Tim Hanley's Blog, page 5

Get Your Copy of Betty and Veronica: The Leading Ladies of Riverdale Signed! By Me! The Author!

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So, given the state of the world right now, there’s not really a whole lot going on in terms of in-person author events. No comic conventions, no book festivals, so signings at shops. We’re avoiding crowds and we’re staying safe, which is one million percent the right course of action. But I miss all of those things, so I’d like to bring a tiny piece of them to you!

While we can’t meet in person and I can’t sign your shiny new copy of Betty and Veronica: The Leading Ladies of Riverdale, what I can do instead is send you a signed, personalized bookplate that you can stick in your book. I do bookplates for all my books (I am very paranoid about signing a book directly and screwing up someone’s copy with a misspelling or a slip of the hand, thus bookplates), and I’ve put together two for Betty and Veronica that feature, you guessed it, Betty and Veronica. You can see them up at the top of the page, with all the fun images of the gals throughout the decades. And I’d like you to have one, for free!

All you’ve got to do is:

1) Send some proof of purchase, like a receipt or an order confirmation of just a picture of you holding the book, to me at timhanley01@gmail.com. Pictures would be super fun, actually, if you’re cool with it. I’d love to post them online!

2) Let me know whether you want a Betty or a Veronica bookplate, and who I should make it out to. (Also, if you want a specific message, say for a gift, I can do that too).

3) Give me your mailing address.

And that’s it. I’ll sign a bookplate and mail it to you directly, no cost to you. It’s a small bit of the fun of an author event, all from the safety of your own home!

A few quick notes:

a) This is for Canada and the USA only. If you live outside of this area and would like a bookplate, get in touch, I’ll price it out, and we can discuss.

b) If you’re a bookshop or comic book store, that’s awesome and I’ll gladly send you multiple plates.

c) They’re super simple to put in, just peel and stick. Easy peasy.

d) Depending on how many people want them, this may be a limited time offer that is capped at some point, so act now.

Hopefully this will bring you some of the joy of a comic convention or a book festival, and brighten up what is the weirdest summer I can ever remember. I look forward to hearing from you!

Get 30% Off Betty and Veronica: The Leading Ladies of Riverdale!

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The headline and the picture say it all, really, but I’ll elaborate. Rowman & Littlefield, the fine folks publishing Betty and Veronica: The Leading Ladies of Riverdale, are offering 30% off the book on their online store! It’s a great deal that will let you get the hardcover listed for $32.00 at only $22.40. It’s a dang steal, and here’s how you get it:

1) Visit rowman.com.

2) Add the book to your cart.

3) Enter the code RLFANDF30 at checkout.

And that’s it! Wonderful savings are all yours.

Currently, you can use the code to order the hardcover book, and it will still work later in the month when the ebook goes up as well.

Here’s a quick rundown of what the book is about:

We think we know Betty and Veronica, but we don’t. Far more than just Archie’s girlfriends, the girls have grown beyond simple archetypes to become compelling, relevant characters for each new generation over the past eighty years.

Betty, Veronica, and the rest of the Riverdale gang appear to be frozen in time in Archie comic books. They are perpetual high schoolers, recycling the same basic plotlines over and over in their wholesome, small-town American world. However, there is much more to Betty and Veronica than the broad stereotypes and clichéd storytelling suggests.

In Betty and Veronica: The Leading Ladies of Riverdale, Tim Hanley explores the complexity behind these two iconic characters. We know Betty and Veronica as Archie’s girlfriends, but that’s just the beginning—they are their own women with evolving motivations and aims. From fighting over Archie to tackling women’s lib to chasing down serial killers on Riverdale, their friendship has endured and grown through decades of shifting characterizations and social change. Exploring their past offers unique insights into the ways life has progressed for young women over the past eighty years, and shows us the hidden strengths and secret depths of these pop culture icons.

Also, if you’re interested in seeing some fun artwork and fascinating moments from Betty and Veronica’s history, I’ve been posting sneak peeks at the book on Twitter with the hashtag #BVLeadingLadies.

So yeah, check out the deal and pick up a copy of the book! I got my comp copies the other week, and they look great. If you’re a fan of my books on Wonder Woman, Lois Lane, and Catwoman, you’re going to love this one, too.

Women & NB Creators at Marvel Comics, August 2020 Solicits, 9 Creators on 10 Books

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DC’s not exactly jumping straight into the pool this August with their limited slate of books, but they’re certainly wading in. Marvel, on the other hand, is just dipping a toe. The August solicits have them at half capacity and they’re shedding titles left and right, shifting a big chunk of their slate to online only. It’s an unusual time, for sure, and I understand the need for a cautious approach as they get going again, but the resulting numbers are pretty rough. Let’s dig into who’s doing what at Marvel this August:

Alyssa Wong: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #3 (writer)
Karla Pacheco: Spider-Woman #3 (writer)
Kelly Thompson: Captain Marvel #19 (writer), Captain Marvel #20 (writer), Deadpool #6 (writer)
Leah Williams: Empyre: X-Men #2 (co-writer), X-Factor #2 (writer)
Marika Cresta: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #3 (interior art)
Sara Pichelli: Fantastic Four: Antithesis #1 (variant cover)
Tini Howard: Excalibur #11 (writer)
Valentina Remenar: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #3 (cover)
Vita Ayala: Empyre: X-Men #3 (co-writer)

And that’s it. All together, there are 9 different female and non-binary creators scheduled to work on 10 different books in August, 25 fewer creators and 19 fewer books than in June, when we last had new solicits. This is a huge drop. The publisher is operating at half capacity, but we’ve got just over a quarter of the female and non-binary creators we’re used to on only a third of the books. This is bad.

The percentages bear out the drop, too. Marvel’s down to 46 new titles in August, and with female and non-binary creators on 10 of them that gives us representation across 22% of the line. It’s a nine point decline from June’s 31%, and just a paltry amount relative to what we’re used to seeing from Marvel. Like I said in the DC article, fewer books is understandable, but the representation should be commensurate. It shouldn’t fall off a cliff like this.

Part of the problem is Marvel shifting so many titles to digital only. DC did this a bit, but Marvel’s put a lot of stuff online. Our numbers here are for the Marvel solicits, i.e. the monthly print issues, and the solicits don’t cover digital books. That means we’re missing creators like Kelly Thompson and Carmen Carnero on Star, Torunn Grønbekk on Valkyrie: Jane Foster, Vita Ayala on 2020 Ironheart, Sana Takeda on Marvel’s Spider-Man: The Black Cat Strikes, and Seanan McGuire on Ghost-Spider. Those books will be collected down the road, but they won’t come out in print monthly.

There are also some titles that haven’t been announced digitally but aren’t in the August solicits either, many of them with female leads and female creators. Titles like Amazing Mary Jane, America Chavez, Dark Agnes, Gwen Stacy, Nebula, Runaways, and many more are still in limbo. Presumably they’ll be out at some point, but without them we’ve got a lack in female character representation as well as fewer female and non-binary creators. There are several of them in the missing titles, and their absence is stark this month.

There are, perhaps unsurprisingly, no new female or non-binary creators this month, or any new titles with female leads. The bulk of the line is previously solicited titles as Marvel tries to catch up after their pandemic hiatus. They’re just doing so with male-led books at both levels, creators and characters.

Overall, this is a disappointing showing for Marvel. These are extenuating circumstances, to be sure, but the publisher has made some telling choices here. Their books with female and non-binary creators and/or female leads don’t seem to be much of a priority yet, which speaks to what they consider most important in their line. Hopefully the numbers shift up as the lines grows in the months to come, but August doesn’t look good at all.

Women & NB Creators at DC Comics, August 2020 Solicits, 17 Creators on 13 Books

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And we’re back! The pandemic shut down comics for a while, and things are still a little wonky with DC moving on from Diamond, but the good news is that new comics books are coming out again. We last had solicits for the June books, but that went entirely out the window. Now, with things more or less back on track, we’ve got new solicits for August. Publishers aren’t back to full capacity yet, though, and a good chunk of the listings are books we’ve seen in previous, cancelled solicits. It’s a weird situation. But hey, everyone’s doing their best. Let’s take a look at who’s doing what at DC this August:

Amanda Conner: Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey #3 (co-writer, interior art, cover)
Amy Reeder: Amethyst #5 (writer, interior art, cover)
Becky Cloonan: Dark Nights: Death Metal Guidebook #1 (co-writer, interior art)
Bilquis Evely: Legion of Super-Heroes #8 (interior art)
Blake Northcott: Catwoman #24 (co-writer)
Cecil Castellucci: Batgirl #48 (writer)
Emanuela Lupacchino: Harley Quinn #75 (interior art)
G. Willow Wilson: The Dreaming: Waking Hours #1 (writer)
Jenny Frison: Batman/Superman #11 (variant cover)
Joelle Jones: Dark Nights: Death Metal Legends of the Dark Knights #1 (interior art), Legion of Super-Heroes #8 (interior art)
Mariko Tamaki: Wonder Woman #760 (writer), Wonder Woman #761 (writer)
Mirka Andolfo: Young Justice #17 (varaint cover)
Ngozi Ukazu: Harley Quinn #75 (interior art)
Nicola Scott: Harley Quinn #75 (interior art)
Rachel Dodson: Dark Nights: Death Metal Guidebook #1 (variant cover)
Vita Ayala: Dark Nights: Death Metal Guidebook #1 (co-writer)
Yasmine Putri: Dark Nights: Death Metal Guidebook #1 (cover)

All together, there are 17 different female and non-binary creators set to work on 13 different books at DC in August, four fewer creators and six fewer books than our last round of solicits in June. This seems like a sizeable drop, but we need to keep in mind that this is not our usual slate of titles. Things are still ramping up, so we’re dealing with fewer books here, 49 in August relative to 60 in June.

Thus do we turn to percentages. With female and non-binary creators on 13 of these 49 books, we have representation across 27% of the line. That’s a five point drop from June’s 32%, and well off the year’s high of 40% set in February. So yeah, it’s not great. A pandemic is no reason to employ fewer women and non-binary creators. I understand decreasing the line, but you’d expect the percentages to shift in kind. Instead, we’ve got a bit of a drop.

In terms of new names, we’ve got Ngozi Ukazu drawing some pages in Harley Quinn #75, the series’ finale issue. As best I can tell, she’s not worked at DC before, so that’s a fun addition. We’ve also got the return of G. Willow Wilson, whose The Dreaming: Waking Hours will launch in August now. Incidentally, Mariko Tamaki’s Wonder Woman is set to start in July, it looks like, with that run continuing in August.

For new titles, we’ve got a lots of Dark Nights: Death Metal tie-ins with that event finally rolling again. There’s not much for female characters, though. And with Harley Quinn ending, female character representation is facing a bit of a deficit soon. There’s a special all-star issue of Legion of Super-Heroes which should feature some of the team’s female members, but it’s mostly dudes on the creative level. Female creator representation in the solicit is 2 of 22, and a recent update has that number at 7 of 45 now, which is better but still not particularly good.

Overall, this is an underwhelming start to this new post-pandemic, Diamond-free era of DC Comics. With some titles switching to digital only as well, I’m worried that the books that see print will be from established male creators, and that the books featuring more female and non-binary creators will be relegated to online. Like Supergirl, for example, which is only available digitally now, removing Jody Houser and Rachael Stott from the solicits. Still, it’s early days on a truly unique and bizarre situation. We’ll keep a close eye on the numbers as publishing ramps back up and see where we’re at when DC reaches full strength again.

My New Book, Betty and Veronica: The Leading Ladies of Riverdale, Is Coming July 25!

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I’ve been reading Archie comic books for as long as I’ve known how to read, so I’m very excited to announce my new book Betty and Veronica: The Leading Ladies of Riverdale! It’s coming out on July 25 from Rowman & Littlefield, and I can’t wait for you all to check it out. We all think we know Betty and Veronica, since they’re such archetypes. The blonde girl next door and the brunette vixen, their characterizations seem to have been set in stone since they debuted in the early 1940s. But when you look closer, there’s a lot going on below the surface. Betty and Veronica have evolved over the decades, sometimes subtly and sometimes unintentionally, and my new book traces the growth of the characters through comics, the radio show, TV and more, from their first appearance all the way through to The CW’s Riverdale.

The book covers well known highlights, like Dan DeCarlo’s iconic artwork, the success of The Archies band and “Sugar, Sugar” in the 1960s, and major arcs like the “Love Showdown” and Archie Comics’ 2010s reboot. It also digs into lesser known aspects of the characters, including the publisher’s forays into more serious storytelling, an evangelical Christian Archie comics line, and bizarre moments like when Betty sold her soul to the devil to land Archie (but failed, because Veronica had already sold her soul to the devil first!).

I had a great time researching and writing this book and I’m very proud of how it turned out, but you don’t have to take my word for it. Fantastic writer/journalist and host of the Josie and the Podcats podcast Maria Lewis says:

“Tim Hanley has this gift to dive deep into the history and legacy of pop culture creations you think you know. Betty and Veronica is his best example of that yet: informative, funny, and fascinating, Tim Hanley is one of the best pop culture writers working today.”

And the great comics historian Dr. Carol Tilley says:

“If you want to know about the female comics characters who have captivated readers from the Golden Age forward, Tim Hanley is your guy. His book Betty and Veronica moves these characters out of Archie’s shadow to shine a spotlight on their development in comics, radio, and television over the past nearly 80 years. Hanley’s thoughtful analysis provides insights for fans of the Archie mediaverse as well as pop culture scholars, as he shares how creative forces (sometimes) worked in conjunction with broader social phenomena to shape their representation. Betty and Veronica have been part of my life for nearly 50 years (I’m a Betty by the way), and Hanley’s book let me know I still have much to learn.”

You can learn more about the book here, and also find several links for pre-ordering. Betty and Veronica are fascinating characters with surprisingly complex histories, and I hope you’ll check out the book and learn more about these amazing pop culture icons!

Read Up on the History of Batgirl for #Creators4Comics!

If you follow comic book creators on Twitter, you’ve probably seen the #Creators4Comics hashtag floating around this week. Creators are putting cool items up for auction, with all the benefits going to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, which will help comic shops and independent booksellers who are facing financial difficulties because of the ongoing pandemic. There are so many amazing items up for sale, including lots of great artwork, scripts, toys, statues, and more! You should definitely peruse the hashtag if you have the means to contribute.

I didn’t have anything particularly auction worthy around the house, but what I do have is an old pitch for a book on the history of Batgirl. Titled Batgirl & Beyond: The Dynamic History of the Heroines of Gotham City, the book would have covered every Bat-heroine in Gotham City in comics, film, and television, in the same way I’ve looked at Wonder Woman, Lois Lane, and Catwoman in my other books. The pitch didn’t work out (so it goes!) but I did write four chapters for it, covering the first few decades of Bat-heroines. They’ve just been sitting on my hard drive, but now they live again and you can read them!

All you have to do is donate $10 or more to the BINC Foundation and send me proof of your donation via a Twitter DM or an email to timhanley01@gmail.com. In return, I will send you a PDF with all four chapters! I gave them a thorough edit this week, designed a cover, and added a bunch of comic book images to the text. It’s ONE HUNDRED PAGES of Bat-fun that covers:

The original Batwoman of the 1950s!How the writer of The Empire Strikes Back is connected to Batwoman!The first (short-lived) Bat-Girl!The second (longer-lived) Batgirl!Yvonne Craig as Batgirl on the 1960s Batman TV show!Congresswoman Barbara Gordon!Batgirl vs. Benedict Arnold (he was reanimated by Satan, obviously)!Batman: The Killing Joke, and why it’s trash!

The chapters cover Bat-heroine history from 1956 through 1988, and offer a fun introduction to these great characters. If you liked my other books, this will be right up your alley. It’s fascinating to see how these heroines carved their own spaces in the traditionally male-dominated arena of Gotham City, and managed to shine through despite the many sexist limitations of the comic book industry in this era.

If you can spare a few dollars during this difficult time, please consider a donation to this great cause! The BINC Foundation is doing fantastic work that’s going to help a lot of comic shops and booksellers, and ensure that many of them will be able to open again once our current circumstances are past. Plus a hundred pages of Batgirl history should give you something to do for a little while as you shelter in place. Check it out!

Women & NB Creators at Marvel Comics, June 2020 Solicits, 34 Creators on 29 Books

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Continuing this very productive first week of self isolation, this is the sixth of these posts I’ve written so far. It’ll be in the future when you read it, though, at least two weeks away. What will I be counting then? How many Cheerios are in a box, perhaps? Time will tell. As always, comic book retailers are having a tough go of it with so many of us staying home, so please support them if you can. See if they offer curbside pickup or mail delivery, or pay for the books you have on hold now via etransfer or some such and then pick them up later on. Now let’s dig into who’s doing what at Marvel this June:

Alyssa Wong: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #4 (writer)
Amy Chu: Aero #12 (co-writer), Sword Master #12 (co-writer)
Annie Wu: Black Widow #3 (variant cover)
Becky Cloonan: Dark Agnes #5 (writer)
Carmen Carnero: Miles Morales: Spider-Man #19 (interior art)
Claire Roe: Nebula #5 (interior art)
Colleen Doran: Captain Marvel: Marvels Snapshot #1 (interior art, variant cover)
Elena Casagrande: Black Widow #3 (interior art)
Elizabeth Torque: America Chavez: Made in the USA #1 (variant cover)
Emanuela Lupacchino: Black Widow #3 (variant cover)
Eve L. Ewing: Champions #3 (writer)
Gurihiru: W.E.B. of Spider-Man #1 (cover)
Jen Bartel: Giant-Size X-Men: Storm #1 (variant cover), Nebula #5 (cover)
Jodie Muir: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Adaptation #1 (variant cover)
Jody Houser: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Adaptation #1 (writer)
Kalinda Vazquez: America Chavez: Made in the USA #1 (writer)
Karla Pacheco: Spider-Woman #4 (writer)
Kelly Thompson: Black Widow #3 (writer), Captain Marvel #20 (writer), Deadpool #8 (writer)
Leah Williams: Amazing Mary Jane #9 (writer), X-Factor #3 (writer)
Margaret Stohl: Spider-Man Noir #4 (writer)
Marika Cresta: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #4 (interior art)
Mirka Andolfo: Dr. Strange #7 (variant cover)
Nina Vakueva: Black Cat #13 (interior art)
Peach Momoko: Nebula #5 (variant cover), Power Pack #3 (variant cover)
Rainbow Rowell: Runaways #34 (writer)
Sara Pichelli: America Chavez: Made in the USA #1 (cover), Black Cat #13 (cover)
Stephanie Hans: America Chavez: Made in the USA #1 (variant cover), Dark Agnes #5 (cover)
Tini Howard: Excalibur #12 (writer), Strikeforce #10 (writer)
Torunn Grønbekk: Valkyrie: Jane Foster #12 (co-writer)
Tula Lotay: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #4 (variant cover)
Valentina Remenar: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #4 (cover)
Valentine Pasche: Champions #3 (variant cover)
Vita Ayala: Children of the Atom #3 (writer), Empyre: X-Men #3 (co-writer), Morbius #8 (writer), Nebula #5 (writer)

All together, there are 34 different female and non-binary creators set to work on 29 different books at DC in June, five more creators than in May across four fewer books. Again, we’ve got some small ups and downs with the numbers, but everything evens out to about the same level. Marvel remains a bastion of stability over the past few months, after years of being all over the dang place.

The publisher’s output looks to be a bit lower in June, with “only” 93 books, but with appearances from female and non-binary creators dropping to 29 books this month, that gives us representation across 31% of the line. While that’s a two point drop from May, it’s well within Marvel’s wheelhouse as of late.

For new names, we’ve got Kalinda Vazquez writing the new America Chavez: Made in the USA series, which looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. We also have Valentine Pasche doing a variant cover for Champions this month. We’ve seen a few new artists popping in recently to do variant covers as of late, and several of those creators have become regulars at Marvel.

America Chavez: Made in the USA is the only new book with a female lead in June, where it’s a pretty quiet month across the board. The Empyre event is in full swing, with all manner of spinoffs and tie-ins, and Marvel’s not rolling out of a ton of brand new titles. I’d expect more once this wraps up and we move into the big summer event, which I think is X of Swords or some such? The X-books are great right now, so I’m curious to check out that one.

Overall, Marvel continues to hold relatively steady right now. The numbers still remain below their recent highs, but the numbers look okay relative to what we’re used to seeing from the Big Two. There remains, as always, an enormous amount of room to grow, though, and it’d be nice to see Marvel taking advantage of the great talent out there, especially since they’re putting out upwards of a hundred books a month.

Women & NB Creators at DC Comics, June 2020 Solicits, 21 Creators on 19 Books

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The numbers keep coming, both fast and furiously, because I am lousy with spare time right now! I’m actually writing this two weeks before it’s even going to post. Given how things are going, I can’t possibly imagine how the world will be when this goes up. I hope you’re all still doing well! Also, as self isolation continues, local comics retailers are facing tough times. If you’re able, consider supporting them by getting your comics via mail or curbside pickup, or arrange to pay now for comics you’ll pick up later on, when we’re all out and about again. Now let’s take a look at who’s doing what at DC in June:

Agnes Garbowska: Teen Titans Go!/DC Super Hero Girls Special Giant #1 (interior art)
Amanda Conner: Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey #3 (co-writer, interior art, cover), Lois Lane #12 (variant cover)
Amanda Diebert: Teen Titans Go!/DC Super Hero Girls Special Giant #1 (co-writer)
Amy Reeder: Amethyst #4 (writer, interior art, cover)
Anna Obropta: Wonder Woman 1984 Giant #1 (co-writer)
Blake Northcott: Catwoman #24 (co-writer)
Cecil Castellucci: Batgirl #48 (writer)
G. Willow Wilson: The Dreaming: Waking Hours #2 (writer)
Gail Simone: The Flash Giant #5 (writer)
Jenny Frison: Batman/Superman #11 (variant cover)
Kami Garcia: Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity Secret Files #1 (co-writer)
Kelly Sue DeConnick: Aquaman #61 (writer)
Laura Marks: Daphne Byrne #6 (writer)
Louise Simonson: Wonder Woman 1984 Giant #1 (co-writer)
Marguerite Sauvage: Wonder Woman 1984 Giant #1 (interior art)
Mariko Tamaki: Wonder Woman #759 (writer), Wonder Woman #760 (writer)
Michelle Delecki: Metal Men #9 (interior art)
Mirka Andolfo: Young Justice #17 (variant cover)
N.K. Jemison: Far Sector #7 (writer)
Nalo Hopkinson: House of Whispers #22 (writer)
Nicola Scott: Wonder Woman 1984 Giant #1 (cover)

All together, there are 21 different female creators set to work on 19 different books at DC this June, one more creator and five more books than in May. As best I can tell, there are no non-binary creators listed in this round of solicits. These are small gains after a very poor May, and largely come from a big addition to the solicits. DC’s been putting out special giant issues since the fall, roughly one a week, with a new story or two alongside some reprinted material. The solicits have listed the titles but not the credits thus far, but now they’re finally including credits for the new stories. That added a few credits and several books to the count.

Including these titles bumped up DC’s overall output to 60 books, and with female creators working on 19 of them, that gives us representation across 32% of the line. That’s a sizeable jump from May’s 25%, again largely due to adding several of these special giant issues to the count.

June’s a light month for new names. We’ve got Anna Obropta co-writing a story in the Wonder Woman 1984 Giant special, and that’s about it. Louise Simonson is working on the book as well, and it’s always nice to have her in the mix. She’s not a regular to the same degree as most everyone else on the list above. She’s more a returning legend at this stage.

For new books, the big announcement is the start of Three Jokers, and that’s a hard pass from me. I’m tired of that dude. DCeased is back with a new series, DCeased Planet, and a new Justice League, including Cassie Sandsmark taking on the mantle of Wonder Woman, which is kind of neat. There’s also the aforementioned Wonder Woman 1984 giant, and a Teen Titans Go!/DC Super Hero Girls crossover giant with a wide array of female heroines. Finally, this isn’t a new book, but Mariko Tamaki and Mikel Janin are taking over Wonder Woman this month, and that should be excellent.

Overall, while representation for creators of marginalized genders looks better in June than May, the numbers are still very low. DC’s output is low as well, but even taking that into account, the numbers aren’t great. At least including the giants gives us a better look at DC’s overall output. That should be interesting moving forward, given the eclectic content each month. We never know what we’re going to get from that handful of issues, which could add a bit of variety to things.

Women & NB Creators at Marvel Comics, May 2020 Solicits, 29 Creators on 33 Books

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The stats keep on coming with our look at female and non-binary creators at Marvel, because I’m social distancing and staying inside and what’s more fun than tabulating creator numbers? As always, please support your local comics retailers during this difficult time if you can. Small businesses are getting hit hard, so check in with your comic shop to see if you can get your comics through the mail or curbside pickup, or pay for your account now to pick up down the road. Now let’s take a look at who’s doing what at Marvel this May:

Alyssa Wong: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #3 (writer)
Amy Chu: Aero #11 (co-writer), Sword Master #11 (co-writer)
Barbara Randall Kesel: Avengers: Marvels Snapshot #1 (co-writer)
Becky Cloonan: Dark Agnes #4 (writer)
Carmen Carnero: Miles Morales: Spider-Man #18 (interior art), Star #5 (cover)
Claire Roe: Nebula #4 (interior art)
Elena Casagrande: Black Widow #2 (interior art)
Emanuela Lupacchino: The Union #1 (variant cover)
Eve L. Ewing: Champions #2 (writer)
Gurihiru: Power Pack #2 (variant cover)
Jen Bartel: Nebula #4 (cover)
Karla Pacheco: Spider-Woman #3 (writer)
Kelly Thompson: Black Widow #2 (writer), Captain Marvel #18 (writer), Captain Marvel #19 (writer), Deadpool #7 (writer), Star #5 (writer)
Leah Williams: Amazing Mary Jane #8 (writer), Empyre: X-Men #2 (co-writer), X-Factor #2 (writer)
Margaret Stohl: Spider-Man Noir #3 (writer)
Marika Cresta: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #3 (interior art)
Meghan Hetrick: Champions #2 (variant cover), Empyre: Thor #1 (variant cover)
Mirka Andolfo: Amazing Spider-Man #46 (variant cover)
Natacha Bustos: Runaways #33 (interior art)
Peach Momoko: Gwen Stacy #4 (variant cover)
Rainbow Rowell: Runaways #33 (writer)
Sana Takeda: Marvel’s Spider-Man: The Black Cat Strikes #5 (cover)
Seanan McGuire: Ghost-Spider #10 (writer)
Stephanie Hans: Dark Agnes #4 (cover)
Tini Howard: Empyre: X-Men #1 (co-writer), Excalibur #11 (writer), Strikeforce #9 (writer)
Torunn Grønbekk: Valkyrie: Jane Foster #11 (co-writer)
Valentina Remenar: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #3 (cover)
Vita Ayala: 2020 Ironheart #2 (co-writer), Children of the Atom #2 (writer), Morbius #7 (writer), Nebula #4 (writer)

All together, there are 29 female and non-binary creators set to work on 33 different books in May, two fewer creators than in April on two more books. So that about evens out, really, with Marvel’s output in the same ballpark as last month. They’re putting out two more books in May, for a whopping 99 titles overall, and with female or non-binary creators set to work on 33 of them, that gives us representation across 33% of the line. That’s a one point gain from last month, as Marvel continues to hold relatively steady.

In terms of new names in May, I don’t think there are any brand new creators. We haven’t seen Barbara Randall Kesel in a while, but she’s certainly worked at Marvel before. Almost everyone else was in the mix last month, if not in the months before that. Marvel’s got a sizeable group of female and non-binary creators getting regular work right now, which is great, but it’d be good to have some new names in the mix, too.

For new books, it’s going to be Empyre-palooza in May, with what looks like a dozen or so spinoff minis that cover every corner of the Marvel universe. If you’ve got a favourite female character at Marvel, chances are they’ll pop up in one of these books, plus a lot of regular series are doing tie-ins as well. It’s a whole big thing, though there aren’t a ton of female or non-binary creators involved. Outside of all of that, the only new book with female representation is The Union, a new team led by Britannia. There also seem to be a couple of other women in the mix, too, though I don’t know who’s who. I’m not an expert on Marvel heroes in the British Isles.

Overall, Marvel keeps trucking along with relatively decent female and non-binary creator representation. The numbers are below their recent highs, but they’re steady and there’s a solid core group of creators getting all manner of gigs currently. Some growth would be nice, but given how up and down the Big Two tend to be, there’s something to be said for stability as well.

Women & NB Creators at DC Comics, May 2020 Solicits, 20 Creators on 14 Books

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We’re going to keep rolling with our stats this week, because we sure do have a lot of spare time now! We might even have the June numbers up next week, at this rate. Also, again, please support your local comic shops if you can during this time of self-isolation. See if they offer mail delivery or curbside pick, or pay for your books in advance via etransfer, PayPal, or credit card and then pick them up down the road. It’s a difficult time for small businesses, so consider helping them out, if you’re able. Now let’s dig into who’s doing what at DC this May, where the numbers are looking rough:

Blake Northcott: Catwoman #23 (co-writer)
Carmen Maria Machado: The Low, Low Woods #6 (writer)
Cecil Castellucci: Batgirl #47 (writer)
Charlotte Fullerton: Green Lantern 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1 (co-writer)
Dani: The Low, Low Woods #6 (interior art)
Emanuela Lupacchino: Wonder Woman #758 (interior art)
G. Willow Wilson: The Dreaming: Waking Hours #1 (writer)
Jenny Frison: The Low, Low Woods #6 (variant cover)
Jody Houser: Supergirl #42 (writer)
Joelle Jones: Lois Lane #11 (variant cover)
Kelly Sue DeConnick: Aquaman #60 (writer)
Laura Marks: Daphne Byrne #5 (writer)
Mariko Tamaki: Batman Secret Files #3 (co-writer), Green Lantern 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1 (co-writer)
Michelle Delecki: Metal Men #8 (interior art)
Nalo Hopkinson: House of Whispers #21 (writer)
Nicola Scott: Green Lantern 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1 (variant cover)
Rachael Stott: Supergirl #42 (interior art)
Rachel Dodson: Batgirl #47 (variant cover)
Tiffany Turrill: Lucifer #20 (cover)
Vita Ayala: Batman Secret Files #3 (co-writer)

All together, there are 20 different female and non-binary creators scheduled to work on 14 different books at DC this May, nine fewer creators and seven fewer books than in April. Those are some big drops. There are fewer titles overall in May than in April, but not enough that this decline is proportional. Having female or non-binary creators on 14 of DC’s 56 books in May gives us representation across 25% of the line, a seven point fall from April’s 32%. That’s quite sizeable. Hopefully it’s just an off month, but this is rough stuff regardless.

In terms of new names, we’ve got Charlotte Fullerton writing a story in the Green Lantern 80th anniversary special. She’s worked in animation and comics for a while, but I think this is her first DC gig since we started keeping track. Also, it’s great to see some female creators working on an anniversary special with a male lead. That’s been rare lately. Elsewhere, Blake Northcott is co-writing Catwoman this month, which I am less excited about. She’s been ComicsGate adjacent for a while now, and I’m not terribly thrilled when anyone associated with that hate group lands a mainstream gig.

For new titles, DC’s big summer event Dark Nights: Death Metal is launching, with Wonder Woman set to play a big role with her weird chainsaw sword. There’s a Generation One special on the books as well, but that may be up in the air given that the books that were supposed to come out in June seem to have gone by the wayside. There’s not much new for female characters across the line, however, though I’ve got my fingers crossed for Batgirl and other Gotham greats to show up in Batman: The Adventures Continue, which is set in the iconic animated series.

Overall, May looks pretty bad for DC. Representation for creators of marginalized genders is way down, and there’s not a whole lot of be excited about in new names and books. At this stage, we’re not in a post-DiDio DC yet, so his exit doesn’t explain this drop. It’s just a decidedly subpar month, for no discernible reason. Not great, DC.