The Racialicious Guide To San Diego Comic-Con 2012, Part 1
By Arturo R. García
As mentioned last week, Racialicious is proud to join a bunch of other fine folks in presenting The Slants’ two-night stand in San Diego during this week’s Comic-Con.
But what about the rest of the convention? As it turns out, when it comes to POC-centric offerings, this year’s event is front-loaded compared to years past.
THURSDAY
10 a.m.: Racebending: Creating Spaces for Diverse Characters and Representations
The team behind the Last Airbender boycott return with a panel looking at diversity from the standpoint of creators, featuring veteran TV writer and showrunner Javier Grillo-Marxuach, author and Marvel Comics standout Marjorie Liu, novelist Sarah Kuhn, video game writer David Gaider, Glyph Award nominee Brandon Thomas and Hugo and Nebula Award-nominee N.K. Jemisin, who will also be the subject of her own spotlight panel Thursday. Room 23ABC.
And because the Comic-Con schedulers have a rather cruel sense of humor, this panel is on opposite what sounds like a fascinating session. I’ll post the description from the program:
10:30 a.m.: Subaltern Counterculture and the Strengths of the Underdog
Antonio Chavarria (Museum of Indian Arts & Culture) and painter Mateo Romero, looking specifically at the “Comic Art Indigene” museum exhibition, discuss the appeal of the “marginal” art of comics to oft-marginalized indigenous people, arguing that, deposited in ethnic or cultural categories, comic and Native art are ethnographic texts, social commentary, commercial enterprise, and ultimately, “fine” art. Sam Cannon (University of Texas at Austin) looks at Daniel Muñoz’s detective series El Pantera, analyzing the textual and visual aspects of how Mexico City informs the actions of its own subaltern hero to show that the medium of the comic can uniquely portray the relationship between urban spaces, subaltern subjects, and heroes. Ayanna Dozier (Chapman University) examines the physical and racial identity of the X-Men’s Storm, arguing that Storm’s personification and physical appearances manage to be a cultural signifier throughout her near 40-year history and emphasizing the importance of what we can learn about our society’s cultural practices and traditions through the “body” of Storm. Kane Anderson (University of California, Santa Barbara) uses cyborg theory and questions of the posthuman to ask how cybernetics mediate race in superhero comic book stories. If comics rely heavily on the visual to communicate to the reader, then to what degree can a character half-black/half-chrome be considered black? Room 26AB
There’s another tough decision to make at noon:
12 p.m. How to Better Understand the Sociology Behind Cosplay
Professional costume designer and cosplayer Yaya Han delves into what should be a more thorough look at not just design tips, but cosplay as a scene unto its own within fandom. Room 2
12 p.m.: Spotlight on N.K. Jemisin
The Brooklyn native and author of the Inheritance trilogy gets some solo shine. And not only is she a novelist, she’s also a progressive blogger in her own right. Room 7AB.
1 p.m.: Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Celebration
Worth noting only so we can all feel our ages a little bit, together. Anybody got their Super NES handy? Room 6BCF.
6:30 p.m.: Lost in Translation
No, you won’t see Bill Murray doing karaoke (at least here; he’s known to turn up in the most random places); this panel will instead focus on helping freelancers figure out how to navigate the turbulent manga economy. Room 26AB
Celeb Sightings
2:15 p.m: Dule Hill (Psych), Ballroom 20
3:30 p.m.: Kristin Kreuk (Beauty and the Beast), Ballroom 20
4:40 p.m.: Lucy Liu (Elementary), Ballroom 20
5 p.m.: Aisha Tyler (Archer), Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
6 p.m.: Maggie Q & Lyndsy Fonseca (Nikita), Room 6BCF
FRIDAY
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