We talk a lot about the preservation of physical media as a bulwark against the erasure of culture, both by streaming services that remove content at their whim and by fascist nations seeking to perpetuate their message of strength through exclusion at the expense of all others.
Also, who doesn’t love a nice Criterion Collection or SteelBook version of their favorite movie, or the warm, crackling sound of their favorite album on vinyl, or the low-weight paper feel of their favorite book in their hands?
But have you also considered newspapers? (Or, for that matter, zines?)
They’re a record of the previous day’s events. They’re the first draft of history. And if you’re holding one, you’re less likely to complain in a Facebook group about “Why do I have to pay to read the article?” as if journalism should just magically appear with no thought given to how the people who create it are supposed to support themselves.
One of our favorite newspapers, The Comics Courier, has returned for its second fundraising campaign on Kickstarter. It’s a twice yearly collection of some of the finest minds in comics criticism, brought to you by Tiffany Babb, a former editor at Popverse and the magazine PanelxPanel. The first edition came out last year and included essays on everything from the Krakoan era of X-Men to John Byrne’s Photoshopped Star Trek comics to an interview with cartoonist Patrick Horvath.
The second issue, which will feature writing from Babb, Rob Salkowitz, Adrienne Resha, Dave Buesing, Lydia Turner, Avery and Ollie Kaplan, Rosie Knight, Nick Marino, Kelly Kanayama and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, appears to feature essays on Doctor Doom, Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr.’s run on Daredevil and Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows’ recent AHOY Comics series Babs.
Also, the rewards are going to include “comics criticism themed pencils.” I have too many pencils, and yet these are the only pencils I now want to use.
Check out the press release below, and for more on The Comics Courier, listen for Babb on an upcoming episode of The ComicsXF Interview Podcast.
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Los Angeles, CA – Following a wildly successful first Kickstarter campaign, comics criticism journal The Comics Courier has returned to Kickstarter to fund its second issue.
The Comics Courier is a twice-a-year tabloid sized newspaper dedicated to in-depth writing about comics helmed by comics critic and editor Tiffany Babb (PanelxPanel, Popverse). This second issue will feature essays and reviews from comic critics including Rob Salkowitz, Adrienne Resha, Tiffany Babb, Dave Buesing, Lydia Turner, Avery and Ollie Kaplan, Rosie Knight, Nick Marino, Kelly Kanayama, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.
The Comics Courier Issue 2 Kickstarter campaign will run from today, May 1 to May 31 at 11:59 PM Pacific and will include, as rewards, limited edition prints from comics artists Matt Bors, Shing Yin Khor, and Alex Krokus, comics criticism themed pencils, and sponsorship slots.
About this new project, editor Tiffany Babb said, “I am so excited to bring back The Comics Courier for its second issue. It was amazing to see how the comics industry and fans showed up for this project and for comics criticism, and I’m excited to work to get the second issue into readers’ hands.”
To support The Comics Courier Kickstarter campaign, visit the Kickstarter page at www.comicscourier.com.
Dan Grote is the editor and publisher of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Paul Winston Wisdom. Follow him @danielpgrote.bsky.social.
