• Black-and-white cover for the essay zine titled The Broken Heart at The Center of Comics. On the cover, the title is all lowercase, fitting snugly across the left side of the image. Each word is on its own line. Some of the letter-forms connect down to letter-forms on the following word’s line.
  • PAGE 04. Text-only page from the essay zine titled The Broken Heart at The Center of Comics. Most of the page is taken up by the well-known Jack Kirby quote, comics will break your heart. The rest of the page reads: It’s hard to imagine a working comics professional who hasn’t heard Jack Kirby’s famous words. Many of us have surely felt it: the creaking and groaning in our hearts and joints; the echoes of strain prolonged far beyond the end date of any given project; the warning signs of a tension so deep a
  • PAGE 10. Text-only page from the essay zine titled The Broken Heart at The Center of Comics. The page reads: Ahead of your book’s release date, you notice that the publisher doesn’t seem particularly interested in marketing your book. So much for royalties. Cartoonist and illustrator Sunmi speaks on this: People seem to think I should be grateful for “getting the book deal,” “getting the dream job,” and “getting to make my own comics” when as an adult, every opportunity I chased became less and less ideal,
  • PAGE 19. Text-only page from the essay zine titled The Broken Heart at The Center of Comics. Continuing from a previous page, the page reads: direct opposition to the fundamental human relationship to art and storytelling. Capitalism cannot fuel art, and it cannot nurture art— it can only strangle it into conformity, into singing in perfect harmony with the people who have enough money and resources to have their voices heard. Art existed long before capitalism. It existed long before society, and so did st
  • PAGE 27. Credits page from the essay zine titled The Broken Heart at The Center of Comics. This page shows the profile photos, names, pronouns, websites, and short bios for two of the essay creators, Ashanti Fortson and Lillie J Harris.
  • PAGE 28. Credits page from the essay zine titled The Broken Heart at The Center of Comics. This page shows the profile photos, names, pronouns, websites, and short bios for two of the essay creators, Sunmi and Shannon Wright.
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Ashanti Fortson, Lillie J Harris, Sunmi, Shannon Wright

The Broken Heart at The Center of Comics

The Broken Heart at The Center of Comics

$5.00 USD
$5.00 USD
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A collaborative essay zine about comics, burnout, and capitalism.

Four cartoonists, each with their own experiences within graphic novel publishing and the comics industry, sit down to talk about the seemingly omnipresent staple of comics: burnout. What is the root of burnout? How does exploitation manifest in the comics industry? What is the name of the tree that looms above us and blocks out the sun? Why do we still keep making comics?

Originally commissioned by Black Josei Press for Gladiolus Magazine in 2023, this essay is now available in a self-contained digital zine format.

23 pages, black & white.

23 pages

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Ashanti Fortson

Ashanti Fortson is a cartoonist, comics editor, color designer, and multidisciplinary illustrator. Their work explores the rifts and connections between people, they are deeply interested in textiles, and their love for color is a thread that runs through everything they make. Their short comic Leaf Lace won the 2021 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic, and Shades of Fear, the color-focused horror comics anthology they co-edited with Allison O'Toole, won in 2022 for Outstanding Anthology.

Website | BlueSky | Instagram

Lillie J. Harris

Lillie J. Harris is a cartoonist and writer from Southern Maryland. They enjoy theology, horror, and not "punching down."

Website | Instagram

Sunmi

Sunmi is a cartoonist whose work explores emotional distances, gender deviant fantasies, queer + Korean diasporic histories and mythologies.

Website | Instagram

Shannon Wright

Shannon Wright is an illustrator, cartoonist, daydreamer, and cat mom based in Richmond, Virginia. She's represented by Hannah Mann at Writers House.

Website | Instagram