A quick note about a couple of my posts from yesterday: I’ve been in the comics industry in a variety of capacities for a decade. While bad experiences are, well, bad...and tend to be something that stays with us, my overall experience has been largely positive.

There’s been a huge shift even in my relatively short time within the industry. I’ve been a writer and editor for only about half of it, and didn’t consider myself a “peer” to anyone until up until that point.

Still, many were kind and made the effort to befriend, engage, and encourage me to expand further into the industry.

There are a lot of scumbags in comics still. A lot of jerks, harassers, abusers, and generally crappy humans.

There are also creator cliques that can sometimes make you feel like an outsider.

All of those things can be alienating experiences. But I will say that there are still many outside of all of that who will go above and beyond to make you feel welcome. I will always try to be one of those people.

It’s important that we talk about our experiences so that people don’t feel isolated if it happens to them. But also, talking about it maybe makes someone rethink how they interact with others and helps course correct bad behaviour.

Don’t EVER let someone make you feel like you don’t belong in this industry. Carve out a space for yourself and find the people who will uplift and support you. They’re out there and will embrace you with open arms.