Previously in The Beat‘s Comics Crowdfunding Round-Up column, we announced that Stacked Deck Press’s latest project, Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project, which is now live on Kickstarter and runs through April 3, 2025.
Come Out and Play is a full-color comics anthology of over 200 pages about LGBTQ+ people and their experiences in athletics, with contributions from prominent queer comics creators such as Josh Trujillo, Sophie Labelle, and Ajuan Mance, and well-known sports figures, such as NFL veteran R.K. Russell and Hockey Hall of Famer Angela James.
The Beat caught up with sports comics creators Megan Praz and Meghan Kemp-Gee, the co-editors of the Come Out and Play anthology from Stacked Deck Press, over email to discuss the inspiration behind an LGBTQ+ sports anthology and why it’s so crucial to discuss queerness in sports right now.
OLLIE KAPLAN: What inspired you to create this LGBTQ sports anthology?
MEGAN PRAZ: For me, this is about combining my life’s greatest passions: sports, art, and LGBTQ+ themes. Meghan and I have been making comics together for more than ten years. We love sports comics. We wrote the sports comedy graphic novel One More Year. As we were writing that book, we started to realize that there were so many other sports stories to tell, but that some of them weren’t ours to tell. We realized there was so much potential to tell great comics stories about sports, and we wanted to provide a platform for other creators to do that.
MEGHAN KEMP-GEE: Come Out and Play! was originally the brainchild of Megan and Stacked Deck Press EIC Tara Avery. They met at WonderCon last year and suddenly realized that no one had ever done an LGBTQ-themed sports anthology before. Tara was all like, “How has no one done this before?!” I was instantly on board. Like Megan, I’m so passionate about sports art and sports storytelling; my PhD dissertation is about sports literature and sports poetry, and I strongly believe that there’s this inherent connection between athletic and artistic human expression. This anthology might sound “niche,” but it’s actually not! People are so hungry for stories like this: stories that celebrate the full joy and agony of sports, identity, and experience.
KAPLAN: I loved the sample story from R.K. Russell that explores the relationship between football and war games. What themes or messages do you hope to convey through this anthology?
KEMP-GEE: Yes, isn’t it great? I first encountered Russ’s poetry during my dissertation research into sports poetry. I might be wrong, but I think he might be the only pro athlete who’s published a book of poems! I read his collection Prison or Passion, and then his memoir The Yards Between Us. Russ is such an awesome storyteller, and in particular, his use of imagery and his descriptions of sports action really lend themselves to comics. This is his comics writing debut, but we’re pretty sure it won’t be his last time doing this!
PRAZ: It was so important to us to find the right artist to execute Russ’s provocative imagery, and finding Wilfred Santiago was a godsend. He’s the author of a Roberto Clemente graphic novel and a Michael Jordan graphic novel… But Wilfred isn’t just reverential about sports. He’s critical, and there’s a darkness to his point of view. This was the perfect pairing.
KEMP-GEE: We’re thrilled about how “Football is Not War” turned out; it’s a provocative look at sacrifice, violence, and pro sports that only Russ and Wilfred could have created.
PRAZ: And then we can put that story side-by-side with a silly story, like a sci-fi history of pickleball or a story about putting underwear on a goat at a gay rodeo. Or a slice-of-life memoir from indie cartoonists like Richard Fairgray or Sonya Saturday, who have a more complicated or adversarial relationship with sports.
KEMP-GEE: I think that’s one of the messages of this anthology: that great sports stories are authentic stories, and authentic stories come from all kinds of places.
KAPLAN: This anthology includes stories from diverse contributors, from Angela James, the first and only Black woman to captain Canada’s National Women’s Hockey Team, to former NFL star R.K. Russell, to furry comics creator Knave Murdoch, and Marvel/DC powerhouse Josh Trujillo. How did you approach selecting the contributors and their stories?
PRAZ: In a lot of scenarios, they came to us! They saw the call for submissions and were so excited to pitch stories. You could feel the enthusiasm and the passion as our inbox started filling up with pitches!
KEMP-GEE: And I’ll give another shoutout to Tara Avery, who has this incredible Rolodex of amazing artists and storytellers that she recruited to join us. We also really felt strongly about reaching out to someone like Angela James because we knew she had a story to tell. Like R.K. Russell, she’s obviously already a well-known sports figure, but there’s a difference between being a profile athlete and letting people see the story what it’s actually like to live that experience.
KAPLAN: What role does representation play in this anthology, and why is it crucial in the context of sports?
PRAZ: Our trans siblings and teammates are under attack right now. And sports is so often the focus of these attacks. But I think sports are a space for unity, not division.
KEMP-GEE: I think that’s why transphobic attacks are often focused on sports. Actually, I think that’s the same reason people use sports to promote racism and sexism and homophobia as well. Because sports are this space where people can team up and work together and learn about themselves and other people close up. Like Megan says, we have to make a stand for this special space, and we have to make it now.
PRAZ: I heard Elton John say once that sports and music are two things that universally bring people together. I would expand that to sports and art.
KEMP-GEE: I’m skeptical of “representation” because sometimes I feel like people approach it like a checklist or an aesthetic. One thing I love about this book is that it embodies the diversity and contrast in our community. We have stories and creators about all different sports, from all different points of view, from celebratory to extreme criticism. We have stories about pro and amateur sports from creators who are twenty years old and respected elders in our community from five different continents. There’s real power in a team like this.
KAPLAN: Can you share any standout stories or essays from the anthology that you believe will resonate deeply with readers?
PRAZ: We feel like this anthology is this perfect puzzle; I don’t think you can take any one of them out and have the book still work as well as it does!
KEMP-GEE: What about Scout Tran‘s story about a “stealth” trans girl competing at a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament?
PRAZ: Or what about Andy Casadonte‘s story “Like a Lonely Soul on Fire”? It’s about falling in love with the sport of running and falling in love with a teammate at the same time, with a gorgeous color story.
KEMP-GEE: We also have a story about ballet from Jam Dyer and Tristan Crane. I know some people are going to be like, “Is dance a sport?” And I’m not going to answer that question, but trust me, you need to read this story before you decide! (Interviewer’s note: As a former dancer, I have some strong opinions on this subject but will also let the readers decide.)
KAPLAN: Why does LGBTQ+ representation in sports literature matter, and how can it impact readers and athletes alike? What feedback or impact are you hoping to receive from the LGBTQ+ community, athletes, and allies?
PRAZ: Queer people have always played sports and always will play sports. Like R.K. Russell says, “queerness and athletics are not at odds, but deeply intertwined.”
KEMP-GEE: And yet so much of the conversation is other people talking about LGBTQ+ athletes.
PRAZ: That’s our goal for the book: to keep building this community, building this conversation, and telling these stories.
KAPLAN: Do you envision this anthology as part of a larger movement to bring more LGBTQ+ voices into the sports world, both on and off the field? How do you hope this anthology can contribute to the ongoing conversation about LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports?
PRAZ: I know this is a book that would have meant a lot to me as a kid. That’s the heart of why I wanted to do this. To show that there is a place for me, a community where I could be myself both on and off the field.
KEMP-GEE: I’ve felt frustrated my whole life as an athlete, and as a female athlete, by the conversations that people have about us. Athletes’ bodies are the focus of a lot of harmful narratives, and I want to flip the script on that! We can tell our own stories about ourselves and what sports mean to us.
KAPLAN: Were there any challenges or surprises while curating the anthology?
KEMP-GEE: Honestly, the editorial process has generally been not only smooth but constantly inspiring! The stories in this book constantly surprised and delighted us as we saw them taking shape… The team of contributors are all doing outstanding work; even if you’re already familiar with the creators in the book, you will be surprised and delighted by what they’ve done here, too!
PRAZ: The only challenge we have left is to finish getting funded! Our Kickstarter is still live until April 3, and this is our big chance to get these stories into the world. Join us! This is a fun team to be on.
Become a backer for Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project here!
