The Nib is leaving First Look Media

 

Yet another much-loved comics institution is going through some changes. The Nib, the site of non fiction/journalism comics founded by Matt Bors,  is leaving First Look Media,  as announced first in a tweet:

Starting at the end of July, The Nib will no longer be part of @firstlookmedia. We will continue publishing and will be putting out our next two print issues. https://t.co/ZyaSzrRhl7

— The Nib ✒️ (@thenib) June 29, 2019

 

Bors expended on this in the Nib newsletter:

After three and a half years, First Look Media has decided to no longer fund The Nib at the end of July and me and my team will be let go as part of a broader shift at the company.

They are, however, working to hand the publication over to me so that I can continue The Nib. This will be a major setback but I will be devoting all my time to continuing this publication with contributions from all the editors and cartoonists who have made this publication what it is.

To assure you about where the print magazine is at: the fourth issue of the magazine is at the printers now and will be shipped in early July. The fifth issue, the Animals issue, is in the works and I will be printing it independently.

Your support over this last year has allowed us to publish hundreds of comics and create four magazines that we are really proud of. Now your direct support is more crucial than ever; our only funds going forward will be those our members have pledged each month to support us.

In the weeks and months ahead I will be sending updates about planning for the future of The Nib.

I founded this publication almost six years ago to highlight political and non-fiction comics in a media environment that doesn’t support them. I refuse to walk away from this project or let it die after the successes of our last year. There are are too many of you who have expressed support and written to say how important it is to you.

So we’ll keep going.

 

The Nib start at Medium, where it established itself as an often award-nominated site that explored contemporary issues with humor and well researched insights. However, making non fiction comics isn’t that profitable, so the site left Medium when that site retrenched and found a new home with the Intercept and more. FIrst Look Media was founded by yet another billionaire philanthropist, Pierre Omidyar, but evidently, running a media site is just too expensive for anyone these days, given the state of online advertising.

The NIb has successfully expanded into crowdfunding of late, and will continue down that path until, perhaps it finds another billionaire or a more stable method of funding.

And if you’re wondering what kind of material the Nib publishes, here’s a good example suitable for Pride Day, the story of pioneering surgeon Dr. James Barry by Maia Kobabe and Mike Thompson.