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Everything has changed in the wake of COVID-19. This applies, of course, to indie comic creators, for whom the pandemic hit especially hard in terms of income. With gatherings of people not likely to happen in any safe capacity for awhile, it has many creators asking, “What do we do in a world without comic conventions?”

D. Bethel and Taurus Comics’ Kyrun Silva sit down to talk about creating comics during a pandemic. While a dour topic generally, they manage to find the laughs amid the serious discussion of the future of indie comics and the conventions they hold so dear.

RELEVANT LINKS:

• Find Kyrun’s work through Taurus Comics at:
  • Taurus Comics website
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
• D. Bethel’s webcomic, Long John.
• Want to read a storyline from D. Bethel’s previous comic, Eben07? Read the comic’s final, five-issue story––”Operation: 3-Ring Bound”––for free as an ebook.

OTHER EPISODES:

• Con Artists #01 – StocktonCon, pt. 1 : The drive home from the first day of the show. Kyrun and D. discuss making sales, confidence, and the comics they grew up reading and enjoying.
• Con Artists #02 – StocktonCon, pt. 2 : The drive to StocktonCon to start Day 2 of the show. They discuss the importance of continuity, the level of fan engagement and ownership over continuity, and Dan’s strange reading habits growing up.
• Con Artists #03 – StocktonCon, pt. 3 : Where Kyrun and D. talk about the breadth of indie comics, writing comics, and dive headfirst into personal nostalgia.
• Con Artists #04 – StocktonCon Winter 2019: Where D. Bethel and Kyrun try out StocktonCon’s inaugural Winter show…with mixed results.
• Con Artists #06 – Tickets & Tables: Where D. Bethel & Kyrun continue to ponder life without incomes and how the industry has tried to fill that void.
• Con Artists #07 – Return of the Con: Where D. Bethel & Kyrun hit the con circuit after over a year away from it.
• Con Artists #08 – The Madness of Marketing: Where D. Bethel & Kyrun talk about marketing new books during the middle of a pandemic.
• Con Artists #09 – CrockerCon Artists: Where D. Bethel & Kyrun talk about the 10th CrockerCon, a show of which Kyrun is now the co-coordinator

REFERENCES:

• The infamous “Sweet Justice” poster:

• The YouTube playlist of the short videos D. Bethel made for Chapter 4 of his webcomic (the music changes regularly after the fourth or so video; he was playing catch-up):

FEATURED MUSIC:

-“Road Music” by D. Bethel
-“Bounce” by D. Bethel