We’re not at San Diego Comic-Con this year but leading up to the convention, the offers for interviews were… limited. While we often get opportunities to interview creators, we rarely, almost never, get to interview leadership for comic publishers. We’ve been told through back channels they know we’d ask harder questions and out of all years, this is a year to ask hard questions to not just the heads of publishers but the creators themselves. Let’s been honest, there’s a fear and perception if tough questions are asked, access will be pulled.

So, we present, the questions we’d ask if we had a chance but likely never will. Will anyone? Does any publisher or creators, want to sit for an interview to answer these? Will any convention approve panels discussing the “tough” issues?

• There’s much focus on which comic is selling the most, but it’s pretty clear no one knows who is buying them. How can publishers expect to expand the market and find new readers when they don’t know who the current readers are?

• Again, with the sales, there’s a rough understanding of which comics “sell the most” and how much is ordered by shops but how many individuals are buying multiple copies? We’re celebrating robust sales but is this a repeat of the speculator 90s that almost sunk the industry?

• For creators, some of the publishers you go with barely promote your releases. Not even a press release or even a preview. We won’t even go into the bias towards some sites. Do you know what’s going on when it comes to that?

• The comic industry has been in bed with VC money and outside deals for quite some time. We’ve been digging and finding that some of that money is… questionable and outright sketchy. What do you to guarantee you’re not taking money from let’s say someone like Jeffrey Epstein or from funds that are taking, or have taken, money from individuals like Epstein? Do you know where the investment money is coming from? Do you know who you’re making deals with?

• Creators have often stood up to call themselves allies, but their actions say anything but. Substack has courted rightwing bigots as an example but creators took money from the platform and still use it, even with numerous options. Is the “allyship” all for show?

• Some publishers crow about their diverse creators, diverse releases, and “progressive” comics, but they donate to Republican and rightwing causes that are anything but. How do creators accept this dichotomy and do they understand they’re putting money in the pockets of these individuals and it hurts their causes?

• While the industry is under attack from censorship at numerous levels, outright bans in states or denial of the use of payment services, the industry accepts money from and uses platforms that benefit and participate in this censorship. Kickstarter sponsored events touting free speech at the convention but regularly censors projects, creating hurdles for their launch. How can the industry say it supports free speech but accepts money from those who clearly don’t?

• DC Comics, Milestone, and Wonder Comics’ futures are all up in the air with the possibility of Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The Ellisons are inextricably tied to Donald Trump as well as AI. Will creators take a stand and refuse to work under their leadership?

• Paramount Skydance has shown it will play politics when it comes to the news and has shown a bias and willingness to censor to court favor and win political favors. When that comes to entertainment, will creators, editors, and publishers refuse to do this when asked like some reporters? Will you go public when it happens?

• The Ellisons are tied into AI with their fortune resting on its success right now. When they demand the use of AI in the creation of comics, will creators, editors, and publishers refuse?

• The Ellison debt has created a business built on quicksand and can easily topple the entire business and empire. Why is the comic industry silent on the risk this puts on one of its two major publishers?