Are print magazines about comics back? Comics The Magazine recently debuted with more than 100,000 preorders. And now Tiffany Babb is launched The Comics Staple, a monthly 12-page black-and-white zine, featuring a DIY aesthetic that will keep comic fans up to date on the latest books and news in the world of comics and sequential art.
The Comics Staple will be in addition to the Comics Courier, an occasional newspaper of comics criticsm, also edited by newest Eisner judge Babb. The new zine will feature contributions from comics critics and journalists David Harper, Oliver Sava, Susana Polo, David Brothers, Rob Salkowitz, Omar Valdivieso, our very own Zack Quaintance, Jim McDermott, and Babb. The publication aims to provide comic fans with a handpicked and thoughtful look at what is new in the world of comics, what is coming down the pipeline, and what you should be reading. The Comic Staple will include top comics picks, reviews, interviews with creators, news roundups, indie creator spotlights, local comic shop spotlights, as well as a page on weird comics history from Mary Tyler Moorehawk artist and writer Dave Baker.
“I’m so excited to be working on The Comics Staple with this team of incredible writers. I really think that comics fans, myself included, have felt the splintering of the comics grapevine as social media has fallen from its heights. I’m hoping that the Staple will be a way for people to keep up with the comics that they love and learn about the new comics they should be following,” said Babb in a statement.
Since newsstands are still an iffy thing, The Comics Staple will be funded by Kickstarter campaigns twice a year. Readers can sign up for six-month subscriptions, either in print or digital format. The first campaign starts in April, and the first issue will ship in September.
In addition to The Comics Staple, and Comics The Magazine, Comics Shop News also continues on a weekly print basis. So print is far from dead and may even be making a comeback!
To keep up to date on The Comics Staple, fans should visit the project’s pre-launch page at comicsstaple.com.
–Additional reporting by Heidi MacDonald
