MariNaomi

The weekend is here! Take a look back at what’s happened in the past seven days. New comics, new stories, new podcasts, new art being made — it’s all part of the ComicsAlliance Weekender!

What a week! I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to sit back and read some comics. The weekend is finally here, and the world can relax and rest once more - but the comics industry has been busy too, you know, and the last seven days have seen a flurry of comics-based news and announcements fly past at high speed. ComicsAlliance have got your back, though: when it comes to comics, we never slow down, and so here’s a look back and just what’s been going on. New comics, new stories, new hirings, new podcasts, new art being made - it’s all part of the ComicsAlliance Weekender!

In late August, writer Gene Luen Yang posed a challenge to his peers in the world of comics: Write characters who are different from you, racially and culturally, even if it's scary. That can be tough to do without being insulting, or tone-deaf, or resorting to stereotypes. What can really help for writers is input from people of the races and cultures that they hope to depict; people who can gauge whether a work has the right level of sensitivity and understanding. Luckily, a whole bunch of cartoonists have come together to offer up advice in a post on Midnight Breakfast titled "Writing People of Color (if you happen to be a person of another color)." It's chock full of insight.

The Cartoonists of Color Database is a new project by cartoonist MariNaomi that aims to collect information on people of color working in comics. The FAQ succinctly outlines the need for such a database with four statements: "For visibility. For academia. For inspiration. For community building." The database formally launched this week with over 700 creator listings, and MariNaomi has made a public call for people to add more information, refine the information that's currently there, and correct any mistakes.