1,000 True Fans, and the Print Edition!
Followers,
On the first of this year, our publication boasted just 165 followers, a number that, at the time, we were rightfully proud of. Two months of hard work had built a community of dedicated, involved subscribers and contributors. We had already featured some amazing content, and knew that we had something truly special on our hands with Panel & Frame.
Today, I’m sending this letter to 1,000 of you. One. Thousand. That number is amazing to think about. By following this publication, you’ve shown your dedication to promoting the very best emerging voices in Comics, Literature, Art, and Film. Because of our ever-growing reach, we’re able to feature and support the work of even more fantastic contributors. I can’t thank you enough for clicking that button and sticking with us.
Longtime followers know that this publication’s mission statement is to combine the reach and voices of our collected authors, illustrators, designers, critics, thinkers, and cartoonists to create a beautiful print edition. Today, I’m happy to announce that we’ve solidified our lineup, unified our design elements, and are poised to begin the crowdfunding campaign for our first issue.
What can you expect from the issue? I’m glad you asked:
A fantasy story from novelist Tamer Lorika, centered on the romance between a mathematics student and a mysterious woman that becomes a beast each night.
A comic about an eternal climb up a mysterious mountain by Adam De Souza and Mikael Lopez.
An article from Elyse Wietstock on the fatigue that comes with the dominance of nerd culture in popular media.
A humorous comic from Ortal Avraham about indecisiveness.
A story about a woman playing two pirate crews against one another by Sarah Stellpflug.
A surreal, comedic comic from Mike Grossman about a banana that’s in charge of a business.
A short-form comic from Lorenzo Maieru about a prehistoric hunter.
A long-form comic from Roberto De Santis about an assassin who has lost his favorite weapon.
An article from Kelcie Mattson on the death of the term “Mary Sue.”
A comic about a young woman transported from her world into our own by Aaron M. Williams.
A literary trip through the process of being born by Kemi Falodun.
A comic about a young woman who meets a monster from her childhood by John and Julian Adkins.
Beautiful illustrations by A.D. Bravo.
And, last but not least, a scholarly article on Lord of the Rings and the landscape of war by Julie Matsen.
Combined with the design elements drawn up by Dave Salanitro, as well as the editorial expertise of myself and Alyssa Jeanné Witte, this comes to about 20 contributors representing some of the very best independent work in comics, literature, art, and film. In total, we’ll be putting together a full-color print journal that reaches nearly 100 pages in length, and that comes to readers at an inarguably fair price, a portion of which gets passed along to each and every contributor.
This publication isn’t slowing down any time soon. It’s a publication with a growing connection to Medium, that has been pushed along towards success by the strength of the platform. We’ve made dozens of amazing connections, featured beautiful, insightful, and entertaining content, and made a name for ourselves as one of the very finest destinations on the site.
With your support, be it through the creation of content, engagement with our contributors, or simply by your continued readership, we can continue to grow, and make good on our mission statement of creating a community that not only promotes great content creators, but one that actively supports their skills.
Again, thank you for everything. Stay tuned over the coming weeks for more news and updates about the campaign, and what you can do to help.
In the meantime, I am your humble editor.
If you’d like to pass this letter along to your followers, be sure to hit recommend below to do so! You can always reach out to Panel & Frame by tagging Brad Decker or Alyssa Jeanné Witte in any Medium post, tweeting at us, or via email at panelandframe@gmail.com.
