WonderCon 2024 Panel: The Relationship Between Comics and Pro Wrestling

The “Not So Strange Bedfellows” panel makes their comeback to Wondercon 2024 for a panel mashup of “The Relationship Between Comics and Pro Wrestling” and discussing creating your own comics. 

The Relationship Between Comics and Pro Wrestling Panel

On Sunday, March 31st, founder and editor in chief of Ultima Comics, Joshua Waldrop (owner/editor-in-chief, Ultima Comics) moderated the panel, asking panelists Francis Szyskowski (creator, The Massacre Twins) and Anthony Ray Bench (Associate Editor, Ultima Comics) questions on their introduction to comics, their involvement, and the genre of pro wrestling. After the panel he answered questions from the audience and shared his experience with where to start in the journey to creating your own comic.

“They [comics and wrestling] have costumes, they follow the same tropes, there is storytelling tropes that are good guys, bad guys, the battle of good and evil. And when I got into the pro wrestling business and really learned and kind of assumed that, what I realized is that comics, pro wrestling, TV, movies, all of these mediums boil down to basically the same thing, which is storytelling and all about effective storytelling. They’re both unique in the sense that when you’re reading a comic or when you’re watching pro wrestling, there’s several different stories being told to you all at the same time.”

Josh went on to discuss the importance of keeping the reader or audience engaged, from the moment you turn on the television to opening a comic.

“… like the panels on the [comic book] page if you’re watching Monday Night Raw, you’re watching a match and it’s done right and you should be able to turn of sound off, not even hear the commentators and see what’s going on in the ring and tell that they’re telling you a story from the time the bell rings to the time the bell rings from the match start of the match beginning with the smaller campaign story.”

Josh went on to cover this telescopic storytelling method that both comic books and wrestling share, in that both are “a small story being told inside a larger story.” Comic books and pro wrestling feature the same kinds of characters seen throughout the history of storytelling, including the hero, the villain, the sidekick, and so on, within their hero’s journey.

Panelist, Francis Sky covers his comic The Massacre Twins and the history behind the name, the creation of the story, and the “arduous journey” towards the exciting first issue set to release this summer.

 

Francis added to aspects of storytelling, telling the audience:

“We (the creators) are going to work our way to that scene of a fight or a comedic moment, or them getting trapped and working their way out or a victory. The gripping (element) is in the chase. … With wrestling, with comics. Everything comes down to good and evil.”

About the Moderator

Joshua began the panel by explaining how he was introduced to wrestling at the age of 12. He is now involved in pro wrestling since 2000 through UPW Ultimate Wrestling (California, 1999-2007). Though he had comics from the Sunday paper, it wasn’t until a friend of his presented him with the comic Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez and Circle of Blood by David Mack, that Josh turned towards the independent comic scene. Upon discovering the largely successful The Walking Dead comic, Josh realized he wanted to make comics and would soon bring the birth of Ultima Comics.