Created as a means to help promote one another’s indie comics across the board for visibility and to provide direct-to-consumer sales, THE LANTERN is a new initiative established by Marcus Jimenez of Dauntless Stories, along with several indie comics creators. It serves as a dedicated platform where indie creators can spotlight their work on THE LANTERN’s home page along with provide key details to showcase a creator-made comic. This includes selling key highlights such as a cover image, details on the creative team, solicitation information, and a synopsis, along with hosting the option for a 4-page spread preview, all in a new approach meant to foster a bigger network for the indie comics community.
Here’s how it works as seen directly from their homepage.
At a time when social media reach has become more fragmented than ever before and the threat of AI-scrapping of creator-owned work has become an increasing problem, new mediums of how to reach an audience have become more imperative than ever before in the indie comics space. Most creators have taken to the newsletter or substack types of services, but for THE LANTERN, several comics creators, press, and journalists have pooled their resources together to try and create a place to share their original works one click away.
The above are mock-ups of what LANTERN will provide as an online catalogue. The single entry tier runs as low as 15 dollars a title and the spotlight tier starts at 60. The 200-dollar lighthouse tier allows users to customize full creative control on their page to showcase their brand. All money raised from the service is then going directly to artists, reviewers, and interviewers to try and maintain a sustainable platform and grow their reach.
It’s a bold new initiative for indie comics creators. The first issue drops on March 31st, 2025. You can check out the newsletter form right here to sign up and check it out for yourself.
