Books by Stephanie Phillips

Why Solange Matters (Music Matters)

by Stephanie Phillips

Growing up in the shadow of her superstar sister, Solange Knowles became a pivotal musician in her own right. Defying an industry that attempted to bend her to its rigid image of a Black woman, Solange continually experimented with her sound and embarked on a metamorphosis in her art that continues to this day.
In Why Solange Matters, Stephanie Phillips chronicles the creative journey of an artist who became a beloved voice for the Black Lives Matter generation. A Black feminist punk musician herself, Phillips addresses not only the unpredictable trajectory of Solange Knowles's career but also how she and other Black women see themselves through the musician's repertoire. First, she traces Solange’s progress through an inflexible industry, charting the artist’s development up to 2016, when the release of her third album, A Seat at the Table, redefined her career. Then, with A Seat at the Table and 2019’s When I Get Home, Phillips describes how Solange embraced activism, anger, Black womanhood, and intergenerational trauma to inform her remarkable art. Why Solange Matters not only cements the place of its subject in the pantheon of world-changing twenty-first century musicians, it introduces its writer as an important new voice.

EC Epitaphs from the Abyss Vol. 1

by Jason Aaron, Brian Azzarello, Stephanie Phillips, J. Holtham, Jay Stephens, Matt Kindt, Corinna Bechko, Chris Condon, Tyler Crook, Amy Roy

THE MOST NOTORIOUS NAME IN TERROR IS BACK—WITH A VENGEANCE!

From the publisher that drove Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, Haunt of Fear, and many more into the depraved hearts of an unsuspecting world, the immortal EC COMICS returns with its first ALL-NEW series in nearly 70 years!

In our seminal first collection of Epitaphs From the Abyss, witness shocking tales of torment and tension in the immortal EC tradition—as wrenched from the grave by the vile intentions of acclaimed writers Brian Azzarello (Batman: Damned, 100 Bullets), Jason Aaron (Scalped, Thor: God of Thunder, TMNT), Chris Condon (That Texas Blood, Night People), J. Holtham (Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale), and Stephanie Phillips (Harley Quinn, Grim), and realized into bloody reality by "all-slaughter" artists Jorge Fornes (Rorschach, Danger Street), Phil Hester (Family Tree), Peter Krause (Irredeemable), Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead), Klaus Janson (The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil) and many more!

What the Comics Code Authority couldn't kill has only made it stronger . . . EC COMICS LIVES AGAIN IN EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS!

Collecting Epitaphs from the Abyss #1–4.

EC Cruel Universe Vol. 1

by Ben H. Winters, Cullen Bunn, Stephanie Phillips, J. Holtham, Matt Kindt, Corinna Bechko, Chris Condon, Zac Thompson, Matt Bors, Christopher Cantwell

Compelled to OBLIVION, driven to ENTROPY, all life in our cosmos can only end in one place: COMPLETE ANNIHILATION! For the first time in 70 years, the limitless fury of EC Comics rages back to life to shred the very fabric of the universe itself—and wrench bizarre tales of time and space into our dimensional plane!

Our guides across this riveting introduction to a cosmic maelstrom of strange extraterrestrial entities, malevolent scientists, and terrifying technological catastrophe? Learn to fear the void with the irradiated imaginations of writers Corinna Bechko (Invisible Republic, The Space Between), Christopher Cantwell (Thanos), Chris Condon (That Texas Blood), Matt Kindt (BRZRKR, Mind MGMT), Stephanie Phillips (Phoenix), Ben H. Winters (The Last Policeman), and more as they collide with the wondrously destructive visions of artists Jonathan Case (Green River Killer), Kano (Gotham Central), David Lapham (Stray Bullets), Alison Sampson (Department of Truth), Artyom Topilin (I Hate This Place), Caitlin Yarsky (Black Hammer: Reborn) and many more!

The unpredictable return of EC Comics continues here with the quantum comics event of the millennium! Galaxies will collapse. Space-time will be distorted. And your very will to exist, too, shall be broken. . . . Just remember: It's all in the name of SCIENCE!

Collecting Cruel Universe #1–5.

LA Strong A Charity Comic for Victims of the Los Angeles Fires

by Rob Denbleyker, Geoff Ryman, Jim McCann, Daniel Kibblesmith, Paul Cornell, Brian Michael Bendis, Jimmy Palmiotti, Stephanie Phillips, Jody Houser, Neil Kleid, Sina Grace, Susan Bridges, Christos Gage, Frank Tieri, Steve Orlando, Marv Wolfman, Brian Hawkins, Mario Candelaria, Amy Chase, Tilly Bridges, Dan DiDio, Rich Douek, Joey Esposito, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Meghan Fitzmartin, Melissa Flores, Marc Guggenheim, Richard Ashley Hamilton, Matt Harding, Timmy Heague, Megan Huang, Deric Hughes, Barbara Randall Kesel, Nick Marino, Ron Marz, Gary Maloney, Omar Morales, Benjamin Raab, Mark Sable, Omar Spahi, Joanne Starer, Amit Tishler, Jennie Wood, Jan Yoder

The comic book industry pulls together to support fellow creators who lost homes to the tragic 2025 Los Angeles fires with this benefit anthology special.

Winner of the 2025 Clampett Humanitarian Award!

In January 2025, powerful wildfires devastated Los Angeles county, leaving loss and heartbreak in their path. In the aftermath, the team at Mad Cave Studios, like so many around the world, wanted to help the people of Southern California L.A. Strong was born of this desire, bringing together dozens of creators from around the world with the goal of making as much money as possible doing what we do best -- Making comic books! Filled with reflective stories from some of the best and brightest in the comics industry, L.A. Strong is a love letter to the City of Angels, a meditation on home, an invitation to empathy, and so much more. Together, as a community, we stand L.A. Strong!

Like any great Hollywood production, L.A. Strong features cameos from an all-star lineup, including Barbara Kessel, Brian Azzarello, Brian Michael Bendis, Christos Gage, Dan DiDio, Daniel Kibblesmith, Frank Tieri, Greg Pak, Jimmy Palmiotti, Jody Houser, Marv Wolfman, Paul Cornell, Rob DenBleyker, Sina Grace, Stephanie Phillips, Steve Orlando, Alex Cormack, Alison Sampson, Amanda Conner, Christian Ward, Geraldo Borges, Ian Churchill, Michael Avon Oeming, Nico Leon, Rian Gonzales, Salvador Larroca, Sami Kivelä, and many, many more. Don't miss special appearances from comic stars like The Pedestrian, Cyanide and Happiness, and Tectiv, as well as local SoCal comic shops like Golden Apple Comics, Collectors Paradise, and Revenge Of!

100% of the profits will be donated to relief efforts.

Spider-Gwen: the Ghost-Spider Vol. 1 - Haunted

by Stephanie Phillips

It's a new beginning for the web-slinging Spider-Gwen, star of page and screen - and she has a new universe to call home!

Welcome to New York! Gwen truly becomes a Ghost-Spider when she moves full-time to the Marvel Universe -- a world where Gwen Stacy died years ago! But why did she leave her home of Earth-65? Why aren't the other spiders supposed to know she's here? Why isn't she supposed to suit up? And who will get hurt when she does?

COLLECTING: Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider (2024) 1-5

We Were Here A History of Black People and Alternative Music

by Stephanie Phillips

A long-overdue corrective to the history of rock 'n' roll and alternative music, repopulating it with the extraordinary Black artists and influential figures who steered its course



The history of rock and roll and alternative music is often told in bold, sweeping, isolated moments that are removed from the context of their time. Upon closer inspection, however, it becomes clear that the stories we tell center primarily on the achievements of white men like Elvis Presley, The Ramones, Nirvana, and David Bowie. White men who were the stars, white men who supposedly changed the game, white men who seemingly were at the forefront of every musical innovation in the 20th and 21st centuries. These rock and roll retellings perpetuate the belief that white men were the most important people to wield a guitar, strut on stage, or pound out a pummeling drumbeat. What is missing in these stories is everything in between--the people, the places, and the scenes that connect the dots--and you can't tell the history of any music scene, let alone alternative music, without the Black community.



In We Were Here: A History of Black People and Alternative Music, author, journalist, and musician Stephanie Phillips, the singer and guitarist of British post punk band Big Joanie, presents readers with a revised history of rock and roll and alternative music, repopulating it with the extraordinary Black artists and influential figures who truly steered its course. From the genre's earliest moments, Black musicians--like gospel entertainer Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the 1930s-40s and rock and roll legend Chuck Berry in the 1950s--have consistently pushed musical boundaries that forever impacted the music that followed. Throughout the decades, numerous Black entertainers continued to add their take on rock and alternative genres, expanding and building on what was already there to create what we know as alternative music today: look no further than the electric fire of Jimi Hendrix's guitar licks in the '60s, the kaleidoscopic melee of hardcore and reggae that was Bad Brains in the late '70s, and the funkadelic swagger of Living Colour in the '80s.



Despite their groundbreaking contributions, why have Black musicians been so neglected from the historical canon? Is alternative music still seen as a white genre, and how are Black musicians and fans making space for themselves in the music scenes they love? This book tells the story of Black artists performing in alternative genres from punk to rock and roll, indie to new wave, alongside their Black fans. Through brand new interviews and meticulous research, Phillips documents the history of Black people's influence on these genres, highlighting the key players, assessing the legacy of their work, and drawing attention to those who have been obscured from history. Where rock magazines and music books previously omitted or misunderstood the stories of Black artists and fans, this book centers their voices and attempts to right the wrongs of the past. Along the way, Phillips infuses her own coming-of-age story as a Black female musician in the punk scene, alongside a cultural analysis of rock and alternative music history.