Showing posts with label Flamecon 2017. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flamecon 2017. Show all posts

Monday, September 25, 2017

Cosplay is Art!

I consider myself pretty brave. It does, after all, take some chutzpah (L'Shana Tova, everyone!) to keep on writing whether anyone is reading or not, and to parade around in vintage ladies clothing... and yet, nothing can turn on the nerves for me, like the mere thought of "Cosplay".

Through Cosplay, you are crafting a costume all on your own, baring your soul and often your body, and proclaiming an admiration for another piece of pop culture/art.  More than that, you are stating that you share enough in common with what you admire to embody it before others.  It's art, pure and simple, and like all art it is expressive, freeing, and a joy to behold.

Here are some amazing cosplayers from my recent trip to FLAMECON, the LGBTQ Comic Convention...




 The above were my favorites from the con, and while I'll admit, there aren't many photos, I vow to get more on my trip to NY ComicCon on October 5th.

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Check, Please!

Yesterday I attended my first ever "con".  Aside from my trip to the "Judy Garland Festival" in Minnesota years ago, I had never dipped my toes into fan conventions, and from the moment I stepped into FLAMECON, which features art and comics by LGBTQ artists, or featuring LGBTQ content, I had a case of "perma-grin". More on the full experience of the convention later, but I wanted to quickly share a new discovery from the trip... "Check, Please".

Promotional Art from Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu

Check, Please! is the story of Eric "Bitty" Bittle, a hockey loving, pie baking freshman in college, new to the school's hockey team. It's an episodic comic available free online here, and while there are now printed editions, they are somewhat hard to come by as of this moment.  You can purchase them at conventions. For those of you in Austin, the author, a really charming woman by the name Ngozi Ukazu will be there selling volumes 1 and 2, as well as other merchandise at Staple! Independent Media Expo on September 9th and 10th (Tickets available at the door). Believe me, in hindsight I would have bought both volumes then and there.  As it is, I will have to make due with volume one until New York Comic-con On October 5th.  


I see a really bright future for this work, as it is beautifully produced, expertly drawn, and charming as all get-out.  It's heartwarming and poignant, and Eric "Bitty" Bittle (the hockey loving, pie baking former figure skater at the center of the story) is magnetic and lovable.  Those of you with immense amounts of patience can wait for the first two volumes to be in stores in the Fall of 2018, but I encourage everyone to head to the tumblr page and get to reading.

Cursive

  Last week I returned to doing my  morning pages , a practice I was committed to for years, and then abandoned, at least partially in the d...