Comics/Graphic Novels

Off-Panel: Women Sweep the Ignatz Awards

Melody Schreiber

Staff Writer

Melody Schreiber is at work on a nonfiction anthology of premature birth. As a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C., she has reported from nearly every continent. Her articles, essays, and reviews have been published by The Washington Post, Wired, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Pacific Standard, NPR, The Toast, Catapult, and others. She received her bachelor’s in English and linguistics at Georgetown University and her master’s in writing at the Johns Hopkins University. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @m_scribe.

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As seen in the continued success of Ultimate Universe Spider-Man Miles Morales, the reinvention of dead Spider-Man girlfriend Gwen Stacy as Spider-Gwen, and the reimagining of the original superheroes as all-female in DC Comics’ Bombshells, the existence of the multiverse is proving especially beneficial for diversity. When you can create new universes on a weekly basis, you’ve got a powerful tool for flipping the dominant script. Increasingly, multiversity is equaling diversity.

Alternate universes make a point of challenging the status quo–which make them the perfect staging ground for new narratives featuring more women and characters of color.

And just two years after every presenter at the Ignatz ceremony was a woman, now, at this year’s event, every winner was a woman…. Since 1997, the expo’s Ignatz honor has celebrated “outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning.”

Speaking of women in comics… Every single winner of the Ignatz Awards presented at the Small Press Expo over the weekend possess double Xs. Way to go, ladies.

Will Sliney is a Marvel Comics illustrator who draws Spider-Man for a living — dream job, right? So when the Irishman popped the question to his girlfriend on September 11, he put his talents to good use and created an adorable personalized comic series that tells the story of their relationship.

How could she not say yes? But this certainly sets the bar high for their wedding!