- Scholar
- Writer
- Trans
Rachel Grace Pollack (August 17, 1945 – April 7, 2023) was a Brooklyn-born science fiction novelist, comic book writer, tarot scholar, trans activist, and teacher who spent part of her life in the Hudson Valley. She was the author of 41 books and one of the most genuinely original voices ever to write a mainstream superhero comic. Her run on DC/Vertigo's Doom Patrol (issues #64–87, 1993–1994) tackled menstruation, gender identity, and transgender experience at a time when no one else in mainstream comics was doing so and introduced Kate Godwin, known as Coagula, widely recognized as the first transgender superhero in mainstream comics history.
Neil Gaiman, who regularly consulted her on tarot for his own work, called her "an astonishingly good writer" who "created her own genre — a sort of Upstate NY magic realism." She won the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the World Fantasy Award for her prose fiction. She was a beloved teacher, a tireless advocate, and proof that one person with enough courage and enough craft can change what an entire medium is willing to imagine.
Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #64 (1993) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #65 (1993) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #66 (1993) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #67 (1993) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #68 (1993) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #69 (1993) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #70 (1993) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #71 (1993) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #72 (1993) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #73 (1993) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #74 (1994) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #75 (1994) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #76 (1994) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #77 (1994) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #78 (1994) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #79 (1994) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #80 (1994) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #81 (1994) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #82 (1994) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #83 (1994) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #84 (1994) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #85 (1994) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #86 (1994) Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #87 (1994) Vertigo Visions: Brother Power the Geek #1 (1993) New Gods (Vol. 4) #1 (1995) New Gods (Vol. 4) #2 (1995) New Gods (Vol. 4) #3 (1995) New Gods (Vol. 4) #4 (1995) New Gods (Vol. 4) #5 (1995) New Gods (Vol. 4) #6 (1995) New Gods (Vol. 4) #7 (1995) New Gods (Vol. 4) #8 (1995) New Gods (Vol. 4) #9 (1995) New Gods (Vol. 4) #10 (1996) New Gods (Vol. 4) #11 (1996) Time Breakers #1 (1996) Time Breakers #2 (1996) Time Breakers #3 (1996) Time Breakers #4 (1996) Time Breakers #5 (1996) Vertigo Visions: Tomahawk #1 (1998) Edgar Allan Poe's Snifter of Blood #3 (2020) — "The Mystery of Marie Roget" (Ahoy Comics)
- Arthur C. Clarke Award — Won, 1989, for the novel Unquenchable Fire
- World Fantasy Award — Won, 1996, for the novel Godmother Night
- Nebula Award — Nominated, 1994, for the novel Temporary Agency
- Historic comics significance — Creator of Kate Godwin / Coagula in Doom Patrol #70 (1993), widely recognized as the first transgender superhero in mainstream comics
- DC Pride: A Celebration of Rachel Pollack — DC Comics published a tribute collection in 2024, reprinting key issues from her run and including a new story revisiting her characters — a rare posthumous honor from a major publisher