The Flight of the Valkyries

The Flight of the Valkyries

Peter Nicolai Arbo - Valkyrie, 1865

or: How We Got Janelle Asselin to STAPLE!

by Uncle Staple

Synergies - they're awesome. We have some great synergies working this year on the STAPLE! guest list. Most of these talented ladies already know each and are friends, some have collaborated together as well. For example, Kate Leth did all the scout badge designs for Lumberjanes, the comic by our other guests Grace Ellis, Brooke Allen and Shannon Watters.

Kate also started The Valkyries, an affiliation of women who work in comic shops, and some of those Valkyries helped us get Janelle Asselin to STAPLE! I shall explain.

Around the time of Denver Comic Con I saw that Janelle was doing a panel there called Hire This Woman, based on her Comics Alliance column of the same name, which included, among others, my friend Jamie Kinosian (who has also been featured in the column). I thought, especially since we are focusing on women in comics this year, that it would be awesome to get Janelle here to do the same panel with some Texas-based female creators. I asked Jamie to put me in touch with Janelle, which she kindly did.

Happily, Janelle was available that weekend and interested in the idea, we just had to find a way to cover her travel. STAPLE!'s usual sponsors (local comics shops Austin Books, Rogue's Gallery and Dragon's Lair) were already committed to bringing in our other guests, so I couldn't ask them for more help. I talked to a couple shops in Houston, and they weren't able to do it either, at least not in full.

So, I was chatting with my friend Meredith Nudo about this conundrum and she came up with the brilliant idea of reaching out to the Valkyries to ask for assistance. Meredith, among her many other credits, is a Valk herself, and knew that they would be excited about having Janelle at the show, and likely willing to chip in to help make it happen. As it turned out, she was right.

I asked her to take the lead and she diligently went about securing enough donations to completely pay for the cost of Janelle's flight, thereby making Janelle's appearance, and our own Hire This Woman panel possible.

These are the Valkyries (and a couple non-Valks) who contributed to the fund:

Meredith Nudo - Pop & Schlock Podcast
Annie Bulloch - 8thDimension Comics & Games
Alva Coto & Jessi Jordan - Third PlanetSci-Fi Superstore
Sarah Simes - @allaloam
Leia Calderon - SubCultured
Jesus Garza - SpaceCity Nerd
Danni Danger - WeirdGirls!
Bedrock City ComicCompany

I am deeply indebted to them and humbled by their willingness to help, and very touched by the sense of community and coming together to make this happen, which is part and parcel of what STAPLE! is all about. Connections, synergies, cooperation, community.

We reached out to that community and asked some of our guests, panelists, and friends to tell us what they felt was good about STAPLE!'s focus on women and diversity this year, and this is what they had to say:

Janelle Asselin, Comics Alliance: “I think the easy answer is that it matters because no one ever thinks twice about all the guests at a convention being guys, but diversity - even just having things like panel parity - is seen as something that requires an extensive amount of effort. Staple has put together a guest list that seems to excite attendees that just happens to be entirely female without what seems like a whole lot of effort. It’s a great model for other conventions who might be afraid of too much effort - not only is it not that much effort, but it also does nice things for your reputation.”  (http://comicsalliance.com/tags/hire-this-woman)

See bio for Janelle at: http://staple-austin.org/2015-guests
 

Hire this Woman Panelists:

Maria-Elisa Heg:  “It's really exciting to see so many amazing women getting the recognition they so richly deserve, and an honor to included alongside such talented individuals.” http://ohdonteven.com,  http://zinefesthouston.org

Jeanne Thornton: “No one can represent a group like a member of that group: if you want believable, recognizably human women in comics, then women must make those comics. The more humanity we have in the comics--the more comics exist where women can see ourselves legitimately represented, the more comics exist in which men can see women as subjects who have distinct experiences, ideas, and goals that maybe have nothing to do with said men--the better off everyone is going to be. A century overdue.” http://fictioncircus.com/Jeanne

C. M. Bratton: "It's somewhat mind-boggling how women have been portrayed throughout comic history - both in storylines and as creators. I read an article recently that spoke about how nearly all women employees of comic companies were fired when men came back from WWII. We're talking editors, writers, artists, colorists - you name it. And since then, the industry has never quite recovered in terms of equality between genders. But women liking and buying comics is nothing new at all. And women producing comics is just as normal, which is why we deserve equal respect." http://www.cmbratton.com

C.M. was also recently interviewed by Janelle: http://comicsalliance.com/making-the-reader-root-for-the-villain-an-interview-with-writer-c-m-bratton-hire-this-woman/

- See bios for these panelists at: http://staple-austin.org/hire-this-woman

Meredith Nudo: "STAPLE!'s guest list this year reflects how women are by no definition a niche within the comics industry. We're readers, writers, artists, editors, journalists, organizers, publicists, retailers...we ARE comics. We've contributed since the beginning, but historically received less recognition."     http://hardcorenudoty.com

- Meredith Nudo is the Comics Editor of Dork Shelf, event organizer at Third Planet Sci-Fi Superstore (comics shop in Houston), a podcaster, a blogger, a zinester, an editor, and general all around badass. She was instrumental in helping to crowd-fund Janelle Asselin’s appearance through the Valkyries. She'll be moderating Janelle's "Pitching Comics" panel at STAPLE!

Danni Danger, Weird Girls: “Indie comics are tricky game: pouring your creative energy to a project, working with limited resources, self-motivating? Just listing those things makes me tired. On the other hand, indie comics are some of the best indicators of what new, fresh outlooks readers want. This year's STAPLE! guest list reflects one of the industry’s biggest demands today: female creators. Bring on the ladies.

Part of what makes this year’s STAPLE! lineup so powerful for me is a small sampling of the collective voices of independent female creators are reaching out to the world, telling other women "I can do this and so can you." It's so much easier and less frightening when you watch other women like you doing it and changing the industry.

I like to think that we'll look back on this time as the beginning of the great emergence of talented women in this industry, and the idea of STAPLE! being a part of that, right here in my backyard gives me hope, and a good deal of pride.”  http://www.weird-girls.com/danni-danger

An Interview with Writer/Artist Kate Leth, of ADVENTURE TIME, BRAVEST WARRIORS, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, More

by Taryn M. Gray

Kate Leth, of Kate or Die fame, has a lot going for her these days. Hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, the artist/writer/Queen of the Valkyries has her hands full with the New York Times-bestselling Adventure Time: Seeing Red, the ongoing Bravest Warriors comic series, a Fraggle Rock mini and the current Edward Scissorhands mini. We were fortunate enough to grab a few seconds of her time before her big STAPLE! appearance next month.

What has stood out as one of your biggest accomplishments in your career thus far? Your proudest moment since you began working in the comic book industry?

It was very, very exciting to see my first Adventure Time graphic novel make the NYT Bestseller list! Honestly, though, my favorite ongoing experiences are either seeing pictures of kids reading my books or meeting younger fans. I've gotten fan art from kids a few times, and that's one of the best feelings in the world. It's just so great!

How has working in the comic industry changed you? How has it influenced your writing, your art, your attitude or your outlook on life in general?

Well, it's changed pretty much everything. I was a college dropout working in a comic book store before my boss encouraged me to start making my own work! I became a writer when I was offered a writing job. Comics are the first thing I've ever felt like I was good at, and I've become so involved in so many different aspects of it now that I feel like it's my whole life. I read or write or review comics every single day.

In the past year and a half (give or take) you have been spearheading a revolutionary organization - The Valkyries. Can you explain who these women are and what this group means for women and other minority groups who want to become a part of the comic community? [Full disclosure: Both the writer and the editor of this piece are members of the Valkyries. -ed.]

My warrior women! The Valkyries are an amazing group of women who work in, manage, own or otherwise are integral to comic shops all over the world. There are close to 400 members now, and it's growing all the time. It started as a place to chat about the job and swap stories, but it's become so much more than that - there are comic trades, convention meet-ups, files upon files of comics to appeal to every demographic, ongoing discussions about how to host book clubs and ladies' nights; I love every minute of it. I think places like that, safe spaces, are really important. A sense of community goes a long way.

Finally, as the new year begins, what are some of your hopes for the comics community? What advice can you give to make sure we can realize, even achieve, those goals?

Same hopes as always, I suppose! I hope for more diversity and representation in comics. I want to see more women working in and playing interesting roles in all kinds of media. My advice is pretty well tied into that, too: support the kinds of creators and stories you want to see. Keep breathing life into this industry and it'll keep growing and bettering itself all the time.