After nearly eight years at The Rumpus, Brandon Hicks is passing on the Comics section to incoming editor Colleen Kolba.
Fun fact: Paul and Colleen both had work published by The Rumpus’ very first Comics Editor Paul Madonna. You can read their pieces here and here.
Some of the work that Brandon is most proud of during his near-decade-long tenure includes:
I was able to highlight the work of some fantastic artists in our regular Spotlight series, and help develop long-term series from a number of terrific cartoonists. Kelcey Parker Ervick had two great miniseries during my tenure. Arwen Donahue’s Hombodies was a revelation in terms of the quality of the art, and formatting for an online space. Alli Katz’s Robot Office is a must-read, especially during the current pandemic. There are many more great artists and series I could list, but I’ll just say it was a pleasure to work with them all.
I was able to watch The Rumpus grow … to a publication with a clear, distinct voice that wore its heart and its politics on its sleeve. I was happy to see its commitment to promoting female voices and highlighting the works of marginalized groups, and I did my best to reflect those values in my section.
I can’t wait to see what Colleen does as the new comics editor, and I’m sure that she, and the site as a whole, will continue to bring great, exciting new works to our screens.
As for Colleen:
The Rumpus. I’m particularly looking forward to comics that come at “big” topics through the specifics of the personal, whether it’s fiction or memoir (or the in-between comics frequently inhabits). I came to comics as a writer, so story matters to me; however, I love art and visual elements in comics that contribute to the story, or even carry the story.
The Comics section of our Submittable portal is waiting for you! Formatting guidelines etc. are all available there.
