Art by @dyscotheque / @nozmo.
Here’s a roundup of what we’ve been working on at the Cartoonist Co-op–a collection of comics, zines, webcomics, and crowdfunding, plus all new articles, news and features.
Want to join the Cartoonist Co-op? Send us your info here or email us at cartoonistcooperative@gmail.com , and become part of our community of indie comics creators! The Cartoonist’s Co-op is committed to helping build the community of comics artists and to improve and protect the labor rights of comic industry workers worldwide.
As a member, we’ll help you find collaborators, share resources, get the inside scoop on the industry, and have your stuff promoted in this very newsletter! Members of our cooperative gain access to career development resources, creative feedback and assistance, promotional campaigns for members’ comics, exclusive discounted benefits, and more.
Let’s dive into it!
CARTOONIST CO-OP OPEN HOUSE!
Join The Cartoonist Cooperative in our first ever open house on May 1st, 7 pm ET! Steering will be presenting our 2023 Worker Survey in a presentation style format, expanding on points in the survey, talking about our methodology, and answering questions.
Cartoonist Cooperative “Buy an E-Sim for Gaza” Donation Drive
Art by C4tm4sk
As you may know, Palestinians in Gaza are being subjected to internet and communications blackouts as part of the ongoing siege by Israel. Members of the Cartoonist Co-op are getting involved in a new way to combat this violence by offering art in exchange for those who donate e-SIMs to Palestinians through the Connecting Gaza Campaign.
This campaign has been running since early November, but we want to make sure that everyone who’s interested in our activities is kept up to date. Click here to see how you can contribute to these efforts!
Featured Comics For Purchase From Our Members
By Niki Smith
Struggling with anxiety after witnessing a harrowing instance of gun violence, Manuel Soto copes through photography, using his cell-phone camera to find anchors that keep him grounded. His days are a lonely, latchkey monotony until he’s teamed with his classmates, Sebastian and Caysha, for a group project.
Sebastian lives on a grass-fed cattle farm outside town, and Manuel finds solace in the open fields and the antics of the newborn calf Sebastian is hand-raising. As Manuel aides his new friends in their preparations for the local county fair, he learns to open up, confronts his deepest fears, and even finds first love.
By DarkChibiShadow
The very last print run of DarkChibiShadow’s “My Master is a Naga”! Adults only.
By Elaine M. Will
A short horror comic about artistic burnout, and trying to feed an ever-unforgiving Algorithm.
$5 plus shipping for a physical edition!
WEBCOMICS:
By Kody Okamoto
A romantic bummer of a webcomic about two dudes in a (00s midwestern emo-adjacent) band has launched!
By Mateus Boga
THE DARK PEAK INCIDENT is a horror webcomic set in the remote interior of the state of Alaska, where a group of nine hikers attempt to summit the most mysterious and dangerous mountain in North t the best idea to dismiss the local native tales and legends about this mountain so quickly…
By FeralRoyal
In the icy forests of Sahull, a monster steals brides on their wedding nights.
The Arcana Imperii–A secret organization dedicated to hunting monsters and investigating magical anomalies–enlists two of its most powerful agents to put an end to the terror.
Lalo and Oz have been at each other’s throats since the moment they first met, but the only thing that can match the intensity of their rivalry is their repressed desires for one another!
BIG NEWS!! you can now read a free preview of our queer erotic horror fantasy comic THE VOW, delivered directly to your inbox when you sign up for our free newsletter!!! https://buttondown.email/feralroyal
Crowdfunding
This year, the SpiderForest Comic Collective is bringing you tales from beyond the confines of time itself in THREADS: IMMORTAL. 16 brand new standalone short comics examining the eternal, the undying, and the unkillable.
Either by living forever or defying the reaper, our short comics are immortal!
Hal Schrieve’s beautiful, sprawling opus of trans love, grief, and revenge. Winner of the 2023 Cartoonist Studio Prize, Vivian’s Ghost is now being crowdfunded for a brand-new softcover print edition.
THE FURY, THE MAELSTROM, AND THE KIWI
A sapphic revenge love story graphic novel project which is currently crowdfunding on zoop, featuring contributions by M.H. Cali, Elsa Charretier, Liana Kangas, Skyler Patridge, Alison Sampson & man more.
NEW FROM THE CO-OP
The Cartoonist Cooperative ran its first Comics Worker Survey in June 2023 and received more than 100 USian respondents working in mainstream publishing and self publishing. Participation was open to anyone making income in any capacity from comics. Why are income and rate transparency important? It decreases the range of inequities in pay and sets expectations for workers and employers. The Cartoonist Cooperative intends to gather extensive data annually through these surveys to provide insight into the economic realities of comics workers today. We hope this data also serves as a rallying cry to motivate those working in the industry to collectively demand livable and sustainable pay.
Click above to read the results!
