It’s a new era for comic creators who want to take their words directly to their waiting audiences and thanks to Substack, it's about to be easier for fans to process the shifting dynamic. The newsletter service has gained notoriety over the last several months for becoming the home of a number of comic artists’ and writers’ newest endeavors. The advent of a new app will allow fans to keep up as more and more creators migrate to the service.
Created by Chris Best, Hamish McKenzie and Jaraj Sethi, Substack launched in 2017 with the intention of providing a platform for niche publications. In the spirit of services like Patreon, Substack offers a chance for writers, artists, bloggers and other content creators to bring their work directly to fans in a more streamlined fashion. In recent months, notable industry figures like Jeff Lemire and Tom King have utilized the service to publish new, creator-owned comics.
Now, as Substack continues its surge in popularity, the company is launching an app that will manage s’ preferred newsletters in one convenient location. In an announcement on their own personal newsletter, Best, McKenzie and Sethi revealed a new iOS app that would organize subscriptions. s breathed a sigh of relief at the news, many commenting on how the amount of newsletters they’d subscribed to were overwhelming their inboxes. Though only available for iOS systems currently, Substack confirmed an Android version is on the way. The news was also marked with a trailer showing off how the app will look and function.
This is good news for fans, as the number of comic creators starting s on Substack has been growing tremendously. From Grant Morrison dishing out details on their career, to Chip Zdarsky’s humorous commentary on the comics’ scene, Substack has become a prime spot to read the musings of many beloved creators. Substack is also the place to read exclusive, digital-only comics from writers like Jeff Lemire, who is currently releasing his Black Hammer prequel on his newsletter.
Substack noted in their announcement that the creation of their app is a crucial part of their mission to “build an alternative media ecosystem based on different laws of physics where writers are rewarded with direct payments from readers”. The debate over writers receiving fair compensation for their work has been a hot topic of discussion for some time. As more writers and artists realize the value of their labor, many are likely to follow in the footsteps of their colleagues and make their own newsletters.
It’s a new age for content delivery and now more than ever, fans have direct ways of being able to the artists they love. Substack’s app will help fans organize their subscriptions as the number of comic creators starting their own newsletters continue to grow.
Source: Substack
