Comic-Con@Home Panels

7/23/2020

Due to the pandemic, San Diego's Comic-Con International has become a virtual event, taking place this week. It started yesterday, Wednesday, July 22, and continues through this Sunday, July 26. This is Comic-Con@Home. Of greatest interest to me are the virtual "panels" spread over the five days of the event (reportedly more than 350 panels in all). These run the usual gamut of pop culture topics, some comics-focused, some not. Regrettably, the panels are entirely prerecorded, which means no live audience interaction, no Q&A. Most will be in the nature of recorded Zoom calls. This bums me out, but is better than nothing — and there are some very promising-sounding panels on offer.

Below, divided by day, are panels that catch my eye or may be of particular interest to KinderComics readers. Note that not all of these panels focus on children's or young adult comics or on education. Some focus on other fannish interests of mine, or on particular creators of note. This is a glimpse into my mind!

Obviously, Comic-Con@Home is already well underway; this post comes late. But many if not all of the panels listed below will be available to view online once this week is over. (CCI says that most of its panels "will also be available AFTER the July 22-26 dates, although there are some that may have a limited time period attached to them.") The panels can be accessed via CCI's online program or their YouTube channel. They can't be accessed before their official start times, but once they're up, they're up. There could be weeks and weeks of good viewing here!

July 22, Wednesday

This first day continues the now-familiar Comics Conference for Educators and Librarians (CCEL), a Wednesday-afternoon tradition since 2016, co-sponsored by Comic-Con and the San Diego Public Library since 2016. All of Wednesday’s seventeen panels, AFAIK, are CCEL-branded, and all are aimed at librarians and/or teachers. Below are the Wednesday panels that really stood out to me; for info on all of the CCEL panels, follow the CCEL link above to the SD Public Library's page:

Teaching and Learning with Comics
3:00pm – 4:00pm
With Peter Carlson, Antero Garcia, and Susan Kirtley, co-editors of the anthology With Great Power Comes Great Pedagogy, and creator-teachers Nick Sousanis, Ebony Flowers, and David F. Walker and Brian Michael Bendis. (I’ve already watched this one, and it was terrific!)

Comics in the Classroom Ask Me Anything: Pick the Brains of Teachers, Administrators, Creators, and Publishers
3:00pm – 4:00pm

The Power of Teamwork in Kids Comics
5:00pm – 6:00pm
Including Gene Luen Yang, Chad Sell, Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks, and moderator Betsy Gomez.

New Kids Comics from Eisner Award Publishers
5:00pm – 6:00pm
Including Jerry Craft, Faith Erin Hicks, Robin Ha, Derick Brooks, Jonathan Hill, and moderator Candice Mack

Words and Pictures Working Together: Strategies for Analyzing Graphic Texts
6:00pm – 7:00pm

Comic-Con Celebrates Fifteen Years of Eisner Librarians
6:00pm – 7:00pm
Including librarians and former Eisner Award judges Kat Kan, Karen Green, Jason Poole, Dawn Rutherford, Traci Glass, and moderator John Shableski.