Alterna Comics, a small publisher, now in its 11th year will be introducing a new line of comics featuring newsprint with throwback style covers and prices between $1.00 and $1.99 an issue.
Alterna Comics publisher Peter Simeti explains:
When I fell in love with comics, it was an entire experience: the stories, the imagery, and the paper. There’s a whole generation of comic book creators and readers that had the same exact experience. I’ve talked to hundreds of people over the years and the consensus was all the same – comic books just don’t feel like comic books anymore. The smell and feel of the pages is something that no longer occurs on the new comic book day release wall, yet it’s prevalent in back issue bins across the country. Our goal is to create comic books that “feel” like they came straight out of yesteryear but with stories and art that appeals to readers of all generations.
Simeti also confirmed a deal with Publishers Distribution Group, the industry leader in special interest publications, to bring Alterna Comics to newsstands beginning this summer.
A number of Alterna Comics’ creators are excited about bringing back the newsprint feel:
Lilith Dark’s Charles Dowd expressed his excitement, “When I first started collecting comics, they were printed on newsprint, and I fell in love with them. ‘Lilith Dark’ is largely a love letter to all the stuff I loved as a kid. Monster movies, He-Man cartoons, and comics. Now the book itself will embody that era. The thought of some kid picking up ‘Lilith Dark #1’ and falling in love with comics just like I did, is pretty cool!”
Mother Russia and Fubar creator Jeff McComsey added:
For me the Alterna Newsprint line combines some very exciting possibilities. Firstly, I think the inexpensive cover price will find a lot of readers giving Alterna’s line up a shot. As a creator, that’s all I can ask. If I’ve done my job, the readership will follow and Peter has come up with a great way to make that a reality. Secondly, as a long time comic book reader I love the idea of picking up comics that feel like the books that first got me into comics. I find it very hard to pass up a comic with a $1-2 price. Hopefully I’m not the only one. Finally, I’m very proud of all the FUBAR PRESS graphic novels that we’ve published in partnership with Alterna over the years, but I’m thrilled to see MOTHER RUSSIA run on good old newsprint as a mini-series. I conceived the story as a pulpy WWII zombie book and now it will be so, not just thematically, but in the look and feel of the series. In my opinion nothing grows a readership or generates buzz like the comic book. I think both retailers and readers will really enjoy Alterna’s new line of pulp comics.
Alterna Comics has lined up Lilith Dark, Trespasser, Croak, Mother Russia, Amazing Age, Adam Wreck, The Chair, Croak, Doppelganger, Scrimshaw, Moon Girl</>, Mr. Crypt, and The Wicked Righteous.
Newsprint is back beginning in May!