Higher, Further, Faster, More – GeekGirlCon ‘14 Carol Corps Panel Recap
Carol Corps-inspired cover art by Joe Quinones.
Image source: Marvel Wiki
Written by GeekGirlCon Copywriter Winter Downs.
If you’re wondering whether to get an early jump on passes for GeekGirlCon ‘15, here’s a sample of the kind of programming you can look forward to!
The Carol Corps has put in a great showing at every GeekGirlCon since 2012, and this year it’s especially excited about the recent announcement of a Captain Marvel movie, set to hit theaters in July 2018.
Why is this a big deal? Well, as Ashley Leckwold of Nerdophiles pointed out, before Kelly Sue DeConnick launched her as Captain Marvel in 2012, Carol Danvers was “a third string Marvel character.” And then came the Carol Corps, a spontaneous upsurge of readers old and new rallying around this inspirational character and bringing her to the forefront of Marvel fandom. I’m not saying it was solely due to the Corps’ efforts that Captain Marvel got her own movie, but it surely is a factor.
All this explains why we were so excited to have a panel about the Carol Corps on the schedule at GeekGirlCon ‘14!
Sigrid Ellis, (guest panelist) Jason Thibeault, Anika Dane, and Aeris Dane on the panel “The Carol Corps and the Evolving Face of Fandom” at GeekGirlCon ‘14.
Image source: GeekGirlCon Flickr
Sigrid Ellis (Editor of Kelly Sue DeConnick’s Pretty Deadly) moderated a panel consisting of Carol Corps members Sam Einhorn, Jon Singer, and Anika Dane and her daughter Aeris.
One of the common threads of the panel was that Corps members felt welcomed in a way that they never had before in geek fandom. Singer, daunted by the level of knowledge required in most circles to be considered a fan, loves the Carol Corps because you are a member as soon as you say you are. The fandom sprang up overnight after the release of Captain Marvel issue #1; “it was like a big group hug.”
Moderator Sigrid Ellis asked her fellow panelists whether they think fandom is evolving, or is the truth about fans’ diversity only just being noticed?
Anika Dane replied that she was nerdier than all her brothers from a very young age, and rejected the idea that being a girl geek is new. People who’ve been ignored by mainstream geek culture are simply more able to find each other now, and realize that there’s more of them than they were given to believe.
Sam Einhorn started out in Xena: Warrior Princess fandom, where queerness was normal. Since then she’s tried to surround herself with geeky people who are supportive and positive about that. “Subcultures within geek cultures have always been there.”
Ellis described the Corps as “fundamentally about owning and creating our culture.” Kelly Sue DeConnick (along with fellow female comics writer Gail Simone) engages with her fans via social media, meaning that the barrier between creator and fans is permeable. It’s easy to see how fans are influencing the media they care so much about.
Sam Einhorn expanded on this idea. As a Fearless Defenders fan, she was disappointed when the creator killed a gay character. She had the opportunity to interact with him, and the book’s editor told her at a con that she’d made him look at things differently.
It’s not only geek culture that the Carol Corps is interested in creating; there’s a strong current of STEM, DIY, and Maker culture, inspired by DeConnick’s love of technology and space, and many fans have created things inspired by the comics themselves. Check out this knitting pattern for a Carol-inspired hat, the Captain Marvel hoodie project, or the profusion of handmade Captain Marvel items on Etsy to give you an idea of how people have been inspired to craft and creation.
Peppermonster’s D.I.Y. Captain Marvel-inspired punk jacket.
Image source: Peppermonster via Kelly Sue DeConnick
The Corps aims to welcome marginalized people into spaces that have traditionally been very unwelcoming–STEM, geek culture, gamer culture, skeptic culture, and so on. The panel pulled skeptic Jason Thibeault out of the audience to say a few words about his experiences in these fields. The same fights, he says, happen over and over in each different space. The groups are founded by similar groups of straight white men, who push back on the idea of inclusivity when new members step up. The Carol Corps has been good at signal boosting and providing support so that these newer members, who are often from marginalized groups, aren’t pushed out. “Don’t close your eyes and don’t stay quiet,” said Sam Einhorn. “Those of us who can take and throw those punches have an obligation to do so,” put in Jason Thibeault. He urged people like him–straight, white cis guys–to tank the damage.
In the Q&A session, the audience wanted to talk about where the Carol Corps is still lacking–in particular, the lack of racial diversity and representation in the Corps, starting with the panel and audience ourselves. Monica Rambeau, a friend of Carol Danvers in the comics and a former holder of the Captain Marvel title herself, is sadly underrepresented in fan media. The good news is, since the Carol Corps–the artisans and etsy crafters, the We Love Fine collection curated by Kelly Sue DeConnick, and so on–have an indie sensibility, they’re very responsive to requests from fans. After all, they’re fans too.
The panel finished up by urging us to transmute reality to meet our own ends. Fandom is used to doing that–and the Carol Corps is especially suited to making it happen!
Guest panelist Jason Thibeault provided an audio recording of this panel. Unfortunately, there is no transcript.
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