Tag: lgbtq+

Publisher Highlight: Black Mask Studios

Posted on by Bee Lehman
Collage of Black Mask covers with logo

Black Mask Studios, based in Los Angeles, saw its start in 2012 with the publication of the kickstarter-funded Occupy Comics anthology under leadership of Steve Niles, Brett Gurewitz, and Matt Pizzolo. The three started the publishing house with experiences ranging from punk rock (Bad Religion), to horror comics (30 Days of Night) and film, and business (HALO 8 Entertainment), to name only a few of their efforts. Each with roots in various punk scenes, the three wanted to bring their experiences to start a house that could introduce punk rock values into comics and emphasize the involvement of comics in counterculture.[1]

Since their founding, Black Mask has contributed to the comics scene with some influential titles including Black (Kwanza Osajyefo and Jamal Igle, 2016), Godkiller (Matteo Pizzolo and Anna Muckcracker Wieszczyk, 2016), and Calexit (Matteo Pizzolo and Amancay Nahuelpan, started 2018). As fitting with punk values, the stories frequently explore push-back against cruelty (Liberator, Matt Miner, Javier Aranda Sanchez, Joaquin Pereyra, and Crank; 2014) and government corruption (Clandestino, Amancay Nahuelpan, 2018), and self-expression (Alice In Leatherland, Iolanda Zanfardino and Elisa Romboli, 2022).

Readers can follow Black Mask on their website or their Facebook page.

Titles at UC Berkeley

For more in the UC Libraries

To find additional titles, take a look at the UC Library Advanced Search with a limit to publisher (sample). Note, however, that some of Black Mask Studio’s titles are released in collaboration with Simon and Shuster.

Notes

[1] Borys Kit, “‘John Wick’ Filmmaker Chad Stahelski Tackling California Rebellion Comic ‘Calexit’ (Exclusive),” The Hollywood Reporter, July 23, 2025, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/john-wick-filmmaker-chad-stahelski-calexit-1236326587/; Scott Thill, “Black Mask Studios’ ‘Old Punks’ Occupy Comics, Creators Rights,” Tags, Wired, March 20, 2012, https://www.wired.com/2012/03/black-mask-studios-occupy-comics/; Steve Foxe, “Black Mask Studios Founders Talk Creator Rights, Punk Ethics and a Very Busy 2015,” Paste Magazine, March 25, 2015, https://www.pastemagazine.com/comics/black-mask-studios-founders-talk-creator-rights-pu.

Publisher Highlight: Fieldmouse Press

Posted on by Bee Lehman

Founded in 2019, the comics publisher Fieldmouse Press is based out of Grass Valley in California. Their House focuses on introspective text, exploring inner-emotions and personal experiences. Ranging from micro-comics to full volumes, works like Feather (Cohen, 2024), explore the act of creation and development. a rootbound plant needs space to grow (Zhu, 2025) examines the idea of love. A Scientific Study of Transsexuality (Woodiwiss, 2025), in turn, explores the sensual beauty of the trans body through the medium of a fictional scientific journal.[1]

To produce these phenomenal works, Fieldmouse sometimes runs Kickstarts to raise the funds to publish. Readers can find more information about the House’s book releases as well as their campaigns on their Instagram page.

Titles at UC Berkeley

Additional Titles in the UC System

Readers can find additional titles from Fieldmouse Press through our UC Library Search by limiting results with a publisher search.

Notes

[1] “Two Apple Problem: What ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ Means in Graphic Narratives,” Literary Hub, accessed February 3, 2026, https://lithub.com/two-apple-problem-what-show-dont-tell-means-in-graphic-narratives/; Longtime Comics Critics Announce FIELDMOUSE PRESS, a New Nonprofit Publisher, accessed November 25, 2025, https://www.comicsbeat.com/fieldmouse-press-announcement/; MariNaomi, “Leela Corman on Victory Parade, Genocide and Transgressive Art: ‘This Is My Corner Of Humanity’s Coffin To Carry,’” The Comics Journal, April 1, 2024, https://www.tcj.com/leela-corman-on-victory-parade-genocide-and-transgressive-art-this-is-my-corner-of-humanitys-coffin-to-carry/; Arpad Okay, “Graphic Novel Review: FLEA Is Fearless, Flawed, Dirty, and Excellent,” The Beat, September 10, 2025, https://www.comicsbeat.com/review-flea/; “About,” Fieldmouse Press, accessed February 2, 2026, https://www.fieldmouse.press/about.

Publisher Highlight: speCt!

Posted on by Bee Lehman
speCt! logo 2025

Physically located in Oakland, CA, speCt! (titles on Asterism) has been treating a reading public to beautiful poetry and visual art since 2012.[1] Founded by Gillian Hamel, Peter Burghardt, and Robert Andrew Perez, the group started printing on a C&P is a small letterpress.[2] The community publisher started with and continues to focus heavily on chapbooks, which they publish with beautiful covers and excellent printing. They also print the occasional full-length text with titles like Wildfires. Their authors, including Ching-In Chen, have won awards for their beautiful work, including the 2022 Markowitz Award.[3]

One can find information about their publications on Asterism and about their community activities, including readings, on their Instagram page.

Gorgeous example titles

 

To find out more about UC Berkeley’s collection of speCt!’s book, take a look at our UC Library Search.

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EndNotes

[1] “speCt!,” Asterism Books, accessed July 10, 2025, https://asterismbooks.com/publisher/spect.

[2] “speCt: A Retrospect!ve,” Small Press Traffic, 2022, https://www.smallpresstraffic.org/traffic-report/spect.

[3] Mai Tran, “Ching-In Chen and Morgan H Thomas Win 2022 Markowitz Award for Exceptional New LGBTQ Writers,” Lambda Literary, June 7, 2022, https://lambdaliterary.org/2022/06/ching-in-chen-and-morgan-h-thomas-win-2022-markowitz-award-for-exceptional-new-lgbtq-writers/.