[heroic music] [heroic music continues] [heroic music continues] [heroic music continues] - Hello and welcome to "Comic Culture."

I'm Terence Dollard, a professor in the Department of Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

But clearly we're not in the studio today.

We're back out on the road in Durham, North Carolina for the North Carolina Comicon.

Beautiful weather and a cool downtown vibe brought the crowds to the Durham Convention Center.

While there were a lot of serious fans in attendance, there were also a lot of families with young kids.

Now, I've learned that every con has its own personality, and NC Comicon was all about cosplay.

Whether the character was well known or just well loved, it seemed that at least half the attendees were in costumes.

NC Comicon organizers must have anticipated it because they made sure cosplayers had plenty to look forward to, including a costume contest and free professional photos.

Cosplay is a big part of any comic convention, and at NC Comicon, it's a really big part.

They've got this great photo booth here for cosplayers.

RJ, what's going on here?

- Okay, so we are The Variant.

We are an online community all about comics and cosplay and conventions.

We are very heavy on, obviously, cosplay photography.

We've got some of the best professional cosplay photographers in the state, and we provide free cosplay photography at every convention almost in the state of North Carolina and other states on the East Coast.

- So it's interesting.

Cosplay used to be something that occasionally you'd see someone in a star Trek uniform at a convention, but now it's really maybe 50-50 that you've got the comic fans, the cosplayers, and that blend in between.

So what have you noticed?

- It's definitely becoming mainstream.

There is not a convention that we go to that there isn't some huge amount of cosplayers.

Obviously, like I said, we do most of the cons in the state.

So it's just crazy how it has blown up.

I started doing this as a cosplayer back in like 2014, and then since then it's just, it's blown up.

It's huge.

So to have NC Comicon providing us with this amazing setup for us to give all of their attendees free cosplay photography is outstanding.

- So the one thing I've noticed, I went to Dragon Con a few years back, and it was when Harley Quinn was really, really, really popular.

So you could count all the Harley Quinns that you were- - Oh, yeah, yeah.

- I mean, you could click them off, and then Deadpool became the big character.

- Deadpool and Harley, absolutely.

- So, what trend are you seeing?

Is it still comic characters, or are we looking at anime?

Are we looking at TV?

- I have seen a lot of an uptick in anime characters.

Like anime is also becoming like a crazy mainstream thing, and it has just blown up ridiculously.

We actually do better at anime conventions than we do at actual comic cons.

The anime convention community is insanely just welcoming, and all the cosplayers just constantly flock to us.

Like, we have been hopping all day long.

It's just been insane.

- Of all the costumes that you've seen today, which one has been your favorite?

- I saw a cosplayer that came in here dressed as the Tina Turner character from "Mad Max Thunderdome," and she had the music playing, and we were all just like, "Oh!"

So yeah, I think that one was cool.

- Organizers added to the fan experience by hiring professional cosplayers to walk the convention floor, pose for pictures, and make the event more colorful.

We're at North Carolina Comicon.

- Yes, one of our personal faves.

- And you are here in, I guess, cosplay?

- Yes, we are.

We actually are working with NC Comicon.

We often work with Ultimate Comics, who is the funder of the con.

But yeah, we hang out here.

We're gonna be judging the cosplay contest later, so we hope everyone comes and sees us, hangs out.

We can't wait to see all the amazing cosplays.

So yeah, we're local cosplayers around the Raleigh scene, so.

- And so what is it about cosplay that excites you, that makes you wanna, you know, spend the time doing the costume, getting the makeup, everything just right?

- Oh gosh.

- So cosplay with me, it was an escape for me.

I really love, you know, seeing characters, and when you fall in love with characters, you know, I like to dress up with them.

Like Catwoman for example, I love doing Catwoman 'cause she always made me feel confident in my body.

She always brings out like a whole level of confidence.

- Yes.

- You know?

- Meow, kitty.

- And you know, it could be from artists starting out.

It could be, you know, anybody.

Anybody could do cosplay.

- Oh gosh, yeah.

- So it's all about also variety and diversity as well.

So that's why I do cosplay- - Having fun.

- Is just for the diversity and variety and just overall, the people.

The people are amazing.

- The best part, honestly.

- Best to collaborate, you know.

You know, brilliant minds all connect, and it's such a beautiful thing to see, so.

- It is.

We love the like-minded community and how it brings us all together.

And we all get to admire each other's creations and just our equal passion in this community of just getting to have fun and come out and put on whatever face, whatever vibe we're feeling.

And just whether you're making it, buying it, it doesn't matter honestly as long as you're having fun.

That's truly what it's all about.

- It's all about having fun, and it's also about don't compete alongside each other.

- Yeah.

- Work together.

Create together.

That's what it's all about.

- We love to support.

- That's basically what cosplay is about, is just, you know, being together, being a group, so that's really cool.

- Exactly.

- Cosplay isn't easy.

It takes time and dedication to make a costume.

So I decided to ask someone why they go to all the trouble.

Now you are the first person I've seen at a Comic Con who is dressed as Vixen, one of my favorite characters from DC Comics.

So what is it about the character Vixen that makes you wanna put the time and effort into creating the costume and then, you know, coming to a convention?

- Okay, first of all, it's hard for me to find characters that represent what I look like.

So when I saw Vixen, I fell in love.

And I also liked how she harnesses her powers and embraces who she is, and she's... Can I curse?

- Yeah, sure.

- Oh, she's bad [censored].

So I definitely like to emulate that.

So that's why I chose her, yes.

- Now before we started recording, you told me that you're part of an organization.

So can you tell me about that?

- Yes, I'm a part of a community of women of color.

Our page is called Girls Can't Geek, and it's a play on words because usually we encounter something called gatekeeper culture, where we always have to prove our nerdiness.

And there's an assumption that if you're a nerd, and you're a woman, if you're Black, you don't look a certain way.

So we embrace our curves, our our beauty, and we are the best at... We have two professional gamers on our team.

We have someone who does something called cos-pole.

We all have a another member that is a scientist.

That's me.

And I also train in Russian sambo, so I do MMA fighting.

Well, I used to.

I retired.

So, hand-to-hand combat, things of that nature.

So we have women from every walks of nerdcore or nerdism, and we just show that we know our [censored], and we are proud of it, so yeah.

- So it's interesting.

You talk about gatekeeping, and this is something that really bugs me about...

I mean, the fact that when I was in high school, being a comic fan was something you had to keep silent, or else you'd get a wedgie in the locker room during gym class or something.

But you know, it seems weird that folks who grew up sort of being marginalized because of their interests are the ones trying to hold the door.

And I'm glad that you're sort of kicking the door open.

So, you know, in the time that you've been involved in this this, I guess Girls Can't Geek, you know, how have you seen things change?

- So one thing is I, when, after I prove myself, which I hate, usually people say like, "Oh, where were you at when I was in school?"

The thing is I'm a grown woman now, so when I was younger, I was a dweeb just like everybody else.

And one thing that I see is that a lot of people, whether they're like woman, they say like, "Oh man, I see someone that looks like me.

Yes, girl, like, this is me.

I'm happy to have somebody that represents who I am."

And then with guys, it's essentially like, "I see what you're doing, and I appreciate you, and could... You got me beat.

You got me beat."

And then one thing is that being a nerd in school, I always wanted to see a Black woman that was like me, but she was cool, and she embraced herself.

So that's really like the main thing.

Like young women get to see other girls or other women be something that they never felt that they could be, sexy, smart, and know their [censored].

And so like that's why I do it, because I'm like, "Okay, you know, I used to feel that way until I got, you know, until I got tired of it."

And I'm just like whatever, whatever the world says, whatever they say, I'm just gonna embrace who I am and be happy about it.

You know, I get nervous walking down the street like this, but nonetheless I'm happy because I'm like, "This is what I love, and I don't have to modify who I am to fit into any box," so yeah.

- And if the folks at home watching wanted to find out more, where can they find you on the web?

- Follow us on Instagram at girlscan'tgeek, and you can follow my pages at gokusgodcousin, but especially follow Girls Can't Geek on IG.

- You see a lot of different things at a comic convention.

It's not unusual for you to come across, you know, an artist or a vendor who's selling something unique, but it's not all the time that you come across a comic that's helping, well, I guess stamp out cancer.

So what can you tell us about "Center Ice?"

- Well, sure, well, my name is Richard Averitte.

I'm the executive director of the American Cancer Society for Central and Eastern North Carolina.

Pembroke's in our footprint.

And we have partnered with the wonderful folks here at Comics for a Cause, and they are dedicating their time, talent, and treasure to end cancer as we know it for everyone.

And Joseph, you wanna tell him about "Center Ice?"

- Yeah, so "Center Ice" is inspired by a young man named Weston Hermann out of now Miami, Florida, who's beaten brain cancer four times and plays competitive hockey with a Miami Triple-A team.

But he's always been around hockey all his entire life.

We reached out to American Cancer Society.

We said, "Do you have anyone in your network that would inspire other kids going through similar diagnoses?"

And they said, "We have just the person."

So we met with Weston.

We met with his family.

We got to talk to learn about the family, Weston's ways dealing with the cancer, with treatments and everything like that.

We turned everything that they face into the villain, which is here, Goal-E.

He's full of outdated parts, which is kind of like MRI based on '80s technology.

And then the things that he loved, hockey, superpowers, fast speed, we turned that into the superhero.

So he is an original hockey-based superhero named Center Ice, inspired by Weston who wears the number 22.

- So Joseph, when you are working on the concept behind the characters, you know, you're talking about MRI machines.

You're talking about, you know, working in hockey into the superpowers.

How much time do you have to work this out, and how much leeway do you have?

I mean, obviously you've gotta make a book that's going to have a positive message.

So you know, are you pushed in certain directions, or do you just kind of have free rein to do what you need to do?

- We take a special direction, I think, approach to it.

A lot of times you see a lot of books based on the historical significance of a disease or cause or something like that, and it's really kind of like reading a textbook.

We wanted to take more of an entertaining, like "Amazing Spider-Man" from the '90s approach to kind of tell a fun story on the surface.

Then as you dig through and read it twice, three times, you can discover all the Easter eggs, like what's important about facing a cancer diagnosis?

What are the things that people with a cancer diagnosis, like fatigue and stuff like that.

Those are all nuances that we kind of weave through the story.

So you're not hit over the head with, you know, what the disease or what the cause is, but you still get an entertaining story.

And then as you read through the editorial, you know, you realize it's based on a real kid fighting these real-life circumstances.

So we kind of mull it around.

Let's make it entertaining but also educational, second.

So it kind of hits both notes at the same time.

- And it's interesting too because this is, you know, there are comics that we read in our life.

I remember going to Radio Shack and getting, you know, an Archie or Superman comic that somehow was involving Tandy computers.

So you know, when someone, I'm assuming this is an all-ages book, when somebody who's on the younger side reads that comic, that could have a big influence on them.

So, you know, have you heard anything back from people who've read the book who maybe were inspired to do their own comic?

- So a lot of times people actually think that Weston did the comic because we wanna, you know, put him to the forefront to share that story with other kids in hospitals and their families facing similar diagnoses 'cause we want kids that are facing that to know that they have their own superhero representing their specific cause.

So we've also done a cystic fibrosis book.

We've also done a type-one diabetes for children book.

So anybody that can read that story that's sitting in a hospital can find hope and inspiration in that hero to say, "You know what?

I can be an overcomer too 'cause Weston's beat brain cancer four times.

So this one diagnosis is not gonna stand in my way to be an overcomer and overcome that as well."

So we're just trying to share that inspiring inspirational message with others.

And then kids find out about the comic book-creation process through that.

They're inspired to make their own comic books, which is cool.

We always inspire or ask people to submit fan art.

So if someone wants to do some fan art of Weston sitting in a hospital or something like that, now we know we're reaching people that are inspired by a new superhero, you know, maybe a new-age Superman they're doing fan art of.

You see a lot of fan art of Spider-Man, Superman, stuff like that.

Maybe one day people will be doing fan art of Center Ice.

- That's great.

And I guess my last question's going to be, you know, as somebody who is dealing with fundraising, how has this comic sort of helped you engage people that you might not be able to reach normally?

- Well, that's a great question.

So when a lot of people think childhood cancer and pediatric cancer, and they think about ways to make 'em smile, make 'em feel better, they automatically think toys, teddy bears and race cars and those types of things.

Well, you know, cancer, cancer is the leading cause of death in kids one to 19.

So there's preteens and teens, and you know, what's a preteen gonna do with the teddy bear?

Well, the comic book, that's something that's more in their wheelhouse, something they'll enjoy, and also give them inspiration.

So sometimes the preteens and teens are kind of the missing middle when it comes to pediatric cancer.

So this is something that's perfect for them that can entertain 'em and inspire them.

- And if the folks watching at home wanted to find out more, maybe they can help out, how can they find you on the web?

- Heroesforcauses.com That's F-O-R. And then we're also on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, now X, at HeroesForCauses.

- And you can also go to cancer.org and goldtogether.org.

- Yeah, well, thank you so much.

Inventions are a great way for local creators to introduce themselves to like-minded fans and grow their brand.

Paula, you are the artist behind Ghost Bunny Studios, and I've noticed that you have some really cool tarot art here.

So what is it about a comic convention that makes you wanna come and show what you do?

- Yeah, so what inspired me is I really enjoy Japanese animation and comics, American comics as well.

And I started to draw a comic with this Ghost Bunny character.

And so I decided to come show my art here and also get inspiration from other artists.

- Well, I feel silly because I didn't know that you were doing a comic with Ghost Bunny.

- No, that's okay.

I didn't actually showcase it 'cause I don't have it printed yet, so.

[laughs] - So sequential art is different than, you know, doing something as beautiful as the "Convergence of Fate" piece here.

When you are doing a piece like that versus you're doing sequential art, how do you sort of make sure that you're able to tell a story and yet still have an image that you're pleased with?

- It is a challenge.

I started similar to how I would do something for film.

I actually studied filmmaking in school, and typically I'll start with storyboards and kind of write a script.

And then, you know, it kind of comes together, and I guess in a similar way to when I'm doing an illustration but just more expanded 'cause for an illustration, you might start with a sketch.

And then you ink it, and then you color it, right?

For sequential art, I feel like you start with an idea, a story, an outline of the story, then some storyboards.

Then eventually you refine it into inking and color or wherever you wanna go with it really.

- And the pieces that you have here are really expressive and really colorful.

So I'm just wondering what is the idea behind either Ghost Bunny or these pieces?

- Yeah, so Ghost Bunny, I wish I had like a fun story to tell you about it, but it's just something that me and a friend of mine came up with when we were doing an artist alley at a convention.

We both like things that are cute and whimsical and kind of spooky.

So we came up with this character, and my style just kind of evolved from there.

It used to be more grungy and very detailed, and now it became more minimalist and sort of watercolor, and now it's just kind of a different combination.

You can sort of see the progression and the different styles of things that I do.

- And you're still working traditionally, or have you moved into the digital arena?

- I work mostly digital now.

I like to use traditional like textures.

So I enjoy using the watercolor textures with the digital ink a lot now.

It's fun.

- [Terence] And if the folks watching at home wanted to find out more about you, where can they find you on the web?

- Yeah, so they can find me at ghostbunnystudios.com, and even if you just Google Ghost Bunny Studio, you will find that, and on Instagram, Ghost Bunny Studio.

- Paula shared her booth with friend and fellow artist Crystal Williams-Brown.

You have a booth here in Artist Alley.

So I was wondering if you could tell us about what you're exhibiting today?

- I am exhibiting my artwork, some of my paintings, but also my jewelry, which is unique little pieces.

They're basically cute things that I would like to wear, and I'm thinking other people might wanna wear 'em too.

- It's interesting because there are different crowds at a comic convention.

I was talking to somebody earlier that the old fogies like me remember comics as, you know, being just folks looking for issues in a long box.

But the audiences have changed, and it seems that you're sort of changing along with them and offering things that a cosplayer might be really interested in that might offset their new costumes.

So are you a fan of that sort of stuff that inspires you?

- I think the main thing I thought about was whimsy and fun, and I feel like that's what comic books are about.

So it's still got the spirit of like, "Oh, I can do this.

I can do that."

Because it's a creative medium, you don't necessarily have to follow the rules.

And that's the fun of comic books, and I think that's the fun of art in general.

Color outside the lines.

- You know, somebody once said that the joy of working outside the box is having the box to work in.

- Yeah.

- So I've noticed that you've got a lot of really cool, very graphic pieces, and I mean graphic in the way of graphic design, not graphic as the TV show "Cops."

Are you thinking in terms of the total composition?

Is it some sort of color that's inspiring you?

What kind of goes into the decision-making when you sit down and start working on a piece?

- I tend to think of color and the combination of colors that I want, and I also think of things in everyday life.

You can go out and you can see something as simple as a flower, but then I'll think of, what if there was a frog hiding underneath the flower trying to get shelter from rain?

And then it becomes an artwork 'cause you think of life, but what if and then?

And it's kind of a thing I think they do in acting, where you say, "And then, and then, and then," and it becomes something beyond what it originally started out to be.

- I mean, I'm familiar with the magic what-if, and I think it's great when you're looking at something, that blank sheet of paper, and you say, "What if?"

So if you're sitting down, are you working in the traditional pen and ink, or are you doing something, you know, more digital?

- Well, I do both, and actually I started doing digital more this year.

Beforehand I was pretty much all traditional, a lot of watercolor, a lot of pen.

I like to work in ballpoint pen on paper.

I actually like having the restriction of I can't change it.

And so sometimes I like to do things that way, even digitally where I'll make something, and I'm like, "Well, what if that was okay?"

That's another what-if.

What if we couldn't change that, and we were gonna just work with it?

And I feel like you find there's like a surprise in it.

It's something that comes out of it in the end that you didn't originally think of but happened because of life, because of life naturally occurring because of a mistake that you claimed, and you didn't remove.

Something one of my art teachers said to me years ago was, "Don't trash your work.

Step away from it.

Come back and look at it and see if you can find something good in it."

And I take that to heart.

I think that's really important for, well, I think maybe most of the things you do, but particularly art.

See what you can use.

If you're gonna keep it, what could you use in it?

- It's I guess like Miles Davis said, you know, "It's not the wrong note.

It's the next note that determines if it's a mistake or not."

- 100%.

- Now if the folks watching at home wanted to find out more about you, is there a place in the web?

- Yes, it's actually under my name, so crystalwilliamsbrown.com.

- Bob Dry is another local artist looking to find an audience for his web comic.

You're here at NC Comicon.

You've got a book called "Ice in the Shadows."

Tell me a little bit about it.

- Sure, so "Ice in the Shadows" is a web comic.

You can read it online at iceintheshadows.com.

It's about a family who unfortunately gets caught in an ice storm, gets in a wreck, and then has to deal with some creatures they didn't expect to encounter.

[chuckles] And I've got all the art here at the show, so people have been flipping through it and really enjoying it.

- So it's a digital comic, but you're doing the art in the traditional manner.

So as an artist, is it something where you kind of like wanna get away from the technology when you're doing the creation, or is it just, you know, you just have always done it this way?

- It was like you said the first time.

I wanted to get away from computers for a while.

So, yeah, it's a completely hand-drawn.

It's colored with watercolors and in inks.

The other big thing was I wanted an actual art piece, an actual physical paper, ink, colored pencil, watercolors, something physical.

And I just like the look of sort of that older style, I guess.

We're surrounded by so much digital stuff.

I wanted something different, so.

- You know, and the great thing about working in the traditional medium is that, like you said, you have the piece of art, but also there's just something about like the paper, the way it reacts to the ink or the way it reacts to watercolor, or if you were doing a colored pencil, how the texture is gonna come through.

So are you sort of leaning into the unique possibilities that the board might present?

- Yeah, yeah, big time.

Like one big thing is I've got a limited color palette, mostly just blues and browns and then traditional black India ink.

So I wanted it to look different than what you're seeing in mainstream comics.

And with indie comics, you can do whatever you want, and I got the look I wanted, and people seem to like it.

A lot of people are stopping, you know, flipping through the pages.

I got free postcards promoting it, you know, so hopefully it builds readership.

Just something different, so.

- Now I get the sense that this may not be your full-time profession.

So is it difficult for you to sort of find the time if you have another day job to do a comic regularly to keep the audience engaged and build readership?

- Well, I quit my job.

- Great.

- [laughs] So this is my full-time gig.

It's my full-time gig.

I started the comic this year and sort of left my day job end of August.

And I'm just drawing as fast as I can trying to crank out pages and build an audience, you know, get people interested in it, which is a real challenge because people typically don't break out of the characters they love.

So to get people to love new characters, it takes time.

- And it's really interesting too because when you as a creator have something that you feel really passionate about, it can be tricky to sort of, you know, watch other people's reaction to it.

So you said people are here.

They're flipping through the artwork.

They really seem to be enjoying it.

So is that a sense of validation that you might not get just from, you know, clicks on a page?

- Oh, yeah, for sure.

Yeah, I wanna see what people think of it and if they go through the pages.

The test is always, people tend to be hesitant to flip through pages.

There's so much stuff to look at.

So if they progress through the pages in our book, it means they like it, and I feel like, "Hey, this may actually be something people wanna read," so it's good.

- And because you're working in the traditional manner, is this something where maybe the end goal is to do some crowdfunding and get it published in a hard form or maybe entice a publisher to work with you?

- I don't know.

I'm not that far along yet.

It's really at this point I just wanna raise awareness and build an audience and get it done.

I mean, in so many ways, it's really just hopefully get it finished, you know, see it to the end kind of thing.

I'm not too worried about, you know, [laughs] how it's gonna make money or not.

- And if the folks watching wanted to find out more about you and the comic, where can they find you on the web?

- Iceintheshadows.com, and then also my website is bobdry.com.

You know, B-O-B-D-R-Y.com.

It's pretty easy.

- If you watched our episode in Baltimore, you remember Greg Burnham and his comic "Tuskegee Heirs," but we're in North Carolina at NC Comicon.

So Greg, you're traveling the country with your comic.

How do you sort of plan everything out to make sure that you can, you know, pay the bills and still come to these cons and, you know, get your passion out?

- Well, I do this full time, so I have to come to the cons 'cause it helps me pay the bills.

Scheduling, so we have a lot of shows where we go, like, to the same ones every year.

We used to come to this one every year pre-pandemic, and then, you know, things got a little wonky.

So this is the first time coming back, but a lot of our shows are current.

We're like kind of grandfathered in, and then we'll, you know, pluck and find new ones here and there.

- And when you come to these shows, it's a different audience.

It's a different feel.

So I know in Baltimore, they had the Kids Love Comics section, which was the artist alley for all-ages books.

Now you're here with, you know, every type of artist.

So is it easier or more difficult for you to find a new reader in a convention environment like this?

- So the cool thing about "Tuskegee Heirs," "The Search for Sadiqah," they're like all-ages books, so they're appropriate for the little ones, but then they're still, you know, like older people still enjoying 'em.

We do have like a range.

We have like a teen-plus book, "The Story of Solace."

I have a new children's book, "Swim, Kelly!

Swim!"

and then like stuff that I've done with DC.

So there's kind of like a broad range to where most of the time when people stop at the table, there's something form, you know, them, whether it's the all ages or some of the other stuff.

- And you know, if someone's watching, they wanna find you on the web, where can they find you?

- So tuskegeeheirs.com.

Platform L7 is my other website for like my personal books.

And then on social media, I'm normally just Greg Burnham, or on Instagram, I'm Greg _Burnham7.

- Well, that's all the time we have for this episode of "Comic Culture."

I'd like to thank you so much for watching.

We will see you again soon.

[heroic music] "Comic Culture" is a production of the Department of Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

[heroic music continues] - [Announcer 1] Only at UNC Pembroke can you find what makes you special.

- [Announcer 2] We are mission-focused, service-minded, and grounded in our unique heritage.

- And most importantly, you would find who you are, what you love, and who you want to become.

- With NC Promise tuition plan, it's all more affordable than you might think.

- Discover your passions.

- It's all at your fingertips to explore, and it starts right here at UNC Pembroke.