Comics have the power to shape how we understand both ourselves and the world. In short, comics are crucial.
Crucial Comix is an artist-centered, narrative-nonfiction press that is rooted in collaboration, community-building, and mutual enthusiasm. Our goal is to make comics-creation accessible to a new era of artists. We work to expand the reach of independent cartoonists, build a mutually supportive comics community around the world, and to empower people of all backgrounds with the skills to powerfully write, draw, and share their own stories. Crucial Comix is helping to grow an entire ecosystem of comics that document our ever-changing world. While most publishers are driven by advertising, algorithms, and increasingly dire political pressures, Crucial looks for complicated, boundary-pushing comics that build empathy, offer new perspectives, and help both artists and readers feel more connected to the world.
Are you looking to make comics based on real life? You take a class, submit or pitch a comic, pitch a workshop or class or hire Crucial artists and writers to work on your project. You can also hire us to come teach classes or workshops at your school, library, or workplace.
Are you an artist or writer who wants to get involved in our community? You’re welcome to join our mailing list to find out about upcoming events and fun stuff. Everyone who completes a workshop or class with Crucial is invited to join our private Discord. Feel free to email us at editors@crucialcomix.com if you have a particular skill or idea to offer!
Want to ask us a question about your particular situation? Feel free to email us at editors@crucialcomix.com. If you’re looking to submit a comic, check out our submission guidelines.
Want to send us a copy of your zines? You can upload a zine to our submissions form or drop them in the snail mail: Crucial Comix, PO Box 17253, Portland, OR 97217
Crucial Comix is invested in supporting new and emerging artists, so we are always open for submissions. To send in your comic for consideration, fill out our submission form. Our editorial team reviews new submissions once a month. You can submit a finished comic, including comics already published elsewhere (like on your Instagram or as a zine), or pitch a new comic that you have not yet created. If you work for a media outlet or institution and have a comic Crucial could republish or co-publish, feel free to get in touch with us about collaborating at editors@crucialcomix.com. You can also pitch a workshop or class.
Comics are rooted in collaboration and community-building, in sharing your weird, wild voice without censorship or corporate control. The funding comes from our community—that’s you. Pitch in to support independent artists and keep building a future where comics are crucial. Our Patreon covers the cost of running the site, pays our editors, and increases our budget for publishing more nonfiction comics. All the comics on our site are free and not behind a paywall.
Publisher
Sarah “Shay” Mirk (they/she) is a graphic journalist, editor, and teacher. For six years, Shay was a contributing editor at comics publication The Nib, where projects she worked on won both Eisner and Ignatz awards. They are the author of several books, including Guantanamo Voices, an illustrated oral history of Guantanamo Bay prison. Her book on the craft of making nonfiction comics, Making Nonfiction Comics: A Field Guide to Graphic Narrative (co-written with Eleri Harris), will debut from Abrams ComicsArts in 2025. In 2024, Shay was the Applied Cartooning Fellow at the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont. She is white, nonbinary, and queer. You can follow Shay on Instagram @mirkdrop and email them at smirk@crucialcomix.com.
Editor
Audra McNamee (they/she) is a nonfiction cartoonist based in Oregon who makes comics on topics ranging from computer science to the history of Jell-O. Audra is currently working on comics about the neuroscience of psychedelics at the University of Oregon, and teaching comics classes at Portland Community College. Audra is also in charge of operations for the UO Science and Comics Initiative.
Audra’s comics have been featured in The Nib, the Oregon Quarterly, and UO’s comics magazine Art Ducko. You can follow them on Instagram @audmcname and email them at editors@crucialcomix.com.
Starting in 2026, we are developing an internship program to host three publishing interns each year. This is a remote or in-person internship reporting to publisher Shay in Portland, Oregon. We're looking for an intern who cares about comics—someone who's an illustrator, designer, self-publisher, or zine-maker—and who wants experience working in media. Ideally, interns will be early on their path of working in comics and would benefit from getting professional work experience.
What do internships entail?
Please read over this document all about our internship program: Internship details.
Application dates:
Spring 2026 internship: applications open December 15, 2025 - January 30 2026
Summer 2026 internship: applications open February 1 - March 15, 2025
Fall 2026 internship: applications open May 1 - June 20, 2025
How do I apply?
Please fill out this application. You’re welcome to email Shay with specific questions: smirk@crucialcomix.com
Summer 2025: Casper Mayberry
Are you thinking about embarking on a nonfiction comics project but could use some help? The artists at Crucial Comix have experience working with media outlets, academic researchers, local governments, and aspiring memoirists to create compelling nonfiction comics.
Here’s what we offer:
Classes and workshops. Do you want a comics or zine making workshop at your school, community center, office, or library? Check out all the classes we’ve offered in the past and get in touch to book a teacher to lead a workshop for your community. Most teachers are willing to offer two-to-three hour workshops or lectures on a topic they’ve taught a class on for Crucial.
Email us at editor@crucialcomix.com to inquire about a workshop.
Project consultation. If you want to create a nonfiction comic, but aren’t sure where to start, our editors can meet with you one-on-one to consult on your project. We’ll talk with you about what you want to create and offer practical guidance on developing a budget, thinking about your audience and distribution, and creating a realistic timeline. We offer an hour-long consultation, which includes reading any materials you’ve already put together, for $200. We offer a 50% discount to projects led by people of color and projects based in the Global South. Email us at editor@crucialcomix.com to arrange a consultation.
Connections to artists and writers. Do you have a project in mind but you need to find an artist? Or you’re a researcher with a pile of material and need to work with an experienced comics writer to shape it into a script? We’re hoping to link up artists and writers with people who will pay for their work. Email us at editor@crucialcomix.com and we’ll arrange a time to talk one-on-one with you about your project, then connect you with an artist or writer who you can hire directly. Please only reach out to connect with an artist if you have a budget. Do not ask artists or writers to work for free.
Our business model is simple: Fund comics classes that fund the creation of new comics. All of our classes are online, so we don’t pay for big overhead costs like traditional educational institutions. When people sign up for our classes, the money is split between the teacher and Crucial. We put the money back into the press to pay for things like new comics, zine printing, and editor honorariums.
In Fall 2025, we are offering a reprint rate of $100 for previously published comics and between $100-450 for original comics. All income from classes is split, with teachers making 75% of the income from each class and Crucial keeping 25%.
To make them affordable, all of our classes and workshops are offered at a sliding scale cost.
Supporter - This payment level pitches in a little extra toward the teacher’s income and helps pay artists to create new comics at Crucial. Thanks for your support!
Standard - This is the basic rate for the class, which covers our costs.
Discount - We want people of all income levels in our classes, so choose this rate if you paying the standard rate is a stretch for you.
We set aside three spots in each class to be offered for free to people who would find it a hardship to pay the discount rate for any reason. These free spots are first-come, first-serve. If you would like to take a class for free, please send us a short email (at editor@crucialcomix.com) about yourself, what class you would like to take, and why. If a free spot is still available, we’ll send you a discount code to register for free!
We are supported in part by the Sequential Artists Workshop.
Our 2024 and 2025 comics were funded in part by the Perrault Family. Thank you!
Thank you to our Patreon backers who support Crucial's work! Shout out to:
Peace Keenen, Gaëtan Perrault, Shanna Hollich, Cathie LeBlanc, Xenon, Lindsey Perez, Mollie Ruskin, Olivia Piepmeier, Kym Condron-Lee, Joe Martinez, Catherine Betances, Carl Larson, Mary Guillebeau, Joanne Warden, Sharru Zen, Dylan McNamee, Alina Holmes, Barbara Osborn, Kit Q, Al Benbow, Summer Unsinn, Julie Meridian, Prebbis, Max Cordes Galbriath, Ami B, Doug Blandy, Alenka Figa, Maia Kobabe, Tuck Woodstock, Sam Nakahira, Ricardo Bortolon, Drew Adams, Kendra Minadeo, Cassy Lee, Amanda Flores, Chris McCraw, and Kelly Webster.
Web design by Audra and Shay | Photos on this page by Jamie Thrower | Crucial is based in Portland, Oregon, which rests on traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, and many other indigenous groups.
