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The Color of Always Comic Book Anthology

Drawing Lines//Posting Signs is a comic short, written by Christie Porter, with art by Alina Wahab, that is published in The Color of Always: An LGBTQIA+ Love Anthology following a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign. In May of 1999, a 10-year-old girl is enlisted by her church and family to help in the effort to pass California Proposition 22, which would outlaw same-sex marriage. At the same time, she develops a crush on another girl, Morgan, and she has to confront the reality that she belongs to the “immoral” community actively opposed by her faith and family. Now an adult, she is once again confronted with the choice of whether or not to support her community and reveal her sexual identity.

The Cover of The Color of Always by Elisa Romboli

Bi Visibility Comic Book Anthology

My Voice is a comic short, written by Christie Porter, with art by Phillip Sevy (Triage, Tomb Raider) and color by Sarah Stern (Zodiac Starforce, Goldie Vance, Pumpkinheads), that is published in Bi Visibility: A Bisexual Anthology following a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign. In which, news reporter, Bea, is covering a protest for the rights of people straddling the line between alien and human, and she is torn between doing her job or siding with the marginalized group to which she secretly belongs.

Cover art by Melissa Capriglione

Twitch TV and the rise of the pro streamer

Twitch is a live video streaming platform where anyone with a camera and an idea can start a channel and start streaming about anything. Seriously, anything–from cooking shows to a University of Utah professor’s accordion practice. What really drives people to Twitch, however, is live video game streaming. It’s even given rise to a new profession: the video game streamer. While getting started as a video game streamer is relatively simple, getting “gud?” It’s a grind.

TWITCH TV LOGO

Downwinders oppose return of nuclear testing

July 6th, 2020 marked 58 years since the explosion of a 104-kiloton bomb by the Atomic Energy Commission at the Nevada National Security Site. The explosion left behind a massive crater and a radioactive cloud that traveled over Utah and several other states. The fallout from nuclear weapons testing that began at the Nevada Test Site in the 1950s resulted in ongoing health problems– such as cancers, leukemia, and lymphoma– for Downwinders that persist to this day.

Photo courtesy the University of Utah Downwinders of Utah Archive (https://lib.utah.edu/services/geospatial/downwinders/)
Photo courtesy the Downwinders of Utah Archive (https://lib.utah.edu/services/geospatial/downwinders/)

Trans discrimination in the courts

We all have legal identification: our driver’s licenses, birth certificates, passports. They show our name, date of birth, and a single-letter marker indicating our gender. But what if the name or gender didn’t match who you are?What if the person on your ID card simply isn’t you? For some people living in Utah, that’s a reality, and changing it is almost never easy.

changing your name and gender on your birth certificate requires a court order and some judges simple won't give one.
Changing your name and gender marker from what’s on your birth certificate requires a court order, and some judges simply won’t give one.

Making characters that make great cosplay

On this episode of the Fan Made podcast: creating the comic book characters that people will have to cosplay. After this, you will never look at a comic book panel the same way again. Author and artist Phillip Sevy (Tomb RaiderThe Freeze) gave us an inside look at the process of making a character from the perspective of their creator.

Character costume design for Orbit (TRIAGE, Phillip Sevy)
Character costume design for Orbit (TRIAGE, Phillip Sevy)

Gamers challenge misconceptions

The members of the University of Utah’s League of Legends eSports Team game more than just about anyone. “I’ll probably spend 20, 25 hours a week just watching professional games,” said Esports coach, Michael Swisher or Swish. “The thing with eSports is, you can go forever. There are pro players that go for literally 18 hours a day.” It’s a lot of time spent, but it’s the level of commitment needed to be the best, according to Swisher. “If you’re very serious about going professional as a player you need at least five or six games a day.”

League of Legends team at the University of Utah scrimage practice
League of Legends team at the University of Utah scrimage practice

Shaking up the industry

Student video game creators at the University of Utah have their eye on the future as they showed off their games. At the Entertainment, Arts & Engineering (EAE) launch party, members of the public got their first chance to play some of the video games created by University of Utah students. Many of them said they head toward careers in the gaming industry with both eyes open.

EAE Student Game Launch Event 2019 at University of Utah

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