LET YOUR FREAK FLAG FLY
dragons, cosplayers, and creatives, oh my
After a whirlwind of post-con work and personal obligations, I’m finally able to sit down for a second and catch up. Strangely, it feels timely even though it took me a week to post - many of the cool artists and freaks I follow on social media just got back from Burning Man this week, covered in dust and full of wild ideas. Dragoncon always affects me in a bit of the same way.
If you’ve never been to Dragoncon, you might be unfamiliar, or only familiar from its reputation - which, like Burning Man, can be a bit crazy. It does, admittedly, embrace the sort of untethered, wild, Mardi Gras-esque libertine madness that makes some people a bit nervous. But it’s really a big family, a sort of temporary society that sets up camp for a few days before disappearing again until next year. The ephemerality of it, among other things, encourages people to adopt personas, nicknames, selves that aren’t alternate but additional. I myself worked one of my signings in full flower-crown-and-corset Renn Faire drag, simply because, well, it’s a good outfit, with not enough places to wear it. Everyone dresses up at Dragoncon - even if they aren’t in a costume. Often they’re just wearing what they’d wear every day if it were more socially acceptable - a sort of residual self-image, to borrow a phrase from The Matrix. This kind of wild, all-at-once self-expression can be overwhelming to witness, for some. Also, for some, it can be shocking to see a lot of boobs at once.
For me, I’ll admit - I often find myself most comfortable in situations where I can let my Freak Flag Fly, so to speak. Am I the freakqiest? No, especially in situations like this, I can come across as downright reserved. I already look the way I’d like to look, most of the time, and at my core, I’m a voyeur. At Dragoncon, I’m not particularly interesting, and I can do a lot of watching and blending in.
It’s so thrilling to watch people be themselves. Too many of us spend all day, every day, locked in a sort of self-enforced panopticon. There’s social media, of course, but in meatspace we suffer the pangs of social anxiety; grading every interaction on good or bad, or worse, awkward for not somehow doing a conversation right. It makes it very hard to do what you want. I like places - like Dragoncon - that encourage me to take the sage advice of a former therapist, “Stop shoulding yourself. Forget what you should do. What do you want to do?”
Whether it’s that the convention is fan-run rather than industry-run, or it’s the structure that takes the party to the streets (including a literal parade,) it’s very different from the Paid Advertisment Festival of modern comic-cons paid for by streaming platforms. I go for the themed parties, the late nights, the 3AM DJs and the R2D2 makers who bring their droids to the Marriott Pulse bar to dance with us. I go because Dragoncon attendees typically have a curiosity about art and the ragged, jagged edges of it that makes them interested in you as an artist, not just what have you worked on? And in return, it makes me interested in them - the people I see at Dragoncon are some of my favorite to talk to all year.
(Including this very nice fella, who I finally got to meet in person after a few years of just knowing all the same people. Thank you so much for stopping by, Brian! I swear I was on my way to you when you walked by!)
Oh, and of course, I love cosplayers.
Cosplayer Mr. MMA reached out and invited me to the X-Men cosplay photoshoot at Dragoncon and I couldn’t say yes fast enough. The comic book photoshoots at Dragoncon, organized by dozens of fan groups and very well-attended, are always my favorites. I love seeing all the four-color costumes in the same place. I myself used to participate in them, and am still friends with people I met at those shoots.
Flash forward to 2022 and I was so happy to accept that invite. I got to meet a bunch of incredible cosplayers and get the above picture of me and all the mutants, defending “Krakoa” (here played by the Atlanta Hilton.) (Check out that insane Nimrod, while we’re at it.)
Special shoutout to the amazing Melanie @geekyfit as Elspeth Braddock, Captain Britain of Earth-13059, for making my weekend by cosplaying a character I created. This is a smart woman who said, “How do I cosplay Captain Britain if I totally don’t want to wear armor in that crazy heat?” A beautiful violet big-brained genius. Go see the perfect pics of her at the link to her Instagram above.
Good? You basking in some art and love vibes?
Here are a few other creative weirdos I like a lot who have things coming up real soon:
GERRY DUGGAN’s TIMING AND LUCK on KICKSTARTER
If you’re a Deadpool fan or an X-fan you already know Gerry’s comics work. His whip-smart characters, cool-as-fuck dialogue, and great eye aren’t just tools in his comics toolbox, they’re just who he is as an artist.
He’s publishing what I believe is his first photography book here on Kickstarter, and I can’t encourage you to check it out enough. If you like real celebrities, Gerry has spent many many hours in the awards show trenches, and he has some truly cool (beautiful, arresting, but Gerry’s work is always just so cool,) snaps of some legends with their guard down.
If you like comics “celebrities,” there are a lot of them in there too. Yours truly is making an appearance, as well as the rest of the X-office in our early days. Gerry had his camera out during the last weekend I saw those people (or much of anyone) for a long, long time, and I look back on the pre-COVID X-office meetings as one of the best times of my creative life. If you’re eager to catch a candid glimpse of what it was like, back Gerry’s book. If you’re a fan of the gorgeous glossies from places like Taschen, you won’t regret it.
A WHOLE NEW CHAPTER FROM MATT ROSENBERG WITH ASHCAN PRESS
I’ve been a fan of Matt’s since We Can Never Go Home, worked with him since before I broke in at Marvel, and been his friend since I saw him standing next to my friend Casey and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know you, but I have to ask, why are you drinking a jug of chocolate milk on a Seattle sidewalk on a hot summer day?”
He is one of the most devoted and talented voices in comics, with a true wild artist spirit that can’t help but feel, well, punk. I say sometimes that making comics is often like being in a band, where anywhere from usually 3-5 people get together, each with their instrument, and make something good and weird.
Matt is the spirit of that in comics personified, and I can’t wait to see what he’s doing next. Over at his Substack, he’s launching a new slate from Ashcan Press with a group of super exciting-looking projects that you should go see for yourself. (Excited for a new war comic, personally!) Additionally, he’s working with some really amazing artists that I myself have loved working with, like Andy MacDonald and Jordie Bellaire, so I’m excited to see what’s to come from over there.
JOSHUA WILLIAMSON’S SUPER SCARY NEWSLETTER
I have good news for you guys. It said SUPER SCARY and I know how Josh is so I went and looked. And the newsletter itself is actually not that scary so far. In fact, it was downright exciting. Josh is using his space to document projects, offer up a new subscription box to deliver stories and gifts to NAILBITER fans, and also develop his NAILBITER TABLETOP RPG? EXCUSE ME JOSH DO YOU NEED A PLAYTESTER I’M RIGHT HERE.
Needless to say, that’s definitely worth checking out.
Okay, busy week but I had to make time for you all. Soon CHAPTER THREE of PHENOMENOCITY will be moving ahead and we’ll be moving along. I didn’t expect to have to take several weeks off from the project, but two conventions and ten days of COVID means that very suddenly, I had very little time for it this month.
But we’re back, and we’re glad you’re here.
Stay weird, talk soon!
-TH 09/13/2022 21:01