Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Agent, Comics, graphic novel, nonbinary, robin easter, Upstaged
Upstaged, a Nonbinary Graphic Novel by My Little Pony's Robin Easter
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic comic book artist and creator of the Webtoon strip Humdrum, Robin Easter, has seen their debut middle-grade graphic novel Upstaged picked up by Andrea Colvin at Little, Brown. Upstaged sees Ashton, a nonbinary stagehand, struggle to confess their feelings to their best friend Ivy during their last summer at theatre camp.
Upstaged will be published in the summer of 2025. Yes, we are looking that far ahead now. Britt Siess at Britt Siess Creative Management brokered the deal for world rights. Britt Seiss tweeted out "I am so freakin STOKED for this incredible book by @vellichorvictim! This graphic novel is so heart wrenchingly adorable it will give you all the feels and steal your heart!" Robin replied "Wooooo book news is out I can finally celebrate. Ash and Ivy are my children I can't wait for everyone to meet them."
Founded in 2020, Britt Siess Creative Management is a Seattle-based full-service literary agency with an emphasis on graphic novels and illustration. In 2019, Little, Brown was directed to expand their graphic novel list for years going ahead, and appointed Andrea Colvin, formerly of Lion Forge as editorial director, Graphic Publishing to do just that. Publishing new fiction and nonfiction graphic novels for a range of ages, from early readers to young adults. Little, Brown has been doubling-to-tripling their comic book publishing line each scheduled year since then, with Suggs one of a number of beneficiaries of this publishing plan. It's another sign of major growth in the graphic novel market in bookstores, libraries and book fairs, as well as the greater range in content and comic book styles being published. It's a long way until the USA gets to the kind of breadth and depth enjoyed by Japan, Korea or France but it is one of a number of major moves in that direction.