‘Strange on the Range Zine’ an interview with the editor of Wyoming’s premier comics project

My home state of Wyoming is a hard place to be into something – into music, into comics, into art. It’s hard to find a community, let alone a comics community. A comic book store is a very rare sight. They flourish briefly when some young, industrious hopeful sets their mind to it. However, they rarely last long: the comics community of any given town is rarely enough to support an entire shop’s investments.

Amidst this landscape, Ella Bishop-Heil has created a unique space for Wyoming’s artists to connect through Strange on the Range, a zine that brings comic creators out of isolation and into the community.

When I learned about Strange on the Range: Zine, I was blown away by its intention: to take inventory of the entire state’s comic book and cartooning hopefuls and extend the creative hand of community to them. A magazine-sized publication, printed lovingly in black and white and color, Strange on the Range presents an opportunity for all comics creatives, no matter where in the Cowboy State they reside.

I spoke with Ella to learn more about the inspiration behind the project and its origins, as well as what to expect in the future.

AIPT: Give me a short bio about yourself, particularly how and why you were drawn to comics.

Ella Bishop-Heil: Hi! I’m Ella Bishop-Heil, a visual artist in Wyoming and the creator-editor of Strange on the Range: Zine. Comics have been attached to my identity since I was a little girl. Some of my earliest memories are sitting around the family TV watching Batman (1989), Superman (1978), and Ghibli films in awe. As a teen, I picked up Watchmen, and it was all over from there. I was alone a lot growing up and comics forged a sense of okayness with feeling “other than”. I’ve always found solace and beauty in the escapism of illustrated and animated stories, and that’s driven a fierce and lifelong passion to create art myself and to contribute back into the comic community.

AIPT: We spoke briefly about the hardships of establishing space for art in Wyoming. Strange on the Range seeks to establish that place for comics; what drove you to create that space and how did you go about it?

Ella Bishop-Heil: Physical and creative isolation is real in Wyoming, and it can be exhausting. Strange on the Range: Zine is curated to showcase comic makers in the state, but also presents a living, breathing community and network. It offers a platform for comic art, while acting as a functional directory and connective thread to this state’s working artists and illustrators.

Strange addresses an absence of space and resources for comic art in Wyoming, and displays a truly vibrant world of comics we have here to enjoy. I wanted this project to carry real meaning for its artists, readers, and our art community; to serve and support.

The format was chosen intentionally – zines are protest tools. Zines have historically lived at the intersection of art and change, working outside institutions to share creativity, expression, and ideas, and that’s exactly what Strange does.

AIPT: How did you spread the word to creatives? Did you know many of the contributors before this process?

Ella Bishop-Heil: The early Call for Art campaign was a lot of fun. It felt grassroots and DIY. Nothing like it had been done before in Wyoming, so watching the idea grow into something people were excited about was amazing. I knew some artists from local comic conventions, but had no idea how the broader community would respond.

I made flyers and cold-approached local businesses. Many connections led to stores becoming major advocates and stocking the zine for sale later on. As a piece of physical media, integrating the zine into Wyoming’s ecosystem of bookstores and arthouses was important and had to start early.

Likewise, digital word-of-mouth was essential to reach rural artists and access audiences within remote Wyoming communities. Art non-profits and individuals sharing zine posts on social media were instrumental to gathering traction and awareness.

AIPT: Were you surprised by the reception from artists and cartoonists? How have you found the reception from the wider community?

Ella Bishop-Heil: The zine received nearly triple the submissions it could publish. Comics are a mechanism for connection, they share deeply personal experiences, and I’m elated that the zine resonated with so many others. Strange showed me there’s a broader demand in Wyoming for participation in creative things.

AIPT: The zine is juried – explain that process.

Ella Bishop-Heil: Jurying enabled me to select works that supported the zine’s core value as a designated space for comic art and illustration. From a practical perspective, jurying was a solution to printing restrictions on a very, very low budget – being entirely a not-for-profit (NFO), every dime from sales funds production costs. For the next issue, I’d love to assemble a volunteer jury panel to help with the selection. My ideal world is for greater awareness to lead to greater amounts of artists published in future issues. As a community-driven project, the zine is dedicated to all artists who applied, selected or not.

AIPT: I was amazed by the production quality of the zine – I expected a classic zine, but the book is an oversize, glossy affair with clean colors. What was production like?

Ella Bishop-Heil: This was a year-long labor of love. Strange on the Range: Zine is a tactile and tangible, collectible yet disposable, enduring physical object that can be flipped through and shared. How it would be printed was a big consideration from the start.

“Zine” and “comics” are two words steeped with cultural connotations and expectations. The joy is both can be whatever you want them to be. Strange is a collection of remarkable artwork, and its production quality reflects that. For the cover, I reached for imagery within comics and illustration that inspired me most: the layout blends homages to Detective Comics #31 and pulp design, my art echoes Leyendecker. The A4 size adopts the standard magazine measurement and accommodates formatting for a range of different artwork dimensions without compromising presentation or functionality. Except final printing, I did every aspect in-house.

AIPT: I want to give you some space to put forward anything specific you want to say – any mission statement, any information you think people should know, etc – before we go on to talking about the future:

Ella Bishop-Heil: The comic artists, cartoonists, and illustrators of Wyoming are astonishingly talented. They’re an incredible, diverse group of people I’ve had the honor of getting to know. Strange on the Range: Zine is a dedication to our shared art community and the love of comics; it’s a celebration of physical media and the joy of flipping pages.

By grabbing a copy, you’ll enjoy 52 pages from the following creators: JL Mast, Larissa Akhmetova, Desirée Brothe, Sarah Frary, Jon Lew, Robert Tweedy, Bethany Kindsvogel, Bret Norwood, Lucas Watkins, Orion Smith, and Herb Kalenberg.

AIPT: Should we expect another issue of Strange on the Range, and how does that process look/differ from the first time around? Did you learn any lessons in creating the first batch?

Ella Bishop-Heil: Look for Issue #2 this Halloween!!

So many eye-openers. Investing in marketing is one. I was surprised by how many non-Wyomingites approached the project; there was tremendous interest from artists in bordering states who inquired to apply. It’s very possible that the future of Strange on the Range expands to collect comic art of the intermountain West.

Expanding distribution is a main goal. Strange is a print-only publication for a reason. It pushes back on the norm of digitally interacting with art and media; it provides an opportunity to walk into a physical location and support that local establishment. Increasing accessibility by supplying the zine at more places regionally and out-of-state is a huge driver going into year two.

I’m a scientist by profession (not a designer!), but I wanted to create a professional publication. Learning everything design-related was a slow and steep, ongoing, learning curve, but an immensely rewarding one.

AIPT: Finally, you mentioned the show this summer?

Ella Bishop-Heil: The art of Strange on the Range will be exhibited at the Cheyenne Creativity Center in June. A free reception will be hosted on Friday, June 6th from 5:00 – 8:00pm in conjunction with the Cheyenne First Friday Artwalk. All are invited to attend, meet the artists, see some great comics up close, grab a zine, and shop exclusive prints and originals. A special thank you to Arts Cheyenne Executive Director, Desirée Brothe, for making it happen. It’s a fantastic opportunity that showcases and supports sequential artists in an academic setting, something I hope to see more and more of.

Exhibition dates: June 3 – 28, 2025
Reception date: Friday, June 6, 2025; 5:00 pm – 8:00pm
Cheyenne Creativity Center
1620 Thomes Ave
Cheyenne, WY 82001

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When I set out to do this article, I anticipated much more work on my end; Ella’s answers to these questions turned out to be so thoughtful and comprehensive that I’ve run them pretty much unchanged. Be sure to check out the Strange on the Range website to snag your own copy of the first issue (pre-orders for new printings end on the 31st of January!); submissions for the second issue open June 6th, 2025, so be sure to bookmark the submissions page!