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thekeyissue · 6 years ago

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Reflections from a NYCC Panel: Chronic Illness, Disability, and the Comics Industry

During “The Creative Community, Disability, and Chronic Illness” panel at New York Comic Con this year, two overhead lights flickered nonstop, directly over the seated panelists. For most this was an annoyance – but for the presenter living with epilepsy, it made for a dangerous and unsafe environment. He had to wear sunglasses to avoid a potential seizure and participate in the panel meant to address this exact kind of issue.

It was embarrassing for everyone, and a perfect encapsulation of the state of support that the comics industry provides professionals who live with chronic illness and/or are differently abled. Giving conversations like this space and time at large events like NYCC is absolutely to be applauded, but clearly we are far from properly hearing, implementing feedback, and accommodating this community.

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The panel itself took place in the early afternoon on Friday of NYCC weekend in one of the smaller designated panel/screening spaces. Six panelists and a moderator, all of whom live with conditions that complicate their work, spoke to each other and a room that was about a third full (I’d guess around 50/60 people watching – not a bad turn out).

I slipped into the back of the audience right before the panel kicked off, deciding to attend somewhat at the last minute. I have a family member who lives with a chronic illness (but does not work in comics) - it can be burdensome for her (or any differently-abled or chronically ill person) to explain her day-to-day challenges on top of facing them – so I took this as an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of what her life and coping may be like, while also learning about comic-specific issues. I mention the context of my attendance only because I believe the majority of the audience at the panel also had a direct or adjacent relationship with disability or chronic illness as well (this assumption comes from audience reactions I observed – nodding at points being made, voiced agreement, questions asked). To some degree that’s a shame – like many things, increasing awareness can be a huge catalyst for change, especially when many of the accommodations that would help this community stem directly from individuals’ awareness.

From the panel’s first minute a steady stream of personal blind spots were revealed to me – a both satisfying (learning more is so helpful) and disheartening (feeling inconsiderate/like a failure at having missed them) process that continued throughout the session. Helpfully, the panelists were all amazing speakers, projecting positivity and a clear desire to educate and spread awareness, even while recounting emotionally-charged, disrespectful, and challenging situations they’d experienced.

The hour-long conversation they held was serious, funny, charming, poignant, sad, hopeful, informative, and too short – but more than anything, it illustrated each panelist’s tenacity and bravery. Recounting difficult personal anecdotes and sharing emotional vulnerability in front of one person can be challenging – this group did it in front of an audience in the service of their community, a demonstration of toughness and grit that should be celebrated. I was surprised to learn that participating in the panel brought with it a potential risk and necessary braveness in and of itself. Many creators who fit the criteria for the panel turned it down to avoid publically revealing their condition, fearing companies and editors might subsequently not “risk” working with them. While examples of those who had treated the panelists with understanding and accommodation were given, the prevalent fear of losing work & money due to their conditions clearly suggests that decent companies/editors are more exception than rule. The world is already ill-suited to fit the needs of those who are differently abled or living with a chronic illness simply because they are not the majority – it’s a sad reality that this disadvantage is topped off with an increased risk of losing or not being able to find employment. It’s easy to see why this community is so tough and brave – they have no other choice.

The challenge of the comic convention setting was another major topic of conversation during the panel. Attending conventions is necessary to make (or try to make) a living wage in this industry, but most comic cons do a poor job of accommodating the differently-abled and chronically ill. Surprisingly, even those that do offer a range of accommodations typically fail to adequately communicate the resources they’re providing. More than once a panelist would mention an accommodation NYCC provided that other members of the panel were not aware of. What’s the point of these accommodations if the people who need them the most are not actively told they exist? And failing that, shouldn’t this information be easily found? As time quickly ran out, it felt like the entire room was disappointed – we had only scratched the surface of the topic (not a huge surprise given the complexity of the subject matter) and there was an incredible amount that still hadn’t been addressed – but I left with a bunch of simple, actionable, convention-specific advice that I’d like to summarize below in the spirit of others joining in to support this community:

- Dedicated, easily accessible entrances, bathrooms, and elevators should be provided at conventions for the differently-abled to reduce the body stress this setting creates. - Designated quiet spaces should be accessible and large enough to accommodate anyone who needs them. - Often accommodations are limited. Do your best to not unnecessarily take up an accommodation that someone might truly need to get through their day (if you do not need it in such a way). - Be wary of your surroundings and those behind you when walking. It’s difficult and painful for someone in a chair/with a walker/etc. to have to move to avoid you, and they may not be able to. Don’t stop suddenly in front of someone, be understanding of their level to the ground, and prioritize their difficulty moving through crowds if it eclipses your own. - Remember that a creator might find crowds and constant (or any) social interaction challenging. Some may need breaks/alone/quiet time to not be overwhelmed with anxiety. Some may literally not be able to recognize or remember faces/pair them with names. Some may lack the ability to pick up on social cues that seem obvious to you. - Accommodations should be clearly communicated to anyone who might need them. The information should be actively given and easily/clearly accessible. - No one owes you a disclosure of their condition – be patient, understanding, and assume everyone’s best intentions – and don’t ask for or demand explanations.

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I’d like to wish a huge, gracious and appreciative thank you to the participants from this year’s panel for all they so bravely shared and taught. I have not included their names (which can be easily found) because – and I am honestly not sure whether or not this is the right inclination – I’d hope their work is appreciated before the challenges they live with. It would distress me if sharing this experience and advice resulted in the panelists becoming more known for the condition they live with than their work – all of which is interesting and fantastic, and inherently deserves attention without further context. On the off chance one of the panelists reads this and would like to be identified, I’d happily edit their name(s) in.

Also - I’ve done my best to understand and properly use language around being differently-abled and living with chronic illness, but if I’ve messed up please let me know so I can correct and apologize.

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Thanks for taking the time to read. Below please find the NYCC “The Creative Community, Disability, and Chronic Illness” panel’s official description:

Disabilities, both visible and invisible, can make working in the deadline-intensive, yet creatively rewarding fields of comics/gaming/geek culture especially challenging. Managing energy, coping with pain, depression or other mental health issues, and the added cost of being self employed (no employer benefits) are all candidly discussed in this panel which features professional creators who all have disabilities or chronic health concerns. They will not only share their challenges, but their strategies for success, while being open and honest about their work and their lives, and the way they are perceived by clients. Brandon Kazen-Maddox will provide ASL translation services.

#comics #comic books #disability #chronic illness

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thekeyissue · 6 years ago

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HoX/PoX: A Narrative Breakdown

****SPOILERS for House of X/Powers of X below****

The first time I read Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 it punched me in the face. I don’t think I’ve ever met a story so disinterested in maintaining the reader’s understanding of its narrative’s linear order. Sure, there are chapters, but those mean donk-squat and the text bounces you between characters and events that haven’t been described yet while already in the middle of something brand new. Still, even at the end of that first confusing read-through, the book’s themes had cohesively built into something that gutted me.

It takes masterful story-construction and meticulous planning to pull off that style of story-telling (check out this outline Heller made), and Jonathan Hickman is on a very short list of writers I’ve discovered with the skill set to lay the groundwork for a similar effect. Heck, it’s not even that hard to draw some high-level comparisons between House of X/Powers of X and Catch 22 (both have a nonlinear story structure and a climatic reveal at the story’s end that recontextualizes what came before it, but actually occurred early in the plot’s timeline).

The comparisons between HoX/PoX and a novel more or less end there though. What HoX/PoX as a story accomplishes, despite employing two separate but interweaving series, multiple timelines, a large cast, and a nonlinear structure, is actually pretty easy to summarize: it believably gives readers the what and the why of a new status quo. In other words, it’s just the beginning of a story. Well, duh, Marvel said from the start that this was the plan – but when was the last time someone told you just the beginning of a story in a way that was satisfying, complete, and coherent. Like, if I pulled you aside and told you “Once upon a time, Tom went to the grocery store” and took a bow, you’d give me the finger and go find something interesting to do.

You know why 99% of TV show pilots are so bad? Exposition is really, really hard. But exposition is the beginning of a story and necessary, so there’s no way around it. The best story-tellers find ways to minimize the exposition they need, and dramatize the exposition that is absolutely necessary (this is why a lot of action stories start mid-action sequence – it’s an easy dramatic backdrop to explain what’s happening in an exciting way). The HoX/PoX team just pulled off a 12-issue dramatization of exposition that works! They created a mostly unprecedented and believable (by which I mean, character choices/story made sense as a whole) new status quo for mutants in the Marvel comic universe. Pulling that off is crazy-town high-level story-telling! So, how’d they do it?

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Understanding how HoX/PoX made interesting story-telling out of exposition requires a close look at the series’ overall narratives. Narratives always contain arcs, of which there are many types. A few examples:

Character Arcs: the growth/changes a character makes throughout a story – ex. Johnny grows up and starts taking responsibility for himself

Event Arcs: how a significant event affects those around it – ex. a movie organized around a specific event or movement, like the march from Selma to Montgomery in the “Selma”

Arcs of Understanding: an audience/reader coming to grasp the full truth of a person or situation – ex. a mystery, where our changing understanding of what’s happening drives the story forward

HoX/PoX contains two larger arcs:

the founding of Krakoa

the reader’s understanding of the radicalization of Xavier.

There are of course many sub-plots that are not explicitly one of the two arcs mentioned above, but these are all in service of one or both of the larger arcs. HoX/PoX having two major arcs makes sense, as it’s technically two different series. If we wanted to generalize, we could call HoX primarily about the founding of Krakoa, and PoX primarily in service of our understanding of Xavier’s radicalization. It’s not a perfect split (I’m looking at you HoX #2), but it can be a helpful delineation.

The founding of Krakoa is an event arc – we get to see how it happens over the course of the series and what that means to different groups of mutants and humans alike. This arc mainly functions to define the new status quo for readers. We see:

the origins of the creation of Krakoa as a space, establishing our new setting.

the call for mutants to join Krakoa/humans to accept Krakoa, the inciting incident to tension/conflict that births the new status quo.

the political maneuvering to have Krakoa be accepted as an independent nation which establishes a new hierarchy of power between mutants and humans.

an introduction to the Orchid group and their attempt to combat the rise of mutants, which defines the current human+machine/mutant conflict within the new status quo.

groups of traditionally ideologically different mutants uniting, empowered, and successfully independent, which is the new status quo.

By the end of HoX we have a solid understanding of Krakoa as a space & nation, mutant’s new place in the world, and the opposition they may face going forward. To understand why this happened requires the larger series’ other arc, the reader’s understanding of the radicalization of Xavier.

Xavier is the key player in HoX/PoX because his traditional ideological position is in such contrast to the decisions we see him making. This is somewhat of a generalization over decades of continuity, but Xavier and the team he founded, the X-Men, traditionally fight for peaceful coexistence & equality between humans and mutants. Suddenly seeing him separate and raise he and his people above humanity seems out of character and requires explanation.

Moira’s story and timelines provide this explanation. Her ultimate truth, fully revealed only in the final issue of the HoX/PoX series, is that across every lifetime she has lived, mutants have always lost to humanity. Leading up to this final reveal, PoX is an exercise in slowly pulling the curtain back on this truth:

X^0 shows Moira meeting Xavier and sharing her experiences/lives with him for the first time (in the series’ current timeline).

X^2 portrays the short-term stakes of the potential future mutants face (bad – they’ve been driven off-Earth and almost extinct).

And X^3 ultimately shows the long-term stakes of mutant’s potential future (very bad – they’re caged up, almost extinct, and with no recollection of freedom).

The revelation of this consistent, demonstrated loss convinces Xavier to shift his ideological stance – although we don’t see his mind changing – which just points to how this series did not have or make the room for character arcs. Xavier’s ideological shift explains the radically different behavior he and the X-men demonstrate, justifying their behavior and the necessity of the new Dawn of X status quo.

While these two large arcs run throughout the HoX/PoX series, they are not shown in linear order. If the plot were ordered from beginning to end, we would never question the characters’ actions and decisions because we’d understand their motivations from issue one – HoX/PoX does the exact opposite: dropping us into the results of motivated characters having already made decisions without our having any context. This maximizes the tension between the old and new status quo and makes sure we’re questioning everything going on. The story doesn’t progress linearly, it progresses by a constantly revealing the context surrounding this shift in status quo.

HoX/PoX creates a huge breadth of potential reveals by containing a large amount of story time (thanks for all those lives you’ve had, Moira!) and by arranging this story time non-linearly. Four different timelines allow for four chances to establish settings/characters, create conflict, and reveal truths – all of which can (and do) inform one another. Juxtaposing the various timelines non-linearly creates double the amount of potential reveals. We get reveals regarding the order in which everything happens, and we get reveals about how what’s happening in one timeline relates to/informs our understanding of other timelines. Creating a structure that provides opportunities for reveal after reveal is what allows HoX/PoX to drive readers excitedly through a full 12-issue series of exposition, which in turn gives the story enough real estate to believably change the status quo so dramatically. Very, very cool.

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What’s really exciting is that this is just the beginning. Like, we haven’t even gotten into character driven story-telling and people are already HYPE – it should only get better, or, at least, it only has the opportunity to now that the story is ready to move past its introduction.

The creative teams behind the X-Men books have an incredible opportunity to explore the world of mutants in new and exciting ways. Mutants have always been a very vague stand-in/metaphor for oppressed minority groups in the real world. Often these real-world minority groups have various factions organized around competing beliefs regarding methods of empowerment, something somewhat reflected in past mutant vs mutant comic storylines. Because of HoX/PoX, the fictional world of mutants is set up, for the first time (at this scope), to explore the idea of an empowered and fully-united minority group successfully standing up for itself – that’s the kind of thought-provoking setting I applaud mainstream comics embracing, assuming it is done with the thoughtfulness and nuance it deserves.

Consider the film “Do the Right Thing” (and go watch it if you haven’t), which is famous for ending with the following quotes from MLK Jr. and Malcolm X:

"Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by destroying itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers."--Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I think there are plenty of good people in America, but there are also plenty of bad people in America and the bad ones are the ones who seem to have all the power and be in these positions to block things that you and I need. Because this is the situation, you and I have to preserve the right to do what is necessary to bring an end to that situation, and it doesn't mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time I am not against using violence in self-defense. I don't even call it violence when it's self- defense, I call it intelligence."--Malcolm X

The juxtaposition of these quotes at the film’s end points out how different, even seemingly conflicting ideological standards can exist inside of humans simultaneously, and that holding oppressed groups to a single one of these standards can be an oppression in and of itself. Dawn of X feels like an evolution (lolz) in mutant-related story-telling towards representing this reality – treating mutants as complex beings (who are attempting to unite and rise despite their conflicting beliefs and ideologies) is a step towards realizing the full potential of mutants as metaphor. I am excited to see if and how the Dawn of X series creators will meet this opportunity to tell the epic, fun, meaningful stories the X-Men are known for - and if HoX/PoX is any indication, we are in good hands.

Here’s to Dawn of X, tomorrow and onwards!

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