The Comics Studies Society held its second annual conference at Toronto’s Ryerson University over the last weekend of July. Drawing on the theme, Comics/Politics, CSS19 attendees from around the world participated in a conference that foregrounded Canadian comics scholarship and practice in plenaries featuring Tara Audibert, Cole Pauls, Camille Callison, Jillian Tamaki, and Fiona Smyth.
MoCCA Fest Through the Years
The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival (MoCCA Fest) has been an annual New York City event since 2002. I have been attending it on and off for well over a decade. My time at the MoCCA Fest this year was dripping with nostalgia. Since that weekend this Spring, I have looked back at…
TCAF 2019 Diary: Calls to Action and Comics Communities
Ever since I moved to Toronto in 2018, I’ve heard about the Toronto Comics and Arts Festival (TCAF), which I had narrowly missed in 2018 because I arrived a month too late. So, it really isn’t surprising that the moment I got the chance, I made arrangements to attend the festival in 2019.
Accessibility! Was it a Thing?: WonderCon 2019 Con Diary
My last time at WonderCon was an accessibility nightmare. With inadequate parking, rude staff, and lack of seating, I thought I would never return to its large halls, but alas I decided 2019 would be a good year to see if WonderCon had improved on its inaccessibility, and to score some good comics, zines, and…
Con Diary: ECCC, The Convention Unconventional
It feels like we were just writing about convention season ending, and now here we are in the midst of a new one. I confess going into this year’s ECCC with a little trepidation. Last year, the day after the convention was the beginning of our several-week-long site outage. It was a stressful mess, coming…
The Pros and (Comic) Cons of Hope Nicholson’s Newest Anthology
Comic book conventions are wondrous opportunities for fans to find rare goodies, play dress up, attend panels and workshops, hangout with friends, discover something new, and meet the creators of the comics they love to read. We often get to see conventions from the fan perspectives, but what are these events like from the other…
To All The Cons We’ve Loved This Year
We all have different criteria for what makes a convention. Some people love the huge rush of large venues like SDCC. Some like quieter, smaller things. With 2018’s convention season having finally wound down, we figured it’d be a good idea to talk about which con each of us liked best, and why.
#LibraryConLive Was a Virtually Jam-Packed Event
When I first moved to my small town, I would have been shocked to find a comic book on the shelves of my local library. While the collection that exists now isn’t huge, or curated as efficiently as I’d like, the fact that there are graphic novels on those shelves is a big deal. There…
Con Diary: Thought Bubble 2018
I had a bad summer. A boy I used to know broke my heart (not in the way you think, but close enough) and June, July, and August became unbearable. I worked a little too hard and probably slept a little too hard—and in the midst of working and sleeping, I decided that I needed…
Con Diaries: Small Press Expo 2018
As corny as it sounds, SPX feels more like a community than a convention. Held on September 15 to 16 in Bethesda, Maryland, Small Press Expo is, as the name implies, dedicated to independent and self-published comic books and zines. SPX feels like a unique con experience as soon as you enter the exhibit hall,…
Con Diary: Rose City Comic Con 2018
I’d never been to Rose City before this year, despite only living three hours away. It’d been on my list for years, but given it always falls in September, it was difficult since it clashes with back-to-school time. However, with my youngest turning eighteen, this year was the perfect year to start, so off I…
Con Diaries: Flame Con 2018
Flame Con has leveled up in its fourth year, moving to a bigger venue in Times Square from Brooklyn. The new digs provided a bigger artist alley and more space for even more queer fans, panels, and stage shows. It’s an all-ages con, and is free for the youth to attend on Sunday, so while…
