July 20th, 2015

Editor’s Dispatch: Introducing The Sunday Comics Project

by Countess Tea

Hi, everybody!  I’m really excited this week to tell you about The Sunday Comics Project– a new comics publication that is currently raising money via kickstarter and that offers a new way to read and enjoy comics.  

Marc Goldner, one of the co-founders of The Sunday Comics, was kind enough to talk to me about this endeavor.  

Q.  Tell us a little bit about yourselves and the Sunday Comics project

A. Well first, Tea, thank you and all of King Features & Comics Kingdom for having us here today, it’s a real pleasure. It’s a true honor to be featured on one of our favorite online portals for comics. To start, my name is Marc Goldner. I recently graduated from The Ohio State University, majored in Popular Culture & Business, founded the Comic Book Club at OSU, hmmmm, and I love comics! My passion honestly has always been with this whole industry. The other founder, Rachel Korsen, also graduated OSU this past year. She had gotten two degrees, one in Animation and another in Advertising. Starting this with Rachel has been truly amazing. While I was focusing on ironing out all the details and finding the top brass, or golden, talent, she was hard at work on designing everything from the Kickstarter page to editing our video. Back in the day, all the readers could enjoy full comic pages measuring at 15″ X 22″ inch masterpieces, and that’s what we want to bring back in the form of The Sunday Comics. No longer are we confining our artists to small panels on a tabloid size sheet. We are escaping that world and creating a publication with unlimited boundaries. Already we are housing over 250 creators doing original content, and that isn’t even including comics that we’ll be reprinting from syndicates such as King, and from collections like the one housed at Billy Ireland Cartoon Library.

Q. When did you become interested in comics?

A. I’ll never forget the first day I read comics. I vividly remember my Dad coming home from the bagel shop with a newspaper and was very excited to show me something. He opened up the paper to the comics section and my love for comics has blossomed since then. It’s funny how memories like this stick with people forever. From there I expanded my palate eventually to DC, Marvel, Image, and the Web! Still, to this day, I can’t get enough!

Q. What drew you to comics as a medium?

A. Comics are timeless. There’s no way around this. Think of everything else you read in a newspaper. News has become “breaking” where people want live updates, jobs are constantly being filled, and stocks trading ‘delayed’ is a thing of the past. Comics are something I always found myself drawn to. Throughout my time working in different industries, comics were always by my side to read and enjoy. In college, you couldn’t find a place in my apartment where I didn’t stash a comic, from all of the bathrooms to my nightstands. When I say they’re everywhere, I mean it! I guess what drew me was that ability to sit down, relax, take yourself out of your own shoes and use your imagination. Comics make you think, fill in the gaps, and engage with the text unlike anything else in the world, which is what makes them special! This truly makes comics timeless.

Q. What are some of your favorite King Features comics?

A. We’d seriously list them all but I know that’s not what you want. I hate to play favorites but some of the comics that have my earliest and fondest memories range from my first comic experience. Dennis the Menace was one of the first comics I ever read. It never gets old to me because I grew up with Dennis while my inner kid got to stay that same menacing age. Since I’ve been a kid, my parents have always called me their “little menace,” still to this day!. Other than Dennis, really everything from Beetle Bailey to Edge City, Kevin and Kell, Curtis, Lockhorns, and the infamous Popeye! Did I mention Prince Valiant, Blondie, Flash Gordon and Mutts?

Q. Tell us where you got the idea for The Sunday Comics?

A. The Sunday Comics was formed from a blend of different things happening at the same time. We were graduating in a year and decided that we wanted work that allowed us to entertain people. We had toyed around with a ton of ideas but finally realized that we should follow our passion, comics. We went back home to New York, sat down at a diner and it clicked. Then we went back to Ohio State University with all this excitement that awaited us and just had a few months left before graduating. Being the founders of the comic book club at OSU, we felt this was a natural evolution to an extent. All of the synergies that took place just truly made every star align to make this a reality!

Q. Why do you think Comics Kingdom fans will love The Sunday Comics?

A. With creators like Terry Laban (Edge City), Bunny Hoest & John Reiner (The Lockhorns) and Ron Ferdinand (Dennis the Menace) all doing original, never-before-seen content, we know it has to spark some butterflies in people’s stomachs! To have followed these legends through the years and see them crafting a whole new creation for The Sunday Comics gives me goosebumps. Aside from the original creations, we are one of the only publications that will be publishing almost all of King Features’ library of amazing content under one roof! There will be something for everyone and then some. We know this is going to blow people away from the time they look at the cover and read through all 256 pages in a single sitting, that’s how good we know this is! We can’t wait!

One of the things we’re most excited about is getting to work with Jim Davis. We are going to have some our creators do their original takes on Garfield! When we found out that we woould have the opportunity to do this, we just couldn’t believe it! On top of having syndicated artists, we additionally have animators such as Tom Bancroft and Cannes grand prize winner, Bill Plympton, comic book artists such as Eisner Award Winner Bill Sienkiewicz, Emmy award winner Tom Gammill, past President of the NCS Daryl Cagle, and Reuben Award winners Danielle Corsetto, Jack Pittman, and Glenn McCoy. Also, we will be bringing webcomic extraordinaires such as Reza Farazmand, Ezra Butt, and Jim Horwitz to print for the first time!

Thanks so much, Marc, for telling us about The Sunday Comics.  We wish you the best of luck, and we’re really excited to see where it goes.  

For those of you who would like to contribute to the Kickstarter, you can read more about it by clicking this link!