Peaceful protests erupted across the United States on Saturday, June 14, 2025, and attracted millions of Americans, according to Axios. Among those protestors were many fan-favorite cartoonists, writers, and more from across the comics industry.
On Saturday, millions of demonstrators made their voices heard across the U.S., standing in opposition to the Trump administration. Their protests served as a powerful response to the military parade taking place that evening in Washington, D.C.
According to X (formerly Twitter) user Aidan McLaughlin, it was the largest political protest in US history.
Online, the comics community turned up and showed out, posting images of its attendance at the ‘No Kings’ protests across the country and/or supportive artwork.
Brad Gullickson and Lisa Gullickson, the duo behind the Comic Book Couples Counseling podcast, posted on Bluesky the viral image, “No Kings but Kirby” online, as well as images of them attending the protest. To which someone responded with Jack Kirby‘s infamous quote from a 2011 The Comics Journal interview, “The only real politics I knew was that if a guy liked Hitler, I’d beat the stuffing out of him and that would be it.”
The duo posted a number of images from the protest in Reston, Virginia. However, my favorite was, of course, the nerdiest, which read: “For the republic.”
Also on Bluesky, Eisner-winner Nick Sousanis shared some comics-related resources for anyone planning on attending the ‘No Kings’ protest, but I have the unfortunate feeling that these images will continue to be useful.
Another creator who used the power of art to fight the good fight was Alex Graudins (Improve, Science Comics: The Brain), who shared a zine on Bluesky about protest safety.
Check out the full zine here.
Star Trek actor and comic book author George Takei also shared safety tips online, saying: “Know your rights before you hit the streets. Peaceful protest is protected — but only if you know how to protect yourself legally. Read, share, and stay safe.”
Tom Taylor shared some images of Superman on Bluesky, who recently stood with protesters trying to stop illegal deportations.
A Haunted Girl co-creator Ethan Sacks even volunteered at Philadelphia’s ‘No Kings’ protest, writing online, “Rocky was right: it’s a helluva view. A lot of people in Philly don’t want to give up a democracy for a king.”
Greg Pak shared numerous images of the Newark, New Jersey rally.
And Raina Telgemeier shared images from Napa, California, noting that the protests made her feel “3.5% better.”
On Reddit, furry creator LuckFoxo33 posted, “Who radicalized the fop?” alongside an image that read, “No Kings. Only Queens Slay.”
On Instagram, Carmilla writer Amy Chu posted an image of doctored street sign, reading, “NO KINGS ANY TIME.”
Also on Instagram, cryptic comic creator Monica Gallagher wrote: “No Kings Protest in Austin! Always encouraged to see decent humans out protesting for ALL of our rights! Stay strong, stay together.”
Marvel Comics creator and outspoken critic of authoritarian regimes (and bad cop behavior), creator Gerry Dugan shared images of the ‘No Kings’ protest in his hometown via his Substack.
On X (formerly Twitter), Sam Malone posted a video of someone at the protest in an inflatable Donald Drumpf suit, who was carrying around a “Dictatorship for Dummies” book. In my book, that’s tangentially related to comics as cartoonist Judd Winick did artwork for many of the “Dummies” books.
Other creators who were confimed to be at the ‘No Kings’ protests include Janice Chiang and Walter and Louise Simonson, who were seen attending the protest on a local news station.
