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In awkward stutter step, corporate comics have attempted to get woke in recent years.
There was a black Captain America for a little while, but he eventually relinquished his star-spangled shield.
Theres an Afro-Latino Spider-Man, but hes regularly upstaged by the still-around white one.
When they do diversity, its all almost …
Steward says, trailing off.
Reactionary, Reed finishes from across the table.
Steward nods and adds, Its almost kind of an advertising gimmick of sorts.
They take Thor and make female Thor, but female Thor is going to go away, you know?
Reed is on the same wavelength.
Were just coming up with characters that represent the world as we see it, he says.
For them, inclusivity isnt merely a high ideal.
Theres an opportunity there, too, Steward says.
you could carve out the right niche.
Theres a way to blaze a new path.
In other words, being progressive is arguably Lion Forges biggest selling point.
Its a bold and largely unprecedented experiment for a notoriously innovation-averse industry and its an uphill climb.
The big challenge is just, how do you get the book in front of the right people?
How does a book find its audience?
says Maytal Gilboa, founder of Emet Comics.
Last year, Diamond finally took the plunge and started distributing her.
Not everyone takes Gilboas route of trying to break in with Diamond.
Diamond can suck my taint, she says in a dulcet lilt.
She quickly realized that there was virtually no one who looked like her in positions of leadership.
But she relished her freedom.
Templar, Arizonareceived shouts of praise, but Trotmans greatest fame has come as a publisher.
She says the company is debt-free and even looking to hire its first non-Trotman employee this year.
Kickstarter has been, in no small part, the paradigm-shifter that made this movement possible.
Thats the reason Kwanza OsajyefosBLACKexists.
They were nervous about doing anything political, he says.
He and his collaborators decided to self-publish and start bringing others along for the ride.
That mentality has been part of their DNA ever since.
However, a good cover and good corporate messaging cant be all you have to offer.
Getting them to understand does it make sense to actually put this book out to market.
Doing so has been a learning process for Lion Forge.
One has to keep expectations low and ideals high.
Theyre the ones posting on 4chan.
Im the one making a million dollars on Kickstarter.
Who are you going to believe?
