Happy December, and happy holidays! 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!
New Comics From Our Members
THE CARTOONIST ITCH.IO CO-OP COMICS BUNDLE is still available for two more days!!!
Do you like comics? Unusual comics? Short story comics? Comics with storytelling flair and beautiful art? Horror, action, humor, or romance comics? Do you like supporting indie creators? Then this bundle is for you!
The Cartoonist Co-op Comics Bundle is a collection of unique works from over 40 different artists. For the low price of $25.00, you can receive the stories of different independent authors in one bundle, with all funds going right to the creators! 
PATCHWORK COMICS ZINE
The November issue of the Patchwork comics Zine is out, featuring short indie comics by a variety of creators! Now entering their second year. 
PUTTY PYGMALION
Now available for pre-order for a July release! Putty Pygmalion is a queer complication on the Pygmalion myth, brought to life through Lonnie Garcia’s emotional, multimedia comic art. Derryl, a lonely radish, attempts to create a boyfriend out of a defunct and now illegal children’s product. His creation, Peter, springs to life ready to make a child happy, and instead finds a suffocating and cloistered existence catering to Derryl’s needs. When Peter sneaks out to a party one night and meets Derryl’s friends, he discovers there’s even more to his creator’s intentions than he thought. 
BICHOCTOBER
Made for Inktober, Bichoctober is a zine by Lur Noise on the insects of the Iberian peninsula! Its suggested price is 2 Euros but pay what you will. 
THE GHOSTKEEPER
By Johanna Taylor. Now available for pre-order!
Perfect for fans of everything from Lockwood & Co to The Haunting of Hill House, this gothic graphic novel follows a young medium with the gift—or curse, as some might say—to communicate with the dead.
Dorian Leith can see ghosts. Not only that, he listens to their problems and tries to help them move on to the afterlife. It’s a gift that’s made him an outcast to everyone in town. That is except for his dearly departed grandmother, who he’s partnered with to turn this paranormal ability into an honest living, and the local bookshop owner, who seems to be the only non-deceased person willing to give him a chance. But it’s all worth it to Dorian, who feels like he’s been given a bigger purpose. A chance to save those who cannot save themselves.
Then one day, the key to Death’s Door is stolen, trapping all the ghosts in the land of the living. Since he’s only one who can see them, the spirits rely on Dorian to retrieve the key before it is too late. If they can’t move on, they’ll soon be consumed by a ghostly rot that has begun to plague them.
As it continues to fester and spread, and the ghosts become desperate for relief, Dorian must do whatever it takes to find a way to bring peace to the restless dead—even if that peace comes at the cost of his own…. 
SPIRAL SESSIONS
A new, disturbing one-off comic by Elaine M. Will plumbs the depths of anxiety. 
BURZOK’S Z-FILES
New zine from Ordheist, a companion piece to Burzok’s Mercenary Handbook. A catalog of activities, tools and services for the stupidly rich and morally loose. 
CANDY CORN
Candy Corn by Vsho is now available for pre-order!
Candy Corn follows the story of a group of children summoning a demon on Halloween to make the night more spooky. They accidentally summon “The God of Halloween,” who is more interested in stealing candy, causing mundane mischief, and candy corn. 
SUN’S WALKER VOL 1: I HAVE BURIED ALL MY ENEMIES by Sam Purata (Author), JC Moreno (Editor)
Iszack, the youngest of a legendary line of warriors, used to live a carefree life in a small tourist town, when sudently a supernatural war breaks out. But he is not alone! now, he must gather his brothers to help him fight the evil that has returned to the world. Now available on Amazon Kindle! 
VOLES OF THE DUSK By GearHead.
Welcome to the apocalypse. The human race exterminated itself in a gratuitous orgy of self-destruction. The world has been inherited by those with the courage, the fortitude, and the gigantic cheek pouches needed to survive. Voles of the Dusk is a collection of stories about cute fuzzy rodents living in a nuclear hellscape. Join the Vole with No Name as he lives, laughs, fights, and diligently avoids learning anything in this changed world. 
SHADES OF FEAR
Experience terror in blood red, sickly yellow, and ethereal blue. Shadows flitting from the corner of your eye beneath the neon of fluorescent lights, the visceral red beneath your skin that protects you from the outside world, the lush green of the dark forest that surrounds and beckons to you. Shades of Fear is an anthology of subtle, psychological horror comics with a focus on emotional and evocative color. These stories will show you the horror of loss and sacrifice, of what lurks in liminal spaces, and of the unknowable that lies just beyond the veil. The collection features stories by:
– Desolina Fletcher
– Ashanti Fortson
– Mar Julia
– Molly Mendoza
– Grendel Menz
– Tess Eneli Reid
– Joy San
– Olivia Stephens
– Shannon Wright
– Jade Zhang
LET’S RIDE
Witches on motorbikes! A hard-driving black and white comics zine by Jenny Mure, now available on Etsy. 
BREATHE
A graphic guide to chest binding with real-life stories and research-backed advice from bestselling Gender Queer author Maia Kobabe and University of Michigan professor Sarah Peitzmeier.
Breathe arose from the need for an evidence-based resource for folks considering chest binding as gender-affirming care. Its original form was a 32-page digital-only ‘zine, but Peitzmeier and Kobabe saw potential for reaching a wider audience with an expanded version with more art and more exploration of what the research really shows about binding, designed to be easily readable as a printed book. This is the result! Breathe is now available for pre-order.
Webcomics By Our Members
BRAND ECHO
When you’re a real fan of a movie, TV, show, or video game, you love to own as much of your favorite franchise as possible. But what happens when a franchise owns you? Brand Echo, by Charlotte Finn and Ing, is a cyberpunk tale of identity in a time when identities are bound up with products, ideas in a time when ideas can be owned by massive companies, and the ghost in the machine. 
THE DIVORCE PARTY
Everyone say DIVORCED! The first 10 pages of Andrew Neal’s comic about a gang of divorcees going on a wild…well, mild…adventure are now unlocked on Patreon for all to enjoy. Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose…
MARU KIRU–DEMON OF THE PIT
Her name is Maru Kiru, and she is going to destroy the moon! A barbarian warrior seeks revenge on a Moon cult in Brendan Albetski’s trippy fantasy comic. New this month, a short interlude comic! You can check it out, along with all the past issues, for free on Global Comix.
PROPOSITUM
By Max Foster. A brightly full-colored graphic novel with a range of construction paper backgrounds, mixed with found materials, colored pencil illustrations, and found photo manipulation techniques for the digitally rendered characters to interact with.
Arnold Kai, a man with a shady past as a scam artist, wakes up naked in a field, unaware of who he is or where he is. Upon finding an existential guide, Arnold has to relive the events, harsh relationships through past versions of himself, and the consequences that led to his death. Arnold now has a big decision about what he wants to do after his journey through what is called Wait Space.
The comic just did an upgrade, loading the images in higher resolution with redone colours, and a newly polished website.
Crowdfunding Campaigns
QUASAR #1 is still available to back!
In a distant universe, a cataclysmic event known as a Red Shift destroys an unknown amount of stars and planets. A century later, A new future is born in five megacities that orbit a dead world, an altruist society known as Ara. Enter Kytt, a teenager haunted by this history. Believing she is “destined” to fall prey to the same destructive power unleashed for a second time. Her only escape is to acquire a biomechanical giant called Quasar! Quasar is inspired by Gideon’s experience helping to raise his youngest sister as a teenager. The impact she made on him and the many young people who may see themselves in the eyes of our new hero! Who must learn to grapple with fear. Circa 2019, this comic had the unfortunate timing of presenting itself during the height of the pandemic, when most comic shops were being mandated to close down. After things started opening back up, we lost our place in line with notable publisher, Boom Studios. And we’re now thrilled to share the first chapter of Quasar with the help of your generous support! Gideon O Egbuchulam (Writer/Illustrator), Jaden Zotigh (Co-writer), Whitney (Inker), Philip Ginn (Letterer) .
Cartoonist Cooperative ‘Buy an E-Sim for Gaza’ Donation Drive 
Featured Art by Juan Gee | @JuanGeeDraws
Hi, Cartoonist Cooperative Journal readers!
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. Read on to see how you can contribute to these efforts!
What is it? The Connecting Gaza campaign supplies e-SIMs to people on the ground in Gaza, allowing them to circumvent internet disruption/blackout during the siege and continue connecting with the wider internet.A digital SIM card (called an e-SIMs) works the same as a physical SIM Card, providing data and SMS for a phone number. E-SIMs are one of few resources that can be directly accessed without blockage by people on the ground in Gaza.Artists from the Cooperative will be offering art in exchange of the value of the donated e-SIMs. Click here to learn more or read the following info!
How Does It Work?
Step 1
You purchase the e-SIM card and plan of your choice through one of the three providers (keep an eye on our social media and this post in case this list updates):
Purchase any of the e-SIM plans from
- Nomad (Regional Middle East e-SIM) (Global e-SIM)
- Mogo (Israel e-SIM)
- Holafly (Israel e-SIM) (Global e-SIM)
- Simly (Regional Middle East OR Palestine e-SIM)
Step 2
Donate the QR code to GazaESIMS@gmail.com.
Step 3
Redeem your art and spread the word! Share your donation and the campaign far and wide!
Check out some of our artists’ offerings, and keep checking as the list continues to grow!
Featured Article: “Vibrantly, Loudly Passionate: a review of Datura“
A pair of maids rendezvous in a garden to exchange love letters. An artist and a critic reconnect long after breaking up. A lifestyle youtuber hooks up with her biggest hater. A connection made over an app leads to a supernatural date. The first two issues of Datura, edited by Sunmi and Mar Julia, contain all of these stories and more, comprising a total of eight beautifully-printed short stories by eight creators that aim to “expand on ideas of ‘Girl’s Love.’” But how do they accomplish this? And what does that mean, anyway? Click here to read Masha Zhdanova’s review at the Cartoonist Co-op.
Featured Opportunity: Comics Advocacy Group Mini Grants
To receive additional opportunities and resources every month, we invite you to become a member of the Co-op!
The Comics Advocacy Group is an organization dedicated to making careers in comics more accessible and sustainable. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, they aim to address systemic barriers in the comics industry by providing access to educational resources, networking opportunities, and financial support, as well as advocating for fair wages and working practices. We are delighted to announce that, through the generosity of donors like you, we are launching our first CAG Mini Grant. This mutual aid grant provides small, unrestricted funding to comic creators who reside in the US and are in need of additional resources. We will award $500 mini grants to 30 eligible applicants. For more information, and to apply, click here. Applications close on January 15th, 2024.
