A project to uplift Black indie creators

The Post and Courier/Free Times (Columbia, SC) reports on a project designed to give a boost to Black creators (archive link), and also involves a special contest:

A new Columbia publishing house is working to uplift small comic creators with its new anthology project.

Simple But Complex takes after its namesake. Created by local Steven Nesbitt, this small, Black-owned publishing initiative looks to provide indie creators a platform to publish works on, while also granting opportunities for writers and artists just starting out.

“It's this giant publishing initiative that I want to create to make comic books accessible to people,” Nesbitt said. “Whether it's just reading them, whether it's through having access to create them or having a streamlined way for you to be part of the community.”

The name itself comes from Nesbitt’s own personal motto, the main motivator behind his work.

“Everything I do, I want it to be simple for the person coming to me,” Nesbitt explained, “and then I'll just handle the complexities so that we don't have to worry about it.”

Nesbitt kickstarted the company in early 2024, publishing three of his own comics through Simple But Complex digitally and physically. They are the only published works listed on the company’s website, but Nesbitt hopes that will change thanks to his upcoming “Twisted History” anthology project.

The “Twisted History” anthology asks comic creators to “twist” a piece of history into something supernatural or mythically eerie and submit their piece to Simple But Complex for review. The winners’ works will be published in the subsequent anthology and receive a cash prize.

But the anthology is more than just a pushing off point for Nesbitt. He believes everyone has the potential for storytelling. For him, the anthology has the ability to help guide that potential into a fully realized idea.

From this, it sounds like the guy's developed a challenge of writing something surreal, and if you play the cards right, it's entirely possible to turn out something impressive in that sense. Which makes clear there are people out there who do believe in the potential surrealism can have. And he's right, everybody's got the potential for being a great storyteller if they put in some effort. So good luck to him with his new publishing outfit, and let's hope he finds some good contributors with creativity to offer.