Thursday, September 18, 2014

A More Diverse Marvel Universe: POC Creators on Marvel Unlimited

Logo for A More Diverse Universe

Marvel Unlimited is a digital comics service that grants subscribers access to back issues galore. I bought a one-month subscription during their SDCC 90% off sale and fell so deeply in love with it that I kept it up after the cheap period ended--a first for me. The selection is enormous, varied, and hella exciting.

It's also more diverse than I expected.

Which isn't to say Marvel is a diversity-minded reader's paradise. White men still account of the bulk of the company's bullpen, so you may need to hunt for exceptions to the rule. Still, I'm continually surprised at the number of POC artists I encounter whenever I Google the creators of each new comic that catches my fancy. POC writers are in much shorter supply than artists, and it's still primarily a white boys' club over there, but with a little effort the dedicated Marvel reader can ensure she doesn't consume a steady diet of comics by white boys. (It's much more difficult to keep from reading primarily boys, full stop--but that's another post.)

Since A More Diverse Universe (aka #Diversiverse) is currently underway, I thought I'd share a few of the results of my hunt for diverse comics on Marvel Unlimited so you, too, can fill your reading list with comics by POC. Let's start with some caveats.

First: this list is far from complete. It's populated with what I've found via my own reading, a handful of recommendations, and some low-level research I intend to convert into high-level research in the coming weeks. I've also erred on the side of caution in many cases; if I couldn't find photos and/or a bio to confirm that someone is a person of colour, I've left them off the list for the time being.

I intend to add to this post as I discover more POC creators, so I'd appreciate it if y'all could recommend some in the comments. I'd especially like to hear about WOC who write or draw for Marvel, as I've only encountered three so far.

Second: it's limited to what's available on Marvel Unlimited as of November 13th, 2014. In some cases, these writers and artists have produced work that's out in paper form or for digital purchase but hasn't yet made it onto Marvel Unlimited.

With a very few exceptions, I've also stuck to runs of two or more issues (either consecutive or close together). Many of these writers and artists have also produced single issues.

Third: it may contain errors. Marvel Unlimited's search-by-creator function sometimes returns misleading results, particularly where artists are concerned. It doesn't always make it clear if the artist in question is the penciler, the cover artist, or both. Personally, I consider a book diverse if the writer or penciler is POC, but the cover artist alone isn't enough to cut it.

The search function will sometimes place a book under a creator's header if they had anything at all to do with the series in question, regardless of whether they contributed to that particular issue/arc. I've done my best to double check each entry, but there's a lot to sift through and I'm sure I've missed things. You'll want to perform your own check before you count each arc as diverse.

I've also conducted my search on a creator-by-creator basis, rather than a title-by-title basis, so please feel free to point out other POC who've worked on the books listed here. I'll investigate each person's backlist and add an entry for them.

Okay. Let's dive in. I haven't read all these books yet, but the ones I've particularly enjoyed are italicized for anyone who's interested. The links will take you to each series' main page.

Writers

Marc Bernardin

Karl Bollers

Eric Jerome Dickey

Kevin Grevioux

Reginald Hudlin

Marjorie Liu

Phil Jimenez

Dwayne McDuffie

Robert Morales

Greg Pak

Christopher Priest

Brandon Thomas

Artists

David Aja

  • Hawkeye #1-17 (NB: this run is peppered with other artists, though Aja provides each cover to lend the title visual unity)

Adrian Alphona

Wellinton Alves

Kyle Baker

Carlo Barberi

Sean Chen

Jim Cheung

Michael Choi

Olivier Coipel

Bong Dazo

Tan Eng Huat

Georges Jeanty

Phil Jimenez

José Ladrönn

Jae Lee

Jorge Pereira Lucas

Alex Maleev

Roy Allan Martinez

Paco Medina

Jerome Opeña

Jason Pearson

Keith Pollard

Humberto Ramos

Miguel Angel Sepulveda

Dexter Soy

Sana Takeda

Billy Tan

Harvey Tolibao

Annie Wu

Leinil Francis Yu

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1 comment:

  1. Jenny @ Reading the EndSeptember 18, 2014 at 7:51 PM

    Oh, Memory, what a great resource. Thanks for putting this together!

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