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Stacked Deck Press
February 27th, 2025

NFL Veteran R.K. Russell Contributes Story to Comics Anthology About LGBTQ+ People in Sports

Los Angeles, CA —Former NFL player R.K. Russell is branching out into comics. Russell has adapted his poem “Football is Not War” for inclusion in a comics anthology to be titled Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project, a celebration of LGBTQIA+people and their experiences in athletics. The book will be published by award-winning imprint Stacked Deck Press. Russell’s story is illustrated by renowned cartoonist and illustrator Wilfred Santiago.

Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project is edited by Megan Praz and Megan Kemp-Gee, the creators of the ultimate frisbee-themed graphic novel One More Year. This book will feature the work of over 30 all-LGBTQ+ comics creators, including Marvel and DC writer Josh Trujillo, Hockey Hall of Famer Angela James, and pioneering trans cartoonist Sophie Labelle. Russell is one of several notable figures from the world of sports who will be trying their hands at making comics for the first time specially for this anthology. 

Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project will be the first ever comics anthology devoted to the theme of queer people in sports. It will be a full-color paperback graphic collection of over 200 pages.

Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project will have a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter beginning Tuesday, March 4th. The campaign will run for 30 days. Sports apparel company VC Ultimate will be sponsoring the campaign and providing custom reward items for backers to choose from. You can register for updates about the campaign here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stackeddeckpress/come-out-and-play-the-queer-sports-project

Stacked Deck Press is a publishing imprint founded in 2015 dedicated to LGBTQ+ comics, prose, and art books. Among their award-winning publications are We’re Still Here: An All-Trans Comics Anthology, winner of the 2019 Ignatz Award, and We Belong: An All-Black/All-Queer Sci-fi/Fantasy Comics Anthology, winner of the 2024 Kinnard Better Future Award.

Meghan Kemp-Gee and Tara Avery of Stacked Deck Press are available for comment.

Media Contact:
Tara Madison Avery
Publisher
tara@stackeddeckpress.com
(949) 257-7994
https://stackeddeckpress.com