“Growing up, there just wasn't much available to me as a young boy,” he said.
“So you really entertain yourself, you get lost in the world of reading and create your own narratives . . . that was a time when I think I really used my imagination to keep myself occupied.”
But as the Yorta Yorta and Ngarrindjeri man dug deeper into comic book culture and cosplay, he began to recognise all his favourite superheroes and role models were, by and large, white.
“As I grew up, there were many more community members who approached me and said, ‘look, I grew up on Dr Who, I loved anime when I was growing up, I collect comic books’," he said.
“But I was missing platforms for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to talk about these things.”
In response, Mr Muir founded IndigiNerd, Australia's first ever indigenous comic-con, creating a space for a new generation of Aboriginal youth to find a community where they fit in.
Mr Muir said IndigiNerd, first held in Melbourne in 2019, began as a dream to give indigenous creatives and identities exposure in the pop culture industry.
It has now become a permanent fixture on Australia's cultural calendar.
“I got involved with it from a storytelling perspective - I think it's always important to create these platforms for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to have their voices heard,” he said.
“IndigiNerd is a place for Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islanders to come together, talk about their passion . . . it's really whatever the community wants it to be.”
While IndigiNerd has seen huge success, Mr Muir said there still wasn't a mainstream place for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia's comic book culture.
“A lot of mainstream conventions . . . are beginning to understand the contribution that people of colour bring to diverse storytelling,” he said.
“But I think in Australia, the topics of race and anything that is perceived as different is a very sensitive subject.
“I would like to say, ‘look, it is changing’, but I think the majority of the changes come from the community who are standing up to say, ‘this is something we want to see in our conventions'.
“Because that's what it is, it's for the community.”
For Mr Muir, movements such as IndigiNerd arose from comic book lovers acknowledging a lack of diversity in the industry, and creating a space for their small communities to thrive.
“It's a movement that's being created by fans for fans,” he said.
“A lot of people use pop culture to get through some really critical times of their lives, it's a part of their identity . . . they don't really want to keep that hidden.
“So I think a lot of these movements such as creating this platform in IndigiNerd normalises that conversation - it's cool to show your passions and talk about what you love.”
Now a storyteller for the Victorian Government's digital storytelling campaign, Deadly and Proud, Mr Muir said it was empowering to be a role model for a new generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth.
“Deadly and Proud is so much a part of how I talk and describe my community,” he said.
“When you're deadly, you're awesome, you're amazing. You're the top . . . When you talk about that, it's another way to say you're proud and to keep being yourself.
“At the time when I was younger, I think there was still that stigma attached to comics and nerd culture.
“We just need to create the platform to normalise that conversation.”
In August, Mr Muir will run a smaller comic-con event before the official launch of his IndigiNerd brand next year.
19°C