Comic Arts Conference at San Diego Comic-Con

This past weekend was the first in-person meeting of the Comics Arts Conference - an academic group running concurrently with the Wonder-Con and Comic-Con International Conventions - since the pandemic. Kyle was invited to present his paper, "The Pyle Paradox." The speech covered how Nathan Pyle's Strange Planet comic memes use the imagery of space aliens to cultivate identification and empathy. Pyle's work runs contrary to the major trends of pop sci-fi and fantasy which often apply the trope of the Alien as a means of cultivating fear of "the Other." Kyle plans to continue developing this rhetorical project, leveraging concepts from the likes of Gebser, Marx, and Brecht, for eventual publication.