With the comic strip Dilbert being dropped by both newspapers and its distributor after its creator’s racist remarks on YouTube, many newspapers have a gap to fill on their comics page. The Washington Post will fill their Dilbert-sized hole with Heart of the City by Steenz, and Women Write About Comics caught up with the cartoonist at the Emerald City Comic Con to talk about the change.
“I think it’s a big deal because of two reasons,” Steenz told WWAC. “Reason number one is that I’m Black, and he hates Black people. [laughs] No, but it’s a nice way to just stick it to him, you know? But it’s also a big deal because we still rarely see a new influx of creators and syndicated comic strips, and I would like to see more of that. Obviously, legacy comics are there for a reason. Everyone’s going to want to keep reading Zits, everyone’s going to keep reading, you know, Jump Start, because those creators are still around and they want to keep making those comics. But I also want to see some new things. You should be able to get a newspaper and find someone new and not just have the old standards.”
In related news, the Associated Press spoke with several cartoonists about Scott Adams and his remarks, including Candorville creator Darin Bell, who is running a response to Adams in his comic strip this week.
“The only reason anyone knows who Scott Adams is because of the comics page. So I thought somebody on the comics page should respond to him on the comics page,” Bell said. You can find Candorville on its dedicated website and on Comics Kingdom.
Creators | Reimena Yee, Sloane Leong, Nero Villagallos O’Reilly, Joan Zahra Dark, Zach Hazard Vaupen and Aaron Losty have formed the Cartoonist Cooperative, which they say will be “both a curated comics aggregator and a community where members will contribute to a mutual marketing effort of each other’s work.” Samantha Puc has more at The Mary Sue.
Events | The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco is hosting a two-day “pop up” Women’s Comics Marketplace this weekend in honor of Women’s History Month. Trina Robbins, Lee Marrs, Nomi Kane, Jules Rivera and more will attend the event.
Passings | The Beat reports that Norwegian cartoonist Dina Norlund, whose Snowcat Prince graphic novel was released this week by Oni Press, has died of cancer. She was 27 when she died. Oni Press has announced that they will donate a portion of proceeds from sales of the book to Sykehusklovnene, a Norwegian children’s organization.
Legal | Comic Book Workers United, the union formed by staff members of Image Comics, have “voted overwhelmingly” to ratify their first union contract.
“We were hopeful for, but could never have imagined, the outpouring of support we received when we began our collective bargaining journey. A lot has happened since that first announcement and we cannot begin to adequately express our gratitude to the community of people within and without the industry who have stood with us during contract negotiations,” they said in a statement on their website.
Retailers | This interview with Atomic City Comics’ Michael Yates might give you a reason to visit Philadelphia.
Awards | Broken Frontier has the list of winners for the 2023 Minicomic Awards.
Your long read of the day | Writing for Shelfdust, Rob Cave goes deep on Larry Hama and Ron Wagner’s Nth Man, The Ultimate Ninja, an oddball release from late 1980s Marvel.
Your video of the day | This past week, CBS Sunday Morning paid tribute to Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, which you can watch in full below.
Scott’s observations of reality have no place in polite society and it’s my hope that more racist cartoonists are replaced by black women