About Us
Antarctic Press is an independent comic book publisher that was founded in 1985 by Ben Dunn. Starting it in a converted garage with a brand new original Macintosh, Ben (with the help of friends) published Antarctic's first title,Mangazine. At that time, to publish a comic here in San Antonio, you had to print the cover at one location, the interior at another, and then get binding from a third. In the early years, as with most businesses, it was a struggle, but Ben managed to hang in there, doing titles like Extremely Silly Comics and Ninja High School. Since then, Antarctic Press has expanded. I (Ben’s brother, Joe Dunn) joined the fray in 1989, and we have been publishing continuously since then, coming out with a multitude of titles in a variety of genres which have endeared us to our fans.
 
Over the years, we have contributed to the industry with our unique brand of business. Being a creator’s rights-associated publisher, we have opened the door for numerous creators, many of whom had some of their first work appear under an Antarctic Press imprint. These include creators and artists like Terry Moore, Dave Johnson, Neil Googe, Esad Ribic, Yanick Paquette, Fred Perry, Rod Espinosa, Joe Wight, and David Hutchison, just to name a few. The gallery provides but a small sampling of titles we have published and the artists and creators who did them. We have seen every incarnation the industry has undergone during our existence, enduring its many ups and frequent downs, and through it all, we have persevered over time. We have stayed in business with hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and prayers from the people who have worked for us and have provided their creations for publication.
 
What Happened
While we have been in business for many years, it has never been a financial windfall; we made comics we wanted to read and share with the world. Over the past year and a half, we took the step of expanding into the mass retailer market—specifically, into retail stores like Wal-Mart. While this distribution channel gave us extensive exposure to a much wider audience, it was also very costly to supply it, mostly owing to necessarily large print runs. Our inexperience in this market resulted in us being ill-prepared for returns. This, in combination with the large printing bills, has placed us in a financial quandary. The bottom line is that all this hard work over so many years is now in jeopardy. Everyone here has sacrificed in their own way to help us stay in business, including taking business and personal loans to help us climb out of the hole we made for ourselves. Unfortunately, we still need help.  This situation could force us to make significant changes in our future publishing operations. This is where we hope you can contribute. Even a few of you could make a huge difference.
 
Help Us Keep Antarctic Press…Being Antarctic Press
So what is the money going for? The best way to describe it is paying down the debt incurred from the large print runs and heavy returns. It is always difficult to ask for help, but due to current circumstances, we have incurred over $70,000 in debt and costs from returns. We do not ask or want anyone to just pay our debt for us; we believe we have provided some great perks for your support. It is difficult to see things go south at this time; we have an extremely strong schedule coming up and would hate to see these projects not come to fruition. In addition, we are attending conventions, developing an app for our library of titles, and working on books and projects outside the comics industry, which will go towards righting our previous mistakes. However, all these projects will take time to implement, and right now we need your help to keep us going until then. That is why we are starting this campaign and asking for your support.  Many great titles like Strangers in Paradise, Ninja High School, Gold Digger, and Last Zombie, which are from lots of great creators, might not have been released without Antarctic Press. Now you can help us keep on doing what we do best.  And if none of these perks appeal to you, you can still visit our website to check out what other products we have to offer.
 
If you have been a fan since our inception in 1985, we do appreciate your support over the years, and if you are a new reader, thanks for giving us a chance. Wouldn't you like to see us continue our work for years to come? Wouldn't you like to see Fred do another 200 issues of Gold Digger, one of the longest-running creator-owned comics ever? We are asking for $3000, an amount that will help us eliminate one of our smaller loans and help “keep the AC on.” We do like it cold in the Antarctic.
 
If you can’t contribute…
We realize that things are tight for many, and if you are unable to contribute, we completely understand. If you are not comfortable pledging, donating, bailing out, or whatever you want to call it, we completely understand, but we hope you reconsider after seeing our long history of great and unusual comics in a multitude of genres. If you cannot contribute but want to help, you can get the word out about the campaign. Maybe you have a friend or family member who wants to get an instant comic collection. Use whatever social media you have at your disposal to help out.  Even if you are just thinking about us, we still appreciate your support.  Thanks for taking the time to read about our campaign.

WE HAVE A STRETCH GOAL OF $10,000 for the last week of the campaign. If we hit the goal we will provide another exclusive AP JAM print to all contributors above $25. Thanks for the support.