Tag: Planet Comicon

How The Comic Community Is Coping with Mass Event Cancellations

A national disaster has been declared due to the global pandemic of the COVID-19 coronavirus. We are being told to employ social distancing and further the work of the isolationist tendencies that our nerd culture has employed for decades.

The reality is that there is a very serious illness that is spreading through humanity and it is fatally dangerous to a large segment of our community. Unfortunately, the solution that have been implemented includes the cancelling of numerous chances for our normally isolationist community to get together.

I was listening to a special video version of John Siuntres’s Word Balloon podcast with Ed Catto. They were lamenting the understandable cancellation of Ithacon45, and noted that “Con Season” is a great way to get together with friends and colleagues. This is absolutely true.

The economic cost of this coronavirus pandemic cancelling mass gatherings is felt throughout various industries including air travel, hospitality, food service, and more. An often ignored real cost for the cancellation or postponement of events like Emerald City Comic-Con, SXSW, Planet Comicon, Wonder Con, and others is the loss of revenue for artists and creators who depend on those shows for a significant portion of their income.

In the spirit of coming together in crisis, we would like to highlight both the effects of these cancellations and offer ways to help those who are affected. Continue reading “How The Comic Community Is Coping with Mass Event Cancellations”

Walkin’ and Rollin’ Making Cosplay Accessible for Everyone!

Walkin’ and Rollin’ Making Cosplay Accessible for Everyone!

When attending a modern Comic or Entertainment convention, it is almost impossible to avoid sensory overload. There are so many fantastic colors and shiny objects that draw your attention from second to second. Despite that massive onslaught of distractions, in the first hour on the floor of C2E2, our attention was grabbed by two little boys. They were in full cosplay costumes. One was Ant-Man, and the other was Woody from Toy Story. Pretty cute! Right?

What made these two little guys stand out to us was that they were in wheelchairs, and their personal transport vehicles were made to be a part of their cosplay. It was precious. We asked and were granted permission to take their pictures. They seemed to really enjoy it.

We made sure to include their pictures on our Facebook page, and they got quite the reception. Later on, during the Con, I stumbled across the booth for the people who helped to make those little boys’ dreams come true.

Walkin’ and Rollin’ is a non-profit organization that works to create costumes for mobility limited children. The founder Lon Davis created the organization in 2015 in Missouri. They now have multiple chapters in Kansas and California and are working to bring joy to young people everywhere. They appear regularly at PlanetComicon in Kansas City and made there debut in Chicago at C2E2 this year.

It is a fully set up non-profit organization. We encourage all readers to check out there website an consider what they can do to support this wonderful organization. They are even available to make as your designated charity on smile.amazon.com.

We here at Pop Culture Squad reached out to Lon and were able to ask him about the organization.

PopCultureSquad: We see from your website that this started with a desire to create a costume for your son. When did you start building costumes for other people? Continue reading “Walkin’ and Rollin’ Making Cosplay Accessible for Everyone!”