Yesterday, I learned I was a recipient of the 2025 Comics Criticism Mini Grant. Each year, Tiffany Babb, her family and a small group of donors accept applications for those doing work in comics criticism in print, audio or video. Each awardee (determined by the number of donations) receives $250 to further the work they do in comics. When I saw the Google Form reposted on my feed via Greg Pak, I figured I’d take a shot in the dark. I never thought I’d win, but at least I would expose my work to a few more people in the process.

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When I got the notification of the grant award, of course there was excitement. I’ve been needing to buy an additional hard drive for my editing PC for a while, and now I finally have the outside funds to do so. But more than excitement, I felt vindicated in a way. Like someone sees the work I’m doing, and it matters.

It’s hard describing what I do. I conduct a lot of interviews, but I’m not a journalist. While I’m heavily entrenched in comics, I’m not a comics pro. I’m not a lifelong fan, as I only discovered comics as an adult. I don’t remember the good old days of comics being available on newsstands. I don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of the X-Men, or any other character for that matter. I just love comics, love talking about them, and love making videos on YouTube — and I’m not even the best at that! Because of that, I tend to downplay what I do. At best, I’d describe myself as a comic book cheerleader, community builder and occasional critic.

To apply for the grant, you had to include a few writing samples. I included two pieces, each containing separate criticisms of how the Big Two treats Black characters and creators. Those pieces appeared on my blog, mostly because I was afraid to give them the bigger platform of my YouTube Channel. I didn’t want to attract hateful comments, and I also didn’t want to feel like I was bashing a medium and industry I have genuine love for. Even now, I tend to reserve my sharpest criticisms for this newsletter, sent to the smallest subset of my most devoted supporters. I’d rather spend my time championing the things I love than complaining about things that annoy me. But when I think about it, we only criticize things because we love them.

I tell my daughter all the time that if I didn’t love her, I’d never call out her misdeeds. But since I want to see her live up to her fullest potential and her own stated goals, I have to speak up when she’s running afoul of the prescribed path. With that in mind… why should comics be any different?

So yes, this grant is going to help me purchase new equipment in this very expensive hobby of Comics YouTube. But it’s also a great reminder that I have a unique voice, and it matters… only if I use it.

HUGE thanks to Tiffany Babb, her family, David Brothers and everyone on the grant selection committee! This is my promise to them, and to you. I’m going to keep speaking up for this thing we all love.

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Read Something Dope Today,

BJ KICKS

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