On Saturday, professional comics editor Rachel Edidin sent out the following tweet in response to a lot of the fanboy gatekeeping — and just general terrible behavior on the part of fanboys — that’s been burning up the geekosphere recently.
Idea: A photo campaign of personal statements from people on the margins, w/ photos reading "I am comics." Somebody do this?
— (((Jay Edidin))) (@NotLasers) April 26, 2014
In a matter of a few hours, that initial idea morphed into a full blown campaign that quickly gathered steam over the weekend when We Are Comics was launched. And the “somebody” who did it? Edidin herself.
The idea is simple really. In an effort to demonstrate the real diversity of comic book fans, We Are Comics wants to shine a spotlight on the fans who are often marginalized. Here’s their mission statement from the tumblr:
We are comics: creators, publishers, retailers, readers; professionals and fans. And we are a lot more diverse than you might think.
We Are Comics is a campaign to show — and celebrate — the faces of our community, our industry, and our culture; to promote the visibility of marginalized members of our population; and to stand in solidarity against harassment and abuse.
To join in, just submit a photo of yourself holding up a sign that says #IAmComics and a short story or description of why you’re a fan. Or if you’re already on tumblr, just hashtag #i am comics and it’ll be seen by the admins and included in the campaign. They’re also on twitter (@WeAreComics) so feel free to tweet at them as well.
We are comics: creators, publishers, retailers, readers. And we are more diverse than you might think. http://t.co/Z800UY7Ztd #iamcomics
— We Are Comics, Too. (@WeAreComics) April 26, 2014
We at The Nerds of Color know all too well what it feels like to be marginalized in the fan community, and we are proud to throw our support behind this movement.
If you are a nerd of color and want to share your story about why you are a fan of comics, head over to the WAC tumblr page and submit a photo right away!