lb_lee | PluralWiki: Kinships Magazine

"Kinships was the first in print magazine for Otherkin [people with nonhuman identities, namely mystical beings like elves, angels, etc.] and other 'people who exist anyway'" (Joyner, 2006 May 10a). It was "a quarterly magazine of stories, comics, reviews, and poetry" (Joyner and Silva, 2001 April 7) and ran for eight issues, including Issue #0.

Though plurality was not a focus, otherkin plurals did take part in the magazine--most notably Criss Itterman, AKA the Crisses of Kinhost (Joyner and Silva, 2000 October) and Doltaghey House, writing under the name Ficanoss (Various, 2001 fall).

Quick Details

Creators: Katrina Joyner (AKA Spearcarrier) (Editor, whole series), Gynn Stella (Submissions Editor for Issues #0 and #1) and Rick Silva (Marketing Director, Issues #0-#5)
Time Published: 2000-2002 (original run), then 2004-2007
Location: Originally at spaceports.com/~tocosar/kinships (2001), then Pentegram Komix (2001-2002), and finally anotherotherkin.tripod.com (2006-2008)

Circumstances of Creation

According to Joyner's website, "Kinships started in 1999 when Katrina Joyner and Rick Silva met and decided to form a partnership. Katrina let Rick into her small business, Pentegram Komix and Graphix. With a public Otherkin demand for their own magazine, Katrina and Rick stepped up to the task and a full-fledged magazine was born" (2006, May 10a). It's not clear what became of Gynn Stella.

Print Dates and Contributors

Kinships Issue #0: released October 2000 (Joyner and Silva, 2001 April 19). Contributors included Elise Baker, Rick Corbin, Ficanoss, Criss Itterman (the Crisses), Katrina Joyner, Sarah Mitchell, Rick Silva, and Gynn Stella.
Kinships Issue #1: released March 1, 2001 (Joyner and Silva, 2001 April 19). Contributors include Ken St. Andre, Mary Soon Lee, Paul Bates, Terry Hickman, Gynn Stella, Rialian, and Roger Matthews Ten [AKA Kinjouten].
Kinships Issue #2: released June 1, 2001 (Joyner and Silva, 2001 April 21). Contributors include: "".
Kinships Issue #3: released September or October 2001. (Joyner and Silva, 2001 October 31)
Kinships Issue #4: released after September 11, 2001. Contributors included Mary Soon Lee, Shuk C. Susan Lee, Melissa Pinol, Nancy Bennett, Ficanoss, Lee Martindale, Tim Pratt, Samantha Chapin, Bryan Heyboer, and Elise Baker. Contains a personal essay, "Human Body, Otherkin Soul?" that describes the writer's learning about the otherkin community and searching for her memories, without success (pg. 22). Also has an interview with Margaret Weis (pg. 34)
Kinships Issue #5: released winter 2001. Contributors included Ficanoss, Laurie Tom, James S. Dorr, Katrina Joyner, Juha Vuorma, Rick Silva, Elise Baker. Poetry from Lida Broadhurst, Erin Donahoe, Gabriele A. Rolle, R. Alan Wilbur, and Nancy Bennett. Anecdote from Talking Feather. Article on shamanism from Michael Lohr.
Kinships Issue #6:
Kinships Issue #7: Released summer 2007 (Dagstine, 2007). Contributors included Jason Gaskell, Kristine Ong Muslim, Aurelio Rico Lopez, Lee Clark Zumpe, and Lawrence Dagstine.

Format

Kinships never had an ebook version; it was only print. Under Joyner and Silva, Kinships printed Issues #0-5, a full-sized, black and white, saddle-stitched magazine filled with comics, fiction, poetry, reviews, and personal experiences. It also had a lot of ads for various New Age, geek, and otherkin/paranormal websites.

Sometime between February 4 and August 2, 2002, "through unfortunate circumstances, Rick and Katrina had to part ways and Kinships as a magazine ended" (Joyner, 2006 May 10a). However, in 2004, Joyner set off on her own, and "Kinships made a small comeback as a desktop magazine/newsletter. [...] Kinships remains an Otherkin-friendly paper with emphasis on metaphysical living and philosophies" (ibid). In this format, another two issues, #6 and #7 were put out, in rougher half-size format, more zine-like. The last issue came out in July 2007 (Dagstine, 2007).

Kinships seemed to have gotten distributed through a fair number of stores, including Barnes and Noble (Joyner, 2006 May 10), and it paid submitters, though less and less over time. Originally, the pay rate was 2 cents per word, $10 per poem, and $5-$20 per comics page or for black and white artwork (Joyner and Silva, 2001 April 3). Later, the prose rate was halved to 1 cent per word, $5 per poem; the art and comics rate remained the same (Joyner and Silva, 2001 November 23).

By the end of its run, Kinships was paying $6 for prose, $6 per page on comics, and $2 per illustration (Joyner, 2006 May 10b). Despite the cost-cutting, the magazine was not a lucrative endeavor. According to Joyner, "Kinships and every other part of Angelicpress [Joyner's small press] is not about profit. Maybe someday if enough people read us we can change our minds, but let's face it. We spend 300 percent more than we make off of this baby. Why do we still do it? Because we love it" (2006, May 10b).

Content

Content over time ran mainly towards short speculative fiction, along with some poetry, personal anecdotes, and reviews of various books, games, and magazines.

There were two comics series that ran through multiple issues, including Ficanoss of Doltaghey House's "Casteglan," following the misadventures of an elven bard headmate (Doltaghey House, 2001 July 9), and Joyner's "Battle of Angels," a comic following a tribe of elf-like angels, heavily influenced by Elfquest, of which Joyner was a fan and made her own fancomic, A Bird in the Bush (Joyner, 2001 April 22).

The advertisements in Kinships cover a wide variety of geek, otherkin, and pagan shops and websites from the time, making it a useful time capsule for the culture. Among them:

www.otherkin.net: "Find Your Own Truth" (Issue #5, inside front cover; Issue #4, pg. 10)
The H.O.P.E., AKA the Human/Otherworldly/Paranormals/Exchange. "Need a Supportive [sic] word, or some time to relax with other nonjudgemental [sic] oddities? Need some tutoring in behavioral sciences, thaumaturgical potence, or how to survive in a conservative community? Longing for word of political activists looking out for your unique needs? Well that's just what H.O.P.E. is for! Visit us at: www.hopeorg.com" (Issue #5, pg. 16; Issue #4, pg. 5)
Various comics, Magic: The Gathering, and video games stores.
Solicitations and advertisements for Pentegram Komix and Graphix, Joyner's business at the time.
"Come to the... KinSouth Swamp Gather! Gather round the fire, grab a hotdog and a stick, and relax in a place for metaphysically-orientated people to set up their tents, shove a marshmallow in the fire, and have a good time talking, singing, dancing, or hiding in the bushes. Convening from October 18, 2002 until October 20, 2002 at only $3.00 a night, the only thing you have to worry about it show to get there! Located at Little Talbot Island State Park near Jacksonville, Florida, the camp grounds are clean, the air is crisp, and the alligators promise to stay in the water. [...] Everyone is encouraged to bring their own magical implements and be prepared to be themselves! [...] What are you waiting for? Visit us on the web at http://kin.nailed.org or email kausha@kin.nailed.org for more information! And prepare to hob-nob and basically have fun!" (Issue #5, pg. 2)
"The Truth Is Here! UFO Lab [...] http://www.ufolabri.com" (Issue #4, inside front cover)
"Spring Eagle Magic Shop: TAROT AND RUNE READINGS, ART AND MORE! Timothy Lake, proprietor [...] http://springeagle.homestead.com" (Issue #4, inside front cover)
"Original artworks for sale by popular underground artist, Dee Rimbaud. Etchings from only US $60! Original drawings: US $225-675. Check out his visual art gallery at http://artist.writernetwork.com and see further samples of his illustrations at http://visionary.writernetwork.com

Citations

Dagstine, Lawrence. (2007). Kinships #7 (Now Available; Final Issue) [blog post]. Retrieved 2019/04/22 from https://lawrencedagstine.com/2007/07/16/kinships-7-now-available-final-issue/

Doltaghey House [Ficanoss]. (2001 July 9). Casteglan [web page]. www.stormpages.com/wolfglade/arhuaine/casteglan.html Internet Archive. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20010709125341/http://www.stormpages.com/wolfglade/arhuaine/casteglan.html

Joyner and Silva. (2000, October) Kinships Magazine Issue #0. Pentegram Comics. Cover image retrieved 2019/04/22 from https://web.archive.org/web/20010611034738/http://www.spaceports.com:80/~tocosar/kinships/issue0.jpg

Joyner and Silva. (2001 April 3). Pentegram Komix and Graphix, Kinships Submission Guidelines. http://www.pentegramkomix.com:80/kinships/submission.html Internet Archive. Retrieved 2019/04/22 from https://web.archive.org/web/20010430194358/http://www.pentegramkomix.com:80/kinships/submission.html

Joyner and Silva. (2001 April 7). Kinships: the magazine for people who exist anyway [web page]. www.spaceports.com/~tocosar/kinships/kinintro.htm Retrieved 4/22/2019 from https://web.archive.org/web/20010407004804/www.spaceports.com/~tocosar/kinships/kinintro.htm

Joyner and Silva. (2001 April 19). Fantasy & Comics Anthology [web page]. http://www.spaceports.com/~tocosar/kinships/kinretail.htm Internet Archive. Retrieved 2019/04/22 from https://web.archive.org/web/20010419164702/http://www.spaceports.com/~tocosar/kinships/kinretail.htm

Joyner and Silva. (2001 April 19). Kinships Magazine [web page]. http://www.pentegramkomix.com/kinships/Previews.html Internet Archive. Retrieved 2020/03/13 from https://web.archive.org/web/20010421075922/http://www.pentegramkomix.com/kinships/Previews.html

Joyner and Silva. (2001 October 31). Kinships Magazine [web page]. http://www.pentegramkomix.com:80/kinships/Previews.html Internet Archive. Retrieved 2020/03/13 from https://web.archive.org/web/20011031120109/http://www.pentegramkomix.com:80/kinships/Previews.html

Joyner and Silva. (2001 November 23). Pentegram Komix and Graphix, Kinships Submission Guidelines. http://www.pentegramkomix.com:80/kinships/submission.html Internet Archive. Retrieved 2019/04/22 from https://web.archive.org/web/20011123072202/http://www.pentegramkomix.com:80/kinships/submission.html

Joyner, Katrina. (2002, February 4). Kinships Magazine [web page]. www.pentegramkomix.com/kinships/kinships.html Internet Archive. Retrieved 2019/04/22 from https://web.archive.org/web/20020204152114/http://www.pentegramkomix.com:80/kinships/kinships.html

Joyner, Katrina. (2002, April 22). A Bird in the Bush: An Elfquest Worldpool tale [web page]. http://www.pentegramkomix.com/elfquest/bird.html Internet Archive. Retrieved 2019/04/22 from https://web.archive.org/web/20010901092500/http://www.pentegramkomix.com/elfquest/bird.html

Joyner, Katrina. (2002, August 2). Kinships, The Magazine for People Who Exist Anyway, is no longer in publication. We regret the inconvenience. [web page]. www.pentegramkomix.com/kinships/kinships.html Internet Archive. Retrieved 2019/04/22 from https://web.archive.org/web/20020802201304/http://www.pentegramkomix.com:80/kinships/kinships.html

Joyner, Katrina. (2006, May 10a). Kinships [web page]. http://anotherotherkin.tripod.com/angelicpress/Kinships/index.htm Internet Archive. Retrieved 2019/04/22 from https://web.archive.org/web/20060510111138/http://anotherotherkin.tripod.com/angelicpress/Kinships/index.htm

Joyner, Katrina. (2006, May 10b). Submissions Guidelines [web page]. http://anotherotherkin.tripod.com/angelicpress/submission.htm Internet Archive. Retrieved 2019/04/22 from https://web.archive.org/web/20060510111015/http://anotherotherkin.tripod.com/angelicpress/submission.htm

Various. (2000, October). Kinships Magazine Issue #0. Self-published.

Various. (2001, fall). Kinships Magazine Issue #4. Pentegram Komix and Graphix.

Various. (2001, winter). Kinships Magazine Issue #5. Pentegram Komix and Graphix.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

remiel

Thank you for posting this! Somehow, I've never heard of it.

lb_lee

Considering its age and relatively short run, I'm not surprised! I only knew about it because the local zine library has Issue #0, and Rick Silva reads this blog so I was able to beg a couple back issues off him. If you're interested in them, I mostly wanted them for records and metadata purposes; I'd love to find them a new home that would appreciate them more for their content!

Scribbles and Bits

PluralWiki: Kinships Magazine