Saturday (June 13) was FlameCon, New York City’s first Queer Comic Con and, how to be elegant about this? WOW, WOW, WOW. It’s always interesting when a need is filled without people knowing that it needed to be. GeeksOut, the creators of FlameCon, they knew and they provided in style. The con itself, which we were concerned would focus mainly on the “gay” aspect of the LGBTQ spectrum (a common issue found in events like this), lived up to its promise of being a full on queer-for-all, though. From panels to vendors to the after party (more on that in a minute), every color of the rainbow was out and proud; as an old-school club kid, I’ve been to many a queer event where my “kind” aka bisexuals wasn’t appreciated and this was a welcome change. So shout out to GeeksOut for making this happen!

Julie and Frenchie, honorary con buddies that we are, made our way to Grand Prospect Hall hoping that this first foray into queer con-dom (see what I did there) would be successful because, otherwise, this would be the first/last/only FlameCon. Thankfully, despite the the lack of air conditioning in such fancy digs, the place was jammed with queer geeks like ourselves who’d been waiting for a con that melded two extremely important facets of their lives. We managed to make it to two panels: “No More Mister Nice Gay”, discussing appreciation of queer characters with dark sides, and “A Queer Reading of Sherlock Holmes”, which looked at the canon material within the context of its time period and through a queer lens. The air of levity throughout the venue was contagious and, of course, the cosplay matched.

Panel talk:

“No More Mister Nice Gay: Uber Violence and Queer Storytelling”

Moderated by Bobby Hankinson and featuring panelists Steve Orlando (Midnighter), Lawrence Gullo (Bash Back), and Kelsey Hercs (Bash Back), this panel discussed comics where queer storytelling and violence intersect. DC Comics character Midnighter has been around in various comic runs since 1998 and is fairly well known (Orlando has taken the helm for the most recent run, which dropped its first issue this month), while Bash Back is an indie comic work in progress about a Godfather/Tarantino-esque “Gay Mafia.” The creators cited wish fulfillment and the treatment of queers in the real world as influences, since many times we are expected to be docile victims rather than standing up for ourselves. The main characters in both comics stand up for themselves and their communities, and as Steve Orlando said “live like we have zero fucks to give.”

When asked about the role of sex in their books, Orlando said there is as much sex in Midnighter as you would see in a straight book. The Bash Back team talked about the importance of not fetishizing queer sex, making sure that the story (including sex) is told from a particular person’s point of view rather than trying to speak for an entire demographic. All of the panelists stressed the importance of their being more to the character than just their sexuality or just their violent tendencies.

There was also a genius discussion of bisexual erasure during the Q&A that while it didn’t tie directly into Midnighter or Bash Back was one of the highlights of the con for Frenchie and Julie. Kelsey Herc spoke passionately on the subject, saying “if gay is blue, and straight is red, bi is purple.”As Lawrence Gullo put it, “sofa beds are always sofa beds”: just because the furniture is being used as a sofa or a bed at any given time doesn’t mean it isn’t always both things. In other words, bisexuality occupies its own unique space, it isn’t an either/or thing.

The takeaway from this panel for Julie was that these books are like other really great comics you might find out there. They feature violence and sex and in depth characters just like a “straight” book would, the leads of Midnighter and Bash Back just happen to be queer. Hopefully, as the world gets used to seeing queer characters in mainstream entertainment, there will be more great books like these two.

“A Queer Reading of Sherlock Holmes”

Though the focus of the Sherlock panel was the original canon, it was impossible to discuss it without also touching on the different interpretations Sherlockians have been gifted with over the years. Fyodor Pavlov (artist) moderated the panel with Kelsey Hercs (‘Bash Back‘), Lawrence Gullo (self-proclaimed “gay history nerd” and burlesque/boylesque performer), and Kate Tracy (creator of the ‘S-her-lock’ webseries). In response to the push-back received from older generations, that Holmes and Watson were NOT queer, the general consensus of the panel was “who cares?”. Maybe they were, maybe they weren’t (though the canon definitely suggests they were if one opens themselves up to the idea), maybe Sir Arthur Conan Doyle meant for these characters to be seen in either/or way but it doesn’t really matter; “We want and deserve to see ourselves in our heroes or in comics” which is why an asexual woman might see Holmes as asexual due to his demeanor and a bisexual person might see Watson as a bi-man equally in love with both Holmes and Mary Morstan. “Don’t allow people to invalidate your need for representation.”

When it comes to canon, it’s nigh impossible to ignore Holmes and Watson skipping town around the same time the Oscar Wilde trials (highlighting the criminality of homosexual behavior) were occurring, Sherlock’s consistent irritation with Watson’s need to “settle down with the right girl”, or how rampant blackmail was during the Victorian Era (ensuring men did everything they could to keep their hetero reputations intact). As Sir ACD was first and foremost an observer of human behavior, Lawrence mentioned that, “If you were going to write queer Holmes, this is how you’d do it.” What stuck with Frenchie the most was how Kate put everything into perspective. Essentially, you have to remember that Sherlock Holmes is modern mythology and mythology needs to adapt so as to stay relevant; it needs to be adapted in as many ways as possible because how many times can you have a cis-straight-white male rendition of Sherlock before it’s boring?

The Afterparty

Now for the real meat and potatoes! You know a bunch of us queers couldn’t get together without a party, right? Especially during Pride month! FlameCon hosted the “Fire Ball” in the same venue late Saturday evening with a focus on burlesque since, hello, there were plenty of cosplayers to choose from! It’s likely the most fun these Rat Queens have had during a night out in quite some time. Sure there was a wedding going on in the ballroom downstairs but, you know what? It was our time to celebrate the triumph of the first ever FlameCon with a fervent wish for many more (or even a monthly dance party, we’re not picky), and celebrate we did. Here are enough pictures to make you feel like you were there with us!

Did you make it to FlameCon?! Tell us and share what you did/didn’t like!