Although they never made it an official career goal, Made in Korea author Jeremy Holt said it felt surreal and exciting when they were approached to contribute the new Marvels Voices anthology, Identity. It’s fitting as well, they said, since as a non-binary, identical triplet, Korean adoptee, Holt said they will never not explore identity in their stories.
“It’s a well that never runs dry,” they said in an interview with ComicsXF this week, ahead of the release of Marvel Voices: Identity on Aug. 25.
The latest in Marvel’s Voices anthology, Identity features Marvel heroes of AAPI descent including Shang-Chi, Jubilee, Silk, Jimmy Woo, Ms. Marvel, Wave, Silhouette, Armor, and Silver Samurai. The one-shot also includes work from Gene Luen Yang, Christina Strain, Maurene Goo, Greg Pak, Sabir Pirzada, Alyssa Wong, Ken Miimura, Marcus To, Jason Loo, Lynne Yoshii, Creees Lee, Mashal Ahmed, Whilce Portacio and Alti Firmansyah.
Although Marvel Voices made its debut via podcast in 2018 and a comic book soon after, Holt said they hadn’t heard about the series until they were approached by an editor to contribute to Identity. Holt said they jumped at the project for a couple of reasons. One, it was an opportunity to contribute to an anthology that amplifies AAPI voices.
“I do see how they are a great opportunity for someone like myself to onboard at Marvel. It’s great that each creative team gets to spotlight a specific character in a way that doesn’t get explored in the main storylines,” they said. “It was never a goal of mine to write for Marvel mainly because I didn’t ever expect to gain their attention. So to have this opportunity was a dream coming true that I didn’t even know I had.”
Featuring art by Future Foundation artist Alti Firmansyah and colorist Irma Kniivila, Holt’s story centers on Silhouette Chord, a mutant with the ability to control the mysterious Darkforce energy. Created by Fabian Nicieza and Mark Bagley in New Warriors #2, she grew up under the leadership of the Dragon’s Breath cult in Cambodia but fled alongside her brother and mother to America. As a young vigilante alongside her brother Midnight, Silhouette was shot and paralyzed while teaming up with Nightthrasher to fight crime.
After reading through every single back issue that has featured Silhouette (graciously supplied by Marvel editor Darren Shan) Holt said they found an appreciation of how fearless she is, in spite of her disability.
“It’s this resilience in her that inspired me to explore a side of her life that intrigued me the most: navigating romance in New York City. Unlike her life fighting crime where her ethnicity and disability are not a factor in her ability to save the day, these two topics would overshadow her on every single date. I found this to be quite an interesting and humanizing conflict,” Holt said.
As a young creative in New York City, Holt said they’ve had extensive experience navigating the dating world in a big city, so it’s absolutely a “write what you know” situation.
“I just found it quite compelling that Silhouette does not have a civilian name. That got me to immediately consider how challenging her civilian life must be without the necessary separation and compartmentalization that comes with having a normal name. A perfect concept to explore within an anthology that is highlighting the topic of identity,” Holt said.
For Holt, writing about identity, exploring their feelings about it, has been extremely cathartic. When they came out as non-binary in 2017, Holt said they found the missing piece to a particular part of the identity puzzle that is gender.
“From there, this has enabled me to live and explore my life more authentically,” they said. “What I love about being non-binary is that freedom to live my life on my own terms. This liberation has opened my eyes to seeing the narrative worlds that I craft in a completely new and different way. Nothing is ever static. We are always evolving.”
Regarding dating in the Marvel Universe, Holt said once they initially pitched the idea they became fascinated with what it would mean for someone with superpower and a secret identity to open up to another person intimately.
“The vulnerability it requires to truly put yourself out there makes for a profoundly compelling conflict for any superhero. I think that there is a lot more to explore in the world of dating, especially when you factor in patriarchal and misogynistic issues that run rampant in the hetero dating scene; an issue I’ve never seen explored in any comic, and one that I’m extremely fascinated by and have examined quite closely,” they said. “I’d love to explore the complexities of that regarding all genders, and the intrinsical link between that and the emotional wellbeing of a particular superhero.”
Dana Forsythe
Dana Forsythe is a freelance writer covering art, culture, tech and comic books.
