The Nib, Issue 5: Animals

The latest issue of The Nib magazine came out a few weeks ago, and its theme was animals. Not only was I treated to a variety of art styles and tones, I learned a lot from reading this book, including the fact that in the 1930s there was a supposed talking mongoose(!), most fur for clothing comes from a raccoon dog(!!), and Mickey Mouse wearing gloves comes from a minstrel tradition(!!!). I also got to see lots of other interesting information, including distances and migration patterns of various creatures and drawings of a series of endlings, the last known individuals of a species.

Among the more lengthy feature articles, two particularly stood out to me. Arwen Donahue wrote and drew an thought-provoking piece about raising, milking, and butchering goats and how that squares up with her views of vegetarianism, environmentalism, and community. It is not a very cut-and-dried issue, and I appreciated just how much she elucidated a debate about the ethics of farming and raising various sorts of livestock.

Writer Dorian Alexander, journalist Sarah Mirk, and artist Levi Hastings collaborated on an article about the economic and ethical dilemmas regarding smuggling and selling parrots from tropical locales. It is a big business for some, with an impact on local ecologies as well as the people looking to profit from these birds. Not to mention that the birds themselves also suffer because of these practices. What I loved about both of these works was how they mingled personal experiences with research and journalism to make some very impactful writing.

And just to remind people that not everything in this magazine is so heady and complex, there are also a series of gag strips as well as illustrated letters to the editor that round out this collection. I truly feel that the contributors at The Nib are making some of the best comics right now. Herblock Prize-winning, Pulitzer Prize-nominated editor Matt Bors has assembled another murderers' row of creators here.

The reviews I have read of this volume have been positive. Zack Quaintance noted "that that reading experience was quite good, adding that journalism done via this medium is so rare that whenever I come across some of this quality, it tends to linger with me for days (and days...and days)." You can see a bunch of other reviews at Goodreads, where it has a 4.40 stars (out of 5) rating as of this blog.

Content for The Nib is published regularly online, though the print version features exclusive content and comes out about three times a year. You should consider becoming a member and supporting their high quality, independent artistic and journalistic endeavor.

The Nib Magazine Issue 4: Scams

I just read the fourth issue of The Nib print magazine, and it is a top notch collection of political cartoons, tales, and reports by excellent writers and cartoonists. I am a huge fan of The Nib, as a magazine and as a website that updates fairly regularly (practically daily). As of July, the entire enterprise is independent and reliant on the support of its readers, and I am glad to take this time to highlight what I feel is an excellent source of comics goodness.

This particular issue focuses on Scams, and it covers multiple topics, including the classic Nigerian Prince email swindle, ways that refugees are robbed by supposed help agencies, various Ponzi schemes, seemingly criminal real estate practices, good-old-fashioned counterfeiting, and electronic fraud. The stories are current, topical, and fascinating. Also, many also feature a good dose of humor. I love nonfiction comics, and this book is full of them.

Stand-out stories in this book include:

Emi Gennis's account of John Romulus Brinkley, "The Goat Gland Doctor" who was an infamous huckster with a huge radio signal.

"My Heart Burns" by Yazan al-Saadi and Tracy Chahwan, about smugglers and how they fleece Syrian refugees who are most vulnerable and desperate.

Josh Carter and Liz Enright's "Secret Agent Man," about one father's search for a big online score and its aftermath on his family's lives.

These stories are profoundly moving as well as eye-opening. These are the best kinds of comics: educational, informative, funny, and emotional. There is something here for everyone.

The Nib's website, where original work is regularly published, is here. Memberships to The Nib are available here. Rates start at $2/month, and the print copy costs $4/month. It's well worth it!

They are also currently running a summer fundraiser, if you are just inclined to make a donation, I say it's for a great bunch of folks.

The Nib Magazine Issue 2: Family

I reviewed the first issue of The Nib here, and there I wrote, "The contents of this magazine are first rate, well drawn, thoughtfully composed, and diverse in terms of scope and tone. This magazine offers much food for thought as well as entertainment, and I hope that it runs for a long, long time." Reading this second issue, I echo thoughts thoughts and wishes. This anthology continues to be excellent, full of entertaining and thought provoking works.

The focus of the second issue was on the topic of Family, and it features a wide variety of nonfiction and political stories that include:

Sarah Glidden speaking about her struggles with fertility.

Twin comics creators Matthew and Jake New reporting about a twins festival they attended in Twinsburg, Ohio.

The Intercept's Ryan Devereaux reporting on a Brazilian father and son who were separated at the US border, illustrated by Katie Wheeler.

And an interview with Fun Home's Alison Bechdel about the aftermath of writing an autobiography. There are many more interesting pieces in this magazine, which runs about 120 pages and is more like anthology book. Some are shorter one-pagers, gag strips, or even one panel comics, but they are all quality reading.

The Nib #2 was published by First Look Media, and they offer more info about it here. The Nib publishes multiple comics pretty much everyday, and the web version is available here. Future print issues of the magazine can be purchased here by becoming a member of the Inkwell Society. They plan to continue publishing on a quarterly schedule.

The Nib Magazine Issue 1: Death

I read a lot of comics, and some of my favorite webcomics are published by The Nib, which runs political cartoons or nonfiction works. When they ran a Kickstarter campaign recently to start a print magazine, I was all too happy to sign up. This issue is their first, and it's more like a book, 110 pages in length. It offers plenty of content, divided into four sections, and the variety of works contained here is exemplary. 

The first section is Departments, which consists of items like Letters to the Editor (illustrated, naturally), an interview with Barbara Ehrenreich, and the Response feature, which here is four artists responding to the question of what they want to happen to their bodies after they die.

Comic by Emi Gennis

The second section is Dispatches, which consists of sundry strips about how the Day of the Dead compares to Halloween, a history of representations of death, and a few different takes on how funeral services are being practiced.

Excerpt of comic by Josh Neufeld

The third section is Features, which consists of larger comics. Here, there is an exploration of how tech millionaires are funding research into longevity; a fascinating look at the history of lethal injection in the US, and a memoir about losing a baby during birth.

Excerpt of comic by Andy Warner

The final section is a hodgepodge of strips, some funny and others more sober, that comment on death and how people deal with it.

The contents of this magazine are first rate, well drawn, thoughtfully composed, and diverse in terms of scope and tone. This magazine offers much food for thought as well as entertainment, and I hope that it runs for a long, long time.

I had a hard time finding reviews of this magazine, but the one I did read was very positive. Matt Keeley called it "a triumph." 

The Nib publishes multiple comics pretty much everyday, and the web version is available here. Future print issues of the magazine can be purchased here by becoming a member of the Inkwell Society. They plan to publish on a quarterly schedule.