Magdalene Visaggio (born September 22, 1984)
is an American
comic book
A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
writer. Visaggio is known for her work on ''Kim & Kim'' and ''Vagrant Queen''. Her comics have been nominated for two
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...
s and three
GLAAD Media Award
The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...
s. Her comic series ''Vagrant Queen'' was adapted into a
television series
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
which ran for a single season on
Syfy in 2020.
Personal life
Visaggio was born in 1984 on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
and grew up in
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
. She attended
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a Public university, public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virgin ...
and
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...
. She has stated that she is
autistic
Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...
. Her favorite television shows growing up were the animated ''
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...
'', ''
Sailor Moon
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's Shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 60 individual chapters (later reorganized into ...
'', and ''
FLCL
is an anime created and directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, written by Yōji Enokido, and produced by the FLCL Production Committee, which consisted of Gainax, Production I.G, and King Records. The series tells the adventures of the ...
''. Visaggio said that she would like to write comics of
Silver Surfer
The Silver Surfer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character also appears in a number of movies, television, and video game adaptations. The character was created by Jack Kirby and first a ...
,
Spider-Girl
Spider-Girl is the code name of several fictional Character (arts), characters in American comic book, comic books published by Marvel Comics. The most prominent version and first to receive an ongoing series is Mayday Parker from the Marvel Co ...
, or
Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appear ...
. Visaggio is a
trans woman
A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...
.
She is also a member of the
Democratic Socialists of America
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a political organization in the United States and the country's largest Socialism, socialist organization. Sitting on the Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left of the politic ...
.
Career
Visaggio first published work was in 2006 as writer and co-creator of ''Sanctuary'' a self published series with Martin Krause and Kevin Roberts.
The first three issues of the series were subsequently rewritten by Visaggio before being renamed ''Stronghold'' in 2014 with a collected edition of the first three issues and the series continuing on under the new moniker from #4.
In 2015 Visaggio successfully used
Kickstarter
Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...
to publish the first issue of ''Andrew Jackson in Space.''
From 2016, Visaggio contributed a number of articles on comic books to
Paste
Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to:
Science and technology
* Adhesive or paste
** Wallpaper paste
** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water
* Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...
.
Visaggio came to wider prominence in the comic book industry with the limited series ''Kim & Kim'' from
Black Mask Studios
Black Mask Studios is a comic book and graphic novel publishing company formed by Matt Pizzolo, Steve Niles and Brett Gurewitz, designed as a new infrastructure to support comic book creators and a new pipeline for transgressive art.
Black Mask ...
. The series was nominated for the 2017
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...
for Best Limited Series
and
GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book
The GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book is an annual award that honors comic books for excellence in the depiction of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) characters and themes. It is one of several categories of the annua ...
.
The success led to Visaggio signing a three-book deal with Black Mask Studios for her next three projects: ''Quantum Teens Are Go,'' ''Kim & Kim: Love is a Battlefield'' and ''Sex Death Revolution''.
In 2017, she was chosen to take part in
DC Comics
DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
Writer Workshop program, studying under
Scott Snyder
Scott Snyder (born January 15, 1976) is an American comic book author. He is known for his 2006 short story collection ''Voodoo Heart'', and his work for DC Comics, including series such as ''American Vampire'', ''Detective Comics'', a highly acc ...
. Her first published work for DC was for the
Young Animal
In the English language, many animals have different names depending on whether they are male, female, young, domesticated, or in groups.
The best-known source of many English words used for collective groupings of animals is ''Book of St. Alba ...
Imprint where she wrote several backup features and the limited series ''Eternity Girl.''
From her time in the Writers Workshop, short-stories by Visaggio were featured in the one-shots ''DC Cursed Comics Cavalcade'' and ''DC New Talent Showcase 2018.''
In 2018, her graphic novel ''The Ojja-Wojja: A Teen Horror Mystery or Whatever, You Know?'' was bought by
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
imprint Balzer + Bray in a two book deal, with the first book due out in Spring 2021. 2018 also saw the debut of ''Vagrant Queen'' from publisher
Vault Comics
Vault Comics is an American publisher of comic books. The company is known for its horror, fantasy, and science fiction titles, with a focus on diversity and cross-media properties.
A private family-owned company, Vault Comics is based in Missoul ...
. In 2020, a
television series adaptation of ''Vagrant Queen'' aired on
SyFy (co-produced by
Blue Ice Pictures), but, after a single ten-episode season, the series was cancelled due to low ratings.
In comics, 2019 saw Visaggio co-write ''Strangelands'' with
Darcie Little Badger
Darcie Little Badger (formerly Darcie Erin Ryan; born 1987) is an American novelist, short story writer, and Earth scientist. Her writings are specialized in speculative fiction, especially horror, science fiction, and fantasy. She is a member ...
for Humanoids Imprint
H1. It also saw her publish her first work with
Valiant Comics
Valiant Comics is an American comic books, comic book publisher, the first incarnation of which was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter along with lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky. In 1994, the company was ...
with a new volume of ''Doctor Mirage.''
In 2020, Visaggio launched a second volume of ''Vagrant Queen'' at Vault Comics
and her second series at
ComiXology
Iconology Inc., d/b/a ComiXology (styled comiXology), was a cloud-based digital distribution platform for comics owned by Amazon, with over 200 million comic downloads . At its height it offered a selection of more than 100,000 comic books, g ...
; ''Lost on Planet Earth.''
Awards and nominations
*2017
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...
for Best Limited Series – ''Kim & Kim'' (nominated)
[
*2017 ]GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book
The GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book is an annual award that honors comic books for excellence in the depiction of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) characters and themes. It is one of several categories of the annua ...
– ''Kim & Kim'' (nominated)[
*2018 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book – ''Quantum Teens Are Go'' (nominated)
*2019 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book – ''Oh S#!t It's Kim & Kim'' (nominated)]
Bibliography
*Archie Comics
**''Chilling Adventures Presents: Jinx's Grim Fairy Tales'' #1 (Framing sequence and The True Story of Kevnetella only, 2022)
*Black Mask Studios
**''Kim & Kim'' #1–4 (2016)[
**''Quantum Teens Are Go'' #1–4 (2017)][
*Darkhorse Comics
**''Calamity Kate'' #1–4 (2019)]Action Comics
''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/Comic anthology, magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as Detective Comics Inc., which later merged into National ...
'' #1057 (Conner Kent story only, 2023)
*HarperCollins
**''The Ojja Wojja'' Graphic Novel (2023)
**''Girlmode'' Graphic Novel (2024)
*Humanoids
**''Strangelands'' #1-8 (Co-writer with Darcie Little Badger
Darcie Little Badger (formerly Darcie Erin Ryan; born 1987) is an American novelist, short story writer, and Earth scientist. Her writings are specialized in speculative fiction, especially horror, science fiction, and fantasy. She is a member ...
, 2019–2020)
*IDW
**''Transformers vs. The Visionaries'' #1–5 (2018)
**''Marilyn Manor'' #1 (2019)
**''Star Trek: Celebrations'' #1 (Nurse Chapel story only, 2024)
**''Star Trek'' #500 (Lower Decks story only, 2024)
*Mad Cave Studios
**''Tales from Nottingham'' #6 (2023)
**''Galaxy of Madness'' #1-10 (2024-2025)
*Marvel Comics
**''Secret Empire: Brave New World'' #3 (Starbrand story only, 2017)
**''Edge of Venomverse: War Stories'' #1 (2017)
**''Dazzler: X-Song'' #1 (2018)
**''Magnificent Ms. Marvel Annual'' #1 (2019)
*Oni Press
**''Rick and Morty
''Rick and Morty'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated science fiction Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The series follows the misadvent ...
'' #31, 33–35, 51, 53–55 (Backup only: "The Rick Identity", 2017–2019)
**'' Rick and Morty Presents: Sleepy Gary'' #1 (2018)
**''Morning in America'' #1–5 (2019)
**''Rick and Morty: Infinity Hour'' #1–4 (2022)
*Redline Comics
**''Sanctuary'' #1–3 (2006-2013, issues rewritten and published as Stronghold Vol. 1: The Chains in 2014) (as Brian Visaggio)[
]
References
External links
Magdalene Visaggio
on Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Visaggio, Magdalene
1984 births
Living people
American comics writers
LGBTQ comics creators
American transgender women
LGBTQ people from New York (state)
LGBTQ people from Virginia
Members of the Democratic Socialists of America
Writers from Richmond, Virginia
American women writers
American writers of Italian descent
American transgender writers
Transgender women writers