-remembered snippets that come to me in a dreamlike state.

Just under fifteen years ago, I rather unironically met the man of my dreams and then became his beautiful wife. 🎶 At this point, I quickly realized that I’d been on the periphery of comic fandom all of my life. Comics feature heavily in the reading preferences of all of the significant men in the Christinaverse—my husband, my father-in-law, my father, and my brother. Upon further investigation, as a veteran teacher of literature and literacy I quickly recognized that superheroes are frequently modern instantiations of literary archetypes and that having so much of the story told via a mélange of expertly crafted images and text greatly benefits struggling readers. In short, comics are not only fun to read but could easily be the edification of the innocent! 

Thus, I began my journey.

When I heard about the Greater Austin Comic Con, I found myself holding my breath as I completed the application for press credentials, hoping that my status as the current chair of the Texas Library Association’s Texas Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List Committee would earn me admittance in exchange for an honest review.

Mighty as I am on a daily basis, like any heroine, I can still appreciate the synergies of uniting with my fellow geeks to form a mighty gestalt. Donning my fifties-inspired Ironman dress, I told Pepper to suit up and rocketed off to the HEB Center in Cedar Park, where I found all manner of things that left me feeling powered-up:

• Celebrities & Special Guests and Artist, Cosplay, & Vendor Booths, Arena:  The arena floor is the heart of the convention, where excitement is palpable as attendees meander from station to station queueing up for autographs, admiring vendors’ wares, artists’ creations, and cosplayers’ costumes. Here there be monsters...as well as those wonderful toys, ranging from collectibles to comic-inspired accessories to the fruits of original passion projects as well as those who will gleefully undertake your commissioned work. Although you could easily spend all day reveling in this playground, the Main Stage programming crowns the east end of the arena, bookended by workshop-style sessions in Stage Two, just beyond the west end.

• Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, Stage 2:  Dr. Sketchy’s Austin professes each of its sessions to be a “life drawing class turned cabaret extravaganza” where underground performers model in bars and serve as fodder for your art in the medium of your choice. With opportunities to compete in contests, network with other artists, and win prizes this session would have been incredibly fun if we, the participants, had understood ahead of time that it was meant to be an interactive experience. If we’d come equipped with art implements, it could have made Painting with a Twist look like watching paint dry! Regardless, it was incredibly informative regarding an underappreciated local happening and international phenomenon. Furthermore, I’d love to see a tamed version incorporated into the teen & kid cons that have gained currency of late.

• Cosplay Panel, Stage 2:  In this session, several professional cosplay artists—including luminaries Ronin Cosplay, Scarlet Wolf, Scarlet Muse, and Brad of GB Cosplay—discussed their experiences in the field. The panelists were extremely encouraging, openly admitting that EVERYONE gets started by turning thriftstore junk into costumes tenuously assembled with hotglue. Repeatedly, the message to aspiring artists was to learn by doing whatever they can with the ability that they have right now, and with each new costume they should push themselves to take the next step and every one thereafter.

• Comic Book Artists Matt Frank & Brandon Peterson, Stage 2:  Local comic book artists Matt Frank and Brandon Peterson stepped beyond the magic pencil to illuminate the role of the illustrator in interpreting a writer's work. The choices of everything from perspective to panel arrangement, as well as the eastern and western influences that guide them, were examined in a way that was friendly to the layperson while also speaking to the longtime engaged reader. All this plus a surprise visit from Matt’s best known subject, the king of the monsters himself, Godzilla, as portrayed by Robert Pruitt!

• Pub Trivia, Stage 2:  Ending the day with Gemmi Galactic as the quiz mistress for three rounds of pub-style trivia questions drawn from a broad swath of fandoms and geekery was by far the best way to wait out the end-of-con traffic. Better still, Stark Industries Two Thousand (SITT)—comprised of myself, Russell Taylor, and Christina Danielle—arrived late, yet shot to first, winning a collection of special Greater Austin Comic Con 2018 prints as our trophies.

As a librarian and an educator, I was largely interested in the programming that occurred on the Q&A Panels on Stage 2, as this had more in common with the author events that I relish where participants are able to interact with creators and industry professionals in a small-group setting. However, the Greater Austin Comic Con is truly a place where “weird, wacky, and geeky is kewl!” representing a variety of fandoms and and their manifestations and providing a wide range of programming that included interactive experiences, headlining celebrities, and cosplay contests on the Main Stage in addition to the more intimate sessions and workshops that I attended.  Whether you read, watch, cosplay, or create fan art and head cannon, follow this road to geekery. All are welcome; all is kewl!