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After coming out as transgender, Jenny Blake Isabella says she’s finally just getting started in Bill Finger Award acceptance speech
After finding herself, Jenny Blake Isabella says she’s finally ready for what’s next.
NewsbyChris Arrant, Editor-in-Chief
Published on Sat Jul 25 2026
Popverse’s coverage of Comic-Con International: San Diego 2026 is brought to you byDark Horse Comics.
Blake, who created or co-created such Black Lightning, Misty Knight, and the Champions, has had a storied career across comics, and just over a year ago came out as transgender and told elements of her story in an autobiographical short published in DC Comics’ DC Pride 2025 anthology. On Friday evening, Isabella gave a heartwarming speech that also served as a rallying cry for the next stage in her career.
The Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing is an annual award given out to one (and sometimes two) writers as a bit of a lifetime achievement award, with the caveat that those chosen are underrated historically for their contributions, as Finger was for years as co-creator of Batman.
Here is Jenny Blake Isabella’acceptance speech for the 2026 Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing:
I am a simple, unfrozen cavewoman writer. Your comic book industry struggles and confuses me. Still, there are things that I know to be true.I was raised in part by comics, and I think they did a pretty good job of it,” Isabella says. “I love all kinds of comics. I love writing stories celebrating courage, diversity, and inclusion. I love it when those stories entertain, inform, and even inspire readers. I love my readers, and I love interacting with them.
I want to thank Comic Con, Mark Evanier, and the Bill Finger Awards judges for giving me this honor. I wanna thank Bill Finger for all those great stories that I read in the book as a kid.
I want to thank my wife Barb and our children, too — Eddie and Kelly —for loving me even when they don’t need to.
I want to thank all the people who’ve been so kind to me in my more than half a century in comic books: Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Sal Brosky, Neil Adams, and so many others.
I even want to thank all the people who have been dishonest and unkind to me. That helped me make me who I am today, and I very much like who I am today.
I want to thank my caregivers at the Metro Healthcare Clinic, as well as Hannah and Briel, my wonderful therapists. I want to thank the comic community for accepting me and making me feel safe and loved. This lovely award creates a nice exclamation mark on the career of Tony Isabella, but Jenny Blake is just getting started.
I want to write until I got ’em, hunched over my keyboard after writing the end to a good story. It doesn’t have to be a great story, just a good one readers will enjoy, and then my cats will eat me. Because that is the circle of life. And one of the few times they’ll ever pay any attention to me.
I’m here. I’m here for the comics. I’m here mostly to show my wife Barbara a good time, so she’ll stay with me. I’m here for the comics I and others have done, and I’m here to represent.
My trans agenda is basically be bright, be brave, be kind, be your true self, and always, always support your community.
Thank you.
About Comic-Con International: San Diego
Comic-Con is the premier event for all things comics and related popular art, including movies, television, gaming, interactive multimedia, and so much more! Enjoy cosplay galore and take part in unique programming, exclusive previews, and presentations, not to mention the expansive and diverse Exhibit Hall featuring merchandise and displays representing all fandoms.
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Chris Arrant: Chris Arrant is the Popverse’s Editor-in-Chief. He has written about pop culture for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher’s Weekly, Marvel, Newsarama, CBR, and more. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. (He/him)
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