Sally Forth Sunday: “Starlee and the Moonbeams” 1988 Public Service Announcement

And so our Comic Con story is over. And as with all 1980s syndicated cartoons, it must end with an in-character PSA so we can meet minimal educational requirements and still run a half-hour commercial for Mattel.

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Sally Forth Comic Con: So Long, and Thanks for All the Funkos

And thank you for riding with us!

To those who thought this story went on for far too many weeks, your long, national nightmare is over. (Including the guy who tweeted “Bro, is the comic-con storyline going to end in 2018 or nah?” leading one to naturally assume his account had been hacked by a douchey four-year-old.) To those who enjoyed the journey and the countless cosplay characters that Jim Keefe not only expertly illustrated but will use in his defense of “justifiable homicide” when he kills me, we can’t thank you enough. We enjoy attempting different stories and narrative structures with the comic and your encouragement is why we keep experimenting. (And why we enjoy hearing the old-timers yell “Stop!”)

But remember, it all ends tomorrow—like any 80s syndicated cartoon series—with an important PSA from Starlee and the Moonbeams! And you get to complete your “Sally Forth ¡Popps! figure collection today with Faye! Plus, there’s still some summer left over, so get ready as we close out the season with two-story werewolves.

A new summer vacation storyline will arrive next year, though we’re not quite sure in what form. Usually in a movie franchise by the third or fourth film the characters are launched into space, so perhaps the family will realize moving to Mars could be their greatest and shortest-lived trip ever.

Sally Forth Comic Con: And the Dog Waits and Waits and Waits…

When Ted’s dad passed away last year we got countless heartfelt emails from people using the opportunity to share their own grief. Because grief is about communication. It’s about trying to cope with and comprehend it with others. Otherwise it can swallow you whole.

But we also received emails from angry readers who said things along the lines of “I don’t go to the funny pages to be sad” and “Comics are only about making people laugh.” And it was, sadly, another glimpse at the limited scope people put not simply on their own perspective but also on what others should perceive. To the latter point, no one gets to define an art form in total to meet only their needs specifically. That’s not enjoying something. That’s not experiencing anything. That’s demanding to see yourself over and over again, and the results will be less and less until you are staring straight at nothing at all.

And this leads to the former point—I don’t agree with people who need things to be defined by a single aspect, who may believe that art is should only be be pretty and soothing and light. Because you can’t have light without casting a shadow. And that shadow is what adds depth. Without it you get the insubstantial. The immaterial. And eventually the inconsequential.

That said, there should always be pure fun. And if that’s what one wants every day then no one should tell them to seek out something else. However, those very people cannot tell others how they should present, perform, or perceive art. So you don’t have to watch Fry’s dog wait outside the pizza parlor at the end of that Futurama episode. I will, for that longing and loss at the end is the weight that makes you feel the true value of their companionship and love.

NOTE: Much like the attendee in the left foreground of today’s strip, you may be wondering just when this Comic Con will end. It all wraps up this Sunday back at the Forth house with a very special Starlee and the Moonbeams PSA. So watch. Learn. And make sure to buy the show’s toys. (Also remember to keep collecting all the “Sally Forth ¡Popps!” figures this week!)

Sally Forth Comic Con: But Let Me First Talk about Myself for 15 Minutes…

As an audience member, the Q&A portion of any panel or screening should always be your immediate signal to:
1. leave.
2. will deafness.
3. scream until you are forcibly removed from the venue because sometimes it’s hard to make your way through a seated crowd and one always appreciates a little help.

Ostensibly, the Q&A is there to allow audience members to learn more about the participants or the process of creating what we just witnessed. But more often than not it becomes a means in which individuals can use a microphone every panel coordinator is too slow to unplug to:
1. rhapsodize about themselves.
2. behave as if they are on very personal terms with the panel participants.
3. launch into a speech that doesn’t even have the slightest connection with the subject matter at hand in a tone that is somehow both equally offensive and defensive as they angrily exclaim “But did the makers of Voltron even once think about the Crimean War?!”

And that’s if you’re lucky to avoid hearing someone say, “I have a script I would like to show you” or “I think you stole my script idea I never showed you.” And so I, like so many others, sit in the audience staring at my phone or into the middle distance, waiting for the sweet release of spontaneous combustion or for the moderator to say, “That’s it. I need a drink.”

Sally Forth Comic Con: Just Keep Moving, Just Keep Moving…

Of course given the huge crowds it makes sense why Comic Con personnel can’t have you sit there or stand there or breathe there. But sometimes you just want to crouch down, leans your head against a wall out of pure exhaustion, and plug in every device you have on you into any available wall socket, even if that means a hot plate so you can make your own $18 small nachos serving.

SPECIAL NOTE: Don’t forget to collect all the Sally Forth ¡Popps! figures this week in the strip, including today’s Hilary with “action drumsticks” and Baby Metal t-shirt!

Sally Forth Comic Con: That Is One Scary-Ass Baby

And as we come back from San Diego Comic Con the Forths are wrapping up their trip to Trystero Con. But not before Ted makes a regrettable purchase decision, because if you don’t know what he’s referring to here it is in all its “Wear that to bed, Ted, and our relationships dies” glory from the film Brazil…

As for Sally, she better make sure there is an authentication certificate on the back of that animation cel. And to make sure to get UV-ray filter glass when framing that cel. And, well, I may have gone through this once or twice with Simpsons cels.

PLUS: Make sure to pick up your Sally Forth ¡Popps! Ted Forth edition, complete with spatula for making his special “Hamburger of Summer” and several scuff marks indicating he and the grill exchanged words if not actual punches.

Sally Forth Comic Con: How to Cat and Meet Celebrities

I have a very dear friend Lucas Turnbloom who meets ALL the celebrities at San Diego Comic Con each year. He’s met Joss Whedon, He helped Michael Rooker with his luggage, and on the very first day of Comic Con he took this photo of himself with a certain Firefly star…
And the next day…

In fact, such is Lucas’s powers of meeting the famous that a few weeks prior to Comic Con I was walking in NYC, the two of us joking on Facebook chat about who he would run into this year, when I passed right by David Letterman. (NOTE: Even in NYC this is an extremely rare sighting, akin to spotting a long-bearded unicorn.)

Hence why Nona has all these photos of her with celebrities, including Letitia Wright from Black Panther and Kelly Marie Tran from The Last Jedi, whose Rose was rightfully celebrated by cosplayers at Comic Con this year.

And this also allows Jim Keefe and I to celebrate Lucas’s VERY fast-rising and popular webcomic How to Cat with its own booth at Trystero Con 2018! You can read a great selection of How to Cat strips right here but here is just one example:

And make sure to read Lucas Turnbloom’s Dream Jumper graphic novels co-written with Greg Grunberg. Inside you’ll even find a character patterned after me, which he oddly named “Francesco.” 🙂

SPECIAL NOTE: Make sure to collect all Sally Forth ¡Popp! bobblehead figures all this week on Sally Forth!

Sally Forth Comic Con: Come On Get Happy

I said this in an earlier post but when people talk about finding the meaning of life what that actually means is finding out what it truly means to feel alive. And a large part of feeling truly alive is celebrating what brings you joy. (Another part is remembering to bring more than one pair of shorts on vacation, as I forgot to do for our current San Diego Comic Con trip only to immediately spill coffee on said only shorts before the flight even left the runway, but I digress.) And Sally is doing just that, as she just can’t contain her excitement at meeting her childhood hero because that very excitement is what it means to be in touch with who she is. And that—when you remove the long lines and the crowds and the countless purchases—is what a Comic Con allows people to do. It helps them not only celebrate but also share a happiness and fandom that has always been a large part of who they really are.

And that very photo on Ted’s iPhone is based on this shot of my girlfriend Stacey very happy to meet Samantha Newark—the voice of her childhood hero Jem——at San Diego Comic Con in 2016.

Sally Forth Comic Con: They Have Always Been There

There have always been strong, inspiring female heroes in real life. They just have always been criminally underrepresented in films, comics, and TV. But that is changing and that is crucial. Because what pop culture does best is help us dream, and when you see someone like yourself in a graphic novel, someone who shares your concerns in a movie, someone like you overcoming obstacles in a series, you are encouraged to think, “I can do this.” “I have this.” And most important of all, “I am not alone.”

Sally Forth Comic Con: “Then I’ll Just Add Some Throwing Stars and a Supernova Here…”

What would a “Starlee” doodle look like?

• Starlee surrounded by musical notes that she can also use as throwing daggers
• Starlee smiling because she knows her laser cannon has another 12 clips of ammunition
• Starlee with anime tears of joy that she can also use as hand grenades
• Starlee giving a PSA about the importance of sweeping the leg
• Starlee with the inscription “So nice to see you!” in which the exclamation point can also be used as a blow-dart gun