Nice words from people we worked with
http://evandorkin.livejournal.com/194770.html
"Sarah and I have been contributing to the magazine for over ten years now, mostly gags and some illustrations, along with some comics stuff and two covers for the Comic Book section. I loved freelancing for them, I loved being in the magazine alongside some great people, and I enjoyed working with Chris and Dave very much. They are good people, and good "comics people", and I hope they find their footing asap, jobs-wise. Or win the lottery. They helped a lot of small press folks pay some bills, and the comics section was just top-notch stuff from a host of swell cartoonists. Ugh. This is going to be the talk of MOCCA, I bet, half the exhibitors have probably freelanced for them at some point.
We knew they were slowing down purchases due to the economy and the bad publishing atmosphere. Still, I wasn't expecting them to shut down, and it was nice to know Nick was there, and to pitch a few gags every now and then, and sometimes a bigger assignment came your way. And it was always a good experience. And as a bonus, you owned your work. Ugh. Now a lot of freelancers are left with one less venue, worse for the fact that Nick was one of the friendliest magazines out there for cartoonists. After Mad's gut shot wound...this is just very depressing news."
-Evan Dorkin
http://nenimo.livejournal.com/45055.html
"Nickelodeon magazine was where I did my internship, and it was honestly the most enjoyable place to work ever. I made a ton of friends there and learned more that I ever hoped about production, illustration, comics, and business. The comic section was a great showcase of some of the best comics talented today like Scott Morse, Alec Longstreth, and Sam Henderson just to name a few. And the articles featured some of the most talent illustrators and writers you can find working for any magazine.
They are an amazingly talented bunch, and the comics, illustration, and children's entertainment communities will have suffered a huge loss if Nick Mag isn't around in some form or another anymore.
If you have the chance you should check out the masthead of a couple Nick Mag magazines and search out the staff and keep an eye out for those names (Chris Duffy, Dave Roman, Caitlin Keegan, Vanessa Johnson, and Fernando Dias de Souza to name a couple). I'd be interested to see what they all do next, and whatever it is I know it will be just as good."
-Craig Arndt
http://noblemania.blogspot.com/2009/06/nickelodeon-magazine-1993-2009.html
"In my sixteen months of blogging, I have never been so jarred by a publishing industry news story that I was compelled to post a response immediately...until now.
Word broke today that Viacom is shuttering Nickelodeon Magazine.
For the past five years, I've made a point to praise Nick at literally every school (and most other venues) I've spoken at. Some elementary educators and librarians could not get past the celebs and licensed characters on the cover to discover the smart non-licensed content it always featured as well. It was a simple yet savvy (and, to me, defensible) strategy-hook kids with familiar faces and then ambush them with other less glam (but often more enjoyable) content inside, such as theme-based nonfiction and humor. My only quibble with the magazine was that it accepted advertising for junk food. But I understand the realities.
I know almost nothing about Nickelodeon the cable network. I know almost nothing about their characters. I have never watched an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants (and to the disappointment of many kids at the schools I visit, I can't draw him, either).
Yet I know that the passing of Nick Mag is a genuine loss for kids. It was one of the most consistently quality products (in any medium) for young people. It did die once before, in the early 1990s, but it came back. I hope that one day soon, it can pull that off again."
-Marc Tyler Nobleman
"Sarah and I have been contributing to the magazine for over ten years now, mostly gags and some illustrations, along with some comics stuff and two covers for the Comic Book section. I loved freelancing for them, I loved being in the magazine alongside some great people, and I enjoyed working with Chris and Dave very much. They are good people, and good "comics people", and I hope they find their footing asap, jobs-wise. Or win the lottery. They helped a lot of small press folks pay some bills, and the comics section was just top-notch stuff from a host of swell cartoonists. Ugh. This is going to be the talk of MOCCA, I bet, half the exhibitors have probably freelanced for them at some point.
We knew they were slowing down purchases due to the economy and the bad publishing atmosphere. Still, I wasn't expecting them to shut down, and it was nice to know Nick was there, and to pitch a few gags every now and then, and sometimes a bigger assignment came your way. And it was always a good experience. And as a bonus, you owned your work. Ugh. Now a lot of freelancers are left with one less venue, worse for the fact that Nick was one of the friendliest magazines out there for cartoonists. After Mad's gut shot wound...this is just very depressing news."
-Evan Dorkin
http://nenimo.livejournal.com/45055.html
"Nickelodeon magazine was where I did my internship, and it was honestly the most enjoyable place to work ever. I made a ton of friends there and learned more that I ever hoped about production, illustration, comics, and business. The comic section was a great showcase of some of the best comics talented today like Scott Morse, Alec Longstreth, and Sam Henderson just to name a few. And the articles featured some of the most talent illustrators and writers you can find working for any magazine.
They are an amazingly talented bunch, and the comics, illustration, and children's entertainment communities will have suffered a huge loss if Nick Mag isn't around in some form or another anymore.
If you have the chance you should check out the masthead of a couple Nick Mag magazines and search out the staff and keep an eye out for those names (Chris Duffy, Dave Roman, Caitlin Keegan, Vanessa Johnson, and Fernando Dias de Souza to name a couple). I'd be interested to see what they all do next, and whatever it is I know it will be just as good."
-Craig Arndt
http://noblemania.blogspot.com/2009/06/nickelodeon-magazine-1993-2009.html
"In my sixteen months of blogging, I have never been so jarred by a publishing industry news story that I was compelled to post a response immediately...until now.
Word broke today that Viacom is shuttering Nickelodeon Magazine.
For the past five years, I've made a point to praise Nick at literally every school (and most other venues) I've spoken at. Some elementary educators and librarians could not get past the celebs and licensed characters on the cover to discover the smart non-licensed content it always featured as well. It was a simple yet savvy (and, to me, defensible) strategy-hook kids with familiar faces and then ambush them with other less glam (but often more enjoyable) content inside, such as theme-based nonfiction and humor. My only quibble with the magazine was that it accepted advertising for junk food. But I understand the realities.
I know almost nothing about Nickelodeon the cable network. I know almost nothing about their characters. I have never watched an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants (and to the disappointment of many kids at the schools I visit, I can't draw him, either).
Yet I know that the passing of Nick Mag is a genuine loss for kids. It was one of the most consistently quality products (in any medium) for young people. It did die once before, in the early 1990s, but it came back. I hope that one day soon, it can pull that off again."
-Marc Tyler Nobleman