By David LoTempio

When Tim Stolinski co-founded Buffalo-based Band of Bards, he wasn’t just starting another independent comic book publisher—he was building a platform dedicated to storytelling, representation and community.

Along with co-founder Chris Benamati, Stolinski has worked tirelessly to carve out a space for independent creators in an industry often dominated by major publishers. Stolinski sat down with this writer to discuss the origins of Band of Bards, the challenges of indie publishing and their ambitious vision for the future.

From Punk Roots to Comics Publishing

Both Stolinski and Benamati hail from Dunkirk, where they first developed their DIY ethos in the local punk scene of the mid-2000s.

“The seeds of all our creativity lay in the Dunkirk punk scene,” Stolinski said. Benamati was in a band, while Stolinski’s path eventually led him to an MBA at the Hilbert College extension of St. Bonaventure University.

After graduate school, Stolinski worked at a small family winery — an all-hands-on-deck experience that foreshadowed the multitasking nature of running a comic book publishing house. Along the way, he and Benamati started a blog, Pistol and Poptarts, a name inspired by Stolinski’s time in the Army, where he could always count on having his pistol and his Pop-Tarts.

The Birth of Band of Bards

By late 2020, Stolinski saw a pressing issue in the comics industry: the lack of authentic representation.

“Many groups are either poorly represented or not represented at all,” he said, noting that even veterans — who come from every background — are often overlooked. This realization led to the creation of Band of Bards, a publishing company focused on telling diverse and meaningful stories.

Launching the company during the COVID-19 pandemic proved challenging. Stolinski and Benamati had no outside investment, financing the venture with their day jobs.

“You have to have audacity and stupidity to create a comic publishing company,” Stolinski joked. “But if you don’t take the chance, then you’ll never start anything.”

Their goal was never to become an intellectual property farm but rather to create a business model where artists had real ownership over their work.

“We’re here to publish stories, not cash in,” Stolinski emphasized.

Building a Platform for Indie Creators

Band of Bards transitioned to a worker’s cooperative model in March 2024, a move that aligns with their commitment to creator empowerment. Under their publishing model, creators maintain the majority of licensing rights, ensuring they retain control over their work.

One of their standout projects is The Dark Side of Purity, an anti-patriarchy anthology featuring prose, poetry and comics by women and non-binary creators.

“It was one of the most complex endeavors we’ve ever assembled,” Stolinski said. Another notable title, Coins of Judas, explores the supernatural fallout of the infamous 30 pieces of silver from biblical lore.

Prospects is a biting satire of modern society by Maxwell Majernik and Jean Franco.  The town of Ridgeville has been stuck in the middle of a 150-year-old battle between two mad scientists who claim to have discovered rival forms of immortality: zombies or cyborgs. Fans of Rick and Morty will enjoy how the citizens of Ridgeville are put through the emotional wringer.

The Challenges of Indie Publishing

Like many indie publishers, Band of Bards faces significant financial and logistical hurdles. The cost of exhibiting at major comic conventions has skyrocketed, making attendance difficult for smaller publishers. Events like the Rochester Indie Comics Expo (RICE) and the Buffalo Indie Lit Expo (BILE) — which Stolinski organized — offer more accessible alternatives.

Pricing comics competitively is another challenge.

“We can’t sell at scale to make single issues profitable,” Stolinski explained. “We’re constantly researching printers to find good price points.”

The direct market, dominated by major distributors and corporate publishers, has not been kind to micro-publishers.

“When you do something different in comics, brains will melt,” Stolinski quipped.  He made it sound like the aftermath of gamma radiation exposure.

A Vision for the Future

Despite these challenges, Stolinski and Benamati are thinking big. Their long-term goal is to create a vertically integrated operation — a space that combines office space, printing presses, a retail store and an event venue. This would allow Band of Bards to control production costs, print on demand and even manufacture merchandise for independent creators.

More than just a business expansion, Stolinski envisions this space as a hub for Western New York’s creative community.

“There hasn’t been a dedicated space in the area for creators to work together and collaborate,” he said. “We have a creative economy, and we can nurture it.”

Final Thoughts

Stolinski’s passion for storytelling and community-building is evident in everything Band of Bards does. Their publishing model allows them to take their time, focus on quality and build a sustainable platform for creators.

“Publishing 2-3 original titles and 1 creator-owned book per month is a more manageable schedule,” Stolinski noted.

With their punk ethos, commitment to representation and relentless drive, Band of Bards is proving that independent comics can be a force for change. The comic industry needs to adapt and evolve to the economic stressors bearing down upon it. Creatives need to imagine new business models as well as new content. The necessity was given urgency in the Jan. 14 bankruptcy of Diamond Comic Distributors, a major distributor of comic books.

“When I think about the Diamond bankruptcy, I always hear the song “Dinosaurs will die,” Stolinski said.

Stolinski’s reference to Dinosaurs Will Die by NOFX is more than just a passing nod — it’s a declaration of intent. Just as NOFX rejected major labels and built its own path, Stolinski and Band of Bards are reshaping the comic book industry on their own terms. With a commitment to artistic integrity, sustainability and community-driven storytelling, they embody the punk ethos in every panel they publish. Over the past 50 years, punk has taught us that independence isn’t just possible — it’s necessary.

Stolinski has taken that lesson to heart, proving that comics, like music, thrive when creators take control of their own future.

Band of Bards is a WNY-original. Comic fans and Buffalo-boosters can check out their wares at https://bandofbards.com/.

Some Band of Bards works:

Coin of Judas Have you ever wondered what happened to the 30 pieces of silver that Judas dropped when he betrayed Christ? The Westergaard family knows and they have been fighting a hidden war against demons that have been spawned from it for years. However, since the death of Cullen Westergaard, his daughter and son are split apart as a new evil rises. Can they come together to save humanity one more time?

Prospects –  Biting satire of modern life and science gone wild. Immortality can be yours but what type of forever after do you want: zombie or cyborg?

Final Gamble –  Gambling addict Danny Lin and disgraced MMA fighter Jasmeet Khanna have both fallen on hard times. Owing an enormous amount of money to a loan shark, they are offered the chance to save themselves by winning the money they need – but LOSE. The pair become prisoners of The Mercury Society, a group composed of the richest and most powerful people in the world. They quickly learn that they have another currency to gamble – their very souls!

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David LoTempio is president of the Board of Directors of The Buffalo Hive.