The Nib – a US comics web project edited by Matt Bors offering a mix of political cartoons, comics journalism, humour and non-fiction – is returning.
It’s a project that already gained a huge 70,000 plus following utilising the Medium platform, a community of readers and writers offering unique perspectives on ideas large and small. Now, Matt, Eleri Harris and Matt Lubchansky are back in action and have teamed up with First Look Media who are building an all-new website and newsletter, both designed for mobile, to resume daily publishing.
Aiming for a summer relaunch, The Nib say they are looking to publish the absolute best journalism, political satire and non-fiction comics, ones that grapple with the big issues of the day and the ones that haven’t been given enough attention — subjects that could benefit from coverage in comics form and touch on politics and culture in interesting ways.
Here’s what The Nib are looking for in form, length and content for non-fiction. Please note that there is no indication on their appeal to indicate this is paid work – I have asked Matt about this via Twitter but he hasn’t replied yet.
- Reporting that digs into what’s happening locally and globally on issues with political implications for us all
- Interviews and profiles that illuminate unknown subjects, unconventional subcultures and humanize difficult issues
- On the scene drawing relaying the immediacy of protests or capturing the spirit of a particular place and people
- Essays from personal experience that relate to larger social issues, be they race or womanhood or parenting
- Sharp opinion pieces and irreverent takedowns
- Infographics, history and explainers about things everyone should know about but probably doesn’t
- Memoir that is reflective and relatable, but never navel-gazey
“While we will consider first publication rights on work already in progress or finished, we’re looking for pitches where we have a role in guiding it from concept to a completed comic,” says Matt in his appeal for new work. “Pitches for this type of work should be a pargraph or two explaining your idea and what you’d like to accomplish. Give us a sense of what you know about the topic and, if you will be reporting and interviewing, who you plan to speak to for the piece.
“All work will be designed to be read across multiple devices, different platforms and inboxes. Comics that can’t be read on phones are now for a minority of readers,” he says.
The Nib will be commissioning a few things that are much larger than their typical pieces, so if you have an idea for an ambitious non-fiction comic, something huge or serialized that you think fits with what we are looking for, the team would love to take a look.
They will also be publishing shorter comics every day and are looking for the following in order of importance:
- Political cartoons. Dead-on, funny, scathing stuff
- Topical work that gleefully skewers our weird, grim garbage world
- GIFs. “Yes, We love GIFs that relate to the two categories above and would very much like to make more of them.”
- Humor, in general, because not everything has to be serious or political. Like, it can be about the McRib or something
While the short work is almost always a self-contained one-off, we could be convinced to pick up a feature with a storyline if it seemed like the right fit.
Before launch we will not be in need of anything relating to events in the news today, because that wouldn’t make much sense, but more evergreen topics that will hold up over the course of the year are welcome right now.
• Email pitches and links to samples of your work to: thenib@firstlook.org
• Check out the current The Nib site here: https://thenib.com
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “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.
Categories: Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features