CapriCon 39 (Feb. 15-17)

February 15, 2019 at 12:00 PM — February 17, 2019 at 2:00 PM

Westin Chicago North Shore 601 N. Milwaukee Avenue Wheeling, IL 60090 get directions

Valentines weekend, a young geek’s heart turns to to thoughts of . . . CapriCon!

I have the pleasure of sharing both a panel and a book signing time with Guest of Honor Seanan McGuire, and spending quality time with great writers from Chicago and beyond, like Barbara Barnett. Want to hear me talk about monsters, comics, and getting into character in role-playing games? This is the con weekend for you.

 

Strange Beasts by Committee Flexible Programming Art Fri 1:00 PM 01:30 length
An adult version of the kids’ game. Silliness abounds when a group of people create monsters together. In this fast paced drawing activity, groups of two to four people create monsters by drawing one part of a creature, and then passing their papers to the next member of the team to draw the next part. Artistic talent not required!
X-Men X-Plained Willow A Comics Fri 2:30 PM 01:30 length
Our panelists discuss the X-Men series and how it has changed over time. From plucky yet angsty young mutants dealing with a world that didn’t know them through angsty mutants dealing with a world that hates them all the way through angsty, guilt ridden mutants dealing with a world that just killed the vast majority of them. With 96 members over the years there should be plenty to cover. Lifeguard, anyone?
Getting Into Character Willow B Gaming Sat 10:00 AM 01:30 length
One of the most fun things about roleplaying is being someone new. Someone different, with a different personality and abilities. But how do you do that? How does a mid 40s suburban professional get into the head of a blind, one-legged Elven mage addicted to magic whose parents tried to beat his love of Dwarven architecture out of him? It’s a tricky question.
Themed Reading: High Fantasy Willow A Reading Sat 1:00 PM 01:30 length
Here there be elves. Authors read works of high fantasy.
Autographing: Barnett/McGuire/Townsend Autograph Table Autographing Sat 2:30 PM 00:45 length
Barbara Barnett, Seanan McGuire, and Tracy Townsend sign their works.
The Monster Has a Point, You Know Botanic B Literature Sun 12:00 PM 01:30 length
It’s in the nature of speculative fiction to explore “monsters” and non-human things, often positioning these creatures as villains and antagonists. But every monster has some kind of motivation; sometimes, their motives are as reasonable as the those that make human characters into “heroes.” From Godzilla as a being born of atomic warfare and destruction to the COG forces of Gears of War committing genocide against the previously peaceful Locusts, science fiction and fantasy teem with stories of human beings proving themselves as monstrous than the creatures they battle. In this panel, we’ll discuss the ways sf interrogates human actions through the perspective of monsters, and the narratives that make the most compelling cases for the monsters (Maybe?) being in the right.