Enjoy Hindi Comics

[Glauco Schlembach]

Thisyear's Capital City Comic Con features more than 100 artists, vendors and exhibits. Scheduled guests included Tim Russ, who played Tuvok on "Star Trek Voyager," and Adrian Pasdar, who was in the TV series "Heroes." Other guests included wrestling stars, voice actors and anime creators.

In addition to numerous comic book sellers, comic industry guests included artist John Beatty, who worked, for instance, on Marvel's iconic "Secret Wars" series, and Jay Fosgitt, who has worked for publishers such as Marvel, Disney, IDW, Archie and others.

"There's a lot of different booths this year, especially compared to last year," attendee Trenton Basner said. "It seems to be growing consistently over the years, along with a lot of the other Lansing events, they're all growing consistently which is great."

Among the vendors who return year after year is V. "Coach" Monroe, the author and artist behind Essential Comics. Monroe, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, said this was his third time at the convention.

Harris, who has been a co-owner of the con since 2017, two years after its 2015 debut, began by volunteering and eventually was asked to buy in. He said the growth can be attributed to what the convention provides.

Harris said his passion for Capital City Comic Con keeps him involved. For Harris, it's not about how much money the event makes, but the impact on the local community and providing a space for people to enjoy what they love.

"I gave away 1,000 con tickets to the local area," Harris said. "We gave away 200 tickets for the Lansing Lugnuts to give away. We gave 200 tickets to Q106 to give away. I gave 600 tickets to local businesses through Choose Lansing."

The Capital City Comic Con also sponsors a $1,000 scholarship for Michigan State University students minoring in comic art and graphic novels. This year's winner was Shreya Balla, a 19-year-old from Canton.

"I didn't expect to win, but it all worked out," she said. "I'd done most of these works already but I didn't do anything with them. So it was really good to get started at being at places like this... I want to make more stuff, it's definitely like encouraging me to make more comics and illustrations and selling my work."

Soup Frog was just about to enjoy a fresh hot bowl of delicious soup, when it vanished from under his little froggy nose! Who took Soup Frogs SOUP?!

This story will be continued!

No one steals soup frogs soup and gets away with it!

Elias is a lover of stories who, when he isn't writing reviews for Mulitversity, is hiding in the stacks of his library. Co-host of Make Mine Multiversity, a Marvel podcast, after winning the no-prize from the former hosts, co-editor of The Webcomics Weekly, and writer of the Worthy column, he can be found on Twitter (for mostly comics stuff) here and has finally updated his profile photo again.

[That final shout-out was very 2011, as we were still trying to recover from the economic downturn of 2008, but you can still stimulate the economy today by checking out the archives and getting some comics!

Met him years ago, when he was appearing at a local comics shop here in Columbia back in 2009. Nice enough guy. I just lost any and all interest in his work once he went to Marvel. But THE NIGHTLY NEWS and PAX ROMANA were good.

Now that I too am in my 20s, I found the series to be more relatable than I would have liked... Specifically the relationship stuff and the being a broke, under-achieving slacker. Unfortunately, I'm not as good a fighter as Scott is... But I too enjoy comics and nerdy pop culture!

The series also has the perfect portrayal of a friend group. The supporting cast for this book can be just as entertaining as Scott himself (Wallace, Scott's gay room mate, is one of my favourites), also just as important! Everyone has their own things going and if anything, that's one of the key things that the movie loses. Scott is the focus but I became very invested in everyone else's arcs too.

Bryan Lee O Malley also portrayed some very familiar scenarios when it comes to relationships. Like I mentioned, I found a lot of this stuff to be pretty relatable. Break-ups can feel like the end of the world and Scott is no exception to this. When the world is as heightened as this, the stakes are much more intense and for Scott it REALLY feels like everything is ruined. Knives also deals with a break up, but she deals very differently to Scott. While I've never became an obsessed ninja, I have understood the heartbreak and betrayal that she experiences. However, as this story shows, a break up ISN'T the end of the world. Scott makes a lot of mistakes, he is pretty far from a perfect character- but that just means he has room to grow. Through all six books we see a transformation in him. He matures and makes himself a better person. Scott realizes that he is not the hero that he would like to see himself as. It isn't easy but the journey makes for an incredible read!

On the surface it seems to be as basic as women (Ramona) are complicated and men (Scott) are simple. But over the course of the six books we see numerous relationships- not all of which are Scott's. Every relationship is unique. They either work or they don't but it's rarely the same story. Some people are compatible and some people are not (like Stephen and Julie). Some people need time to work things out with each other and overcome certain obstacles (Scott and Ramona), some people are in one-sided relationships where someone is much more appreciated than the other (Scott and Knives) and some people are better off taking time to be alone and work on themselves (Knives).

The series has a lot to say about healthy relationships and it portrays that message marvellously and with great subtlety (as I said, it distracts you with epic fights but there is a lot more going on). It also has a lot to say about break-ups, especially with Knives' character. In the end, things usually work out for the best, even if everything seems awful at the time. People aren't perfect and so, there is no such thing as a perfect relationship but if you can help each other and make each other happy, and accept each other's flaws, then that's good enough. If that isn't the case, then perhaps you're in the wrong relationship.

This may be why I was immediately drawn to comics when I started reading as a child. My favourite books had characters who interacted with the panels they were drawn in, played with space and time, and even the creator (whose hand and pen would sometimes feature). At six years old I had already found my medium. I was hooked and there was no going back.

Comics are a medium, and just like films, books and songs, they contain a universe of genres within them that vary in quality and sophistication. The same basic language of comics can be used for entertaining escapism, as well as for creating confronting, multi-layered emotional experiences.

As children, we treat and train all of our literacies equally. However, when we are adults, it is possible to feel that multi-modal literacy is an innate ability and, unlike the written word, does not require attention or scrutiny. But this is not the case, and there is a deficit in our own ability (and the ability of our children) to be aware of and critical of the various non-verbal cues bombarding us. I will come back to the gravity of this point later.

The personalised experience offered by reading a comic means the relationship between the reader and the storyteller is a more intimate one. A comic that offers a window into the life or opinions of an individual who is different from the reader has a chance of being met with less resistance than other mediums because of the powerful emotional connection that forms through the investment required to read it.

This might explain the rise of the biographical-graphic novel and the introduction of own-voice patient graphic novels as recommended reading across various medical sectors. (For more on this, see: www.graphicmedicine.org/resources/liasison-program/)

As our screens overload with information, and our attention spans shorten, messaging is becoming more visual. Images can say and emote so much in a span of a glance. Each time you look at your phone, tablet or laptop, images are selling you a product, idea, opinion or agenda. Yet visual illiteracy is on the rise, as our ability to recognise and question visual propaganda wanes.

This brings me back to the earlier point that comics require multi-modal literacy of their readers. Treating comics as a valid form of literature, bringing them into the curriculum and studying the mechanisms that govern them is one of the major ways to prepare the next generation for the changing world ahead.

Yo Rod, Thanks for posting the link to this blog post re Spain. I never knew the watchmen and/or Judge Dredd influence connections before I read it form you first. Am always appreciative when i learn some thing "new" in the world of comics.

I knew Spain first during my days fo daZe running comic book stores in the San Fran Bay Area 1972-1994. Once upon a time way back when i bought all the art to Subvert #2 from him. I treasured them for many years. The final "Steranko" effect pages i finally had to let go of o cover family medical expenses including my own, but I digress....

Started carrying 2000 AD with Prog 47, so was well acquainted with Dredd early on. Always "felt" a Trashman type of connection ala Spain to Dredd - thanks again for posting this. Best, Robert Beerbohm www.BLBcomics.com

But a growing number of teachers have bravely invited Dennis into their classrooms for a very specific purpose: to prove to kids that reading can be pure, visceral fun. The comic strips that Dennis and his friends star in every week are key to unlocking this discovery. So, something formerly written off as naughty is now widely understood to be 100% good.

Access to comics encourages children to enjoy regular reading as early as possible. They combat the tricky transition between being read to and becoming confident enough to navigate hundreds of densely printed pages solo.

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