108 Pages of FREE Comics
I’ve got a lot of respect for Ben Glibert. Of course, I’m bias. I’ve known him for over a decade, lived with him for eight years and he stood with me at my wedding as my best man. There are a ton of reasons for me to respect the guy, but relevant to now, I respect him for his ingenuity. I look up to the guy for the way he runs his publishing company: Semantink.
Out the gate Ben knew Semantink couldn’t afford the overhead to print every single issue they released. Print isn’t cheap and nowadays it’s not easy to get noticed. He decided that Semantink would offer their single issues digitally at first, for $0.99 each. When people purchase the books they get a pdf actually sent to them — a file that they own. This was almost three years ago and Ben continues to be ahead of the digital curve.
Now, Ben also realized that we can’t remain digital-only. We have to get in stores and we have to offer incentives to retailers for Semantink books to grow in the public eye — unfortunately, we’re not quite there yet, but according to Ben, it’s where we’re headed. For now trades are offered in print but hopefully, sometime soon, single issues will be available in your local comic book shop.
The goal right now is growing the brand. To be honest, people don’t want to take a risk on creators they don’t already know (even if it is only $0.99), and I don’t blame them. Times are tough. That’s why Semantink does zero issues, and has since the company’s inception. Zero issues of each and every title are meant to give customers, readers and retailers a free taste of any particular product. They’re always available online and viewable through Issuu or downloadable through the site. They’re slightly smaller than a normal comic book, clocking in at 12 pages, but tend to set up the story, characters and theme so people can decide whether or not they want to invest $0.99 per issue moving forward.
I’m pleased to announce that, as of today, Semantink has 108 pages of free comic book available for public consumption. I thought I would take a minute to put a list together for you, my friends, to be able to view these titles at your leisure. Hopefully you find something in here you like and decide to make the coming issues a part of your future purchasing. As always, if you do find something you like, I hope you’ll share it with your friends.
Here’s the list and some sample pages. I thank you for your support.
DRACE GREY — View issue zero for free here.
Detective Drace Grey is about to have a really bad day… Demons are congregating to Grey’s hometown. Angels are en route to stop them. Somewhere in between good and evil, caught in the middle of a war declared at the beginning of time, a few souls are preparing to aid Grey in his battle against Heaven and Hell – a battle he doesn’t know he’s going to lead… This action-thriller from the mind James Ninness (MYTHOI, DUST and The Heaven’s) reunites him with artist extraordinaire Brian Soriano (MYTHOI #4-6), and introduces theater and webcomic scribe Michael Drace Fountain (The Undergrounds) in his first published role as a comic book writer. Utilizing the diverse streets of San Diego as a backdrop, Drace Grey blends noir, mystery and hyper-action to paint one of the most thrilling Semantink releases yet. There’s good. There’s bad. There’s Grey.
Sim-I — view issue zero for free here.
Sim-I, a monkey with the cognitive abilities of his scientist captors, uses his new sense of rational intelligence to find the escape route out of the laboratory known as F.E.A.S.T. Chased by a menagerie of animal creations – from an artistic snake to a sextet of plotting mice, to a group of dirt-devouring Fat Cats – Sim-I explores the deepest caverns and the most delicious heights of F.E.A.S.T., all while eluding Dr. Haslow Hope and his second brain, Einstein. Will the monkey hit the road to freedom, or will he instead succumb to the taste of the elusive golden banana? From the masterful mind of Joe Pezzula and the zany stylings of Daniel Touchet, Sim-I is sure to make you monkey-mad!
DUST — view the zero issue for free at PoP! here (Issuu link is here, but you’ll need to sign in as it is for a mature readership).
The world is dead. Government doesn’t exist. Humanity is scattered across the globe, not living but surviving. Deborah Adams may have discovered a way to bring vegetation back to the diseased soil of the world but she’ll have to get back to her laboratory across a land full of madmen and monsters – Deborah Adams needs a hero. Unfortunately the only one available is Jim Dust, a lone, old man with a fractured mind, an invisible friend and a penchant for killing. The two of them must move quickly as Blue, a disfigured mercenary, tracks them across the desert with his eyes set on Deborah’s promising breakthrough. Dust is murder. Dust is mayhem. Jim Dust is man’s last hope. DUST is a post-apocalyptic western from the unstable James Ninness (MYTHOI) and infamous dirty-dog John Narcomey (Smart Bullets, Ghost Face).
The Heaven’s — view issue zero for free here.
MYTHOI — view the zero issues for free: Yuki, Taros, Wiglaf, Vito and Touch.
MYTHOI is Semantink’s inaugural title and the brainchild of writer James Ninness. Wiglaf, Vito, Yuki, Taros and Touch are five unique beings from various mythologies thrust together to defend humanity from an ancient enemy… MYTHOI is set now, not the now of mythological fiction, but the now of flesh and blood monsters where nightmarish beasts have skin, folklore wears clothes and the dreams of humanity hitchhike the roads of earth. With stories from James Ninness and art from the incredible Jed Soriano, Brian Soriano and Kevin Warwick, Semantink couldn’t be prouder of this flagship title.
