Inside a renovated Kensington warehouse, the same presses that turn out comic books for an independent publisher in New York also print bilingual harm-reduction cards for outreach workers in the neighborhood.
That mix is the point.
Paul Yavarone and Catherine Detino founded Fireball Printing in 2008 with a goal of making high-quality reproductions affordable for working artists. Yavarone had experience working in print shops and organizing art events, and Detino was finishing a master's degree in arts administration.
The operation began with a copy machine in Yavarone's living room, then grew out of a smaller warehouse and into its current building at 2644 Coral St. in 2018, a space they renovated themselves.
"We try to make our decisions based on the nicest things we can possibly make," Yavarone said. "Not just pumping stuff out."
Most commercial print shops run on toner, a plastic powder fused to paper. Fireball uses inkjet printers, which the owners say gives artists' work the quality it deserves.
"We're a print shop," Detino said. "But also a resource for artists."
The work they produce spans art prints, posters, books, brochures and business cards. Smaller clients treat Fireball as a first stop in turning a creative idea into something hands-on and real. Universities and nonprofits come for larger runs.
"It just gives people a place to make their ideas physical," said Tyler Rubinowitz, who joined Fireball with a background in printmaking and graphic design.
Rubinowitz and their coworker Luke Chellew described a shop where employees rotate between machines, share projects across departments and often bring their own artistic projects into the mix. The atmosphere is laid-back, but the expectations for quality are not.
"As long as the work gets done and it looks good, we kind of have our own system," Chellew said.
Fireball regularly prints for local businesses and community organizations in Kensington, including harm-reduction groups that distribute bilingual safety resources in the neighborhood. The shop also fills orders nationally, from festival merchandise to small-press comics.
Mahdi Khene, the founder of Zuperhero Comics in New York, has used Fireball as his exclusive printer for four years.
"A comic book lives and dies by the feel in your hands," Khene said. "I get complimented on the 'feel' of our books all the time."
Fireball's attention to paper, binding and finishing is part of what keeps independent publishers like Khene coming back, he said. It's also part of what sets them apart in an increasingly digital world.
"I don't think print is going away," Rubinowitz said. "Nothing's going to replace a physical business card or a magazine."
The shop also doubles as a venue. Fireball has hosted art events, film screenings, comedy nights and workshops, including a recent night when participants designed their own tarot cards for a live reading.
Yavarone organizes Weirdo: The East Kensington Arts and Oddities Festival, an annual multi-venue celebration of what he describes as "everything weird." This year's festival is scheduled for October 2026.
"It's purposely overwhelming," Detino said. "There's no way to catch everything."
The unstructured, collaborative environment of the festival reflects both Fireball's identity and its roots in Kensington. When Yavarone and Detino started the business, they were drawn to the neighborhood's openness and lack of constraints.
"It felt like you could do your thing and be whoever you wanted to be here," Yavarone said.
Looking ahead, Yavarone and Detino said they have no plans to scale up.
"We don't want to get so huge that we're not involved in our company anymore," Yavarone said.
