Bob Wayne is a well known name within the comics publishing industry, most notably having served as Senior Vice-President of Sales at DC Entertainment and currently a goodwill ambassador of the medium and advisor to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Wayne is the keynote speaker of this year’s ComicsPRO meeting being held this weekend in Charlotte, NC where direct market comic book retailers and publishers come together. Mr Wayne is this year’s ComicsPRO Keynote speaker and he has graciously allowed Gay League to publish the following excerpt from his Keynote Address at today’s retailer meeting:
“One change in our industry to me is inarguably for the better, so let me be clear: I believe that inclusion is important to the future of comics, and I believe in the power of tolerance, diversity, and representation. I don’t believe that comics should be set in stone based on how they looked when any of us were children. I don’t believe that most readers today would be interested in stories where Jimmy Olsen uses his signal watch to have Superman get a kitten out of a tree while a batch of generic white kids gather to cheer him. So don’t misconstrue any of my remarks as support for any reactionary back to mono movements within our community. That ain’t me.“
Gay League wholeheartedly agrees with and applauds Mr Wayne’s remarks and supports comic publishers small and large who adopt and practice these principles.