11 Comic Conventions That Will Make Geeks of Color Feel at Home

As one of the United States’s biggest comic book convention takes place in San Diego this week, we’ll see panels titled “Women and Writers of Color Breaking Barriers“; “We Are All Heroes: The Changing Landscape of Comics, Geekdom, and Fanboy Culture“; and “Chicano Comics.” These discussions are representative of the shift that’s taken place in recent years at the conference and throughout geek culture.

With the push for increased diversity in comic books, we’ve seen the introduction of characters like Miles Morales (the first Afro-Latino Spider-Man) and America Chavez (Miss America), who is Marvel’s first lesbian Latina superhero. And these efforts for inclusivity have moved beyond paper and onto both the small and big screens. In 2016, Netflix’s Luke Cage – starring African-American Mike Colter – made its debut. And this year, DC’s Wonder Woman (portrayed by Gal Gadot) hit theaters and is in line to become this summer’s biggest box office hit.

Despite all the strides, there’s more the industry can do to foster POC, LGBTQ+, and female talent. But those who have been historically excluded from geek culture aren’t waiting around for the industry to catch up. Instead, they’re telling their own stories and creating their own heroes, which has led to the birth of conventions that serve communities that are often on the periphery at more mainstream events. Across the country, myriad comic book and pop culture conventions have sprung up to make geeks from all walks of life feel at home. Here are 11 conventions that celebrate the diversity within the geek world: