Crowdfunding Spotlight: Tripwire Magazine Returns!

By John Freeman on October 5, 2020

Tripwire Magazine Autumn Special - Cover

Tripwire, the long-running genre magazine covering comics, film and more is heading back to comic shop shelves and elsewhere – with your support.

Launched in 1992, Tripwire was published as a print magazine until 2013, enjoying a run of some 55 issues in print, including summer annual and two anniversary books. Featuring interviews with every major comics and genre writer, producer, artist and mover and shaker, including Guillermo del Toro, Frank Miller, Joss Whedon, Matt Groening, Mike Mignola and Alan Moore, Tripwire was there to cover their work and their career.

The first magazine to cover DC’s influential Vertigo imprint, interviewing seminal creators like Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan, Frank Quitely, Jamie Delano and many more, the title added film and TV features to its editorial content in 1999. But despite building a great reputation and a sizeable international following, changes in the market brought about a move to an online title back in 2013, where the title has continued to thrive.

But print is in editor and publisher Joel Meadows‘ blood – and so, he’s looking for support to deliver a return of the physical magazine.

An experienced journalist and editor, author of Master of Comics, released last year, Joel has worked for the world’s best-known magazines, websites and newspapers, covering comics and genre for places like The Times, Variety, TIME, the Evening Standard, SFX and many others.

“We’re very proud of what we have achieved in five years on the web,” he says, “becoming the UK’s pre-eminent comics, film and TV site. But we’ve missed producing a print magazine. So, over the past year, we have begun to look at doing something new in print with the help of crowdfunding.

Kickstarter is the perfect place to help us achieve our goals and so you are reading this now.

Joel is seeking funding for a Tripwire Magazine Autumn Special, wrapped in an exclusive Russell Walks‘ James Bond cover – a glossy, 144 page A4 squarebound magazine chock full of all manner of great, unique material.

The line up includes an exclusive interview with comics writer Kieron Gillen, talking about hit series like Once & Future, Die and his latest series, The Eternals, for Marvel; an overview of author Neil Gaiman‘s long and renowned career, including The Sandman, Good Omens and American Gods; a Flash 80th anniversary feature looking at the history of DC’s Scarlet Speedster; a look at the four Daniel Craig James Bond films so far – and a taste of what we can expect in No Time To Die, now being released next April; a look back at 80 years of Batman’s deadliest and most iconic foe, The Joker, star of comics, film and TV; and “A State Of The Industry” feature, talking to people like Image Comics Eric Stevenson, Diamond’s Steve Geppi and Aftershock’s Mike Marts, on how the comics industry has changed and adapted after the coronavirus.

Along with profiles of independent comic publishers SelfMadeHero and Vault Comics, the all-new Tripwire will also include the title’s acclaimed strip section “Stripwire”, featuring work from the likes of Roger Langridge and Andy Bennett, who has drawn a Sherlock Holmes alternate world short created by Joel.

Joel Meadows, Editor and Publisher of Tripwire, author of Masters of Comics — *Joel Meadows, Editor and Publisher of* Tripwire, author of Masters of Comics

“This campaign is important to us because it will allow us to return to the format that garnered us our international reputation,” says Joel. “Creating for the web is amazing, because it offers immediacy and the opportunity to share content instantly but there is something unique about having a physical, tangible object you can hold in your hand. So those who support us will allow us to achieve this goal and help us to create new quality print journalism.

“We intend to return to the production values that we achieved with our Annuals from 2007 to 2011, creating an object that is accessible but that people want to have in their possession.”

Joel has already raised £1900 toward bringing Tripwire back to print, but is now seeking £2500 on Kickstarter to cover print costs. If you enjoyed the magazine in the past, and the web site today, then do check out the Kickstarter here.

• Tripwire Magazine is online at www.tripwiremagazine.co.uk

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.