Meanwhile... The Best

Celebrating the possibilities of comics storytelling

An anthology featuring 16 stories ranging from the visually poetic to the socially poignant. Each story has been curated to present a wide range of possibilities in comic storytelling, written and illustrated by a diverse and eclectic collection of creatives representing the true global face of the industry today.

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THIS BOOK

Comics is a medium, not a genre. You know this if you've been reading comics.

Inside Meanwhile... The Best is a wide (but not exhaustive) range of genres: Science Fiction, Allegory, Slice-of-Life, LGBTQ+, Horror, Mystery, Paranormal - sometimes more than one in a single story. If I were to explain this in a single sentence, it would be:

"Celebrating the possibilities of comics storytelling"

I IMAGINE YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE...

WHY THIS BOOK? WHY NOW?

It was supposed to come out a couple of years ago but, well, Diamond.

Meanwhile... The Best represents an ending of sorts. And a new beginning.

An ending because for various reasons requiring an NDA and alcohol to explain, the first twelve volumes of Meanwhile... are no longer available. Meanwhile... The Best, then is a celebration of the amazing stories that had been published.

A beginning because starting in 2027, Meanwhile..., my comic anthology, will go quarterly. Meanwhile... The Best is a launch of sorts, that initial lap that F1 drivers take to warm the tyres. 

Meanwhile... The Best will also give me a book to put in front of people who are unsure of the potential of a comic anthology: distributors, subscribers, readers who want to see more from comics than the same old-same old.

INSIDE THE BOOK

A few pages from within the book. Click on the images to see a larger version.

HAVE I MENTIONED THE ADVANCED READER PREVIEW?

http://spengu.in/sdf56H9l

ABOUT THE BOOK

Meanwhile... The Best

Page count: 224pp

Trim size: h 165mm x w 235mm

Illustrations: Full Colour

Format: Digital, Softcover, Hardcover (limited edition)

ISBN: 978-1-908030-58-0

WHO ARE THE CREATORS 

Laurel Dundee (web: laureldundee.com / / twitter: @kingmoths)

Victor Martins (web: vicomart.com / / twitter: @cosmonautvico)

Shing Yin Khor (web: sawdustbear.com / / twitter: @sawdustbear)

Yuko Rabbit (web: yukorabb.it / / twitter: @yukorabbit )

Joao Fazenda (web: www.joaofazenda.com)

Rachel Smythe (web: rachelisdrawing.com)

Simone Buchert (web: simobportfolio.tumblr.com / / twitter: @simoblah)

Burhan Kum (web: burhankum.wordpress.com / / instagram: kumburhan)

Scott Lowson & Jenny-Linn Cole (web: www.scottlowson.com  // fb: /jenny.linncole)

Francis Desharnais (web: www.francisd.com / / ig: @fdeshamais // tt: @francisdesharnais_bd)

Ginny Skinner (twitter: @skinnersisters / / fb: /ginnyskinnerpaintings

Matthew Dooley (web: ballwatching.tumblr.com)

Andy Pearson (web: batch25comics.com )

Efthymia Theodoropoulou

Elizabeth Hart Bergstrom & Terry Eden (twitter: @Liz_Bergstrom // ig: @harvester_of_paradise / / tumblr: harvesterofparadise)

ABOUT SOARING PENGUIN PRESS

Soaring Penguin Pressis an Eisner and Ignatz Award nominated UK-based graphic novel publisher.

Established in 2010 (but in existence much earlier), Soaring Penguin Press have published a number of notable titles, including Loisel's Peter Pan (in English for the first time), To End All Wars: the Graphic Anthology of the First World War (nominated for two Eisner Awards), Ellen Lindner's The Black Feather Falls (nominated for an Ignatz for Outstanding Series).

More recently, we published I Do I Don't: How to build a better marriage, a relationship guide/graphic novel about two people hoping to improve their marriage, written by Chandrama Anderson, MA, LMFT and illustrated by Nur Jaffar G. Latip.

For further details why I'm running this campaign, please visit: https://www.firstcomicsnews.com/soaring-penguin-press-switch-to-a-crowdfunding-business-model

RISKS AND CHALLENGES

The book is done, I just need to print it. John Anderson (that's me!) has been in the comics industry for decades. I’ve been bringing books to print for a while now. We aim to have the book out by January 2027. We’ll have the PDF to you shortly after the campaign ends - just as soon as you fill in the Backers’ Survey.

WANT TO KEEP UP WITH WHAT SOARING PENGUIN PRESS GETS UP TO?

There's Instagram, Bsky, the newsletter signup (in the footer), and, uh, X.

I'm also looking for Advanced Readers of my upcoming titles.