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Shelly Bond (born Roeberg) is an American comic book editor, known for her two decades at DC Comics' Vertigo (DC Comics) imprint, for which she was executive editor from 2013 to 2016.

Shelly Bond
Shelly Bond at the 2014 WonderCon
BornShelly Roeberg
Area(s)Editor
Spouse(s)
(m. 2000)

Career

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Bond became interested in comic books as a film student at Ithaca College when a screenwriting instructor used an issue of Peter Gross's Empire Lanes as an example of what film storyboards look like. After college she struggled to find a job in the film industry, and ended up instead working as an editorial assistant for editor Diana Schutz at the comics publisher Comico.[1] The 1989 E-Man special was the first title she edited.[2]

Three months after her move to Comico, the company declared bankruptcy and Schultz and editor-in-chief Bob Schreck left for Dark Horse Comics. Bond at 22 years of age, was left in charge of the editorial department where she worked with Mike Allred, Steven T. Seagle, Matt Wagner, and Bill Willingham at Comico, all of whom she would work with later at Vertigo.[2]

In winter of 1992 she landed a job as an assistant editor for Karen Berger at Vertigo Comics.[1] Bond worked on many of Vertigo's top titles over the course of her tenure, including The Sandman, Shade, the Changing Man, Wagner and Seagle's Sandman Mystery Theatre, Allred's iZombie, Dean Motter's Terminal City, Paul Pope's Heavy Liquid, Willingham Fables, Ed Brubaker's Deadenders, David Lapham's Young Liars, Mike Carey's Lucifer, and Grant Morrison's The Invisibles.[1][3] Outside of Vertigo, she also edited the nine issues of Peter Bagge and Gilbert Hernandez's Yeah! (1999–2000) for DC's imprint Homage.[4]

In 2008, Bond was given the Friends of Lulu Women of Distinction Award.[5]

She was promoted to executive editor and vice president of Vertigo Comics in 2013, taking the place of Berger.[6][7][8] In April 2016, DC announced that they had let Bond go after restructuring.[9] "She is virtually a co-creator on everything I’ve worked on with her, though never credited beyond 'Editor,'" Allred wrote in 2016 in a tribute to Bond that featured many of the creators she worked with over the years. "Shelly will never get full credit for all of the amazing things she did at Vertigo."[10]

In October, 2017 Bond launched a new imprint at IDW called Black Crown, where she published punk rock-inspired comic books connected to a fictional English pub, in October 2017.[11] At Black Crown, Bond paired comics veterans with newer talent, for example matching Peter Milligan with Tess Fowler on Kid Lobotomy and Gilbert Hernandez with Tini Howard on Assassinistas.[1] She also collaborated with Kristy Miller & Brian Miller on a crowdfunded comics anthology called Femme Magnifique, which featured biographies of famous women by creators like Kelly Sue DeConnick, Howard, Fowler, Hernandez, and Gerard Way.[12] IDW shuttered Black Crown in 2019.[13]

Since then, Bond and her husband Philip Bond have published new books, comics, and prints through their own company, Off Register,[14] including Insider Art, a fundraiser anthology of comics works by women, non-binary, and marginalized creators;[15] Will Potter and Philip Bond's Geezer;[16] Filth & Grammar, a 162-page guide to making comics; and Fast Times in Comic Book Editing,[17] Shelly Bond's memoirs of her time at Vertigo illustrated by a variety of comics artists.[18]

Personal life

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She is married to artist Philip Bond, with whom she has a son.[19]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "More To Come 335: Shelly Bond Interview". Publishers Weekly (Podcast). Publishers Weekly. 14 September 2008. Event occurs at 10:48. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b DCE Editorial (2011-08-17). "What was the first...by Editor Shelly Bond". DC Comics. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  3. ^ MacNamee, Olly (2022-08-15). "Kickstarting Comics: Talking With Shelly Bond About 'Fast Times In Comic Book Editing'". COMICON. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  4. ^ Bagge, Peter (1999). Yeah!. DC Comics.
  5. ^ "Lulu Award". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013.
  6. ^ Reid, Calvin (December 19, 2012). "DC Comics Names Shelly Bond to Head Vertigo". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  7. ^ "Shelly Bond Promoted to Executive Editor of Vertigo" (Press release). Comic Book Resources. 19 December 2012. Archived from the original on 31 Dec 2012. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  8. ^ Shivener, Rich (2014-04-11). "Shelly Bond Leads DC's Vertigo Line Into a New Era". Publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  9. ^ Ching, Albert (April 21, 2016). "DC Comics 'Restructuring' Vertigo Imprint, Announces Shelly Bond's Departure". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on April 22, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  10. ^ MacDonald, Heidi (2016-04-29). "A tribute to Shelly Bond: the most mod editor of them all". The Beat. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  11. ^ "SDCC '17: Shelly Bond's Fall Launch of "Black Crown" Has Three Titles Dated". The Beat. 2017-07-22. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
  12. ^ MacDonald, Heidi (2018-02-05). "A new edition of the Femme Magnifique anthology is coming from IDW". The Beat. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  13. ^ "Black Crown: A Look Back at Shelly Bond's IDW Imprint". 29 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Mixcloud".
  15. ^ "INSIDER ART". OFFREGISTER. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  16. ^ Johnston, Rich (2021-11-13). "Will Potter & Philip Bond's Geezer, The Britpop Band That Never Was". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  17. ^ "FILTH & GRAMMAR". OFFREGISTER. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  18. ^ "FAST TIMES IN COMIC BOOK EDITING". OFFREGISTER. 2022-07-30. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  19. ^ "Shelly Bond » Thought Bubble - Leeds' Comic Art Festival: 1st – 6th November 2016". thoughtbubblefestival.com. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
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