Bellevue Arts Museum is partnering with the King County Library System to host a panel discussion about characters in comic book history—looking at the experiences of underrepresented individuals and communities through the lens of diversity and inclusion. The evening will start with a conversation with the curator and collector from SuperMonster市City! about their current exhibition at BAM, followed by a roundtable discussion about more contemporary changes that have occurred in publishing and in response to sociopolitical issues. Finally, a moderated Q&A will close the program. 

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Panelists

Moderator: Wendy Browne, Women Write About Comics

Wendy Browne is a writer, critic, and publisher at WomenWriteAboutComics.com. She can also be found writing passionately about comics and gaming at Sidequest.zone and Shelfdust site. She has two children that she has happily indoctrinated into geek culture.

Curator: Stephen Yogi Rueff, SuperMonster市City!

Stephen Rueff grew up in Minneapolis collecting comic books in the 1960s. Early in his career he worked as a performing artist, performing and receiving commissions in the US and Europe and earning two McKnight Fellowships, among other awards. Stephen is now a professor and the chair of the arts entrepreneurship department at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Collector: David Barnhill, SuperMonster市City!

David Barnhill has been collecting toys and other items since the early 1960s. David’s parents felt that anything that inspired him to read and stimulated his imagination was a good thing. As David’s interest in film, literature, and comic books evolved, his parents encouraged his pursuit of monsters, villains, superheroes, and the fantastic.

Panelist: Eliza Eslinger, Bellevue Arts Museum

Eliza Eslinger (she/her) is a recent college graduate who works at Bellevue Arts Museum. Being mixed race, she has often contemplated identities that are caught in the in between. Eliza has been reading comics since she was a kid, though only started to read Western comics in her teenage years. ​

Panelist: Adrienne Resha, Women Write About Comics

Adrienne Resha is a Ph.D. candidate in the American Studies program at the College of William & Mary. She is the author of “The Blue Age of Comic Books,” Assistant Editor of Comics Academe at WWAC, and President of the Graduate Student Caucus of the Comics Studies Society.

Panelist: Tim Bruhn, All Comics Considered

Tim Bruhn is the Senior Producer of All Comics Considered. He resides in Tacoma, WA with his wife, dog and son, where he writes and yells at bad guys on the internet a lot. Tim (aka The Bruhnicorn) has been reading comics off and on since the 70s and remembers when The Thing was a professional wrestler. He is also co-founder of raceinvaders.org and is busy writing his first book.

Panelist: Marty Gleason, All Comics Considered

Marty Gleason has been reading comics off and on since the grim-dark, yet brightly colored, 90s. He is the coolest uncle you could ever have. According to friends and family, he is a Social Justice Paladin, and that is not just because of the Captain America Tattoo on his arm.