Ok, I want to share a story about Travis McElroy and how heās a genuinely amazing human being.
So, my little sister is a huge fan of the McElroys and the Adventure Zone. So, naturally, she was really hoping to get her comic signed by them at San Diego Comic Con. But in 2018, she got appendicitis during SDCC and missed it. She was pretty upset. Then followed an entire year of her having health problem after health problem, culminating in the fact that the only open slot for surgery to finally take care of them is going to be on the first day of SDCC 2019. Basically, she had the year from hell.
The one silver lining is that itās an outpatient surgery, so she can attend the other 3 days of the con in a wheelchair. The only things she wants to do are to attend the two McElroy panels and go to the signing to get her comic signed. These are THE ONLY THINGS.
She goes to the first panel, and itās all good, but then she finds out that she had to go into a lottery to get the tickets for the signing, so sheās not going to be able to go. She was devasted, I mean full-on crying. It was just the straw that broke the camelās back on the worst year of her life.
I decided fuck that, Iām going to try to make this better. So, on Sunday I ditch my panels to go to the McElroy panel with her on Sunday. Itās not all of them, just Clint and Travis. After the panel, I asked my sister to get her comics out and we can see if we can catch one of them outside. She was like no, itās not worth it, I donāt want to have to push through the crowds, itās ok, sheās fine.
I knew she wasnāt ok, so I said, what if I leave you against the hallway wall, and take your comic to them, so you donāt have to get pushed through the crowds. She says, ok do it.
So I sprint towards Travis McElroy, comic in hand, and as soon I get close, words are spilling out, please itās for my sister, she just had surgery, she came all this way in a wheelchair just to see you. But honestly, I didnāt need to say anything, he was already reaching out to sign it, going oh yeah of course.
So he hands it back to me, I thank him, and think thatās the end of it, but then he goes, wait that your sister, pointing at her. I say yes, and he takes off towards her. When I catch up, heās greeting her, telling her how good it is to meet her, and then he asksĀ āCan I give you a hug?ā
My sisterās face lights up, and she instantly says, yes. I then whipped out my phone, and asked if I could take a picture. Travis goes oh, yeah of course, and puts an arm around her shoulders, while I take it.
After that, he had to leave, and once he did, my sister started crying again, but this time happy tears, telling me that Iām the best big sister ever. It was the best moment of the entire con for me.
So yeah, despite having never seen basically any McElroy content, I will always be a massive fan of Travis because he made that happen. He went above and beyond for a kid he didnāt even know just because he could. So actually, you should like him. You donāt have to be a fan of his work, or think heās funny, but you should like him, because heās an amazingly kind person, and the world needs more of that.