There’s a really interesting conversation happening about comic books and diversity. And it’s largely happening online.
Producer Daisy Rosario takes us to Special Edition NYC, a comic book convention, to talk to fans and creators and bring you an overview of just how the conversation is shaping up.
People who already follow comics are likely very aware, but for the people who maybe see the movies and don’t know much else, this is a chance to hear it right out of the mouths of the people who are living this.
As is true in other art forms, such as film and music, there are a lot of diverse creators making their work independently and with smaller companies. But we are focusing on well-known superhero comics, the type that have a greater reach, for the purposes of this story.
First we meet some fans. Then we talk to David Marquez, the artist who draws Miles Morales aka Ultimate Spider-Man. He took over from original artist Sara Pichelli.
Later we meet Rachel Edidin, former comic book editor for Dark Horse Comics. She is also a writer, podcaster and pop culture journalist who has covered comics, as well as other topics for Wired magazine and more. Edidin also started the tumblr We Are Comics.
In addition, we spoke with writer David Brothers. He currently works with Image Comics. We’ll hear more from him in the upcoming part three of the Diversity in Geekdom series when we talk about video games.
In the meantime here is some of what David had to say:
On the role of the internet in enabling this conversation:
On the crowd at San Diego Comic Con
On character diversity vs creator diversity and what it means
For further reading check out these links:
An Interview with the character’s co-creator Brian Michael Bendis on diversity.
More of David Brothers’s Writing:
The Color Barrier at Comic Book Resources:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?id=51727&page=article
Brett White writing for Comic Book Resources on Miles Morales:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=34735
Brett White writing for Comic Book Resources on Ms. Marvel:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=48963
Andrew Wheeler writing for Comics Alliance on X-Men and queer togetherness:
http://comicsalliance.com/mutant-proud-xmen-lgbt-rights-family-community-identity/
Andrew Wheeler writing for Comics Alliance on Marvel’s recent announcements about Thor and Captain America:
http://comicsalliance.com/marvel-female-thor-black-captain-america-announcement-colbert-report/
This post on Hispanic Comic Book Characters:
http://www.tuvez.com/five-greatest-hispanic-characters-in-comic-book-history/
Gail Simone is an accomplished comic book writer who offers advice to fans looking to become creators:
And have a listen to part one in our series where we focused on Fantasy & Sci-Fi with writers NK Jemisin, Daniel Jose Older and Nalo Hopkinson.
The cover photo for this piece is the front cover of the first Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spiderman illustrated by David Marquez.
This is the kind of stuff I live for. To see what I see in the mirror and my community reflected in the comics I read is one of the best feelings.