The Broken Heart at the Center of Comics is a collaborative essay about burnout in comics by Ashanti Fortson with contributions from Sunmi, Shannon Wright, and Lillie J. Harris. Ashanti explains how it is nearly impossible to build a sustainable career making comics, laying the blame at the feet of publishers who embrace the capitalist prioritization of cheap labor and as much profit as possible. Cartoonists have little power to push for better pay, which is especially true if you are not a white man in the industry.

Sunmi, Shannon, and Lillie provide first-hand accounts on how the industry has broken the heart of comics for them, which Ashanti identifies as the desire to share stories. Insightful and damming, The Broken Hear at the Center of Comics is an important document in the push for sustainable labor practices in the comics industry and beyond.

This essay was originally published in Gladiolus Magazine, published by Black Josei Press.