Indie publisher Uncivilized Books has thrown its hat in the ring, launching DREGS! – an ambitious new 100-page quarterly science fiction and fantasy magazine that aims to provide an access point to diverse global talent. Set to hit shelves in December, Uncivilized has just launched the project on Kickstarter to help it hit the ground running.
The 8.5”x11” magazine will showcase colour- alongside black-and-white comics, each being between 6 and 10 pages in length. The comics content will be one-shots and multi-part serials, and each issue will be rounded out by bonus extras including articles, interviews, and process pieces.
The first two issues have been mapped out with a cadre of international creators on board, including Michael DeForge, Maxime Gérin, Richie Pope, Suzajana, and Ronald Wimberly. The publisher has launched the project on Kickstarter with a funding goal of $17,000, with the plan moving forward to be regularly available via traditional book and comics retailer channels. The Kickstarter will run until October 25.
Kickstarter backers can pledge for the first two issues ($20 apiece, $40 together) or go the whole hog and take out a year’s 4-issue subscription ($80). The first issue is expected to ship in December, with issue two pencilled in for March 2027. Early bird and retailer tiers are available. Sadly no digital so international backers may have to contend with the frustrations of expensive international shipping.
Based on the press release, DREGS! has been directly inspired by the kind of comics anthology showcases that helped launch careers or herald new movements for the artform. Name dropped are the likes of Garo, Métal Hurlant, Heavy Metal, MOME, RAW, and Dark Horse Presents.
In a newsletter, Uncivilized Books’ Tom Kaczynski said,
“For years I’ve lamented the lack of comics anthologies in the comics marketplace. Oh, plenty exist on the margins as smaller diy efforts, or on Kickstarter. But most of these exist as one-off efforts or short-lived series with limited reach. But we’re far from the time when many ongoing anthology series existed simultaneously: Métal Hurlant and its offshoot, Heavy Metal; Weirdo; Blood Orange; MOME; RAW; Dark Horse Presents; PULP; and many others. That’s not to speak of the many great European or Manga publications too numerous to mention.
He adds,
“My most formative comic was RELAX, the Polish comics anthology magazine that ran for several years in the late 70s and early 80s. Besides exposing me to a variety of approaches to comic storytelling, I don’t think I overstate the case that the vibrant Polish comics scene of today might never have come to be without it. Anthologies are the dark matter of comics. Undervalued, they create space for new talent and ideas that otherwise might not develop.”
As for the Kickstarter move, Kaczynski said:
“It’s rare for us to run a Kickstarter; we’ve only ever done it twice in our 15-year existence. This is perhaps our most ambitious project, and it needs extra support. The Kickstarter will help us get the magazine printed, pay the artists, and cover other logistical needs… I hope you will help us launch it into the stratosphere!”
Although not the intensely competitive heydey of the 1970s or 1980s, the marketplace for global anthologies is not entirely vacant today – Metal Hurlant and Heavy Metal are back on the scene, and Britain’s 2000 AD never left (though it leans heavily in favour of multipart serials), and the grassroots space has a few regulars – including ThirdBear Press’ Boxes (now five issues strong). Still, the more the merrier.
