| Joining the Journey Planet team this issue is David Ferguson who has co-edited this issue specifically focused on an LGBTQ topic: LGBTQ comics. David said "Journey Planet is a fanzine that has always been an ally of the LGBTQ community, featuring various articles covering queer characters, books, and more, and I enjoyed helping bring this issue to life." David continued "For years, I worked on the website Irish Comic News, which covered the work of Irish creators and creators based in Ireland, and I developed long lasting friendships with the creators in the Irish comic community. It was, and still is, a very welcoming group of people who care about equality and promoting their fellow creators, including queer creators. So when I was asked to help edit the Journey Planet issue on LGBTQ comics, I immediately reached out to Irish creators, specifically queer creators, to contribute to the magazine. I was delighted with the response." "We had no set idea of what the issue would be when we started and. Through my interaction with creators, it organically morphed into an issue where creators talked about creating queer work in comics. We have a wonderful bunch of contributors, some of whom I have written about before for the website of Gay Community News. This includes Anna Fitzpatrick (Alien Heart) and Clare Foley (Forbidden Altars), who wrote pieces about their comic creations. I interviewed artist Cian Tormey (Alan Scott: Green Lantern) and writer / artist Luke Healy (Self-Esteem And The End Of The World). I reached further afield and brought in Welsh creator Joe Glass (The Pride) and interviewed Steve Orlando (Marauders, Scarlet Witch). There are lots more. So many creators with different insights into queer comics. I am grateful to so many people for taking the time to write a piece or answer questions." David noted, "I also have to give a lot of credit to my co-editors and the whole team. So many previous co-editors are huge allies of the LGBTQ community. I'd also like to thank James Bacon, who motivated me and who's energy helped push the issue forward. James' through research and engagement also provided multiple articles about the history of queer comics, a journey of discovery for him that I think people will really enjoy. There were characters I’d never heard of, and looking at the history and reading about advocates for queer comics in the eighties was inspiring." James added, "We hope this issue shines a light on LGBTQ comics, both historical and importantly of the moment, and on the wonderful creatives involved and the stories. We hope this issue motivates people to seek out comics and creators." David finished by saying, "I hope people enjoy the issue. We are already thinking of more queer topics to cover in future issues of Journey Planet and are open to ideas on the subject." Get in touch at: [email protected] | ||
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