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It was here on AMV that my reign as Mormon Comics Expert began, which has led to an AML Award-winning issue of Sunstone and and presentations at Mormony events. And now, for the first time, at a mainstream Comic Con. Come to Salt Lake City this weekend and meet Adam West, William Shatner, Theric Jepson.
Well. Your know how Facebook is. I can’t link to anything from here, but if you have an account and search for Mormon Culture and Comic Books Panel for more information. My fellow panelists are Mike Homer and Sal Velluto, but we expect a goodly number of other just-as-easily-could-have-been-panelists people on hand to add to the conversation.
I’ll be the guy in the tie.
Noncomics postscript: Michaelbrent Collings gets pretty high “Special Guest” billing this weekend. Keep an eye out for him as well.
A Motley Vision 
Wish I could be there, Theric. Looks like they’e got some great media, comics, and writing guests and panelists lined up (you included!). Good luck with the panel.
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Thanks, Lee.
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Last night I was asked to throw together a flier real quick. Come to SLCC and tell me my typo for a high five.
https://app.box.com/s/vgq34p3lenqt57bybr0f
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Because reasons, I missed Comic Con, but I was able to slap together a video of my presentation which was shown: http://j.mp/13t8l1U
The panel filled the room and turned people away as the line went down the hall around the corner down another hall.
Apparently it was a great success with much applause.
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Let’s try that link again:http://j.mp/13t8l1U
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What the???? I guess you’ll just have to copy and paste….
I’ll log in and see if I can fix those comments.
http://j.mp/13t8l1U
Watched the video. Pretty cool stuff there, Th. Thanks for posting the link! For the record, I loved the Golem story in M&M. “Traitors and Tyrants,” too.
Athought struck me watching it, though. You’ve uncovered a lot of Mormon comic artists, and comic artist/writers, but not many non-artist comic writers. Given the recent avalanche of successful sf/fantasy fiction writers, I’d think there’d be a bit more crossover or penumbra or something than there seems to be for Mormon writers.
Any thoughts?
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I don’t know as many and I’m not sure why—I don’t doubt they’re out there. Jake Black is an obvious guy I should have mentioned, but beyond him I can’t think of any writer-onlys off the top of my head. Other than you, I suppose. And Orson Scott Card.
Those there the three names I came up with, too. Perhaps one factor is simply that being a visual medium, it’s easier for the artists to be more visible when it comes to grabbing one’s notice.
On the other hand, currently — at least at Marvel at any rate — it’s the writers who are considered the “owners” of a book and who are pushed and promoted. A very different, even unique, climate from what has been the norm in comic books.
Given the current very visible rise of Mormon writers creating some pretty dominant pop culture cousins of comic books — Myers’ Twilight, Sanderson’s Mistborn and Wheel of Time books, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio’ Despicable Me (indeed, the whole BYU film graduate Mormon invasion of animated movies), David Howard’s galaxy quest — I would expect more bleed-through into the comics industry.
Perhaps one day we’ll have Busieks and Waids of our own. Until then, I’ll just have to take solace in this year’s absolute Mormo-geddon at the Hugo Awards over in my other chosen writing field .
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Now that it’s common knowledge that animation is riddled with BYU grads, I’m hoping we’ll see some of them becoming more visible.
As for writers, I think you’re right. Although I applaud Marvel, in the end, I suppose art will always sell more books that writing, Neil Gaiman excluded.