This editorial is co-published alongside Rob Kirby’s review of Rescue Party, edited by Gabe Fowler, and published by Pantheon Books.

It’s sometimes hard to remember specific details about the time during COVID-19 lockdown. I was an essential worker, so, for me, it largely felt the same as any other time, except with the unique requirements that I disrobe and disinfect myself in the garage prior to coming in the house. For folks stuck inside during the pandemic, a regular source of distraction was Desert Island’s Rescue Party, a series of 9-panel single page comics that were published on Instagram. After an overwhelming response to the project and requests for a printed object, Gabe Fowler, owner of Desert Island and founder of the Rescue Party project, decided to take the idea to Kickstarter, stating that backers could “get an exclusive book and simultaneously rescue Desert Island!”

This framing opened a can of worms because the comics that were submitted to Rescue Party were done as a project meant to be seen for free on the internet. They were made to lift people’s spirits, examine our collective past, and prophecy a future where pandemic lockdowns were no longer necessary. But the authors, just like Fowler and Desert Island, were stuck with no way out. Many were unable to work while the world was simultaneously paralyzed and in freefall. Fowler had found a way to turn the work of this massive group of artists into a revenue stream that could benefit his business and employees, but the plan was light on details, especially on how these various contributors would be compensated for their work.

At the time that the Kickstarter launched, I asked some admittedly pointed questions of Fowler through the Desert Island Twitter account. It appears that most folks who engaged with the project donated their print rights to Fowler in order to make the book (at least, in its Kickstarter form). Fowler’s goal was that each contributor would receive a copy of the book as compensation for their work and that if the project did very well (which wasn’t defined), monetary author compensation would be revisited. In June of 2020, I asked the question – why is it that only Desert Island gets to pay its rent with the fruits of all this labor?

The Kickstarter project got a lot of attention, but within about a week, Fowler decided to cancel the project for undisclosed reasons.

Now Rescue Party is back, published by Pantheon as a 192-page collection, with an introduction by Hilary Chute, described as “part graphic diary, part time capsule, and part field guide.” Fowler is recognized as the editor of the book.

Still, all of my questions about labor, rights, and compensation linger, and to a certain extent, are now directly amplified. Pantheon Books, is, of course, an imprint within a part of the massive Penguin Random House. This is financially and substantively different than a plucky comics shop owner going to Kickstarter to publish an anthology. Pantheon has the money to pay these authors royalties. But will they?

The problem with asking the question is not knowing if I’ll ever get an answer. Without the honest or direct input from Fowler or Pantheon, it’s unlikely we’ll ever find out. But the project that was designed to rescue Desert Island now takes on a new hulking corporate form, and should be considered within that context.

Today we run Rob Kirby’s thoughtful review of the book as released by Pantheon on July 23rd, 2024. His review considers the merits of the work contained, without spending much time considering its construction, and the messy details thereabouts. Still, I am left wondering… after years of waiting, the rescue party has finally arrived. But who is actually getting saved?