I really hope my question doesn't come off accusatory or mean because I mean it in the best way possible and I know tone doesn't always show the best online but being (what I assume, and PLEASE correct me if anything I say is wrong) a straight cis gender w

It’s ONE HUNDRED PERCENT a valid question.

Here’s the deal, it’s the eternal quandary. Do writers bring in characters from marginalized groups that they don’t personally belong to?

Both answers are dangerous. If we don’t, we continue on with an industry path that has declared many people invisible.  If we do, we run the risk of messing it up, but even worse, we might end up taking a position that would be better served by a talented marginalized person who DOES belong to that group.

I struggle with it.  I try to help bring in as many new writers from those groups as I can, and I try to do it quietly without treading upon their accomplishments. But if I am going to write at all, I can’t just write white, straight, able-bodied cis people, that’s the worst possible solution that benefits no one.

For fifteen years, people have asked me to bring in characters that look like them, that have their background or characteristics. I feel like that’s the best I can do. I try not to mess up, but if I do, I listen and try to do better. I get help from gracious people who have given unceasingly of their time.

But my philosophy is very, very simple. I want comics that include everyone, on every level, at every juncture, on the page and off the page. I don’t want to contribute to inertia set in place seventy years ago just because that’s how it’s always been done.

So I do the best I can, because I feel it’s important. It’s not about me, it’s not about ‘virtue signaling’ or whatever the fuck. Everyone has something they believe in, and for me, it’s trying to make comics that include everyone, so that no one feels there’s a gatekeeper telling them they are not welcome.

I don’t know if I am doing it the best way or the wisest way, but it is the only way I know how.

Comics for everyone, that’s what I want. It’s important, so I try to listen and learn, and not just barf up dusty tropes and stale clichés.

I don’t know how to say it any better than that, hope that makes sense.