Here at GeekGirlCon, many of the staff members’ passions naturally cross over into multiple genres. Since music is such a huge part of everyday (nerd) life, this month, we explored our favorite tunes or singers with a geeky twist.
Director of Marketing Sheila Sadeghi answered, “My favorite geeky song of all time has got to be ‘Geeks in Love’, written by Lemon Demon and animated by Andrew Keppple.
It was made for Albino Blacksheep back in the day, but you can now watch it [in a slighty NWFW video] on YouTube:”
Susie Rantz, GeekGirlCon’s fearless PR Manager, states, “I will never get sick of the Mo Mo O’Brien parody song ‘LORDE of the Rings’. Any song that weaves in Lord of the Rings is already a winner in my book, but this one has some particularly fun lyrics. ‘We’re going to Mordor (Mooordor).’ So fun!”
Copywriter SG-1 was happy to share thoughts on her favorite geeky artist as well. “Weird Al Yankovic’s entire album Dare to be Stupid is just a complete classic. It starts with the beeps of a heart monitor in “Like a Surgeon”, goes through “Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch”, and finishes up with a rousing “Hooked on Polkas” that sticks in my head for days. I originally had it on cassette when I was much younger, and then decided I was too grown up for such silliness – and I gave it to my little sister. When I realized I never wanted to be too grown up for Weird Al, she wouldn’t give it back. So now I have it on CD. It lives in my car, and tends to get blasted on the way home from a long day at work. :-)”
GeekGirlCon Accounting Manager Karen Hampton weighed in as well. “I love video game music. All the music on my playlists is video game music. I’ve been to some live concerts (Play! Symphony, Video Games Live, the Minibosses, Video Game Orchestra and Metroid Metal.) I like other sub-genres too, like chip tunes, and I’m open to vocals in my remixes.
I must love Tommy Tallarico’s Video Games Live show best, because I’ve been to two of their shows in person and watched their Comic-Con performance live via Twitch. I even backed their Level 3 Kickstarter last year.
After that, my favorite performance is Symphonic Fantasies, a medley of songs from Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Trigger/Cross, Final Fantasy, and Secret of Mana. I couldn’t attend that show in person, but I do have the two versions (from Colonge, Germany and Tokyo) of the performance on CD.
I used to feel very alone in liking game music, but I’m happy to say that the community has really grown in the last 10 years.”
Let’s keep the community behind all of these geek-tastic music tastes growing! What’s your favorite geeky song or musical group? Feel free to comment here, and join the discussion at GeekGirlCon ’14!
Maybe it was the day I decided to sit at the “weird kid table” at middle school, with nine other girls whom I shared copies of Naruto, Fruits Basket, and Fullmetal Alchemist with.
Maybe it was when I identified so hard with Hermione and her frizzy, curly hair and reading books from the Restricted Section.
Maybe it was when I started entering bookstores with money already rationed out for certain books.
Maybe it was the time I picked out glasses because they resembled Zachary Quinto’s in the second season of American Horror Story.
Maybe it was the time I thrived when my eight grade teacher handed out a sheet to list the books we read for that semester. Maybe it was the time I filled it out in two months and asked for another.
Even though I can’t pinpoint the exact moment I knew, all my life I’ve been a geek.
Books, tales, stories, myths, character arcs, plot lines, motives, conflicting conflicts, paradoxes, dragons, superheroes, supervillians, questionable morals, the Oxford comma, and metafiction are all things I get very excited about.
I got into Star Trek when the second J.J. Abrams movie came out. Seeing “Star Trek: Into Darkness” once in theatres wasn’t enough. Three times was barely sufficient. This franchise has glued together generations, letting my dad and me bond over the original movies. Since then, I’ve read at least 20 Star Trek books (Spock’s World is my favorite), and I’ve been planning an original series marathon after I finish Supernatural.
Much like Star Trek, my creativity was set anew when The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug came out and I revisited Middle-earth. I made sure to buy a copy of “The Hobbit” with Smaug on the cover, along with five books of the Lord of the Rings series, until I found all three copies of my favorite cover style. I may be obsessed with cast interviews and behind the scenes videos I’ve viewed, but I’m resolved to own every super extended edition of each movie and learn Elvish.
Half of my Facebook posts and Tweets rage about Game of Thrones. I binge-watched the first two seasons On Demand and read all the books in half a year’s time. I’m in love with George R.R. Martin’s writing style, and my love for the Queen of Dragons is known all across the lands. My Twitter name is Hannah Targaryen, I was Daenerys this past Halloween, and am the owner of three dragon eggs.
I don’t need to mention Harry Potter since I’ve come to the decision that the world is the Harry Potter fandom. Also, if you brush my curly hair when it’s dry, I look exactly like Hermione in the first two years.
As aforementioned, pinpointing the exact starting moment of my geekiness is impossible, but it fuels who I am as a person. It’s a person I’ve struggled to accept over my long 21 years of life, due to teasing and self-doubt, but I’ve resolved to take part in things that make me happy. Being a “geek” makes me happy, no matter how many of my favorite characters die, or how many T.V. shows go bad or don’t get renewed for another season. Nor does it matter how slow George R.R. Martin writes.
In my opinion, the defining factor of a “geek” is not what we like, but how we like it. Geeks don’t like something half-assed. We adore that something with every minute, every breath, every thought and I know that part of me will never fade.
Ever since I attended my very first Pride festival years ago in Minneapolis, Minnesota, walking in a Pride parade has been something I wanted to do. Supporting love in such an open and spectacular fashion feels important on multiple levels. The event is filled with people from all walks of life, progressive as can be, and symbolic of acceptance of others’ lifestyles. To me, it’s a gorgeous way to commemorate the work done each year in the fight for equal rights, and to celebrate how far we’ve come.
Oh, and there’s dancing. Such dancing!
When I discovered it would be possible for me to join the Seattle Pride parade this year, I was beside myself. Boogieing through the heart of the Emerald City with GeekGirlCon staff members, volunteers, and community — not to mention hundreds of thousands of other revelers — was an absolute dream come true.
And have I mentioned yet that our “approved vehicle” for the parade was a Dalek?
Shaylee Bell, the builder of Dalek Clara, was there with the fantastic robot, creating waves of photo-happy merrymakers and shrieks of “Exterminate!” Seeing people of all genders and sexual identities come together and absolutely geek out was almost too much for me. Several times, tears of pure joy and gratitude trickled from my eyes. I just kept thinking about GeekGirlCon’s values, especially the one listed at number five:
“We are the world.
GeekGirlCon embraces all types of people. PERIOD. There is no way to list all the subsets of folks that now or in the future will make up the body of GeekGirlCon. ALL: ages, gender identities, sexual orientations, sexual preferences, sizes, abilities, ethnicities, nationalities, races, creeds, religions, familial statuses, alien species, earth species, education levels, science specializations, operating system preferences, fandoms, etc., are welcome.”
If that isn’t beautiful, I don’t know what is. Hope to see you all there again next year — same bat-time, same bat-channel. Cheers to the next twelve months of working for equal rights and enjoying pure pride!
Foul-mouthed. Dirty-minded. Hot-tempered and hell-raising. These terms describe many of my closest friends — so it’s only fitting I liked Alana of the comic book series Saga from the very first panel.
Published by the prolific Image Comics, Saga is an ongoing series written by award-winning Brian K. Vaughan, and gloriously illustrated by Fiona Staples. It showcases the love story of Alana and Marko — a couple reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, but with literal stars crossing to foil their relationship. Alana is a winged creature from the planet Landfall, while Marko is from Landfall’s moon, Wreath, whose residents boast horns or antlers. The two celestial bodies are wrapped up in a ceaseless war so large, even citizens of surrounding galaxies get drawn in, though they have little to nothing to gain.
Realizing the fight’s absolute pointlessness after his first battle as a soldier, Marko surrenders to Landfall as a “conscientious objector.” While in prison, Alana is stationed as his guard, and the two bond over Alana’s favorite book — a romance novel rife with anti-war symbolism — and their disdain for the feuding between their homelands.
When Alana learns Marko is to be transferred to a confinement center for life, she spontaneously breaks his chains, and the two flee together, conceive a child, and quickly get married. Talk about love on the run!
As the unlikely trio is chased through space by family members, foes, and political forces, this epic story only gets wilder and more addicting — as does the intense personality of Alana. When it comes to protecting her child, Hazel, she is aggressive with a bone-chilling calm. In one scene, for example, a character attempts to kidnap Hazel for a financial reward, and Alana’s reaction is to put a gun to her own baby’s head, threatening to kill her to save her from a life of slavery. Almost every relationship Alana ends up enjoying — with her in-laws, Hazel’s babysitter, and Marko himself — begins with her being violent in order to protect herself or her loved ones. I admire these warrior-woman actions and attitudes because they occur out of necessity, not sick pleasure. (Most of the time, anyway!)
Another aspect of Alana I admire are her two favorite hobbies: reading books and having sex. Her passion for books is as voracious as her libido, and she’s not afraid to express either interest. You know that sick myth that women can’t be both sexually active and smart? Alana blows it out of the water without a second thought. In the same breath, she can express a cunning assessment of dangerous situations and her fierce desire to get it on with Marko. And she does it all with wit and unapologetic sarcasm — now that’s someone I want to hang out with.
Given her strong opinions and fiery feelings, Alana does have her faults, of course. She’s fitfully jealous over an ex-girlfriend of Marko’s, and is often detrimentally stubborn. My view, though, is that rather than making her emotionally unstable, these internal challenges actually help her become stronger, as she attempts to rein in her reactions for the sake of her family. Her jealousy isn’t petty, but born of justified concern, since Marko originally hid his past relationship, knowing the ex wasn’t exactly cool with the way things ended. Alana’s temperament isn’t tied to an affinity for drama, but is rather a result of the worlds she’s always inhabited. Her life has consisted of fight-or-flight situations over and over, and as a damn good combatant, she’s developed hair-trigger methods that help her stay alive.
On the flip side, Alana is a hopeless romantic at heart, and has so much compassion for the underdog it could fuel a solar system. She’s constantly scrutinizing individuals around her and frequently gives them the benefit of the doubt, so long as they’re not messing with her kin. Thanks to her volatile dedication, proud sexual prowess, love of books, and hilarious quips, Alana reads like a intriguing, intricate universe. The series is still being created and released, so who knows — she could totally end up disappointing us in the end — but for now, I’m rooting for this winged woman for sure.
If you’ve read any issues of Saga, what do you think of Alana’s disposition? Who is one of your favorite strong female characters in comics?
by Elsa S. Henry, founder and author at Feminist Sonar, and the new community manager for Storium.com
It all begins for me with a Sherlock Holmes book. I can remember it, clear as day. A thin volume containing the Hound of the Baskervilles, and another containing The Last Vampire, and another with The Red Headed League. They were marbleized in style with an oval Sydney Paget illustration in the center.
It all begins with Sherlock Holmes, but it certainly didn’t end there. My geekery has always been rooted in the written word. Whether it is my lifelong love of Sherlock Holmes (as a child I insisted that I was going to marry him), I had a Sherlock Holmes murder mystery themed birthday party.
But what really makes me a geek is that I have always loved to play “pretend” for lack of a better word. I created a whole world to play in (and yes, sometimes we would play Sherlock Holmes), and as I grew older that love of stories turned into a love of doing theater, roleplaying, and the occasional LARP.
In high school, I spent so much time at the comic book and gaming shops that I made friends. We played RPGs on the “Geek Stairs” (the back stairwell of our high school), where we would eat lunch, hang out, and often roll dice. Prior to those years, I had been teased for loving books and playing pretend, and when the days of free play outside ended, my refuge for open play became the theater.
So, I became a geek because of my love of words, stories, and creating new places from scratch. I guess that’s why, as an adult, I’m a game designer and disability advocate who works fervently to create access for people with disabilities to video games and roleplaying games. Because for me, without the stories and the books and the ability to play, I would have been lost. Without the support of my family to continue doing what I love (even when it got me teased in school), I wouldn’t be writing this article.
I’ve been a geek for most of my life, and as an adult, I now work in the industry of geeks, and I married someone who loves books as much as I do, who also enjoys going to Barcade (a bar with arcade games from the 1980s), and I never stopped telling stories.
“Cinderella and the Prince were married with great ceremony. No one approved from the first, and now more often than not there was a gleam of I-told-you-so behind the King’s spectacles, and the Queen’s three chins quivered with bitter satisfaction as her predictions were realized one by one. For Cinderella and the Prince were not happy. No one had really expected them to be. You cannot pluck a kitchen girl from the cinders and set a crown on her head and let it go at that; and small feet are not the only prerequisite of a princess.” –Happily Ever After, Catherine Moore, 1930, Vagabond student magazine.
“Cinderella never asked for a prince. She asked for a night off and a dress.” –Tumblr Meme, 2014
In my first column about why geek role models are important, I talked briefly about Catherine Lucille Moore (C.L. Moore), best known for the Jirel of Joiry fantasy series, and who published in early days of the pulp magazines Weird Tales and Astounding Science Fiction. Her very existence inspired me because she proved not only that a woman could write this kind of story and do it well but that she could do it while writing a female protagonist.
While I knew her stories back then, I knew little about the life of Catherine Lucille Moore. What I read at the time was frustratingly brief: that she was born in 1911 and also wrote under the pseudonyms of C.H. Liddell, Lewis Padgett, and Lawrence O’Donnell.
But her life story reads like fiction. Kirkus ran a terrific short biography of her last year. Some highlights:
Moore wrote for the student run magazine at Indiana University, The Vagabond, where the story quoted above was published. She was only 19 years old then but 100 years ahead of her time.
She met her first husband, Harry Kuttner, when they corresponded about science fiction. He was unaware at first that she was a woman. After they married, they collaborated extensively and the pseudonyms I listed were the result of that partnership.
After Kuttner died of a heart attack in 1958, Moore never returned to writing science fiction. Instead, she wrote television scripts.
At the 39th World Science Fiction Convention in 1981, Moore was the Guest of Honor and the final person to receive the Gandalf Grandmaster Award. She also received the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award the same year. Unfortunately, she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and died in 1987.
As good as Kirkus is at detailing Moore’s major life events, it also only scratches the surface of who she was. I’ve read biographies of some of the other early SF/F pioneers — Asimov, Frederick Pohl, Robert Heinlein — but there’s frustratingly little about this woman.
I believe the lack of information and renown surrounding Moore certainly contributes to the fact that many today probably hadn’t heard of her. It also doesn’t help that most of her work is out of print and often hidden in anthologies where other writers are listed first.
In my research, I stumbled across The Vagabond stories and one frustratingly short tale in Project Gutenberg. Amazon currently has a collection of Jirel of Joiry with multiple used paperback copies starting at one penny. I suspect the market has been flooded recently by people with older editions in their basements. But there’s nothing extensive available online.
This makes me sad. Moore deserves to be remembered. I hope this column intrigues some of you enough to check out Jirel of Joiry and raise a glass to a woman who walked through barriers and made the path easier for the rest of us.
Corrina Lawson grew up reading Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine and reading all she could order from the Science Fiction Book Club and everything she could buy from the spinner rack at her local drug store. This might be why she now writes fiction ranging from steampunk to superheroes to alternate history.
Written by Tristan Tarwater, author of the Valley of Ten Crescent series and Botanica Blues
When did I first realize I was a geek? The exact moment in time is hard to pin down. While I came to fully embrace the term ‘geek’ as an adult, a look back at myself and my family reveals I was always a geek. It wasn’t a bad thing. It was just how things were! Members of my household loved Star Trek, read comic books, played video games and programmed computers. I have a lot of respect for these people who never told me I read too much, who took me to the Museum of Natural History and the aquarium and the art museum, and who helped me be happy in my own skin.
GEEKY TRISTAN: A BRIEF AND NOT TOO SPECIFIC HISTORY
1983: I am born and named ‘Tristan.’ The clan of women who later raise me picked this name from a comic book, Camelot 3000. In this reimagining of the Arthurian legend, Sir Tristan is reincarnated as a woman and must not only deal with the evil Morgana la Fey returning to wreak havoc on earth but must navigate the tumultuous waters of love, sex and gender as Tristan’s beloved, Isolde, is also reincarnated as a woman. Luckily, I am not relegated to such tasks and mostly eat, sleep and poop. However, with such a name, my fate is sealed. I am a baby geek in a house of geeky women.
The 80s: The 80s are wonderful time for a young geek who is allowed to read whatever they want and who watches a LOT of television. Growing up in the projects of NYC doesn’t mean I am ‘stuck at home’ when amazing movies like Conan the Barbarian, The Lost Boys and The Golden Child are on WPIX. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comes on the air and The Legend of Zelda and Mario have their very own cartoons. I also start school where I am not part of the popular crowd but I have friends and am an excellent reader, so I get to read whatever catches my interest. An older cousin upgrades his gaming console and I am allowed to play his abandoned The Legend of Zelda on the original Nintendo. I get to blow into cartridges to keep them working, and love elves. I remember my mother and titi going to see Interview With A Vampire at the Essex Theater. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a big part of my life and I am torn as to whether I am more in love with Donatello or Michaelangelo.
The 90s: I read The Egypt Game which spawns an obsession with mythology, religions and then fantasy. I read The Giver which amazed me. I start reading Crichton books because of Jurassic Park and become a docent at the aquarium because I love marine biology. Animorphs is a thing. And then (*sound of trumpets*) INTERNET. Through a relative I gain access to AOL and the fantasy RPG chatrooms as well as the internet in general. Research! I can do it! I roleplay as JeslaClaw and come up with my first fantasy race (they are elves). I become a regular in a fantasy chatroom where I play as another elf, a fairy with bat wings and a pirate. In the 5th grade I start writing my first novel which was, naturally, never finished. I start writing a scifi novel inspired by DS9 and a vampire story based on my own adolescent sexual frustration. These are written in spiral notebooks with blue, purple and green pen. I learn how to use a word processor and start hammering out tales never to be completed when I should be doing homework.
The 00s: I write a fantasy short story for English class. My teacher actually really likes it and calls me a ‘real writer.’ I graduate high school without any additional drama, which seems miraculous. I start college and intend to go on the writing track but am severely terrified of showing my work to anyone. September 11th happens. I move away from NYC, intending to go to Bible school and come back, but fall in love with Portland, OR, and move there. I continue roleplaying online. I get my first pet, a black cat, and name her Leelu Dallas Multipass. I meet my future husband and promptly fall in love/shack up with him. I read Blankets by Craig Thompson and fall in love with comics again. I become friends with a guy at a comic store, who helps facilitate the forming of our first DnD group. I play DnD for the first time and don’t magically become possessed by demons/go to hell; my first character is a bard/wizard. I learn how to play Magic: The Gathering with the Kamigawa decks and continue to write. I become a mother and my child destroys my free time so I am forced to make the most of it. I start in on my first fantasy series, seemingly as a DnD character background but which diverges and becomes a 200,000-word outline. I started in on A Song of Ice and Fire and the European comic Sky Doll. We move away from Portland for work and away from our gaming group but I continue to write and we start watching a lot more scifi shows. I get super pissed off at Battlestar Gallactica, especially the ending which still fills me with rage when I think about it for too long.
The 10s: We live in the South and California. My daughter grows bigger and bigger and becomes another geek in our household. I finish The Valley of Ten Crescents a bit after Amazon has started making ebooks a feasible method of distribution. We rush to release it, only to later realize holy crap, we could do better. We get an editor and an artist to do a cover. I go to the first ever GeekGirlCon with my daughter and sell my first book. I continue to write fantasy and weird fiction and write my first comic script. I flip out when it is announced Game of Thrones is being turned into a show. I watch Caprica and get so pissed when it’s canceled, I refuse to watch the final episode for a long time. We move back to Portland and reunite with old friends and meet some amazing people I’ve been talking to on Twitter/Facebook. We buy a house and continue to work on fiction and hang out with all the wonderful geeky people here in town.
Would anyone in the world be surprised to learn that several staff members of GeekGirlCon are huge fans of other conventions as well? No? Didn’t think so. Where comic books, cosplay, pop culture, and nerdy fandoms combine, we geeks will surely coalesce!
For this month’s Ask GeekGirlCon, a few GeekGirlCon staffers offered info on their favorite parts of another convention set here in Seattle, Emerald City Comicon. It took place March 28-30, and took over many of our lives — in a good way — for three magical days!
Staff Copy Writer SG-1 enjoyed several aspects of ECCC this year. “My favorite part about Emerald City Comicon is usually sitting in the large main room, seeing the actors from various television shows and movies who come to speak to the fans. Some of the fans’ questions are awkward, at best, and some–mostly the little kids–are absolutely adorable. This year’s lineup was no exception, but it’s so long you need to go to the website and check it out for yourself. My favorite guest presentations were Richard Dean Anderson, Alan Tudyk, Mark Sheppard, Karl Urban, Ron Perlman (that VOICE…), Kris Holden-Reid, John de Lancie, Michael Dorn, Jim Beaver, and Stephen Amell. Instead of having local radio personalities moderating these panels, ECCC brought in actress Clare Kramer, best known as Glory of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame. She was definitely an improvement over the radio personalities!
“This year, my absolute favorite parts about ECCC were intertwined with sharing the experience with my friends: my friend Heidi, who I met at ECCC several years ago; my friend Phil, who is the knowledge base of everything Star Trek; my adorable friend Blyss, who now lives in Portland and I never get to see; and especially my roommate, Kevin, whom I’ve known since high school and who finally moved to Seattle last year. Spending time with my friends was truly the best part of Emerald City Comicon; seeing the actors I admired took a backseat to that, and for the first time, it made the whole weekend seem complete.”
Exhibitor Services Manager Kris Panchyk has had a multitude of fantastic experiences at Emerald City Comicon. “This was my sixth year working as a Department minion for the Photo Booth area of ECCC,” she explains, “and I have to say that my favorite part covers a couple of different areas. Firstly, I get to see the wonderful and imaginative costumes on attendees — there are so many, and from so many different fandoms! Secondly, talking to the attendees, even for a brief time, and they’re all excited about who they get to meet. And thirdly, seeing them come out after getting their pictures taken — so excited, some crying, some laughing, all so happy; it makes all of the hard work worth it! I’d pick a picture to share, but I started here and there are way, way too many awesome ones to pick from!”
Executive Director of GeekGirlCon Amanda Powter not only had fun at the event this year, but also made exciting plans for 2015. “I had a great time attending ECCC this year. They mailed out their badges for attendees ahead of time, which I think made a huge difference in how easy it was to get in. I thought the packed panel on The Changing Role of the Character of Color was interesting and generated excellent dialogue, thanks to the fabulous panelists Jennifer K. Stuller, Dr. Raychelle Burks, and Kristine Hassell. However, I think my favorite thing has to be the mind-boggling Exhibitor hall(s)/floor/space and Artist Alley. It was unsurprisingly packed, but well organized for browsing and serendipity — my new nail wraps from Espionage Cosmetics were my first purchase, and after picking up some amazing exclusive items, resisting a leather Mario or Luigi hat, and meeting some of my favorite artists, I finally succumbed to my long desire to have a Geek Chic table of my very own (well, in a year).”
Adrienne Roehrich, Manager of Editorial Services and Vice President of the Board, states, “I thoroughly enjoyed myself this year at ECCC. I went with my husband and he bought some books and got them signed by a musician he is a fan of in both music and comics. He says chatting with Claudio Sanchez and getting those items, including 2 records, signed was his highlight this year. I purchased a set of comics for my daughter about teaching English in Japan, which she enjoyed a lot.
“I attended panels discussing important topics and panels with celebs. My favorite part, though, was not one instant, but rather the collection of conversations I had with so many people. I caught up with old friends I only ever see at Cons, and met new people. The discussions I had this year were lovely and many involved the representation of under-represented people in comics and media. These were very cool conversations and were definitely my favorite part of Emerald City Comic-Con. A couple of these conversations led to purchases for myself (see image). You may see a review from me on these in the future.”
Kristine Hassell, Social Media Manager and President of the Board, got to be involved with Emerald City Comicon 2014 in a very exciting way. “My favourite part of ECCC this year was actually participating as a panelist with friends and fellow GeekGirlCon sisters Dr. Raychelle Burks and Jennifer K. Stuller! When I met them outside our room and realized people were queued up for us, it made me feel special and excited to share my views. It definitely whetted my appetite for speaking at other local conventions about diversity in media, and I’m already kicking around panels to pitch for #GGC14!”
As a Copy Writer for GeekGirlCon, I love supporting artists of all mediums, and my two favorite parts of Emerald City Comicon involved revered comic book writers. Thanks to a fantastic friend of mine, I was offered the chance to volunteer at the Image Comics booth, a humbling honor in my book! Chatting with people about the writing of greats like Kelly Sue DeConnick, Greg Rucka, and Brian K. Vaughan was awesome, to say the least.
My other favorite experience at Emerald City Comicon was getting to meet one of my real-life heroes. Dan Parent has been an artist and writer of Archie Comics for two decades now, and my family has countless works of his thanks to our obsession with the Riverdale crew. My siblings and I devoured and discussed Archie comics as we grew up, and still frequently reference them to this day. Little did I know that so many were written and drawn by Dan Parent, and that one day I’d be able to thank him in person for inspiring me to read so much as a child!
I was able to chat with Dan for about fifteen minutes at the Con and am still beaming from it. He is the creator of Kevin Keller, Riverdale’s very first gay character, and I was thrilled to purchase and have Dan sign a hardcover trade of Kevin’s stories. Dan is also currently working with writer, actress, and feminist Lena Dunham (another hero of mine) as she crafts a Girls-esque story for the gang. Cheers to an amazing artist who is doing great things for this classic and beloved comic book series!
What was your favorite part of Emerald City Comicon this year? Do you plan to attend it in 2015?
Looking back at my childhood, I can remember the exact moment when I learned that intelligence is often seen as dangerous — especially when it comes to women. When I was about ten years old, I was reading an Archie comic book that featured a story with Josie and the Pussycats. In order to set up the story about to unfold, the narrator introduced each character with their picture and a couple lines about their personality.
The narrator described Melodie, the band’s drummer, as a ditzy but well-meaning girl with plenty of sex appeal. She bore an excited smile and wide blue eyes. Next, Josie was presented as the level-headed lead singer of the group, looking calm and sweet as she walked down a sidewalk. Finally, they talk about Valerie, a multi-instrumentalist who is most often seen playing the guitar or the tambourine in the comics. Valerie is depicted with a smirk on her face, and though I can’t quote the story word for word (nor find it anywhere online, unfortunately), I specifically remember them saying that while Josie was “lovable”, Valerie is “likeable” — because she’s “too clever”.
The tale goes on to show Valerie solve yet another problem the three have encountered, her usual role within the group’s dynamic. The reason Valerie’s smarts aren’t valued as much as they should be is because she can constantly see through people, and isn’t scared to use sarcasm to rebuff them.
While there have been many versions of Valerie throughout the years, including one in a hilarious 2001 musical comedy, and though her last name seems to switch back and forth between “Smith” and “Brown”, her admirable characteristics always stay the same. She’s fiercely funny, confident as can be, and the most booksmart of the Pussycat trio, especially when it comes to science and auto mechanics.
In real life, Valerie is actually the very first black character to appear in Archie comics. In 1969, she seamlessly became part of their scene during a story in which Josie and Melody were on the hunt for a replacement band member. Within moments of Valerie showing up, the girls were impressed by her friendly demeanor and musicianship. Over the next year, the gang’s hijinks and hits grew so popular IRL, the idea of a cartoon television show was pitched. This resulted in Hanna-Barbera getting into a three-week standoff with producer Danny Janssen, as the TV moguls wanted to make the character of Valerie a caucasian woman. Janssen protested the switch and refused to back down, and the company finally relented, making Valerie the very first black recurring cartoon character in a television show series. This young, headstrong female from Riverdale has quite the impressive resume!
In this show, much as in the comics, Valerie is very Velma-like, solving mysteries and cracking codes far more often than her friends, thanks to her high I.Q. However, unlike her Scooby-Doo equivalent, she is not portrayed in traditionally “nerdy” fashion. She is street-smart, sassy, and stylish all at once! (I am all about geek chic, but to see an ultra-bright person without glasses in a 1970s cartoon was almost unheard of!)
I have always admired Valerie for her sharp mind, witty remarks, music skills, and playful nature. She is a fantastic friend to Josie and Melody, and a well-rounded strong female character I believe anyone can look up to. (She also recently made waves in the world of comics when she and Archie fell in love, got married, and had a daughter together.) Plus, I will forever love her for demonstrating that intelligence in a woman may be feared by the weak — and there’s no reason to let those people hold you down!
Which strong female characters do you revere? Do you have a favorite Pussycat?
The ChronoBlade crew – image courtesy of nWay Games
Quick, think of your favorite female video game character!
Now, ponder these questions about said character: Does she wear a bow? Is she dressed in pink? Would her figure be proportionally impossible for an actual human?
If you answer yes to any of the above, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the character was borne of sexist ideology. But unfortunately, that’s usually the case. Bows, pink clothing, voluptuous figures — all are great in real life, but the systematic usage of these tropes in the media is insidious, and can be damaging to how women are viewed.
With that in mind, it’s always extra awesome to come across a dynamic fictional female — one whom you’d respect and definitely want on your side. Imagine my excitement, then, when I discovered that in ChronoBlade — an online, free-to-play action role playing game developed by nWay Games — there are actually two strong female characters!
In the Multiverse of ChronoBlade, the evil Chronarch Imperium is set on the annihilation of all other worlds and their citizens. In the face of this threat, a band of four heroes from different dimensions forms to fight against the Chronarchs’ rampage. These four are the playable characters in the game, and include heroines Lophi and Thera. Developing their unique skills and learning their personalities, players can explore the Multiverse and learn how to battle and best the Chronarchs.
Far from fitting into stereotypes, Lophi and Thera are characters with distinct personalities, a variety of skills, and non-exploited figures.
GeekGirlCon had the honor of interviewing two of ChronoBlade’s developers about the process of creating Lophi and Thera, and how they hope these two heroines will impact fans of this rad role-playing game.
Artist Joya Patz, armed with a BAS in Visual Effects and a passion for art, has battled her way through the fantastical lands of film and next-gen gesture technology, to finally find a home in games. Using her past knowledge of the strange and arcane, she creates astonishing combat and environmental visual effects. She currently works at nWay as their Senior VFX Artist.
A veteran designer of hybrid games, artist Jordan Patz has created several projects based on new game models or involving experimental hardware as well as the usual faire of FPS games, RPGs, and arcade style games. When he is not rebuilding vintage arcade cabinets he writes story, designs systems and builds content for ChronoBlade.
GeekGirlCon: What do you believe makes a strong female character? How about a strong male character? In what ways are they similar, and are there ways in which they differ?
Jordan: “For both male and female characters, strong internal motivations and a cohesive personality is what gives them the strength we look for in our heroes. Although recognizable hero stereotypes inevitably come with assumptions concerning their characteristics, often the “strongest” characters are the ones that defy their archetype. In building our characters we always attempt to create dynamic but cohesive characters with internal struggle.
For example, Thera is the group’s tactician and leader on the ground. She’s merciless, totally bent on destroying the Chronarchs no matter the cost. But in her time with the Pact she starts to feel connected to them. She sees there’s something worth protecting there beyond their value as fighters against the Chronarchs. Now she’ll have to chose when to risk their lives for the end goal.
Lophi, for all her childishness, is no less a strong character. Her laughter hides the shame of knowing that some of what’s wrong in the multiverse is her fault. She let loose a destructive force that is ravaging the multiverse. She will have to hide that fact from her Pact allies or risk being turned away.”
GeekGirlCon: What led to the decision to feature two playable female characters and two playable male characters in Chronoblade?
Jordan: “ChronoBlade is a game about wildly different realities fighting together, so naturally we wanted to give players the most diverse options as characters. We built our four initial characters to be the types of characters we wanted to play, not just in terms of combat but also for an interesting character makeup within a team. Aurok is our gruff stoic hero, Lophi is our energetic, enthusiastic and enigmatic hero, Lucas our playboy-rogue, and Thera our tough, military-trained tactician. Together they form a family that will never be boring, especially considering what the multiverse has to throw at them.”
GeekGirlCon: What challenges did you face in creating the female characters’ battle strengths and weaknesses? Did the challenges differ in degree at all from constructing the males?
Joya: “For all of our characters, we strove to define their battle mechanics more on their origin stories and weapons than on their genders. Lophi, being a portal-jumping, shadow summoner, has high speed and more AOEs than her teammates, but also less power. Thera, being a high-ranking Minoan military general, is one of the most powerful characters on her team, but lacks the speed that Lophi and Lucas possess. The male champions were constructed in the same fashion, their Power to Speed ratio matching what you would expect from their back stories and weaponry.”
GeekGirlCon: What challenges were faced in creating the female characters’ physical traits? Was the process significantly different from those for the males?
Joya: “ChronoBlade is a Multiplayer, Side-Scrolling ARPG with many enemies and VFXs constantly appearing on screen, so it was critical to gameplay to give our characters strong silhouettes that vastly differ from each other. We wanted each character’s physical traits, at least in part, to emphasize some of their personality and fighting styles. Thera is the tall, muscular, and proud Amazonian spear-wielder, while Aurok is the battle-hardened, ultra-calloused, Viking pugilist.”
GeekGirlCon: How did you avoid over-sexualizing or pigeon-holing the female characters?
Joya: “With ChronoBlade, we set out to make a fun and unique experience for players, from combat to narrative. We put a lot of time and effort into developing each character and how they would fit into the larger picture as the story progresses. None of us likes one dimensional characters, male or female. Lophi and Thera were not created to fill a required character trope, but are integral to the evolving story line. These are not princesses that need rescuing, but two champions on the path to save the multiverse.”
GeekGirlCon: Are there any video game characters from your childhood that you feel have influenced your adulthood? How do you hope the characters you have created in ChronoBlade will influence players of the game?
Jordan: “Samus from Metroid was always a favorite of mine, especially early in her saga. There was something eye opening when I found out the silent, blaster wielding, power-armored hero, scorching their way through the darkest, least hospitable alien world imaginable, wasn’t a boy.
The characters in ChronoBlade are more than just archetypes; their backgrounds and personal perspectives are reflected in their attacks, the equipment they wear, as well as the choices they’ll make through the story. We hope Thera and Lophi will be remembered by our players as the nuanced personalities they are rather than as often happens: the tall one and the short one.
I often hear kids talking about their favorite characters on buses. Someday I hope to hear: ‘Lophi is my favorite, she’s such a kid under all her crazy powers. She’s always laughing while she beats up monsters. A little creepy too, I can’t wait to see her world!’ That’s the ultimate win.”
GeekGirlCon: What do you hope that players will get out of having not only a wide variety of characters and traits to play, but out of these specific characters?
Jordan: We hope that all our characters include something unique, endearing and memorable. Although they have huge hands, cast spells, and punch the faces off horrific beasties, they have human motivations. They’ll all change over the course of ChronoBlade’s narrative, not all for the better, but always for plausible reasons. We hope our players can connect with them on some level even as they slash their way through the multiverse, one step at a time, on a gore-paved road of their own construction.”
Thanks so much, Joya and Jordan, for sharing your insight and talents with us, and cheers to everyone at nWay Games for these fantastic female characters! It’s truly encouraging to see ladies like these kicking butt and setting higher standards for video games across the board.
Interested in scoring some Chronoblade swag? Stay tuned for details of a merch giveaway at an upcoming GeekGirlCon event! In the meantime, get ready to learn about and spend time with more admirable women by picking up your passes to GeekGirlCon ‘14!
