Blue Milk Special

Pilots Impulse and Jam try to wrap their Rebel brains around the squadron naming conventions so they can have their own unique designation. Their exchange is true, so long as the Expanded Universe continues to be unchallenged. As more Rebels and Star Wars Episode VII approach, the inevitably of retcons altering the old canon becomes more… inevitable (I already used the word inevitable, didn’t I?). Whether it was simple trivia or not, the EU is a big beast to try and get your head around. Examples of the card games from the 90s, the video games, the toylines, the books and the comics all conflicting over the same character are frequent. I’ll explore this more thoroughly with our next strip.

We had a great time at Awesome Con. Three-day shows at massive convention centers are very physically exhausting for everyone, especially for those who are sick or have a debilitating illness– Leanne was the former, and myself the latter. Friday was extremely flat, but Saturday saved the weekend by getting us close to covering our expenses. Sunday was a little quieter, as is to be expected with these things, but we lucked out with a number of friends in our section taking a last minute interest in our non-Star Wars books. Yet, the number of kids who happened across our work and wanted their parents to join them only to be turned down was discouraging. They go to tell their parent about Hickory Hippo or my comic, Once Upon a Caper. They are so excited they plead with their mom or dad to come back with them, but the parent snaps a stern warning and the family disappears into a sea of people. I hate knowing the kid wanted something that his parent had already decided was not worthy of his time before even coming up to look.

Some of the lowest points of the weekend were overhearing two attendees nearby our table making comments like “Vader has a Star Trek mug, that is SO wrong!” and “I know!” before walking off. There was another guy who said nothing, looked at the prices for Leanne’s commissions, then down to the art, shook his head from side-to-side, turned and walked off. And later someone gave Leanne some criticism on her artbook (because he didn’t know who Vision was or why she would put him on the cover) and then told me he could guess the plot of Once Upon a Caper. I humored him, longer than I should have, and then his handler seemed to come and shoo him along. And finally, the one guy who saw Leanne’s Masters of the Universe illustration she did specially for a charity auction in Los Angeles a couple of years ago. He started ragging on how awful the original He-Man series was and that it was un-watchable. So, I could not hold myself back. I let him know, as gently as possible, that it was brilliant in its time and still is in many ways, and that I can still appreciate a show even if it isn’t as dark as many shows these days. I still love cartoons to this day. Anyway, he seemed to realize he probably shouldn’t have started bitching about something in Leanne’s book and moved on. Say what you want about me, but don’t touch my toons!

The greatest moment of the weekend for us was being presented these incredible, suave Old Line Garrison Jerseys. We love them. Especially Leanne, who I thought was about to cry with happiness! We truly feel part of the team now and the sense of the community within this costuming circle is very real and warm! Seeing the Blast-A-Trooper volunteers really getting into their roles and reacting to the kids’ excitement provided hours of entertainment.

And then we met Justin from Garrison Tyrannus who cosplays a convincing Emperor. Scruffy was available, so we had to get this…

Other highlights included meeting several fans who can to this show specifically because of us. We are always humbled to hear this and glad to meet long-time readers. In one case, we were told we were the main reason the guy had come to the show at all! That’s something we seldom hear and it meant a LOT to us. Thank you to everyone who braved the DC streets to find us. And a special thanks to everyone in our Star Wars section who were in such great spirits. Being around them helped lift my own energy.