If you haven't already answered this elsewhere: How do you feel about the cancellation of Marvel books X-23, Ghost Rider, Daken, and Black Panther? With these cancelled, Marvel now has no books with solo female leads, no books with solo LGBTQ characters, a

This stuff is always painful on many levels. First, it's bad because poorly represented groups might only get a spotlight in one book, or a couple titles, so removing them leaves a gaping hole. Second, most of those are also really GOOD books, with good creative teams who really care about this stuff, so moving them to books with white, straight lead characters seems almost a double shame.

And finally, whenever this happens, it never fails that it perpetuates the problem because without fail, some people will point to these books and say, "See? Books with POC/lgbtq leads don't sell." And that makes it harder for the next group.

However, it's not just at Marvel, DC has the same problem. The reality is, ANY new non-icon lead book is a tough sell. There are dozens of straight white male lead books that get canceled and no one says, "Hey, see? Straight white males don't sell."

My understanding is that it's not that these books sold terribly, it's that they didn't have much optimism that sales would increase, so I guess they felt it was better to stop them before they became untenable.

In a way, it's just the market. Marvel wouldn't cancel these books if they sold. But on the other hand, they do represent at least an attempt to be less exclusionary. So what I HOPE is that they see the avid readers of those books and take note—put those characters to use elsewhere, so readers still get to enjoy them, and keep trying new titles with POC/lgbtq leads, give them time to find an audience.

So, it sucks, it always sucks when good books get cancelled, and even moreso when the few poc/lgbtq lead books disappear. But I do believe that the audience for such books continues to grow, we just need to find the right formula, the right mix of characters and creators that allows those books to find a big enough audience to survive.