Heidi MacDonald

Writer and editor in the field of comic books

Heidi MacDonald
MacDonald at the 2014 Brooklyn Book Festival
Occupation(s)	Critic, writer
Notable credit	The Beat
Awards	Friends of Lulu Women of Distinction Award (2005)
Website	comicsbeat.com

Heidi MacDonald is an American writer and editor of comic books based in New York City. She runs the comics industry news blog The Beat.

Career

MacDonald is a former editor for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint^[1] and Disney Adventures.

In 1993 she was one of the founders of Friends of Lulu, an advocacy organization designed to promote readership of comic books by women and the participation of women in the comic book industry.^[2] (One of the organization's other founders, Trina Robbins, described MacDonald as "the founding mommy" of Friends of Lulu.)^[3] In 2005, MacDonald was given the Women of Distinction Award by Friends of Lulu.^[4]

In 2007, MacDonald edited the graphic novel The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning from Fox Atomic Comics, that was a prequel to the 2006 film.^[5]^[6]^[7]

From about 2006 to 2010, MacDonald also was an editor and writer at Publishers Weekly, where she co-wrote PW Comics Week.^[8]^[9] In January 2016, MacDonald announced she was laid off from her position at Publishers Weekly, although she would continue to write for the magazine on a freelance basis.^[10]

The Beat

MacDonald created her long-running blog The Beat: The News Blog of Comics Culture (also known as Comics Beat) at Comicon.com in June 2004, before moving it to Publishers Weekly in 2006, and to an independent site in 2010.^[11] In 2016, she announced she was moving The Beat to the webcomics site Hiveworks. She wrote, "The era of the 'bedroom blogger' is long gone, replaced by corporate entities trying to outdo each other with clickbait headlines and subsisting on popup ads that get more bewildering every day."^[10]

In 2017, comics publisher Lion Forge acquired The Beat. In January 2020, it was announced that after Lion Forge was acquired by Polarity, the company cut ties with MacDonald. In a press release, MacDonald indicated she would continue the blog independently.^[12]^[13]

References

Citations

^ Thielman, Sam (May 26, 2016). "Marvel editor-in-chief: 'Writing comics was a hobby for white guys'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
^ Lacher, Irene (January 20, 1995). "Separated at Mirth: The comics biz is a man's world. But these women are joining forces for the last laugh". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
^ Kaplan, Avery (July 23, 2019). "SDCC19: How the Friends of Lulu changed comics: The Friends of Lulu panel at SDCC19 discussed the history of the important organization". The Beat.
^ "Lulu Award". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013.
^ ICv2 (February 21, 2007). "Heidi Mcdonald Named Editor At Fox Atomic". ICv2. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ "The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
^ "The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning Paperback – July 3, 2007". Amazon. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
^ Reid, Calvin (January 29, 2010). "Comics Blog 'The Beat' to Leave 'Publishers Weekly'". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on April 5, 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
^ Reid, Calvin (February 16, 2010). "MacDonald Relaunches Comics News Blog, The Beat". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
^ ^a ^b MacDonald, Heidi (January 13, 2016). "Ch-ch-ch-changes for The Beat". The Beat. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
^ McDonald, Heidi (February 16, 2010). "Exclusive: The Beat to leave Publishers Weekly". The Beat. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
^ Johnston, Rich (January 24, 2020). "Lion Forge Breaks With The Beat". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
^ Calvin, Reid (January 27, 2020). "MacDonald Regains Ownership of Comics News Blog 'The Beat'". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.