There were quite a few talented and creative writers and artist at the Flame Con 2: Firestarter convention this past weekend, and they were more than happy to share some nuggets of wisdom. Here are some of them!

This is Greg Pak. He is a well-known writer and filmographer who has written a lot of high profile comics such as various X-Men titles, the Incredible Hulk (as well as the new Hulk, Amadeus Cho), various DC titles, and is also the author of two children's books. I encourage you to look at the body of literature he has created and worked on; it's very impressive. Pak may or may not be aware of it, but he helped to usher in a new generation of comic book aficionados, as well as those who want to create comics. Though he said many things, what he said about collaboration sticks out. He said that collaboration is the key to anything a writer may be working on; you could be writing freelance, but you are never working alone.

Though the young man featured in this picture is not the author of the comic Heads or Tails, he told me that the focus is to feature Black and Brown characters while promoting a message of practicing safe sex. There aren't always representations of and for minorities talking about safe sex in the LGBTQ community, so it's important that comics like Heads or Tails continue to reach out and represent communities, and communicate with the people they are speaking for. Heads or Tails is a collaborative project as well as an interactive online game. More information can be found be found here.

I had a great conversation with Charles "Zan" Christensen, founder of Northwest Press. Zan told me about the multiple titles he was carrying and we spoke about the need for an LGBTQ-oriented comic and pop culture convention, even though there are vendors there that are promoting from within the gay community at NYC Comic Con. "It's never enough!" he laughed, and he is also right; while there may be a few vendors, the majority of mainstream comics is heterosexual-oriented and can't really represent the gay community for the gay community. He also told me the story of a comic book he himself wrote called "Mama Tits", a real-life drag performer in California. What inspired Zan to write a story about her is an event where protestors were protesting the gay community using the Bible, so Mama Tits whipped out a Bible of her own and proceeded to lecture and give a sermon that the protestors themselves couldn't keep up with: they didn't know the Bible as well as the person they were using the Bible to condemn!

Steve MacIsaac is a cartoonist who has been in the business for many years now. He has created multiple series that have been recognized for their quality and creativity, but we spoke about something that the LGBTQ community can definitely attest to: being misunderstood. He spoke about how his work, Shirtlifter and other works, can be misconstrued for porn rather than art and storytelling, and that his process for creating both the scenes and the stories come from his representation of life and some of his own personal experiences. For example, he told me about how he came up with a particular scene of one of his characters serving blueberry pancakes in bed to his lover, a scene that he got from his own life and relationship with his husband. While both men are shirtless and are muscular and would be appealing to both men and women, it is a life experience. Steve MacIsaac told me that writing is expressing what you internalize and the contradictions and trying to make sense of it. His work can be found at his website and Amazon.

Anyone who is a fan of Marvel comics should know the man to the left, Chris Claremont. Claremont is a Marvel Comics legend, writing a bulk of the characters since 1969 that are featured so much today. At the Pride of the X-Men panel, he regaled the audience with a bit of his life story and revealed somewhat deprecatingly that he is in fact, Old New York. He actually said, without saying it, that there is a little bit of the spirit of Old New York in Marvel comics and the X-Men. The keyword Claremont stressed is conflict. After telling the audience a story of having been thrust into armed conflict in the Middle East in which he was part of a truck that was on a mission to take a group out, Claremont said that there is also a level of conflict outside of the U.S. that those living in the U.S. would not understand, unless they have been in it. At Marvel comics, they strive to show a little bit of what that looks like, visualizing the scene and plotting it to the penciler. He also said that the characters, such as the X-Men, have a canon life that publishing companies ignore (shout-out to the fanfiction specialists!). Claremont was quite sly while saying this, so it is definitely something to keep in mind. He also said that the money shots in any comic (or book for that matter), are the ones that are most emotionally available to the audience. On a final note, Chris Claremont said that the way to make a character most believable is to put them through the ringer. Wise words.

Dressed as Squirrel Girl (it's Flame Con, remember?!), illustrator and designer Robin Scott gave me a three card spread of my past, present, and future in her self-designed tarot deck, The Urban Tarot. Scott may not be a fortuneteller per say, but I will say the reading was pleasant and helpful! We spoke about her art and what it represents, and something that Scott said really stuck out to me. She said her tarot is not about positive or negative, but capturing the essence of life, whether it is positive or negative. She said we have both in life and that is just the way it is. Spoken like a true artist. The Urban Tarot itself is gorgeous, with all the signs and signifiers that are pure NYC. Robin Scott was a pleasant, humble, woman who, like Squirrel Girl, knows how awesome she is strong enough to defeat ignorance and the stifling of creativity on her own like an artist!

The writers and artists of Flame Con have a unique wisdom that is desperately needed in the modern world, as we shift from conformity to unique expression. Their work is representative of the fact that artists and writers must be willing to talk about things no one else is saying. Whether it is sex, homosexuality, bisexuality, heterosexuality, conflict, war, the nitty-gritty of life, or a Drag Queen prophet, writers are at their best when their work is "taboo". Taboo is "a social or religious custom prohibiting or forbidding discussion of a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing". However, what it really means is that we are not ready to deal with what we think is "taboo" yet. However, those at Flame Con ARE ready to deal with the subject-matter. For those who are also ready for their own unique expression and perspective of life, whether you are an artist, writer, or not, Flame Con is a great haven.