Month: June 2023

Open letter calls for more transparency from the Eisner Awards

The request comes after Thomas Woodruff’s multiple, controversial nominations.

In the wake of this year’s Eisner Award nomination controversy, a group that includes comics professionals, journalists and readers has asked for more transparency from Comic-Con International on the Eisner Award process.

Editor/journalist Jennifer de Guzman, who has worked for SLG and Image Comics in the past, and Mariah McCourt, a comics writer and former editor at Vertigo, wrote the open letter following the controversial nomination of Francis Rothbart! The Tale of a Fastidious Feral by Thomas Woodruff in several categories this year. It’s been co-signed now by more than 30 individuals.

“This troubling disparity between who is judging the work to be nominated and the makeup of the industry itself has created an environment of systemic inequality,” the letter reads “There is a distinct need for more diverse and inclusive backgrounds in the people responsible for these nominations, every year. We need the active participation of creators of color, LGBTQIA+ creators, artists, writers, letterers, colorists, cover artists, editors, and those with more direct and every day experience with the medium itself. Right now the panel appears to be made up mostly of journalists, librarians, and academics which, intentionally or not, skews the point of view of the nominations.”

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J. Michael Straczynski returns to Marvel this fall to write ‘Captain America’

Jesús Saiz joins the writer for a story set in Steve Rogers’ past and present.

After more than a decade writing for other publishers, J. Michael Straczynski will return to Marvel to write Captain America in September.

Artist Jesús Saiz will join Straczynski on the title, which will feature Steve Rogers. In an interview with io9, Straczynski said he’ll focus both on current-day Steve Rogers as well as a younger, pre-World War II Cap prior to gaining his super powers.

“One thing about Steve Rogers that’s never really been addressed is the period between when his parents died, and when he became Captain America,” Straczynski said. “We’re talking about a sickly, skinny 17 year old kid, trying to survive on his own for because he’s stubborn and independent, on the street for several years, hustling for any gig he can get, even if it’s bigger than he is, trying to afford food and a place to stay. So we will counterpoint a present-tense story in which Captain America faces off against a new villain of supernatural origin, with a story about his younger self, with both stories tightly interwoven.”

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The Devil made them do it in ‘Let Me Out’

Emmett Nahil and George Williams revisit the late 1970s “satanic panic” in the new graphic novel from Oni Press.

Emmett Nahil and George Williams will revisit the “satanic panic” of the late 1970s in Let Me Out, a graphic novel coming from Oni Press in October.

The story is set in 1979 New Jersey, where a group of “queer and trans misfits” accused of murder decide that the devil might not be so bad.

“Let Me Out turns classic horror tropes on their head, while showcasing how marginalized people are sacrificed on the altars of power,” said Nahil, who makes his graphic novel debut with Let Me Out. “This is a story about what happens when a group of queer and trans friends are given the supernatural means to fight back. It is also about found family and the joy one finds in one’s friends, even amidst seemingly inescapable darkness.”

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