Should Chip Zdarsky’s promotional magazine, Zdarsky Comic News, win an Eisner at this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con International ceremony? We brought the question to him directly, and as you’ll hear, he rejected the whole notion of a nomination extremely quickly. Zdarsky is having a ball working on his free periodical every month. He puts tremendous time, energy, and thought into each issue. Still, as far as the category of Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism is concerned, he wants someone else to take home the statue, and “knows” that someone else will take home the statue. We shall see the results very soon.

Zdarsky Comic News began as a lark, as most things with Chip Zdarsky do. He turned his back on social media, adamantly believing it served no positive purpose, especially when it came to promoting his comics. Zdarksy Comic News’ primary mission was to inform folks in comic shops about what he was working on and give them a little chuckle in the process.

Since the first issue, however, Zdarsky Comic News has become its own unique monster. The cartoonist is slowly building a staff around himself, and it’s time to decide whether or not to kill the beast or let it grow into something larger and more significant. Through advertising, Zdarsky Comic News pays for itself, but it might need a little more to become the next Comics Journal, or its evil stepbrother.

Shortly before the 2025 Eisner Awards, we spoke with Chip Zdarsky about his free pamphlet, and that’s all we talked about, which seemed to surprise him. If you want more Captain America talk or Public Domain conversation, you'll have to go somewhere else. We were only interested in Chip Zdarsky’s mad side-hustle and what he thinks about the current state of comic book journalism.

You can find Zdarsky Comic News at your local comic book shop, and you should also consider subscribing to Chip Zdarsky’s Substack.

Our SDCC Coverage:

Eric Powell and Harold Schechter on "Dr. Werthless"

Alex Segura on Star Wars

Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing on Thunderbolts

Learn Oni Press SDCC Battle Plans

This Week's Sponsors

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Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

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Philip Kennedy Johnson in The Stacks at Third Eye Comics

Steve Anderson in The Stacks at Third Eye Comics

David Brothers and Chip Zdarsky in The Stacks at Third Eye Comics

Benjamin Percy in the Stacks at Third Eye Comics

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