[:it]COMICS, THE WALKING DEAD DEFEATS HOMOPHOBIA AND SUPPORTS THE PRIDE WAVE Special edition of the comic drawn by Sina Grace: part of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to anti-bullying projects in schools Bologna, June 7, 2019 – It's a rainbow flag, a symbol of LGBT pride, that Jesus, one of the protagonists of the cult comic The Walking Dead, which inspired the famous TV series of the same name, uses to eliminate a zombie. The image, drawn by Sina Grace and colored by Tamra Bonvillain, is the cover of the special variant edition of issue 59 of The Walking Dead, which will be released in Italy alongside the regular edition on June 13th. The announcement was made by the publisher saldaPress, which, in agreement with Skybound – Robert Kirkman's imprint within Image Comics – has decided to create this special edition to celebrate, on the occasion of the 2019 Pride Wave, the LGBTI+ community and the progress achieved over years of battles fought peacefully with the aim of promoting the values of inclusivity and support for all. Furthermore, the proceeds from the sale of the issues – 2,000 numbered copies with a cover price of 5 euros – will go to support the project. Schoolmates, conceived and developed by Arcigay. The project collaborates with schools and local authorities to create workshops and training programs on anti-bullying, deconstructing gender stereotypes, and understanding sexual identity (more information on this and other Arcigay projects is available on the website). www.arcigay.it). The subject chosen for this cover, moreover, has a lot to do with these themes: Jesus is one of the rare comic book characters who is openly gay, and in the series he has a partner and lives a quiet life within the community led by Rick Grimes. "We are very grateful to saldaPress for this initiative," comments Gabriele Piazzoni, general secretary of Arcigay, "which brings the fight for rights and against discrimination to a young and very young audience, on the one hand encouraging the empowerment of those who are coming out at that age, and on the other guaranteeing a supportive and welcoming environment for the socialization of sexual orientation. The initiative will also have a concrete impact by providing support for our projects to combat homophobic and transphobic bullying, a widespread phenomenon that still lacks structured and effective responses." The special issue of *The Walking Dead* will be available at Turin Pride and Vicenza Pride (June 15), Lazio Pride in Frosinone (June 22), Milan Pride and Bari Pride (June 29), and Toscana Pride in Pisa (July 7). Additionally, the issues will be available from June 13 at the Gay Center in Rome (Via Nicola Zabaglia 14) and the Cassero LGBT Center in Bologna (Via Don Minzoni 18), during opening hours. Standard sales channels will also be available, including all comic book stores and the online shop at saldapress.com.
Attached is the cover image and the saldaPress press release.
saldaPress-THE-WALKING-DEAD-SALDAPRESS-and-ARCIGAY-to-support-LGBTI-battles-and-the-Pride-Wave-2019-May-2019-1.doc[:en]*COMICS, THE WALKING DEAD DEFEATS HOMOPHOBIA AND SUPPORTS THE PRIDE WAVE Special edition of the comic drawn by Sina Grace: part of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to anti-bullying projects in schools* *Bologna, June 7, 2019* – It is a rainbow flag, symbol of LGBT pride, that Jesus, one of the protagonists of the cult comic *The Walking Dead*, which inspired the famous TV series of the same name, uses to eliminate a zombie. The image, drawn by Sina Grace and colored by Tamra Bonvillain, is the cover of the special variant edition of issue 59 of *The Walking Dead*, released in Italy together with the regular version on June 13th. The announcement was made by the publisher saldaPress, which, in agreement with Skybound—Robert Kirkman's imprint within Image Comics—has decided to create this special edition to celebrate, on the occasion of Onda Pride 2019, the LGBTI+ community and the progress achieved over years of peacefully fought battles to promote the values of inclusivity and support for all. Furthermore, the proceeds from the sale of the comics—2,000 numbered copies with a cover price of 5 euros—will go to support the *Schoolmates* project, conceived and developed by Arcigay. The project collaborates with schools and local authorities to create workshops and training courses on the themes of combating bullying, deconstructing gender stereotypes, and understanding sexual identity (more information on this and other Arcigay projects is available on the website www.arcigay.it). The subject chosen for this cover, moreover, has a lot to do with these themes: Jesus is one of the rare comic book characters who is openly gay, and in the series he has a partner and lives a quiet life within the community led by Rick Grimes. "We are very grateful to saldaPress for this initiative," comments Gabriele Piazzoni, general secretary of Arcigay, "which brings the fight for rights and against discrimination to a young and very young audience, on the one hand encouraging the empowerment of those who are coming out at that age, and on the other guaranteeing a supportive and welcoming environment for the socialization of sexual orientation. The initiative will also have a concrete impact by providing support for our projects to combat homophobic and transphobic bullying, a widespread phenomenon that still lacks structured and effective responses." The special issue of *The Walking Dead* will be available at Turin Pride and Vicenza Pride (June 15), Lazio Pride in Frosinone (June 22), Milan Pride and Bari Pride (June 29), and Toscana Pride in Pisa (July 7). Additionally, the issues will be available from June 13 at the Gay Center in Rome (Via Nicola Zabaglia 14) and the Cassero LGBT Center in Bologna (Via Don Minzoni 18), during opening hours. Standard sales channels will also be available, including all comic book stores and the online shop at saldapress.com.
Attached is the cover image and the saldaPress press release.
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