Day 181 (of 2023/24) why didn’t i think of a comic-con to end the year earlier?!?

Day 181 (of 2023/24) why didn’t i think of a comic-con to end the year earlier?!?

Planning end of the year activities is tricky… being at a hybrid school… even trickier (though we have had tremendous numbers sign up for this weeks “mini-olympics” sports day to tie in with the summer olympics – though the events are more connected to the “laff-a-lympics” <— look it up – best cartoon from Hannah Barbara in my humble opinion… but I’m not too sure why it took me so long to come up with this year-end idea: a comic-con

Reading comics has been an important step for many readers – I credit my comic collection with getting me into literature to be one of my majors! Jarrett Lerner nicely puts out some positives about ‘graphic novels’ – especially the exposure to ‘rare words’ where they introduce so many words to young readers… https://jarrettlerner.com/art/

So, because I’ve always wanted to run my own comic book store… I’m coordinating a day to highlight all things comic-related!

Thrilled to have Toby Prince agree to “keynote” and share (from a distance) some thoughts on the power of illustrated books (Tytus the Monkey books arriving in time for our big day!)

All Day Events: MarioKart Tournament (player vs player); Tetris ‘high score’ challenge; Puzzle Chess Introduction.

Breakout Sessions: (card subject to change) How to do some drawings… panels about comics (Archie and Garfield)… Artist shares… Debate areas (best anime) … adult shares on gaming in the classroom… exploring Minecraft’s Coast Salish… how to play D&D/Magic/Pokemon

Special areas: Card Trading Zone (supervised) with vendors: local card shops… at least one of our food trucks… and thanks to one of the best comic stores (Golden Age Collectables) a pop-up comic book store with recent/current issues!! Something that is NOT available in our community and has only been available in a few of the communities I have lived (shout out to Ebeneezers in Vernon)

Cosplay! Of course people can dress up! And based on one parent suggestion – also encouraging ‘merch’ instead of elaborate costumes so people might be able to see others who were at the same concerts! Curious to see what people wear as I promote all my various super hero shirts and gaming bow ties (bowtie tuesday) to get people excited about our big year end event!

Next: to coordinate a way to make comic book shares more like the current book fairs… the more comics in kids hands, the more readers in future years. Can’t wait to share how it goes on day 186!

And if you’re a comic artist who would like to promote your work (school age appropriate please) send me a message via ilandy@me.com