Tag: queer

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: Aunt Lute Books

Posted on by Bee Lehman
collage banner for Aunt Lute Books

Founded in 1982, Aunt Lute Books has spent forty years contributing to the shape of literature across the continent. Their books–novels, poetry, essays, as well as an array of non-fiction works–are consistently on lists of must-read titles and taught across the world. Those influential books from the self-described “intersectional, feminist press” include Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (first published in 1987) and The Cancer Journals (1980).

Aunt Lute Books is considered a Bay Area establishment, but Barb Wieser and Joan Pinkvoss initially established it in Iowa City. Four years later, the Press moved to San Francisco to partner with the small lesbian press Spinsters Ink. The two would separate again in 1990, when Aunt Lute Books would begin operation under the newly founded Ant Lute Foundation. Spinster Ink, still a lesbian press, would eventually move away from the coast. Perhaps amusingly, Spinsters Ink would eventually move away from SF, while Aunt Lute continues in the city.

To this day, the House continues to print “literature that voices the perspectives of women from a broad range of communities.” Readers can find out some information about the House through their webpage and Instagram page.

Recent Titles

More in the UC Libraries

You can find Aunt Lute Book’s publications across the UC Library system in just about every edition. To find their books specifically at UC Berkeley, readers can use the UC Library Search with a focus on “UC Berkeley catalog” and a limit by publisher (click here for the search).

Notes

[1] “About Us,” Aunt Lute Books, accessed February 9, 2026, https://www.auntlute.com/about-us.