25th Anniversary of the Gays in Comics Panel Recap

pic from Evelyn Braddock

Last night, I attended my 4th Gays in Comics Panel at Comic-Con. This was a special event because it was the 25th anniversary of the panel. This time, gay writers, artists and creators took the stage to share their stories about comics and why this panel is very important.

Before the event took off, founder and moderator Andy Mangels received an Inkpot Award, a prestigious honor given to someone who provide top service to Comic-Con. After that, we had many of the panelists share their stories and some bits of history. Here are a few:

• Trina Robbins, was a pioneer for queer comics. She also put a Black lead character in her stories. Please google her, she has done a lot.

• Charles "Zan" Christensen, founding member of Prism Comics is happy there are gueer comics to publish.

• Joe Phillips shares his story of coming out and drawing comics. He said he was drawing men through the eyes of a big Black man.

• Ivan Velez, Jr is celebrating 25th years of his comic Tales of the Closet. ‪Ivan Velez, Jr said that he felt invisible all his life. It was the reason why he start writing comics.

• Steve Englehart, created the 1st out gay superhero, Extrano in 1987 DC Comics' Millennium. It was very risky to do at that time.

• Ted Abenheim, has been a fighter and tireless advocate for gay comics. He will continue doing what he can to push gay comics forward.

• Writer Gail Simone said to be fearless in all that you do. 

• The godmother of the gay comic movement Ramona Gregory provides words of encouragement.

• The creator of Elfquest, Wendy Pini, told producers that her musical will have gay male leads or there's no show.

• Cartoonist Eric Shanower talked about criticism for making the JL look too gay. The guy turned out to be a closeted gay.

• Andy Mangels stepped down as moderator last night. He thanked everyone for been there and wanting to be there.

It was a great night to be apart of gay history that actually involved geeks.

Highlights from Gays in Comics Panel at Comic Con

This marks the 24th year of the Gays in Comics Panel here at Comic Con. It's always an interesting group of folks.

This time around we had Andy Mangels (USA Today bestselling author of Star Trek novels and Iron Man: Beneath The Armor) hosts Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, head of Image Comics's Skybound imprint), Chip Kidd (author, editor and designer, Bat-Manga, Rough Justice), Dan Parent (creator of Archie's new gay character and series, Kevin Keller), Jon Macy (writer/artist Teleny and Camille and Prism Queer Press grant recipient for Fearful Hunter), Paul Cornell (writer, TV's Doctor Who and DC Comics's upcoming Stormwatch and Demon Knights), Greg Pak (writer, Incredible Hulks, co-writer, Alpha Flight, Herc) and a video appearance by J. H. Williams III (co-writer/ artist, Batwoman).

So here are the highlights:

• Batwoman's face is based from Traci Lords
• Women are not having the best time in creating comics. In fact, it was the first time there were no women in the panel.
• Robert Kirkman learned that he is a bear (and a cute one I might add).
• The need for diverse characters are growing at rapid speed.
• Robert Kirkman said Marvel was very supportive of his gay characters.
• Paul Cornell said being a Doctor Who fan was a gay euphemism.
• Robert Kirkman announced a new comic for 2012, 'Thief of Thieves' there will be a Trans character.
• Archie Comics' Kevin Keller makes it easy for parents to talk about gay people.
• 
  
  Chip Kidd written a graphic novel on Batman with a gay villain.
• Archie Comics will address DADT and gay marriage. Dan Parent said that Kevin shows us how to be patriotic & gay.
• Marvel's Hercules is bisexual... I didn't know that.
• Paul Cornell said there were 4 complaints about Captain Jack kissing the Doctor.
• Kevin Keller will have a 5 year jump where the Archie characters will attend Kevin's wedding.
• 
  
  Jon Macy wants to promote sex positive stories with gay characters.
• The room was packed with gays! We are taking over!

Meet the Lineup for the 24th Gays in Comics Panel for San Diego Comic Con

It's that time again, gay geeksters! Every year, San Diego Comic Con host the 'Gays in Comics' Panel which is sponsored by Prism Comics.

Here's more about the panelists:

Joining the panel this year are: Robert Kirkman, writer of The Walking Dead and Invincible and head of Image Comics’ Skybound imprint; Chip Kidd, award-winning author, editor and designer of books such as Bat-Manga, Rough Justice, and Jack Cole and Plastic Man; Dan Parent, writer and artist for Archie and Betty & Veronica, and creator of Archie’s new gay character and series, Kevin Keller; Jon Macy, writer and artist of 2010 Lambda Literary Award-winning Teleny and Camille and Prism Comics Queer Press grant recipient for Fearful Hunter; Paul Cornell, writer for TV’s Doctor Who and DC Comics’ upcoming Stormwatch and Demon Knights series; Greg Pak, writer of Incredible Hulks and co-writer of Alpha Flight and Herc; plus, a special video appearance by J.H. Williams III, co-writer and artist of DC’s Batwoman series! 

Plus, there’s always a surprise or two…

Afterward, stick around for the hourlong gay comics fan mixer/social hosted by Prism Comics, the nonprofit organization that supports gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender comics, creators, and readers. Mingle with comics fans and creators and surprise special guests and stay for the special drawing of a “Comics Gift Basket” and the silent auction of hot comics items, including original art by Alex Ross and Dan Parent.

I will be live tweeting at the event. So if you have any questions, holla at me.

source

Comic Con 2010: Gay in Comics Panel

Hey all!

When I'm at Comic Con, I always go to the Gays in Comics panel. It is a great way to connect with other Comic Book gay geeks and learn about new developments in the gay comic world.

So here is a recap of yesterday's panel:

• On the panel were: Howard Cruse- kind of started gays in comics, Tim Fish - Marvel writer, Dan Parent- introduced Kevin, the 1st gay character in Archie comics, Charles Chistensen - publisher and writer in Prism Comics, Geoff Johns - major player in DC Entertainment, Marjorie M. Liu -writer of Girl Comics and Wolverine's son Daken, Daniel Way - another writer for Daken, Jim McCann - Marvel Comics writer.

• Many folks believe that gay characters should acknowledge their gayness.

• Archie Comics were the only comic company to promote the Gay in Comics panel.

• Howard Cruse created a gay character because there were barely any in a positive light. He also wanted gays to get excited about comics.
  

• Geoff Johns said a gay character will be introduced in Green Lantern soon.

• Kevin, the gay guy in Archie will be a regular character, and Jughead is not gay.

• The room was packed and full of LGBT geeks. I was happy to see the Transgender community represented.

• Gay Comics are still hard to sell in mainstream stores, many can be found online.

• It was noted that X-Men panel did not have as much folks as the gay panel.

• Andy Mangels spoks about the history Gays in Comics. The panel started in 1988 as a way to discuss gays in comics and to bring the gay geeks together.

• Wolverine's son Daken is changing the game. His bisexuality will be heating up soon. The writers wants Daken to show different sides of his character.

• Marvel also a lot of freedom in their comics, but not for a lot of violence.
  

• Batwoman will also get more development... BTW Geoff Jones is really cute.

• While I was there, I saw many web celebs like GayComicGeek, Jody from DoorQ, and J.T. Tepnapa. Oh, I was also recognized by several folks. It was great to meet people who looks to me as a gay geek source. I was really flattered

• I asked Geoff Johns about a Wonder Woman movie, he said it is coming soon.

• Howard is glad to see changes in the 34 years for gay character. He knew the time would come.

• Dan Parent said the shift in today's generation led to the creation of Kevin in Archie comics.

In all it was a great panel.

Just a short-mini rant about the Comic-Con Gays in Comics panel Coverage

I'm a little sad there was not a lot of coverage of the SDCC Gays in Comics panel.

I noticed on my news feed a few links to my quick coverage. When I checked them out, they were linked to forums or a few other gay websites saying that my post was all they could find.

But I would've like to see our issues in the mainstream comic blogs and sites. Many of these blogs covered most of the other panel discussions, but not the Gay ones. I shouldn't expect them to, however it would be nice to be included in the mix.

I also noticed that a few gay blogs covered the panel as well. However, they did focused on the hottest guys at Comic-Con, but again, it would've been nice to see our own peeps talk about the breakthroughs and triumphs we are making in the comic book world.

More from the Gays in Comics Panel

Here's more on the Gays in Comics Panel at Comic-Con

• Gail said that we will learn more about Wonder Woman's sexuality and the Amazons' views on sexuality in upcoming issues.
• Peter David thinks it is foolish to not have a gay character in an on-going story.
• Phil Jimenez said that with most gay artists, you can see their gayness in their work.
• Perry Moore talked about how his experience growing up in South pushed him into creating gay characters. He didn't want a kid to believe they will burn in Hell.
  
• He also talked about his book, Hero, a story of a gay superhero. He said that the basis of it is the relationship of the father and the son.
• Phil Jimenez also said that Wonder Woman's deep rooted story in the early days was about her relationship with her mother.
• Gail believes that diversity is very important and does not think twice about mixing the cast up.
• The panel were happy about the strides of gay characters, however it will take the deaths of the old men with money before a change can truly happen.
• More readers are looking for more gay characters in comics.
• Some felt that lesbian characters always go through the worst drama. Peter David disagreed. He said if that's the case, then all characters named Sue were also treated badly (Sue Dibny was raped by Dr. Light and killed the Atom's ex wife/Sue Richards lost a baby, lost her mind, and sort of lost her husband, Mr Fantastic)
• Strangers in Paradise, Pedro and Me and Alan Moore's work was cited to have great LGBT stories.
• Peter David said that Shatterstar and Rictor's relationship is very natural and not forced.
• Prism Comics is moving more LGBT focused stories forward. They hope that the big 2 (DC and Marvel) will follow.
  
• Gail said to make change, please take a LGBT comic and pass it to a straight friend or peer.
• Perry Moore say that Hero is still in the running to be picked up by Showtime as a series.
• Bill Willingham, writer of JSA, was only there for 5 minutes. However, he promised to put the openly gay Obsidian in the spotlight and he won't be joining the list of gay characters who are "straightened out".

From Comic-Con: Gays in Comics Panel

One of the biggest highlights of Comic-Con was the Gays in Comics Panel.

This panel consisted of :
Andy Mangels (best-selling author of Star Trek novels and Iron Man: Beneath The Armor) Greg Rucka, the acclaimed author of Detective Comics (featuring the lesbian Batwoman and The Question)
Phil Jimenez, artist of Astonishing X-Men and Amazing Spider-Man
Gail Simone, writer of Wonder Woman and Secret Six
Peter David, writer of Fallen Angel and lots of novels
Ed Luce, the writer/artist of the Bear-centric Wuvable Oaf
Sina Grace, whose Books with Pictures and illustrated novel Cedric Hollows in Dial M for Magic
Perry Moore, writer of Hero

The discussions were awesome. They talked about the Shatterstar and Rictor romance, diversifying the gay characters, Wonder Woman, the changes they hope to see and what else can be done to strengthen LGBT characters in comics.

It was great to see our family members representing in the geek and comic world. Sometimes in L.A., all you see is the plastic and shallow side of gay life; but at this panel discussion, I felt at home.

The crowd was very receptive and the panelists were fascinating. It was a purely a wonderful time. And... I got to meet Gay Comic Geek! Paul is very nice and sweet guy.

So this was a great closing event for my Comic-Con experience. Oh, this was their 22nd year in doing the panel, so congrats on continuing the legacy.

More to come