The Convention’s Flashback is an abridged recap of events from years past.
Rated U for Uncensored, as some content may not be suitable for all audiences.
Reader Discretion is advised.
Credits to Star Supa Comic (Source) for the cover photo, and the various sources seen in this post, if mentioned.
I DO NOT own the rights to any of the photos, videos or external material seen in this post, with a source linked to it, if mentioned.
WARNING. Do not attempt to harass any individuals, groups or organizations mentioned in this story. We here at SIR do not advocate for the harassment of people. Please behave yourselves.
2018 – The one after Comic Fiesta
In 2018, Comic Fiesta (CF) was not the last event of that year. 👀
As a rising Star of Supa Comics, would hijack that 2018 title away from CF. 🤔
Also, check out the related stories below,
(☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞ A Con-Eventional Story: Star Supa Comic 2018 ☜(ﾟヮﾟ☜)
(☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞ An UnCon-Eventional Story: Star Supa Comic 2018 ☜(ﾟヮﾟ☜)
Quick Facts
- Star Supa Comic 2018 is the 1st iteration of Star Supa Comic.
- This was their debut event.
- This also marks the last Malaysian ACG Event for December 2018.
- This was the 1st ACG event I.Star Events Sdn Bhd would organize.
- I.Star Events Sdn Bhd is a subsidiary of The Star Media Group.
- Other events they’ve organized include,
- Star Supa Comic 2018 was also,
- The 1st ACG Event ever covered on this site.
- The 1st Con-Eventional/UnCon-Eventional Story written.
- The 1st ACG Event ever covered on this site.
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- The 1st Mid Valley Megamall based event covered.
- The 1st and last 2018 ACG Event covered.
The A-Bridge Story
In the year before 2018, The Star Media Group had a brilliant idea. 🤔
“Why don’t we host an ACG Event? What could possibly go wrong?” (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞
And so they did. Until…
“But it’s one week after CF! No one’s gonna attend this shit!”
The bold following bold statement kept coming up all over Social Media.
- Credits to Star Supa Comic for the post. Source
It didn’t help that the event’s earliest promotional material went all…um.
*points at the post*
Otakus Unite, it says.
A term other outlets that reported on Star Supa Comic early on brought it up as something to fix.
BUT. The Star Media Group was also a newspaper outlet, so they started pulling ALL THE STOPS from that end.
- Credits to The Star Newspaper for the screenshots. Source
Article after article about Star Supa Comic’s 2018 lineup kept coming up until event day in December.
*Side note, do check out these articles that help give an interesting insight into certain things about the scene.
- Ann Wong is a mother, homemaker and cosplayer extraordinaire
- Meet supercool cosplay emcees GG Twins at Star Supa Comic
- Catch cosplayer Luna Lorrain’s slashing violins at Star Supa Comic
- Malaysian cosplayer works hijab into her stunning outfits
- Get into the groove with cosplay group Deltarhythm at Star Supa Comic
- How to make it big at cosplay events: pro-tips by Team Blood
- Star Supa Comic: Leon Noel’s journey from prop-maker to cosplayer
- Cosplay superstars galore at Star Supa Comic inaugural event
But that did little to appease the self proclaimed psychic/expert public, calling the event a flop before it even started.
- Credits to Star Supa Comic for the video. Source
But the content, was what did the carrying for Star Supa Comic 2018.
Which led to never ending lines of attendees lining up to meet these foreign guests.
Specifically Mr Leon Chiro from Italy, who chose to spend his Post-Christmas holidays here in Malaysia with overseas fans. 🤔
And well.
The event wrapped up rather well actually.
Surely the cockiness from Star Supa Comic ends here right?
- Credits to Star Supa Comic for the post. Source
Less than a few weeks later…goddammit Star Supa Comic. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
Author’s Summary
Star Supa Comic 2018 was the 1st event that we ever attended as an attendee, that wasn’t too busy going after Children’s Card Game shite only.
With the added job of being a…”Journalist”.
Or, as poorly described back then, “Someone who covers events”.
Now comes a flurry of short stories to bore you to death.
The Post-CF 2018 Idea
I recall the conversation to attend Star Supa Comic went something like this.
“Hey, why don’t we attend this event?” (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞
“After CF? Are you whacko? Don’t we have broken legs?!” Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
“Ah come on, it’ll be fun! Besides.”
“In case we can’t secure an Internship slot in time, might as well have something to write for a portfolio in case we miss the deadline, yeah?” 🤔
“Eh…hmm…” 🤔🤔🤔
Basically at the time, we were still in college and needed to secure an Internship position to finish that last subject on our college to-do list.
And that the last minute decision to attend Star Supa Comic was a backup plan, to have some stuff to write about for a portfolio.
Which helps in getting an Internship, since having proof that you could write stories is a very convincing tool to carry one into the field of Journalism.
And what better thing to write about than an event that was coincidentally happening right after Comic Fiesta. (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞
It’s just more post event leg damage. ψ(｀∇´)ψ
The Prestige Encounter
Despite having attended events before, I actually have 0 idea about who or what most of these event people were. Or how much prestige they had.
To the point that, any individual or group we’ve mildly heard about would terrify us, if we’re put in a situation where we had to approach them.
But one group I was aware of, thanks to a friend who’s Facebook posts was filled with stuff from that group, was actually present at Star Supa Comic.
*Names redacted for privacy reasons, so fill in the blanks. 🤔
So to encounter them in person was…terrifying. Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
As seen in the the following internal monologue,
“Oh goddamit, it’s actually them. They’re a group that’s in the ACG scene for god knows how long, and to approach them is basically suicide! What right do we even have to approach them as complete strangers anyways?!”
“Calm the F down boi! Just Relax. Walk. Up. And. Say. Hi. They won’t kill you.”
*approaches booth*
“Oh hi.” (Note: Italic denotes lines from other people.)
“Um…Hi.” ._.
“…goddammit man.” (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
At some point, the panic did eventually subside and we managed to learn a bit about the group.
Such as the following fact that was the most intriguing at the time,
“I thought your group had 5 members?”
“Oh the other member’s in Singapore.”
“Oh I see…and wait wtf, SINGAPORE? The FAQ?”
That was the coolest and most confusing fact to learn about at the time.
But the takeaway was that, people in the ACG Scene, even ones that you may have heard of briefly, are actually quite approachable.
A lesson that took us awhile to take in, as a terribly low confident piece of crap from a year ago.
Basically, just approach people nicely, and go from there. Be Polite. (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞
The Confidence Call
In the field, having a camera is key, regardless if it’s a phone or an actual camera.
But one thing that felt impossibly difficult to do was asking people if we could take their cosplay photos.
It didn’t help that our knowledge about cameras at the time only revolved around…pointing and shooting. ._.
Which made us question if we even had the right to photograph people, even with their permission granted. D:
Until this one person, who we photographed. After finishing, they came up to us saying,
“You should be more confident.”
EH?
What the heck?!
We’re a complete stranger to the ACG scene, and suddenly we’re getting advice from someone who’s in the ACG scene for god knows how long?! Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
WHAT IS HAPPENING?! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
A surprise more than anything.
Looking back now, it’s a very strange thing to be freaking out over. 🤔
But it did continue the impression I was getting from the ACG scene.
People within the scene are welcoming to strangers who don’t act like pieces of crap.
…and thankfully, we fit that bill in the eyes of the folks attending the event.
The Future’s Contacts
One thing that came as a result of this visit was, by sheer coincidence, meeting some folks in the field who we would wind up working with in the long 2019 ahead.
Without mentioning names, these folks included,
- A young propmaker famous for his Captain America,
- A veteran The Flash propmaker, who would do an awesome Zero cosplay,
- A random looking Dante, who would wind up representing Malaysia in the near future,
- A bunch of Jojos, 🤔
- An X mas Saber, who would help in the various Guides you see here on the site,
- A heavyweapons camera guy, that makes a whole lot of awesome video stuff,
Just to name a few.
But there’s more…a bit later.
The Site’s Origins
After the event, questions about how we should write the story came up.
The first being the format on how to write it.
There was this strange urge to avoid being formal, because that just defeats the purpose of the story if it doesn’t present what the event was like.
And that’s when it hit us.
“Let’s do 2 stories instead! One for the event experience, the other for feedback!”
And thus, the Con-Eventional/UnCon-Eventional Stories were born.
Why 2 you ask?
Because it occurred to us that, with how different an Event Experience and Feedback piece works, it’s more effective to deliver both as standalone stories, than mash them together.
A mashup is difficult to balance, since feedback might get drowned out by the content looking to present what the event is like, for example.
Anyways, the next pickle was that…where were we going to write this…oh wait, the College Project!
Back in college, we had this assignment to run a small scale blog for the semester, by making content every few days/weeks/months etc.
And the very site you see here today, is that very same project. (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞
The Event’s Hindsight
We’ve already taken the piss at Star Supa Comic 2018 already, so we’ll be brief here.
Looking back at it, I too wasn’t too confident in how the event would turn out, but in contrast, it did do pretty well.
The turnout was surprisingly decent, and I would argue it was the most crowded Mid Valley had gotten since that year’s TAGCC, which was held at the same venue.
It’s not bigger than TAGCC of course, but it did bring back the crowd sizes.
Enough for that Star Supa Comic Sequel less than a year later, but more on this sequel next time.
The Present Day Legacy
What started off as a last minute trip to attend an ACG Event in December 2018, all in the name of getting stuff to write for a portfolio, is now this…outlet, if you want to call it that, that’s been busy writing content about the Malaysian ACG scene over the last year.
And over the course of 2019, many of the people we met here would wind up being people we would meet repeatedly throughout various events across the year.
Is how we can sum up this story.
And well.
Honestly speaking, it’s been wild 2019.
The last thing we expected to do in 2019 was to write stories about ACG scene stuff, specifically about events and a bunch of other content that exists.
And it’s been an honor, to write these stories that…some folks actually read. ;-;
For that we have this to say,
Thank you for reading. 🙏
The story doesn’t end here of course.
…because, there’s always Stuff to Read Here. (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞
*END*
Author’s Note:
Thank you so much for reading!
If possible, I’d love to hear your feedback on what can we do better.
Be it the bad writing, horrible pictures, or just the fact I need more water, I’d love to hear about it.
Also,
Check out more stories over at S.I.R House, of Content 2019.
That said, siteinrelief has a Facebook page!
For some reason, a Tumblr now too! 🤔
And also…a Twitter three. 🎄
Page us anytime, anywhere, Amway offers will be shot on sight, no questions asked.
S.I.R We Read Stuff Here 