An Iconic Indie Comics Publication Comes to an End

The Nib is dead, long live The Nib.

We here at The Mary Sue love The Nib, and are saddened by its passing. I have decided to write this article while wearing a black veil of mourning, which I will not remove for a customary two years like a Victorian-era widow. What’s The Nib? Why, my dear child, The Nib was an online indie comic publisher that gave us gut-wrenching comics like Medicine’s Women Problem which was written by Aubrey Hirsch, long may she reign.

The two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist posted on its official Twitter page that it would be closing down at the end of the summer and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Fans of The Nib flocked to the replies, praising the indie publisher for its important work and lamenting its loss to the comics community at large.

But take heart, because The Nib is not leaving without a parting gift. We still get one last magazine, titled the “Future” issue. It will no doubt serve as a joyous and touching last hurrah for fans of the publication everywhere.

In a full statement on The Nib’s website, the publication’s editor and Matt Bors told readers that The Nib would be shuttering its internet doors after a glorious 10-year run. Bors cited “everything” as the reason for the shutdown. “The rising costs of paper and postage, the changing landscape of social media, subscription exhaustion, inflation, and the simple difficulty of keeping a small independent publishing project alive with relatively few resources—though we did a lot with them. The math isn’t working anymore.”

Yet all hope is not lost, Bors went on to say that “The Nib will likely reconvene for an anthology or special projects some day,” even though the “daily comics and the print magazine will come to an end.” As for the writers and editors of The Nib, Bors said that they will continue to do what they do best: make comics. He went on to thank his fellow editors Eleri Harris, Mattie Lubchansky, Andy Warner, Whit Taylor, and Shay Mirk, as well as the publication’s print designer Mark Kaufman, and the “countless contributors” who kept The Nib alive.

We here at The Mary Sue are thankful too. Goodnight and godspeed, The Nib. Hopefully, see you again soon.

(featured image: The Nib)