As you all know here at Galactic Hitchhikers we’re all about how we can help those in need. From You and 42 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Douglas Adams, benefitting Save the Rhino International, to Seasons of War: Galiifrey where proceeds are donated to Caudwell Children. In a similar vein we are featuring The Hybrid: A 12th Doctor and Clara Oswald Doctor Who ‘Zine.
The Hybrid, a charity zine focused on and featuring the 12th Doctor and Clara Oswald. Proceeds will be benefiting the One to One Children’s Fund, a charity that focuses on providing medical aid and education to mothers, infants, and children in impoverished areas, and also a charity that Jenna Coleman is an ambassador for. The ‘zine itself will feature both art and writing (currently hosting at 18 art pieces and 17 stories), with each creator presenting their own take on the characters.
The big difference from other zines is nearly 50/50 split of contributors being artists versus being writers. Typical in the fandom zine scene is books exclusively of art, or with only a handful of stories, but the Doctor Who fandom is host to a slew of both illustrative and writerly talent that would be a detriment to ignore. The end result is going to be a beefy zine more novella length than anything else, and that won’t be put down for a while after you crack the spine.
Like any good zine, The Hybrid will have an option for people to purchase a “merch bundle” (which will include a physical copy of the book in addition to merchandise). We are operating under the “stretch goal” model, that being that the more is purchased, the more items are “unlocked” – and as fans get more, the charity gets more as well. As of right now, our stretch goals look like this:
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1-24 bundles: (3) 4×6 art prints
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25-49 bundles: + (3) 3×3 stickers, (1) 3×3 patch
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50-99 bundles: + (2) 2×2 acrylic charms
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100+ bundles: + (1) lanyard (1” wide, dye-sublimated)
There will also be a “special edition” bundle available for purchase, representing our “top tier” purchasing option. This will include a physical copy of the book, all unlocked merch, and a 4” acrylic standee. All merch items feature additional new artwork created by the zine’s artists.
This whole operation is being run by – Ginger, possibly better known by her social media handles of @randomthunk (Instagram, Tumblr) or @Kataoi (Twitter). This is her first zine, which is a phrase she knows can give people the willies, but her background more than makes up for it: She is a graphic designer and illustrator with 5 years of experience in the professional art world who has also run an Etsy shop for several years. She has self-published novels (Owl’s Flower being a current project) and artbooks, and have designed and assisted in the printing of program books, annual reports, wedding catalogs, and cookbooks. Ginger’s illustrative work has appeared at San Diego ComicCon, on tour at the Doctor Who World Tour, on television with BBC America’s “Doctor’s Notes”, in an episode of “The Doctor Who Fan Show” as accompanying illustrations for “The Gift” short story, been featured on the website “Anglophenia”, and a whole lot of other stuff. I might be more well known as having created the “Thank God and Scotland for Peter Capaldi” t-shirt, though.
The reasons she started The Hybrid are numerous but understandable. To start off with, 12 and Clara are characters that mean a lot to her and played a huge role in her post-college career, funny enough. Their story and relationship also have meant a lot to others she has met throughout the years – Ginger did a wedding piece for a couple with these two, because of what they meant to the bride and groom.
Ginger also opened herself up to fandom at this time and met an incredible amount of talented people in the process. There is so much talent out there in the Doctor Who fandom, but not a whole lot of organized opportunities for people to show off. And if you don’t have an online storefront, or do the con circuit, there aren’t a whole lot of chances to get your work physically out there. There are some contributors to the zine that have never made any Doctor Who work – they’re fans, just haven’t been Who fanartists – and they are producing phenomenal pieces.
Ginger is really excited that this is a win-win-win for all sides involved – creators get to share their talents, the fans get a concentrated collection of work with characters they enjoy, and a great charity gets to benefit from it all. “I’m looking forward to being able to share this zine with everyone, and continue spreading the love of a fantastic Doctor and companion pair.”
Ginger made a post featuring a handful of work in progress shots from some of the zine contributors, which you can see here: https://whouffaldizine.tumblr.
Please Consider purchasing one of the packages from The Hybrid and helping the One to One Children’s Fund, a charity that focuses on providing medical aid and education to mothers, infants, and children in impoverished areas, and also a charity that Jenna Coleman is an ambassador for.
