Floating World Comics: Portland Indie and Art-Forward Books

Jason Leivian founded Floating World Comics in Portland, Oregon in 2006 as both a retail shop and an independent publisher - a dual role that gives the operation unusual visibility within the alt-comics ecosystem. As a publisher, Floating World has released work from Michael DeForge, Simon Hanselmann, Noah Van Sciver, and other artists who occupy the productive zone between art comics and accessible alternative cartooning. As a retailer, the shop has championed the kind of small-press and Drawn & Quarterly-adjacent material that mainstream direct-market stores handle inconsistently, and the shop-exclusive variant covers Floating World commissions from artists create a distinct collectible subset within that retail position.

Floating World Comics matters because the shop-and-publisher combination produces objects that exist at an intersection most comic collecting categories don't reach - the publisher-exclusive releases document alt-comics scene relationships at a moment when the scene's geography has been Portland-centered, and the retail exclusives commissioned from artists like DeForge and Hanselmann represent print runs small enough to create genuine secondary-market scarcity.

Two practical habits. Track Floating World's publisher releases as a separate collecting category from the broader alt-comics catalog those releases intersect with - a Floating World-published DeForge volume has different edition documentation than the same artist's Drawn & Quarterly output, and confusing the two creates record-keeping problems that matter when you're trying to establish provenance. And for shop-exclusive variant covers, record the print run and commission context at acquisition; this information is available at point of sale but rarely documented on the object itself, and it's the information that distinguishes the exclusive from the standard edition later.

The alt-comics-publisher long game

Learn the Comic books fundamentals - Floating World's publisher catalog from 2006 forward, how shop-exclusive variants are documented and distinguished from standard editions, and which artist relationships the shop has developed most consistently across both publishing and retail channels - and keep notes on publisher credit, variant status, and condition at purchase.

Find the other Floating World collectors

Niches like Floating World Comics grow sharper when collectors tracking alt-comics publisher relationships can compare documentation and sourcing leads. Amassable lets you log comics with publisher and variant notes, display the alt-comics collection like a gallery, and meet others pursuing the same Portland-scene exclusives. Early members help shape how this specialty develops.

Your turn

Log the issues, document the variants, compare notes with the community. Amassable is built for Floating World Comics collectors - catalog what you own, track the publisher-exclusive gaps, and start conversations about the DeForge and Hanselmann pieces worth finding. Download Amassable from the official store links on our homepage, and help bring the Floating World community together, one alt-comics exclusive at a time.