This Awesome Campaign Tells Privileged Fanboys That Comics Are for Everyone

Nobody should get rape threats for critiquing a pair of stereotypically endowed breasts on the latest cover of Teen Titans. But that’s what happened earlier this month to journalist Janelle Asselin. Now the sexist fanboys who harassed Asselin, and who reportedly engage in bigoted gatekeeping with other diverse groups, are being put on notice by the We Are Comics campaign.

The campaign, which was started on Tumblr and Twitter last weekend by professional comics editor Rachel Edidin, sends the message that the DC and Marvel universes aren’t the property of a privileged few. On the initiative’s Tumblr, Edidin writes that the creators, publishers, retailers, readers, professionals, and fans “are a lot more diverse than you might think.”

To that end, We Are Comics is designed, says Edidin, 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.”

Edidin and her growing army of supporters are standing up because what happened to Asselin isn’t an isolated incident. The sexism and unwelcoming environment that diverse comic fans experience at the hands of fanboys has long been a problem. At this year’s WonderCon, the annual comic book convention, a T-shirt reading “I like fangirls how I like my coffee. I hate coffee” was even for sale.

To challenge the for boys, by boys mentality, Edidin is asking fans to submit a photo of themselves, write a short statement about their involvement in comics, and tag it with the hashtag #IAmComics. That way the diversity of comic readers can be seen and shared.

The stories pouring in are an amazing collection of anecdotes that comic fans from a variety of backgrounds can appreciate. One woman, 27-year-old teacher Marianne, writes that she’s been “collecting comics since the early 2000s starting with X-men.” She fell in love with comics because they allow her “to escape the pressures of the world,” and they stimulate her imagination.

In a submission from a woman named Katrina Lehto, she writes that she was 12 when she “found that issue of Uncanny X-men (#280) in a gas station outside of Chicago on a really long road trip.” Lehto discovered Batman and Wonder Woman and has met many friends thanks to comics.

Comics really are for everyone, so even if you’re a straight white man, you can submit to the Tumblr too. “Consider adding a statement of solidarity to your sign and/or bio!” says Edidin.