SWAMPSCOTT — Fandoms, otherwise known as the communities of fans that springs up around a particular piece of popular media, proliferate in both online and in-person spaces, like message boards, convention centers, and your local library.
On Saturday, a group of kids sat around a table at the Swampscott Public Library, carefully drawing different aspects of a monster they were coming up with together.
Cartoonist Cathy G. Johnson from Rhode Island was their instructor. Before class began, she asked everyone to tell her their favorite comic book.
“I love drawing comics all the time anyway,” said 9-year-old Grafton Whitman. “My favorite comic is one that I drew.”
The library’s Swampycon, a family-friendly day of themed events ranging from making magical slime to battling Darth Vader after Jedi training, was itself a follow-up to another fandom-inspired event from a few years ago.
Librarian Caroline Margolis said that Swampycon is an extension of the Harry Potter Halloween party the library hosted in 2019. The library was unable to reprise the fun in 2020, as COVID-19 made hosting in-person events impossible, so Margolis said she wanted to do something big this year.
“We wanted to add more fandoms than just Harry Potter,” Margolis said. “We added Star Wars, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and superheroes in general.”
The event featured craft tables that featured making magical slime with glitter and paint and personalized badges with Star Wars characters, Hogwarts houses, and symbols of superheroes and Greeks.
Kids also lined up on the town green to learn from Margolis how to wield blow-up lightsabers. After they learned a few moves and partnered up to practice, Darth Vader ― who was actually Margolis’ husband Brian Walsh ― descended on the young Padawans and challenged them to a duel.
“I’m living 8-year-old Carrie’s dream,” said Margolis.
Katelyn Sahagian can be reached at [email protected].
