04/26/2025
“In 2020, we made the now infamous decision to shift our beloved print-only street rag to a hybrid social media friendly publication. As haunted as I may be by the decision to dive into the rushing river of digital sludge, I do not regret it. Not even a little. Because once the initial shock subsided, the floodgates opened. In a matter of months our creative coffers were filled with the incredible work of like minded individuals who yearned for an authentic platform to showcase their work, free and clear from the unnecessary bells and whistles of the modern day world wide web. The Pen Name had become a refuge for the lost creatives of the world:
Bring us your tired, your poor, your technologically challenged artists seeking communion in a wasteland of toxic vanity.
We had become the caretakers of a rapidly growing space that and its most pure was niche and slim, an intentionally bizarre quarterly meant to entertain. One last grasp of a dying medium before it was devoured completely by the machines. A novel concept that meant a tremendous deal to us personally, but as time marched on, it became too much to bear. We grew too quickly for a paper that was never built to operate as a large financial undertaking. With some of the most talented analog creators our science fiction garbage fire of a society had to offer, we documented eight extremely tumultuous years in modern American history. We put forth what we believed in our hearts to be a valiant and honorable effort, then we signed off. We regrouped. We thought long and hard about what we had accomplished and we took a much-needed deep breath, hopeful for a future that would allow us to breathe easier than it had in the past… Our hope was in vain.”
Read the rest of “Don’t Call It A Comeback” on Page 12 @ www.thepenname.org (link in bio).
