Belated congratulations to Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa on his new position as Chief Creative Officer for Archie Comics! Publisher Jon Goldwater has given Aguirre-Sacasa a blank canvas so What the future holds in print and other media for properties from Archie and the Riverdale gang to the company’s Red Circle superheroes remains to be seen. Read more in this New York Times piece.
Various sites reported that the Flash TV series in development had cast actor Patrick Sabongui (Stargate: Atlantis, Fringe) in the role of Central City Police Captain David Singh. Singh is a character that occasionally appears in the current Flash comic though as the crime lab director and not Police Captain. Hartley Rathaway has been confirmed as a cast member though no actor has been announced to play him. In the comics Rathaway came out as gay some years ago, and in the New 52 Rathaway and Singh are lovers. This has me wondering and hoping that the relationship will translate to the show! How great would that be?
Hat tip to Johanna Draper Carlson for mentioning Melanie Gillman’s Smbitten, a graphic novel in a historical setting about a mismatched lesbian couple. And vampires. Gillman wrote and drew (using colored pencils) this story as part of her master’s thesis, and has decided to offer the work again as “pay as you want” PDF. You can find out more here!
Are you a creative person? Artist? Writer? Something else that evokes passion for you? Are you tired of being taken advantage of and want to protect your rights? Katie Lane just may be the person to help you. Lane is a lawyer who helps freelancers and businesses with legal matters. Put away any concerns you might have about hiring a person who isn’t empathetic to the LGBT community. Lane is married to artist Dylan Meconis. Head over to Lane’s Work Made For Hire. Hat tip to Fleen where I learned about Lane.
A couple of noteworthy Kickstarter projects to mention. P Craig Russell and Wayne Alan Harold are seeking contributors for the fifth and final volume of Russell’s Guide To Graphic Storytelling. This time out Russell turns the focus on other artists and promises this volume will be ” the most fun and fan friendly volume yet!” Play the video and check it out! Don’t worry if you missed out on previous volumes! You can purchase them here.
Jon Macy returns to finish his Fearful Hunter series set in a “queer, Celtic fantasy world” in which a young Druid and a werewolf fall deeply in love. And trouble is afoot! This book will collect the previous chapters and include bonus material, making for over 300 pages of a beautiful and sensuous story
Noah Berlatsky is in the process of moving and archiving as much of the Gay Utopia to the Hooded Utilitarian blog. http://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/2014/03/map-of-the-gay-utopia/ That was Berlatsky’s project of art and criticism from 2007 and I’d wondered what had happened to it.
John Campbell burning books and figurative bridges on Kickstarter turns out to be a multi-layered mess. According to a project backer named Kiki , John is trans and has been physically and emotionally abused for years. These issues coupled with mentions of mental health problems, a loss of income, and being trapped in an abusive situation with no way out provide more details than a video of a shocking book burning and rambling manifesto. Not that I can excuse book burning, but I am reminded that things aren’t always what they first seem to be. If nothing else, the situation highlights that trans people and people with mental health issues deal with challenges and obstacles that the rest of us do not and that resources should be easily accessible. I found Tom Spurgeon’s comments and links rather helpful.
