From the Editor

Queer folks need heroes. We just do. Just like other marginalized groups, we want to see ourselves portrayed not as the underdog or the person who needs saving, but as the bad*ss who saves the day.

Everyone deserves the chance to see themselves in the spotlight as the hero, but for too long, the only people seeing themselves portrayed that way were cis, white men, and occassionally, cis, white women. This is why Black Panther coming back to the big screen as a hero was such a big deal for so many people of color. Unfortunately, seeing a black man as the hero of any film still doesn’t happen very often.

Now, finally, marginalized folks are stepping into that spotlight. Denver’s Pop Culture Con has tons of queer guests; The Dinky Awards featured a bunch of queer comics, and for the first time, queer naratives are becoming the norm rather than the exception in some stories.

Of course, there is still a long way to go. Most of the superheroes and sci-fi stars are still cis, white, straight, and not differently abled. And a big reason why there is so much fierce expression in comics these days is because of our current political climate.

Still, everyone needs heroes, and everyone needs to be seen as a hero. It’s not enough anymore to have strong, white men to beat up the bad guys who keep us down. We want to do our own saving.