Shaenon K. Garrity's Journal

Narbonic joins the WebComics Nation
For Immediate Release: June 13, 2006
Press contact: Andrew Farago: andrewfarago@hotmail.com
Images available upon request.

San Francisco, CA.—On July 31, 2000, the first installment of Shaenon K. Garrity’s online comic strip Narbonic was launched upon an unsuspecting populace. The daily comic strip featuring the misadventures of computer-science major Dave Davenport, unabashedly evil intern Mell Kelly and their boss, internationally renowned mad scientist Helen Narbon, quickly gained in popularity and increased its readership to nearly 20,000 readers by the end of 2001.

In 2002, Garrity was one of the first cartoonists to join entrepreneur Joey Manley’s subscription-based online comics anthology Modern Tales (www.moderntales.com). “My initial editorial strategy was to pick the best of the best from all the genres of comics that were popular, or showed promise, at the time,” says Manley. “Shaenon is our breakout star, I'd say, and she always has been.” As she gears up for the strip’s planned conclusion at the end of 2006, Garrity has one final change in store for Narbonic.

On July 1, 2006, Narbonic is leaving the Modern Tales roster, but Garrity will continue her association with the group affectionately known as “The Joey Manley Empire.” The entire six-year archive of Narbonic, currently accessible only to paid subscribers of the Modern Tales website, will be made available free of charge for the first time since 2002. It becomes a part of Manley’s most recent online endeavor, WebComics Nation, for the final six months of the strip. Readers will have unrestricted access to more than 1,800 daily comics at Garrity’s new website, which can be found at this URL: www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic

“Over the past four years, Modern Tales has been a great home for Narbonic,” says Garrity. “But with the strip nearing the end of its run, I’ve decided to move it to its own site where the archives will be freely available to all readers.”

Narbonic joins two other features scripted by Garrity, Trunktown (www.webcomicsnation.com/tomhart/trunktownarchive), a collaboration with indie-comics superstar Tom Hart, and Smithson (www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/smithson), a collegiate slice-of-life/superhero adventure illustrated by Robert Stevenson, Brian Moore and Roger Langridge, on the WebComics Nation site. Garrity’s other webcomic, Li’l Mell, will remain on another of Manley’s subscription-based sites, Girlamatic (www.girlamatic.com).

July will also mark the release of third print collection of Narbonic, published by BlueShift Studios and available exclusively through Garrity’s website, www.narbonic.com. NarboniCon, the fourth annual mini-convention devoted to the comic, will be held in St. Paul, Minnesota from August 4-6, 2006. For reservations and ticketing information, please contact Andrew Farago at andrewfarago@hotmail.com

Among her many accolades, Ms. Garrity was a 2001 nominee for comic advocacy group Friends of Lulu’s Kimberly Yale Award for Best New Talent, and is the 2005 winner of their prestigious Lulu of the Year Award. Garrity was also recognized with the WebCartoonists’ Choice Award (WCCA) for Best Writing in 2005.

For news, updates and Shaenon K. Garrity’s daily online comic strip, please visit www.narbonic.com