We already knew we were living in the bleakest of timelines but with every passing day it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by the stygian darkness of its excesses. As we see the ideals of diversity, equity and inclusion being put to the sword in the US this week, the feeling of helplessness in the face of such genuine evil is overpowering. As I have said on countless occasions here at Broken Frontier, I sit right near the centre of that Venn Diagram of privilege so I cannot even begin to fully appreciate how terrifying this must be for my friends and colleagues in comics from marginalised parts of society.
All I can say, and for what it’s worth, is that Broken Frontier will not forget you. I will not forget you. And we will continue to use whatever reach we have to support and celebrate your stories, your identities, and your lives.
To that end I’ve put together a few reminders/thoughts on both the kind of things we can offer you and how you can help us respond to what we will be facing in the weeks, months and years to come. While the impact may be small in the big scheme of things we will keep on revisiting, re-evaluating and reapplying the site’s resources and role in the wider comics community in this regard to make the very best use of both.
Advertising on Broken Frontier
Our curated advertising is already free. If you are a marginalised creator, telling socially relevant stories, we want to hear from you. We will put your adverts up on the site for free. We just need an image or two from you. The dimensions are 300w x 250h pixels for the side box and/or 728w x 90h pixels for the banner at the top of each page. Publishers, this applies to you too if you have relevant work to boost. Please contact us here first.
Broken Frontier Resource Lists
We want to hear from you about any work that is socially conscious and might fit into our dedicated resource lists here for comics about the LGBTQIA communities, people of colour, disability, social reform and so on. This was always a coverage priority where possible. It will now become an even greater matter of urgency.
Create your own coverage on Broken Frontier
We are always running over capacity when it comes to reviewing and interviewing so can never get to everyone. One workaround here is our Inside Look creator commentaries where you can talk about your own work, its themes and your process as an article on BF. Details on that can be found here if you would like to use that strand of our coverage.
Join Broken Frontier
If you are interested in pushing socially relevant practice through being part of the Broken Frontier team then details on that mission can be found here. We are a small team of activists not a commercial concern so do read through the Join Broken Frontier page carefully before applying.
Socially relevant comics events celebrating diversity
Send us a press release. We will put it up on the main page to promote your event.
Broken Frontier One-to-One WIP Zoom Support
Over the last two years BF we have been running one-to-one Zoom calls for UK creators to support their practice and development. Marginalised creators were always a matter of priority. In 2025 the number of days dedicated to this will be doubled. Keep watching the site for announcements about the next day of bookable slots.
Social media
If you see something via social media (we’re mainly active only on Bluesky now) that you like that has a positive agenda to support the marginalised then instead of just “liking” it please consider giving it a repost as well. Let’s get progressive work and comics detailing lived experiences seen by as wide an audience as possible.
Talk to me
What can Broken Frontier be doing better here? Do you have any ideas for how we can more actively fulfil our commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion? How can we expand our mission within our available resources? Contact me here.
And one last important point to make too…
Disengage from anti-progressive outlets
Challenging anti-progressive individuals/platforms in comics or comics commentary isn’t for everyone. We are not all built for that. But disengaging with them, as per the current philosophy on Bluesky, is relatively easier. Looking the other way and continuing to engage, though, normalises behaviour that should never be the norm. Please think about the message you may be sending out to our marginalised friends and colleagues in the community if you continue to be associated in any way with anyone sympathetic to, or adjacent to, hate groups.
Our work in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion is important to us. And we are committed to the evolving team statement we made back in 2020 that has shaped our coverage and approach ever since. The marginalised and the disenfranchised will always be valued, appreciated, supported, championed and loved at BF. This week, of all weeks, it seems vitally important to make that statement.
– Andy Oliver, Broken Frontier Editor-in-Chief
