The final recipients of grants from the Xeric Foundation -- set up twenty years ago to provide financial assistance to up-and-coming comic creators looking to self-publish their work -- have been announced, bringing an end to something that has helped countless creators, from Jeff Lemire, Fred Van Lente and Daniel Way to Gene Luen Yang, Nick Bertozzi and Farel Dalrymple, concentrate on creating comics early in their respective careers.

The official announcement of the decision to move from grants towards charitable donations came a year ago, with Xeric founder and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Peter Laird explaining that "the advent of essentially free web publishing has forever altered the way aspiring comic book creators can get their work out into the public eye," lessening the need for financial aid to self-publish work. Indeed, some of the creators named in the final round have published their work online ahead of a final print publication, demonstrating the difference in independent publishing opportunities today, when compared with 1992 when the Xeric Foundation was created. Since its creation, the foundation has awarded more than $2.5 million to creators; this final round split $74,510 between seventeen projects.

Those projects are:
Polterguys by Laurianne Uy


Oak by Max Badger



Old Man Gloom by Arwen Donahue



In The Sounds and Seas: Vol. 1 by Marnie Galloway



Tiny Bangs by Olivia Horvath



The Blonde Woman by Aidan Koch



The Professor and The Paperboy by John Malta



Ci Vediamo by Hazel Newlevant



Dear Beloved Stranger by Shih-Mu Dino Pai



How I Made The World by Liz Plourde and Randy Michaels



Usagi Jane and The Skullbunnies by Benjamin Seto



Castle and Wood by Darin Shuler



Sea Change: A Choose-Your-Own-Way Story by Caitlin Skaalrud



The Reptile Mind by Bernard Stiegler



Overboard by Laura Terry



Look Straight Ahead by Elaine M. Will



Wild Child by M. Young

The Xeric Foundation itself doesn't cease to exist with this final round of grant awards; it will continue to offer charitable donations to other non-profit organizations in the future.