This year is almost over, fellow WWAC-ers. As the year comes to a close I bring news about an exciting new convention, new comic book plans, and an emotional send-off for a bullying victim.

Albuquerque was the place to be in late November for the first Indigenous Comic Con! “Organized by Lee Francis, CEO of Albuquerque’s Native Realities Press, Indigenous Comic Con (ICC) took place over three days in November at the city’s National Hispanic Cultural Center.”  Comic artists, writers, letters, cosplayers, and more showed up for this historic convention.

Arthur Peebles, an 18 year-old student at Guildford College, killed himself recently after years of being bullied. His mother, Jacqueline, organized a funeral that paid tribute to his favorite hobby: comic book superheroes. Dozens of mourners showed up in costume, including the funeral director. The family hopes that his funeral will raise awareness about the dangers of bullying.

An 8-page comic created by the co-CEO of Archie Comics will be taught in schools to encourage students to say something when they see something. “The curriculum has the potential to provide students with the tools to deal with tricky social issues like gun safety, bullying, obesity, healthy eating and environmental awareness.”

Other News

• R.L. Stine plans to write Man-Thing Marvel miniseries. The 73 year-old Goosebumps writer has never written a comic book before, but informed the New York Times, “My first ambition was to be a comic book artist. I started doing these little comic books in the fourth grade: ‘Super Stooge,’ the dumbest hero on earth. I was terrible. I had no choice but to be a writer.”
• Netflix’s Black Mirror series has hit an internet sweet spot, and artists have been paying tribute, including comic book covers for the episodes.
• “Sony has picked up the film rights to A.D.: After Death, a buzzy comic book miniseries from two of the industry’s leading creators, Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire, The Hollywood Reporter reveals.”
• A cartoonist writes-up his thoughts about Facebook as a platform for comics.
• Pix, a new kids series, is being launched by the creator of Spongebob Squarepants.
• “Nadja Spiegelman, daughter of the “Maus” graphic novels creator Art Spiegelman, is getting into the family business. She is publishing a new comic called “RESIST!,” which is an attack on Donald Trump.”
• Which supervillains are in Trump’s cabinet? These folks share their thoughts.
• An artist catalogs every webcomic cliche he comes across with a webcomic of his own.