Technolandy

Day 159 (of 2025/26) On Comic Con… school based comic con…

One of my goals has been to have more of our diverse learning community ‘see themselves’ through our comic con – albeit … eventually… the first iterations had me ‘pull my friendship card’ and ask Toby Price (Tytus the Monkey) to be our first keynote… this relationship has continued where he has been willing and able to talk to our comic con each time! The second saw my PAC provide some support to bring in the amazing Tony Weaver Jr – whose comic (graphic novel) Weirdo was both a great connection to our learning community in general, and getting great media attention (tv networks!) for its best seller status (#1 on Amazon!). 

This year I have indie superstar (at least emerging superstar) Emilia Strilchuk with the ‘title of the year’ that made me think of many…many of the students I work with: Be Yourself! Oh, not like that! Then a share about a positive review my daughter gave Kaboom! Had Jay Odjick (BlackFlies with Robert Munsch and the amazing Kagawa) offer some time with us along the Salish Sea… and Toby Price agreed to represent the primary audience with his new third Tytus the monkey book. Honestly, not sure how I level up next year….

Why I do this…

Each year I have been thrilled when I heard from a family that “this is the first school event my kid has ever wanted to come to” – and already for this year I know of a disengaged learner who has asked one of her team what they thought about her Metal Gear costume for Friday… ❤️ as my son said: that justifies comic con running all by itself. I know of those shares… I also know there are others not quite willing to share their story yet… and they don’t have to… just hope that they make a friend, even if just for the day!

Also this year, I am continuing to mindfully expand the voices our learners get to hear. Indigenous voices; neurodiverse; SOGI; traditional voices will all be heard through the lens of explaining what I better consider “new media” (and it does bug me a bit that the ‘New Media’ in BC curriculum continues to reinforce traditional methods of reading listening and viewing rather than explore some of the very different methods of media sending messages…

Graphic Novels – evolving and more acceptable comic books

Video Games – biggest media industry… much bigger than movies… though we still like movies in comic cons… but why do we still view video games as ‘distractions’ rather than magnified ‘choose your own adventure stories and mythologies?

Anime – not cartoons. But along with manga (not comic books) rich fields of literature to explore. 

Comic Con used to be goofy and made fun of. But really, it’s where the stories are. Where communities find each other and thrive. And I anticipate others who have Teamsed in previously to be brave… maybe even dress up (even just a themed t-shirt is brave) and make their first visit to a school building in a while… or ever…

Looking forward to sharing more at Fridays school comic con!