Bitches on Comics

Stephanie Williams is back on the pod! And, this time we’re talking DC Pride, Nubia: Queen of the Amazons, Trial of the Amazons, and everything else Steph has been up to! We dive deep on the love between Nubia and Io (NubIo, if you will), Black queer representation and relationships, and why it matters so much to make Philipus canonically the mom of Diana and wife of Hippolyta. Plus, so so much more. Get ready to laugh, y’all!

We kick off our Pride Month Extravaganza with the insightful Nadia Shammas talking about her graphic novel Squire, her upcoming graphic novel Where Black Stars Rise, and so much more. We get into writing about empire, gender feels, and the importance of Palestinian stories.

We interview Grace Ellis, creator of Lumberjanes and Moonstruck, about her new graphic novel with Hannah Templer: Flung Out of Space, Patricia Highsmith’s impact on our culture and literature, Ellis’ deep love of queer comics, and the limits of coming out stories.

We talk to three comic creators to answer listener questions. Danny Lore (Lunar Room, Queen of Bad Dreams, James Bond) and Natasha Alterici (Heathen, Eat the Rich) discuss the best way to support queer and trans comic creators, getting into buying floppies, checking books out from the library, and much more. Jay Edidin (Captain America Infinity, X-Men: Marvels Snapshots) answers a listener question about transmasculine representation in comics and which comics he recommends.

We interview writer and editor Jay Edidin about his comics X-Men: Marvels Snapshots and Captain America: Infinity, as well as his zine Ruby Quartz Panic Room, getting into the representation of neurodivergence and queer and trans identities, the White Supremacist appropriation of history, and the pitfalls of bothsidesism. We also cover such hard-hitting topics as: how Wolverine would handle Zoom meetings, whether Cyclops’ skill with geometry is related to his mutant gene, and how Cap feels about unions.

We interview the incredible Crystal Frasier and Val Wise about their lovely YA graphic novel Cheer Up! Love and Pompoms. We talk about sports stories, teen queer romance, the power of centering a trans girl’s story, and learning to move from performative allyship to actual allyship. We go deep on trans identities, femininity, and how we’re all impacted by misogyny.

This week we talk to Dailen Ogden and Brittany Matter about their new surreal, trippy comic Dead Dreams: The Lucid Chronicles—click below to support the Zoop campaign to fund Issue #1! We also get into the collaborative process of creating comics, translating the dream state to the page, and questioning the nature of reality.

We have a few updates for y'all! We discuss Sara's growing menagerie, the podcast's new format, and introducing our new host Monika Estrella Negra! You've heard her on the pod before--and now she's back with a vengeance! (slash microphone)

We interview Stephanie Williams, writer of Nubia and the Amazons, about getting to write Nubia, why our new queen absolutely rules, and making Themiscyra more trans and queer than ever! We talk about the romance between Nubia and Io, discuss the lovely and important Bia, the first known Black trans woman on Themiscyra, and talk about why we love Wonder Woman and the surrounding mythos so much.

We interview the lovely Robin Richardson and Taylor Curreysmith about their new all-ages graphic novel House of the Queerbodies, which is now on Kickstarter! We get into body diversity, queer and trans representation, the process of interpreting an interpretation of fairy tales, and making art you can see yourself in.