About

VerbicideMagazine.com is the online successor to the print magazine Verbicide, an independent entertainment periodical co-published via Scissor Press by founding editor Jackson Ellis and creative director Nathaniel Pollard. Twenty-five issues of Verbicide were published from 1999 to spring 2009. In July 2009, Verbicide became an online-only magazine.

VerbicideMagazine consistently prints some of today’s most thoughtful and challenging fiction and interviews. Interview subjects range from musicians, to authors, to comic book creators, to actors. VerbicideMagazine.com also regularly features political commentary, modern art pieces, Abstract Fantasy comics, and an abundance of movie, book, and music reviews.

History

Verbicide was founded in 1999 in New Haven, Connecticut by Jackson Ellis. The first issue, released in September 1999, was a humble, half-sized, handmade (cut-and-paste) project, merely 12 pages of photocopied white printer paper. Most of the writing was done by Jackson, Christopher Connal (who still contributes to this day), and Leanne O’Connor, who drew the first issue’s cover artwork.

In October of 2000, Verbicide issue two (another cut-and-paste zine) was published, and on election night, November 7, 2000, Jackson met Douglas Novielli through Chris Connal at a Rancid show in Boston. Doug ran a literary webzine, Terraspatial, and Scissor Press was quickly formed as the media company “umbrella” under which a number of projects would be produced.

In June of 2001, issue three of Verbicide was published — 48 pages of newsprint with a black and white cardstock cover, the first professionally printed issue. Though crudely designed and light in pressrun, the issue marked a major turning point, as Verbicide made the leap to becoming a full-time endeavor.

In August 2002, Jackson met Nathaniel Pollard in Madison, Connecticut while both worked at a newspaper company — Jackson as an editorial assistant, and Nate as a graphic designer. Nate began contributing his bizarre, dark-humored Abstract Fantasy comics to Verbicide starting with issue seven (January 2003), and designed his first covers for Verbicide with issue eight (May 2003), which featured a double-cover.

After working with Jackson for two years as co-editor and co-publisher, and helping to bring Verbicide from a handmade zine to a nationally-distributed magazine, Doug Novielli stepped down from Scissor Press in April 2003, several weeks before the release of Verbicide issue eight.

Another former partner, writer Jason J. Marchi, worked with Scissor Press and Verbicide from January 2002 until early 2004. During this time, Jason’s non-profit writing competition, the “New Century Writer Awards,” operated cooperatively with Scissor Press.

Scissor Press remained headquartered in New Haven during Jason’s tenure as managing partner, even while Jackson moved from Connecticut, to Montana, to Boston, and eventually returning to his hometown of Ludlow, Vermont.

Scissor Press Today

Since September 2004, Scissor Press has been jointly operated by Jackson Ellis and Nathaniel Pollard. In addition to VerbicideMagazine.com, Scissor Press also continues to sporadically publish or produce other projects, including CDs, digital music samplers, and comic books.