This past weekend, Prism Comics made its first public appearance as an incorporated not-for-profit organization at Comic-Con International: San Diego and made quite a splash. The new lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) comics advocacy group unveiled a stunning booth, gave away lots of prizes, added hundreds of names to its mailing list, provided thousands of rainbow stickers, sold thousands of dollars in merchandise and distributed its free, 48-page resource guide to convention goers.
Not bad for an industry that still thinks of gay characters as controversial.
The group's new publication, Prism Comics: Your Lgbt Guide to Comics, containing profiles of LGBT and LGBT-friendly creators, interviews, feature articles and original artwork, was definitely a highlight of their appearance. Visitors to the booth and to the two popular Gays in Comics panels snapped them up eagerly and, by Sunday, over 2500 guides were distributed, including a full case of them that went to Comic Relief in Berkeley, California.
"Prism Comics is an excellent guide and a great reference," said Comic Relief proprietor Rory Root. "I'm really glad to have it on hand. I wish we'd had it in June for Pride month--it's a really welcome addition to the toolset we use at the store."
Prism Comics provided a landing pad for many independent creators at the Con, offering them a place to sell books, do signings and meet their readers. Prism Comics provided a landing pad for many independent creators at the Con, offering them a place to sell books, do signings and meet their readers. Among the extraordinary comics talents who stopped by the Prism Comics booth to do signings were Donna Barr (The Desert Peach, Stinz), Paige Braddock (Jane's World), Colleen Coover (Small Favors), Doug Giffin (Digital Webbing Presents), Roberta Gregory (Naughty Bits), Jeff Jacklin (Hearts & Iron), Phil Jimenez (New X-Men, Wonder Woman), Tommy Kovac (Skelebunnies, Stitch), Andy Mangels (Dragon's Lair, Star Trek: TNG: Section 31: Rogue), Brad Rader (Catwoman), Robert Rodi (The Crossovers, Codename: Knockout), Stephen Sadowski (JSA, Avengers), Jai Sen (Garlands of Moonlight, The Golden Vine) and José Villarrubia (The Mirror of Love, Promethea).
Another creator who made appearances at the booth was Michael Goodman, a non-gay creator who recently released his debut comic, The Ciderview Project, which focuses on a lesbian teen dealing with mental illness. He discovered firsthand that Prism Comics doesn't discriminate when it comes to promoting creators who are doing work of particular interest to lesbian and gay readers.
"The Prism guys are the nicest, kindest, people I've ever met," said Goodman after the Con. "[Appearing at the booth] was awesome. It was one of my favorite parts of the convention."
Goodman and other creators who provided books to stock Prism Comics' displays this year were rewarded with an enthusiastic audience and sales of hundreds of books. Every creator donated a percentage of their proceeds back to the group, putting Prism in a better position to reach its goals for the coming year. In addition to comics, a number of other items were sold to raise money at the booth, such as a collection of buttons with slogans like "Homo Superior" and "Straight But Not Narrow."
The latter button ended up pinned to Batman: Nine Lives and Gotham Central artist Michael Lark as he appeared on Saturday's Gays in Comics panel as "the token straight guy." The Eisner-nominated Lark spoke passionately about his identification with the emotional pain of lesbian character Reneé Montoya, who was recently outed in Gotham Central. "We all feel the same things," Lark said, his hand on his heart, after recalling his own experiences of having to reveal painful truths.
There were two lively, well-attended LGBT-themed panels at the Con: Andy Mangels' sixteenth annual "Gays in Comics" panel on Saturday and the second annual "Gays in Comics: Crossfire" panel on Friday, moderated by Joan Hilty. GayLeague.com sponsored a reception after Mangels' panel and handed out dozens of fantastic prizes donated by the folks at DC Comics, as well as held an auction to benefit Prism Comics.
On Sunday, one lucky winner had breakfast with comics pro Phil Jimenez as the winner of a Prism Comics drawing. Gay League member Scott Gutierrez was treated to a buffet breakfast complete with behind the scenes gossip and tidbits about the Wonder Woman feature film in development.
"I love the way Phil can just kibitz with anyone," Gutierrez said afterwards. "He never exhibits the 'diva' attitude that many creators have."
"It was great!" added Jimenez. "I had a lot of fun."
Charles "zan" Christensen, Prism Comics' president, has spent the last few days adding hundreds of names to the group's mailing list and tabulating booth visitors' many suggestions about what conventions the group should attend next. Their goal is to appear at no less than ten different conventions around the US in the next twelve months.
They are also laying the groundwork for a landmark publication exploring the history of LGBT comics with interviews, timelines, rare sketches and reprints. And once the first printing of their current resource guide runs out, there are plans to do a second printing and distribute it not only to comics specialty shops, but to gay and women's bookstores, to help bring in a brand new audience for comics.
"We just love this medium," he said. "and we want to bring in as many readers as we can. That helps everyone, not just LGBT creators."
Christensen offered thanks to everyone who helped make Prism Comics' debut appearance such a success, and promised, "You'll be hearing more from us soon."
For additional information about Prism Comics, contact Charles "zan" Christensen at (773) 712-3360 or by email at zan@prismcomics.org.
