Home About Us

About Us

About Us

Established in 2004, The Beat has been covering the world of comics, graphic novels, comic cons, and pop culture daily to an audience of both fans and industry influencers. It is a two-time nominee for the Will Eisner Award in the Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism category and the winner of the Shelf Dorf Award for Best Comics Blog. In 2017, The Beat was added to the Library of Congress’s historical archives.

FOUNDED IN

2004

Leading a worldwide network of highly skilled operatives, The Beat brings you the latest in comic book news and opinion, backed by the world's leading experts in nerd culture!

EISNER NOMINEE

The Comics Beat has been nominated twice for the Eisner Award’s Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism.

TIME MAGAZINE

The Comics Beat has been named one of the “25 Best Blogs” by Time Magazine

Heidi MacDonald
Heidi MacDonald is an award-winning editor/journalist with 20 years of experience. An editor at Disney and DC Comics, she edited such titles as The Lion King, Scooby Doo, Swamp Thing, and Y: The Last Man. She cohosts Publishers Weekly’s graphic novel podcast More to Come and has spoken around the world about comics and graphic novels.

Deanna Destito

Deputy Editor

Deanna Destito is a writer and editor based in New Jersey. When she is not writing about comics or scripting her own stories, she's watching the lowest budget horror movies available.

Avery Kaplan

Features Editor

Avery Kaplan is the author of several books and a whole bunch of comic book articles. She was honored to serve as a judge for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 Cartoonist Studio Prize Award and the 2021 Prism Awards. She lives in Southern California with her partner and a pile of cats, and her favorite place to visit is the cemetery. You can also find her writing at The Comics Journal, StarTrek.com, Geek Girl Authority, The Gutter Review, Shelfdust, The Mary Sue, in many issues of the Eisner Award-winning PanelxPanel, and in the margins of the books in her personal library.

Rebecca Oliver Kaplan

Deputy Editor

Rebecca Oliver Kaplan (she/he) is a bigender comic critic and judicial scholar and co-author of Double Challenge: Being LGBTQ and a Minority with his wife, Avery Kaplan. His work can regularly be found at Geek Girl Authority, Comics Beat, Prism Comics, PanelxPanel, and MovieWeb.

Taimur Dar

Animation Editor

Taimur Dar is theAnimation Editor and Digital Media Producer for the Beat. He has earned a master’s degree in marketing intelligence from Fordham University and has provided branding strategies for various companies and organizations. His name is pronounced like the first two syllables of "tomorrow" in case you were wondering.

Josh Hilgenberg

Associate Editor

Zack Quaintence

Reviews Editor

Zack Quaintance is The Beat's reviews editor. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.

AJ Frost

Newsletter Editor

AJ Frost is an editor/writer based out of Phoenix, AZ.

Megan Fabbri

Staff Artist

Freelance cartoonist, illustrator, & writer School of Visual Arts Alumna.

STAFF WRITERS

Aaron Halls

Staff Writer

Andrea Ayres

Staff Writer

Billy Henehan

Staff Writer

Charlie Davis

Staff Writer

Deanna Destito

Staff Writer

Edie Nugent

Staff Writer

George Carmona

Staff Writer

Hussein Wasiti

Staff Writer

Louie Hlad

Staff Writer

Nancy Powell

Staff Writer

Ricardo Serrano Denis

Staff Writer

Zack Quaintance

Staff Writer

COLUMNISTS

Kriota Willberg

Columnist

Gina Gagliano

Columnist

Alison Wilgus

Columnist

Matt O'Keefe

Video Games Editor

James Romberger

Columnist

Brandon Schatz

Columnist

John Seven

Columnist

Philippe Leblanc

Columnist

Brad Ricca

Columnist

Alex Dueben

Columnist

Kate Willaert

Columnist

Erica Friedman

Columnist

Tim Henley

Columnist