From the MSCA zine editor, Dale Martin–

Greetings, all!  

This is your official call for entries for The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy #8 — the FAIRY TALES issue! We’re tying this issue into our “Glass Slipper” summer art show (at Theatre Memphis) with a FAIRY TALE themed issue that we can release as part of the show’s opening. Myths, fables, fairy tales in general (not just limited to Cinderella) … Comics & illustration welcome, fan art of existing properties NOT. 

We’ve already got commitments for two pages from Jim Palmer, a cover from Courtney Dunn … and maybe work from you, too? 

For the uninitiated, The Good, the Bad, and the Sketchy is our low-cost contributor-funded* venue to collaborate and show off our work in print to members and other customers. Issues are for sale at comic shops around town (maybe you’ve seen them) and by contributors at their own events. It started shortly before the pandemic, and during 2020 it helped members keep working, thinking, and becoming the cartoonists community that the MSCA strives to be. 

(* As a “pay to play” project, the cost per page is SUPER cheap — $3.00 per page to cover printing, which also gets you a comp copy per page. As Kevin reminds me, this is especially helpful for an association that has no bank account.) 

All contributions done for the project belong fully to the creators, and you can publish the same work elsewhere if you wish. Showcasing all-original content/original characters (no fan art, please), it can be a fun venue to try something new, build on an existing project, or preview something you have in the works! 

Here are the project’s specs: 

* Page size is digest format (8.5 x 5.5”), photocopied w/ no bleeds; consider the outside .25″ border as dead space. All submitted work must fill a full digest page; no “filler art” files, please. 

* 300 dpi black & white or grayscale .tif files. Please DO NOT submit .jpg or .pdf files. 

* Submissions that do not follow these specs will be returned for corrections & resubmission. 

* Cost: $3.00/page. But that also gets you a comp copy per page. 

* As a general-interest publication, we’re trying to appeal to a wide audience, so keep content PG13 or cleaner, please … 

* While this issue’s theme is “Fairy Tales“, that casts a fairly wide net: it can include fairy tales, myths, and fables from around the world … or original stories/situations featuring classic fairy tale characters! Like with the “Glass Slipper” art show, please steer clear of the Disney version of fairy tale characters (the originals are more interesting, anyway)…  

* Deadline for finished art: 4/14/24.  

Questions? I’m planning to be at February’s Garibaldi meetup, and will be happy to answer questions you may have. You can also reply to this email with your questions. 

Ready to dive in? Reply to this email with the page count you’d like (let’s limit page count to 4 until we get a better handle on how the issue is filling up) & I’ll reserve space for you & send you a blank template (to better help your work meet the specs). 

Fairy tales not your thing? Next up is a ROBOT-themed issue! Deadline TBA, but we’d like to have this one printed in time for September’s events (Zine Fest & Memphis Comics Expo)… 

Cheers, 

– Dale Martin. 

PS – want off our publications email list? If you’d rather not be on this list (just Kevin’s general MSCA announcement list), please let me know & I’ll drop you from it. No hard feelings 🙂 

MSCA president or webmaster(s) at- midsouthcartoonists(at)gmail(dot)com

Our MSCA zine editor(s) at- mscapub(at)gmail(dot)com