Dark Horse Comics stressed the importance of diversity in comics at its San Diego Comic-Con panel. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all Comic-Con panels were virtual, but no less star-studded, and Dark Horse brought some of their biggest creators and editors—and delivered a timely message about the comics industry.
Dark Horse is one of America’s premiere comic book publishers, and for the last 35 years, they have released a wide variety of books spanning every major genre. In addition to creator-owned material, such as Hellboy, Dark Horse also publishes a range of licensed titles, such as The Last of Us and the Cyberpunk franchise. More recently, the company founded a new imprint, called Berger Books, spearheaded by former DC editor Karen Berger. Berger was responsible for the creation of DC’s late Vertigo imprint, which brought readers titles such as The Sandman and Swamp Thing. With a track record such as this, Dark Horse has always put an emphasis on diversity, and at the recent SDCC panel, they stressed this even further.
The panel consisted of Berger and creators Roye Okupe, Cullen Bunn, Christopher Golden, and Faith Erin Hicks. It was moderated by Kate Jay. While the panelists also discussed current and forthcoming projects, there was discussion of diversity as well. Speaking on the subject, Berger noted the influx of women creators in the industry, something she noted as having grown in only the last few years. Berger feels that comics had been mostly for “straight white boys” and the recent diversification is a wonderful thing. Okupe felt that comics “allow authentic people to tell authentic stories.” While Okupe acknowledged that it is still not easy to create comics, he said “at this point in time, you have no excuse not to tell your story.” Okupe feels that comics are for everyone, “no matter where they are in the world” and with this in mind, the panelists all agreed they were excited for the continued diversification of comics, both in terms of characters and creators.
Diversity in comics has been a hot-button topic for the last few years, with numerous convention panels and talking heads debating it; many agree that diversity is a great thing, as the bringing of different perspectives to the table benefits everyone. These debates have gone hand in hand with the influx of women, LGBTQIA+ and POCs entering the comics industry.
This has been met with pushback from some segments of the industry, but many companies are reaffirming their commitment to diversity, spotlighting characters and creators from underrepresented groups. Despite the inroads being made, there is still much work to be done and Dark Horse's panel at San Diego Comic-Con reaffirmed the publisher's push for inclusion in comics.