An article like this feels like it needs a drumroll at the front of it. It has been a long time coming but the Cartoonist United Nib and Ink Fest is here!
For the uninitiated, Nib and Ink Fest is a month-long free online event hosted by Cartoonist United, a cartoonist union group that is focused on demanding liveable wages and better conditions for the comics industry.
Just to give a disclaimer: Cartoonist United was the first place to give me a consistent writing gig and I still write for them for bigger events like the most recent Anti-Censorship event, where we put out essays on comics censorship and the current issues with payment processors backing out of supporting NSFW work.
The Nib & Ink Fest was a long term project I saw from the ground up. We wanted to blend a number of different ideas together from an online comic convention to portfolio reviews to education. We have a who’s who of speakers from Reimena Lee to Blue Delliquanti to even Scott McCloud on various panel throughout the month.
Along with the panels, we have a comics marketplace which is similar to a supermarket for comics. Creators bring their finished projects to the NIF comics team and they get put up for sale for the month of May. These can be projects made specifically for the event or rereleases from other comics conventions and online events like the ShortBox Comics Fair.
Some of my personal favorites from the market place are The Fool, The Absolute Madwoman by Laweyd, How I Create My Webcomic by the Screentones Webcomic Podcast, and Felt Bad, Met God by Molly Kate Young. There are nearly 100 comics currently on the shop and if I sat here and gave all my recommendations, I’d be here all day.
If you too are indecisive when faced with too many good comics, there’s also the free NIF Sampler, which is a 372(!!) page behemoth of a showcase of comics talent. If there’s a genre of comic you like, it’s bound to be in there. Did I mention that it was free?
That along with the full schedule of panels and events can be found here. While you’re browsing, consider joining the cooperative!
