SOLRAD (noun) sol∙rad | sōl-răd – 1. a wavy line in illustration (especially comics) that represents light and/or warmth emanating from the sun or other light sources.
2. a literary magazine for comics founded in 2020
SOLRAD is a nonprofit online literary magazine dedicated to the comics arts. Run completely by a volunteer staff, SOLRAD publishes original content ranging from comics criticism, original comics, essays, interviews, and the promotion of small-press events and releases. The site is a platform for new, underrepresented, and otherwise marginalized creative voices, in addition to commissioning work from well-established cartoonists, critics, journalists, and authors.
SOLRAD is published by Fieldmouse Press, a 501(c)(3) public charity nonprofit.
“Comics is constantly growing and changing. The artform has never been more alive. But comics is still small compared to television or video games. One of the major problems with the current media web culture is that almost every website is driven by advertising. Comics journalism that is centered on the artform and not on the movies, toys, and ephemera that surround it doesn’t garner the ad clicks to be profitable. SOLRAD is our attempt to change that paradigm.”
– Alex Hoffman
Publisher, SOLRAD
While the culture of comics is important for many, SOLRAD‘s focus is directly on comics art itself. The comics arts are an essential part of culture, and demand their own space for creative and insightful discussion.
As David Levi Strauss notes, art needs criticism “because it needs something outside of itself as a place of reflection, discernment, and connection with the larger world.” SOLRAD exists to serve as a foundry for critical discourse.
SOLRAD works closely with writers and artists at all stages of their career to help them realize the best versions of their work. We also actively seek out new and underrepresented voices from the comics art and criticism communities.
SOLRAD exists to recognize and cultivate a diverse and vibrant spectrum of artists, critics, and art. People of all genders, races, ethnic & cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, ages, and abilities are welcomed at SOLRAD.
The mission of Fieldmouse Press is to advance the comics arts through the publication of criticism, essays, and art for the benefit of the public.
Fieldmouse Press is a newly-formed independent press committed to the comics arts. We believe that the comic arts are an essential part of the world in which we live, and we exist to enhance the contributions of comics arts to society, educate the general public, and enrich the comics arts generally.
We believe that criticism of the comics arts is equally essential for the betterment of the form, education of the public, and to give the comics arts a place for reflection, discernment, and connection with the larger world.
Logo and header illustrations for SOLRAD are © Keren Katz and Julia Gfrörer.