In October 2015, a bunch of genial weirdos unveiled The American Bystander, the first new national humor magazine in 30 years. We wanted to create a place for print humor in the 21st Century; in a dumbness-forward era, we wanted to present if not an antidote, at least an alternative. What the world needs now is therapy on a species-wide scale--but until then, there's The American Bystander.

The current state of publishing has left a lot of wonderful artists and writers with no way to reach their fans -- and for people just starting out, a once-difficult career has become nearly impossible. Meanwhile, the world continues to be one great big ball of screwy. We just couldn't take it anymore, folks, we had to do something…so we created The American Bystander.

Each jam-packed issue collects a diverse group of 65 top writers and cartoonists in a great looking, full-color, softcover format. The New York Times called us "an essential read for comedy nerds."

Inside Issue #1:

Publisher's Letter by Michael Gerber • Connie and the Fifth Time by Brian McConnachie • Treasure Hunting by Julia Wertz • Dear Trusting Sir or Madam • by Steve Young • Preparation Anxiety by Joey Green • A Day in the Life of an Empowered Female Heroine by Mallory Ortberg • David Hockney's Tricks of the Masters by Mike Reiss • Truly Blessed by Jonathan Schwarz • Call Me Mr. Lucky by Dave Hanson • Fast and Loose by George Meyer • Inspirational Animal Stories #1: The Motivational Tiger by Brian McConnachie • Sizing Up Champagne by Sport Murphy • Boyfriend by Liana Finck • A Brief History of Sandwich Theory by Daniel Immerwahr & Sam Means • Elevator Conversations by River Clegg • Our Coffee Is the Best by David Etkin • Johnny Bullwhip by Brian McConnachie • Kids' Advice to Lincoln by Jack Handey • The Painter of Pain by Ron Barrett • The Old Codger's Almanac by Mark O'Donnell & Christopher Austopchuk • The Road Warrior (The Radio Version) by George Meyer • The Truthful Telephone by Terry Jones • Yardwork by Brian McConnachie • Interview: Josh Alan Friedman by Mike Sacks • Goodnight Moon, Hello Martini by Sloane Tanen & Stefan Hagen • Post-Life Survey by Roz Chast • Back of the Bus by Al Jean • Atlas Slugged Again by Ellis Weiner • Chekhov's Mother by R.O. Blechman • Are You a Middle-Aged Hipster? by Mimi Pond • Notes From Janitorgod by Dennis Perrin • John Wilcock: The New York Years by Scott Marshall & Ethan Persoff • A Dream of Consequence by M.K. Brown.

With art and illustration by Ron Barrett, Kate Beaton, Louisa Bertman, R.O. Blechman, Chris Bonno, M.K. Brown, John Caldwell, Roz Chast, Seymour Chwast, Liza Donnelly, Xeth Feinberg, Liana Finck, Emily Flake, Shary Flenniken, Patricia Gerber, Robert Grossman, Stefan Hagen, Ron Hauge, Danny Hellman, Farley Katz, Adam Koford, Ken Krimstein, Eugenia Loli, Scott Marshall, Ethan Persoff, Mimi Pond, Arnold Roth, Cris Shapan, Mark Simonson, Grant Snider, Edward Sorel, Akiko Stehrenberger, Tom Toro, D. Watson, Julia Wertz, Nathan Yoder, Steve Young, and Jack Ziegler.