Special Announcement!
Happy 2024!
New Year, New Format
Happy New Year, everyone! I wanted to send out a short note to let you know there will be a slight change going forward. After much consideration, a poll, and some advice from
, I’ve decided to split the NEWS section off into its own separate digest. You’re welcome, reader who said it made their eyes glaze over! XDWhat Does This Mean?
I’ll still be sending out the newsletter every Friday at 7:00 pm a week (or two) after the Chicago Public Library’s Comics Book Club meets on the third Wednesday of every month. But now the NEWS section will be replaced with About What We’ve Read, where I’ll share one or two paragraphs about that month’s comic. The January/February Edition will go out on Friday, January 26.
NEWS digests will be sent out two weeks after the regular newsletter to spread the word about noteworthy comics industry and community happenings and criticism I find particularly insightful, with my usual light editorializing because I can’t help myself. Lol I’m scheduling the first one for Friday, February 9.
Also, I’ll be sending out special features, like the promised process post about “Dead Dreams” and other fun stuff about what I’ve been working on or have mentioned in Shameless Self-Promotion. Those will show up in your inbox on Wednesdays, maybe once every month or two.
The Elephant in the Room
I had originally titled this section “The Nazi Elephant in the Room,” but worried that would be too off-putting (and confusing, since “Nazi elephant” is how I refer to Republicans. Hey-o!). Anyway, as many of you may know, Substack has been platforming, promoting, and profiting off of Nazi content. Their response when asked about this has not been great, to say the least. I missed the opportunity to share an open letter that more than 200 people included in their newsletters. Since then, I've seen a lot of people I respect and admire leave this platform altogether and port their newsletters to Mailchimp or Buttondown or MailerLite. I’ve lost a few subscribers as a result, but I completely understand.
I've been very conflicted. To say nothing feels complicit, and to say something unnecessary feels disingenuous. And who cares what I have to say? I decided to address this situation, however briefly.
I’ll be remaining on Substack for now. I knew this platform was problematic (at best) when I joined it, and the other options still cost too much money. A friend advised me that having all the “leftie, queer, progressive voices” leave the platform is not advantageous to anyone and I agree. This is a problem with no single or easy solution, and I recognize that I’m liable to not please anybody. Each person has to make their own decision, and this is mine. It might change, and I’ll give plenty of notice if it does. Either way, I hope you’ll continue to enjoy my work. Thanks again for everything.