Haven Distributors

Distributors | Johanna Draper Carlson catches a couple of tweets from publishers indicating that independent-comics distributor Haven, formed in 2008 from the assets of Cold Cut Distribution, is shutting down at the end of the month. Calls for confirmation this morning to Haven’s Skokie, Illinois, offices went to voicemail. The company’s closing would leave Diamond without any significant competition for independent comics distribution — print comics, at least. As Johanna notes, the industry giant still has a rival in another quarter: digital distributor comiXology. [Comics Worth Reading]

Legal | The defense rested in the Michael George trial Tuesday after the comics retailer, who is accused in the 1990 murder of his first wife, chose not to take the stand. His lawyers argued that if he were to do so, his testimony would become the sole focus of the trial. George’s current wife Renee, who was kept out of the courtroom for most of the trial in case she was called as a witness, also did not testify. Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday, and then the case will be sent to the jury. [Detroit Free Press]

Retailing | Michael Malve, former owner of Atomic Comics in Arizona, has been named partner and president of the entertainment division of Epic Digital, a Phoenix-based web and media company. Malve closed the four-store chain in August and filed for bankruptcy after 25 years in business. [The Beat]

APE

Conventions | Shannon O’Leary and Casey Burchby wrap up last weekend’s Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco. [Publishers Weekly, SF Weekly]

Creators | Tucker Stone talks to Jeff Lemire, writer of Animal Man, Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E., and Sweet Tooth. [ComiXology]

Creators | James O’Barr chats about The Crow and music. [Guitar International]

Creators | Brian Heater kicks off a four-part interview with Anders Nilsen. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Comics | Paul Gravett collects three interviews he did recently about his just-released book 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die — and he admits that he hasn’t read all of them himself. Yet. [Paul Gravett]

Critics | Time book critic and author Lev Grossman (The Magicians, The Magician King) talks about the greater acceptance of comics in the mainstream media — and by his 70-year-old mother, who is a Death Note fan. [Graphic Novel Reporter]

Digital | Robot 6 contributor Graeme McMillan points out that in the world of prose, reader response to “agency pricing,” in which publishers set the price of digital books and that price is the same across all outlets, has been file no fewer than 17 lawsuits, while in the comics realm, folks just complain and buy them anyway. The comments suggest that high prices are keeping people away from digital comics, and 99 cents is the sweet spot, but it’s a small sample. [Blog@Newsarama]

Legal

Legal | Defense testimony began in the Michael George trial  Monday after the judge denied a motion by the defense to order an acquittal. George’s daughter Tracie testified that she remembers her father sleeping on the couch in his mother’s house the night in 1990 when his first wife Barbara was shot and killed in their Clinton Township, Michigan, comic store. Another defense witness, Douglas Kenyon, told the jury he saw a “suspicious person” in the store that evening and that Barbara George, who waited on him, seemed nervous. [Detroit Free Press]

Conventions | Last weekend’s Alternative Press Expo inspired Deb Aoki to offer a burst of suggestions on Twitter as to how it could be made better. Heidi MacDonald collected the tweets into a single post, and the commenters add some worthwhile points (including not scheduling it opposite the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, which attracts much of the same audience and is free). [Deb Aoki's Twitter, The Beat]

Awards | Ian Culbard’s adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness won the British Fantasy Award for best comic/graphic novel, presented Saturday by the British Fantasy Society. [The British Fantasy Society]

Action Comics #2

Creators | Ahead of the release of Action Comics #2, Grant Morrison talks more about his vision of a younger, brasher Superman: “Definitely, we needed to see a Superman who could be beat up a little bit and could suffer a little bit more like us, rather than the character who could juggle planets. That was a definite decision, and also to bring him to a dead standstill. I wanted the speeding bullet that brings him to a dead stop, so that we could start the second issue with Superman in chains. He’s trapped, he can’t move and it’s about getting him out of that situation.” [USA Today]

Creators | Michael Cavna chats with Art Spiegelman about MetaMaus, the new book and DVD package marking the 25th anniversary of Maus. [The Washington Post]

Habibi

Creators | Craig Thompson talks at length about his new graphic novel Habibi: “I hate using the terms East and West because they are purely imaginative boundaries. But in the Western world, at least, art is placed on this pedestal. There’s so much ego tied up in the artistic process. In contemporary art, in fine arts, it’s more common for the artist to be more of an overseer, where they come up with the concept, but then they dictate all the actual labor to a bunch of unnamed assistants. And that’s always really offensive to me. We cartoonists in general have a more modest approach to our work where it’s just got to be us alone in our studio for hours and hours. You can’t fake comics really, or actually you probably could, but not in the old-fashioned alternative comics world. Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, there’s all these artisans and craftsmen who work meticulously and have a lot more skill, but do it without the monetary reward and the egotistical reward. So I did want to pay tribute to those people. But even that sounds a little pretentious, because I was still just working with the very malleable form of ink on paper. I’m not carving wood or laying tile-work or doing something much more complex.” [The Millions]

The Death-Ray

Creators | Daniel Clowes chats briefly about The Death-Ray. [io9.com]

Creators | Carolyn Supinka interviews creators Anders Nilsen [Big Questions] and Marc Bell (Pure Pajamas), who are both touring the East Coast to promote their latest work. [The Tartan]

Creators | Brian Heater wraps up his four-part interview with Tom Neely. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Creators | The student newspaper at the University of Texas at Austin profiles Paul Maybury. [The Daily Texan]

Creators | Because he can’t draw, blogger Matthew J. Brady documents 24-hour Comics Day in a fumetti based on the events at Challengers Comics in Chicago. [Warren Peace Sings the Blues]

Codename Sailor V

Manga | With the new release of Sailor Moon and its prequel, Codename Sailor V, fresh on the stands, Thalia Sutton explains why Sailor Moon is important and how this release is different from all those that came before. [Suvudu]

Manga | For those curious to see manga in its native habitat, Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at Kodansha’s seinen (young men’s) manga magazine Afternoon, the home of Genshiken, Blade of the Immortal and Oh! My Goddess. [Three Steps Over Japan]

Comics | Francoise Mouly’s Toon Books will publish children’s graphic novels using the art of French illustrator Claude Ponti (Tromboline & Foulbazar) but adding a new storyline for English-language readers. The first book, Chick and Chickie in Twin Stories, is due out in February. [ICv2]

Review | Johanna Draper Carlson takes a look at the first two volumes of Dark Horse’s Archie Archives, noting that the stories get a lot stronger once Veronica enters the picture. The books have no extras — the first volume lacks even a table of contents — and she recommends dipping in from time to time rather than sitting down and reading all the stories at once. [Comics Worth Reading]

Scene | Frank Santoro presents a comics-eye-view of Pittsburgh, with a writeup on the local comics scene by Ed Piskor, some art by local comics creators, and links to lots of other Steel City comics goodness. [The Comics Journal]

Webcomics | And speaking of Ed Piskor, he wrapped up Wizzywig recently and has jumped right in with a new webcomic Deleterious Pedigree. [Wizzywig Comics]

Isotope Award

Comics retailer Isotope Comics in San Francisco is once again hosting their annual mini-comics award competition, and — AHHHH!!! — entries are due Monday by midnight!

“It’s my favorite time of year, when we get an opportunity to help spotlight a creator who is toiling in the underground making something magical that almost no one has seen yet… seriously, what could be more exciting?!” said Isotope retailer James Sime, “I consider the winner to be the comic industry’s Miss America for the year, it’s the Isotope’s job to get their work out there to the comics press and reviewers. And I’m proud to say that winning this award has helped some amazingly talented folks get noticed and published by some of the best and coolest comic publishers in our industry. So don’t be shy… I know that many of you out there are hand-crafting some mini-comics brilliance, let us help share your work with the world!”

Past winners of the award include Joshua W. Cotter, Max Riffner, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey and Danica Novgorodoff, among many others. To enter this competition, simply send five copies of your mini-comic to Isotope’s address (326 Fell St. San Francisco, CA 94102) before the Sept. 26 deadline.

The award will be presented at Isotope’s APE Aftermath party on Oct. 1, the same weekend as the Alternative Press Expo.

APE program book

Too Much Coffee Man creator and recent Eisner winner Shannon Wheeler provides this year’s cover for the Alternative Press Expo‘s annual program book, featuring the show’s trademark purple ape.

Wheeler is also one of the special guests at the show this year, which also include Kate Beaton, Daniel Clowes, Craig Thompson, Matthew Thurber and Adrian Tomine. APE runs Oct. 1-2 in San Francisco.

Via

“I realized at a certain point that the thing that keeps me drawing comics and the thing that has always moved me along is that comics history is really disappointing,” Clowes responded. “It’s not the same as the history of novels, history of art, history of movies, the body of work is pretty spotty. The things we imagined don’t really exist. We imagine that Alex Toth did really amazing comics in the 50s that really worked, that were like Howard Hawk’s movies, but he didn’t do that. He never made a comic you could read. It’s terrible, and I say that thinking that he was one of the greatest geniuses of the 20th Century.”

That said, Nadel got Clowes to weigh in on a fascinatingly wide array of comics creators for whom Clowes had highly complimentary things to say, including Al Capp, Curt Swan, George Klein, Wayne Boring, Burne Hogarth, Al Jaffee, Don Martin, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Wally Wood, and Stan Lee. There’s also a terrifically bizarre suite of Robert Crumb anecdotes that include the great underground artist calling Clowes a “fucking little punk.”

Next up is our own Chris Mautner’s interview with Prison Pit 2 creator Johnny Ryan. You might think that an ultraviolent action-adventure-horror-sci-fi comic about a crazed killer murdering his way through an abandoned planet full of bloodthirsty monsters and maniacs wouldn’t be particularly revealing about its creator. Apparently, you’d be wrong:

What was the biggest challenge for you? Was there anything specific that you can point to?

I think in a strange way the book(s) are very revealing about myself. I felt as if I was really exposing myself here. I was very anxious about that.

Exposing you how?

Well, I don’t want to break the story down into this means this and this represents this, but I’m sure any armchair therapist could have an interesting time with the book. With “AYC,” and pretty much all of my previous work, everything was hidden behind a curtain of humor. There’s no curtain in “Prison Pit.”

Rough stuff, to be sure. Read the whole thing.

Pigeon Press wuz robbed! Publisher Alvin Buenaventura reports that his new publishing venture had two copies of the legendary, gigantic, expensive hardcover anthology Kramers Ergot 7 stolen from its table at APE this past Sunday morning. Buenaventura, who’s had a rough enough year as it is, is looking for help from any APE exhibitors and attendees who may have witnessed the thieves in action. With a book that size, they’d be hard to miss.

If you were at APE and you saw something, say something! Not only will you help catch a thief and (hopefully) facilitate the return of some very expensive merchandise, you’ll also help solve the mystery of how anyone could waltz away with two copies of a book roughly the size of a Great Dane.

Alternative Press Expo

While Saturday in San Francisco was beautiful, Sunday brought rain — so what better way to spend time indoors than to hang out at the Alternative Press Expo? I got there a little earlier on Sunday than I did the day before, so it was a little less crowded when I arrived. That would change as the day went on.

I had about half an hour to kill before the Writers Old Fashioned panel at noon, so I headed to their booth to find a copy of Pete Hodapp’s award-winning minicomic. Retailer James Sime, who runs the Isotope minicomics awards every year, had tweeted that the winner would be APE selling copies of his book, so I wanted to make sure I picked one up. Hodapp was at the WOF table with Kirsten Baldock, who works at Isotope and is a writer as well. I missed the party the night before, but Baldock had great things to say about his acceptance speech, and I was glad I got a copy before they were all snatched up.

After that I started slowly making my way toward the room where the panels were being held, stopping at a few tables to see what people had. I met Barry Deutsch, who was there with copies of his book Hereville, and we talked while he moved from one table to another. I also met Charles Yoakum and bought a copy of his crime comic, The Carnival. Yoakum worked for years as an inker, doing books like Bloodshot, Turok, Magnus Robot Fighter, Batman: Outlaws and many more. He said he stepped away from comics around 2000, and only recently returned. He inked Paul Gulacy’s pencils in the Radical series Time Bomb, and he’s writing and drawing his own comics as well … which is what brought him to the show.

Writers Old Fashioned

Right before noon I met up with Matt Maxwell of Strangeways fame and headed to the Writer’s Old Fashioned panel, where the local creators collective talked about making comics and their own upcoming projects. Moderated by Justin Hall, the panel included Baldock (Smoke & Guns), Matt Silady (The Homeless Channel), Jason McNamara (Martian Confederacy), Storm (Princess Witch Boy), Emily Stackhouse (Brazilianoir) and Stephenny Godfrey (Panorama). The group talked a lot about the importance of community, noting that making comics can be pretty lonely, and said they get together on a regular basis to exchange ideas, provide feedback and to drink — the name plays off of the drink Whiskey Old Fashioned.

And they’re all working on new comics right now. Storm just finished the second issue of his minicomic, Princess Witch Boy, which I picked up at the show on Saturday. Stackhouse’s follow-up to the award-winning Brazilianoir is called Miner’s Mutiny; she told me she grew up in a mining town between San Francisco and Sacramento, which is where the story came from. She was hoping to have copies at APE, but it isn’t quite ready yet. I also picked up Godfrey’s Panorama at the show; each panel is about two inches tall and 8 inches across, on paper of the same size. The whole thing can be unfolded to create a single continuous string of panels over 13 feet across. It’s a fun, but no doubt labor intensive, way to present a comic, and it won Outstanding Publication Design at Stumptown last year.

McNamara talked about the follow-up to the Martian Confederacy, his collaboration with artist Paige Braddock. “This is a comedy about child slave labor, an issue that nobody laughs at enough,” McNamara joked. It’s due out in December. Next week he’ll have a strip on Act-i-vate, drawn by Rahsan Ekedal, as part of the Panels for Primates project (Update: Actually it is up now).. He’s also working on a new project with artist Greg Hinkle, who is also part of the collective.

Hinkle drew a horror comic called Parasomnia, which has three stories in it written by McNamara, Storm and Silady. He was selling it at the show as well, and somehow I ended up making it out of there without buying a copy (which I totally meant to do). But no matter … we’re going to be presenting the whole thing right here on Robot 6 the week of Halloween, so everyone, me included, will have a chance to read it in full.

Silady, who wrote and drew the Eisner-nominated The Homeless Channel, is working on his second graphic novel, The Delta of You. He is also editing a graphic novel by Kristin Olson called Sick Bed Blues, and, as a professor at the California College of the Arts, he and Hall are teaming up for the first-ever queer comics course. He said Hall came to him to recruit some interns for a new project of his own, which evolved to the two of them designing and getting approval for a survey class that will look at the “history and cultural implications of LGBT comics.” The students will go on to work on Hall’s project.

Baldock said the script for her next project, a science fiction tale that involves a “Jimmy Stewart sort of guy” trying to get his robot wife repaired, has been done for awhile, and she just recently found an artist for it — Stephanie Buscema, granddaughter of John Buscema and one of the artists on Marvel’s recent Girl Comics project.

After the panel, Matt and I met up with David Brothers and Esther Inglis-Arkell of 4thletter and ComicsAlliance fame; our goal was to the Holy Grill for burgers, a somewhat annual tradition, but as it turns out, the Holy Grill, un-ironically, is closed on Sundays. So we ended up going to a local taquería, but not before David bought some Akira color guides from Steve Oliff and Lauren Davis joined us.

My haul

Some of my APE Loot

I spent a lot more money at the show on Saturday than I did on Sunday. Going into the show, I knew of a few items I wanted because they would be my first opportunity to actually buy them (like the newest Acme Novelty Library, H-Day and Duncan the Wonder Dog), had held off getting because I knew the creators would be at APE (Wilson) or had somehow missed when they came out in shops (Royal Historian of Oz #1). And of course, I also ended up taking home a lot of stuff that just looked cool on site, like the first Devastator anthology and several minicomics being sold by Silady’s CCA students. Unfortunately I don’t have much to say about anything I bought just yet.

I’ve been to APE four times now, and it is always an enjoyable show for me — it’s close enough to drive to, usually has great access to parking, brings in some great guests and gives you an opportunity to interact with folks who just love making comics. I can’t wait to return next year.

(Thanks to the WOF crew for providing the art they shared at the panel).

APE

I’ve still got plenty to say about the Alternative Press Expo, which wrapped up today, but for now I thought I’d share a few photos …

*****

Here’s the booth for Family Man creator Dylan Meconis:

Dylan Meconis

Here’s Barry Deutsch, creator of Hereville:

Barry Deutsch

Barry came down from Portland to promote his graphic novel about a “dragon-fighting 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl.” I didn’t buy a copy, as I ordered a copy off Amazon maybe a week or so ago based on the recommendations from Brigid, Michael and past What Are You Reading? guest Robin Brenner. We did chat about the graphic novel, though, and his deal with Abrams. He said he was sitting next to Scott McCloud at Stumptown, and McCloud’s agent overheard his sales pitch. It wasn’t long after that that he had a book deal with Abrams.

Oh, he was also very handsome and well groomed. Not that he asked me to say that or anything.

Next up are two pictures I rather like. Here’s Tony Millionaire drinking a beer:

Tony Millionaire

And Renee French acting like she’s smoking a cigarette.

Renee French

I started thinking about what other vices or sins I could ask creators to mimic in their photos, but held back from asking Vanessa Davis to pretend like she was cheating on her taxes or something:

Vanessa Davis

And finally, here’s Daniel Clowes, who, as I mentioned yesterday, took part in a great panel and had tons of people standing in line for him afterward. Dan Nadel, who moderated the panel, started it off by asking Clowes to pick his favorite from a pair of choices — for instance, Curt Swan Superman or Wayne Boring Superman? Cracked or Mad? Don Martin or Al Jaffe? Wally Wood or Jack Kirby? It usually led Clowes into relating a tale about one (or both) of the choices, whether it was about working for Cracked or going to Steve Ditko’s apartment to have the artist slam the door in his face. I know CBR will have a panel report up sometime soon:

Daniel Clowes

from The Possum and the Pepper Spray

Congratulations to Pete Hodapp, winner of the 2010 Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics. The award was presented last night at Isotope Comics’ annual APE Aftermath party in San Francisco.

His comic, The Possum and the Pepper Spray, is “a true story about rural living and combat with the critters who live there.” Hodapp was in from Wisconsin this weekend to accept the award and then head to APE today, where he had copies for sale at the Writers Old Fashioned booth. You can check out some sample pages and find info on ordering it online here.

Previous winners of the award include Joshua W. Cotter, Danica Novgorodoff, Rob Osborne, Will Dinski, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey and Max Riffner.

Writers Old Fashioned

It was beautiful yet windy day in San Francisco yesterday as I headed to San Francisco for the Alternative Press Expo. I got there a bit later than I’d hoped, due to a quick pit stop in Mountain View that turned into a traffic nightmare. The lot behind the Concourse was already full by the time I arrived, a hint of the crowds that had gathered inside. And inside, everything was different. The layout of the floor was basically flipped, so what used to be the back of the building was now the front of the building. They also had part of their programming slate, the comic workshops, out in an open area up on one of the landings, which I thought worked nicely.

My first stop was the Writers Old Fashioned booth, where I said hello to Jason McNamara, Storm, Matt Silady, Stephenny Godfrey, Emily Stackhouse, Josh Richardson, Danger Bob and the rest of the crew. They were sporting some new eye-catching banners. I also met Greg Hinkle, who worked with several of the WOF crew on a new horror comic called Parasomnia, which they had at the show … and which you’ll be able to see right here on Robot 6 the week of Halloween. I picked up copies Storm’s second Princess Witch Boy and Godfrey’s award-winning Panorama, and Stackhouse showed me her artwork from her next comic, Miner’s Mutiny, which she should have soon.

AdHouse Books returned to APE this year, bringing Adam Hines and his book Duncan the Wonder Dog. I picked up a copy; it’s a huge and mammoth volume that I’m looking forward to reading. I also have to give props to the folks at the Devastator table, whose excitement was infectious. I picked up the first volume and bought a subscription for the next three.

After an engaging spotlight panel, Daniel Clowes was signing at the Drawn and Quarterly booth, drawing a huge line of folks with everything from issues of Lloyd Llewellyn to his latest, Wilson, for him to sign. Renee French was close by, signing her latest, H-Day; we talked briefly about blogging (check out her always interesting sketch blog here).

It looks like rain today, so I should probably start making my way to the Concourse to see if I can get a better parking space …

Alternative Press Expo

The Alternative Press Expo, or APE, is coming up this weekend in San Francisco. The show runs this Saturday and Sunday at the Concourse on 8th Street. This year’s special guests include Daniel Clowes, Lynda Barry, Tony Millionaire, Renee French, Rich Koslowski, Megan Kelso and Tommy Kovac. In addition to an exhibitor’s room packed with comics of all shapes and sizes, they also have panels, workshops and even a “speed dating” event to help pair up writers and artists.

Here’s one more round of stuff to do/buy at the show. I’ll be there both days and will hopefully get a chance to blog from the floor.

Kid Beowulf

Kid Beowulf creator Alexis E. Fajardo will be at table #535 selling books and sculpts, as well as doing sketches, throughout the weekend. He’s also hosting one of the workshops on creating comics:

Workshop, Sunday Oct, 17 3pm: Character Design in Kid Beowulf

Meet cartoonist Alexis E. Fajardo and get the inside scoop on how he creates and designs characters for his all-ages, graphic novel series Kid Beowulf. Alexis will walk through his character creation process including the research, early sketches, pencils and inks for his newest book Kid Beowulf vs. El Cid!

Fantagraphics

Fantagraphics posted today that they’ll have several “display only” books at their booth, for you to look at before they’re even available to buy, including new Castle Waiting and Jason.

Farel Dalrymple

Artist Farel Dalrymple has made last-minute plans to attend APE; he’ll be at the Conundrum Press booth #312, with copies of studygroup 12.

The Graphic Novel Project

High Tech High’s The Graphic Novel Project, where a team of high school students from Chula Vista, Calif. create their own comics, will have their second major issue, Nice Meeting You, Goodbye, at booth #404.

Students created a full length color comic addressing the rising problem of high school dropouts. This project took a year of hard work requiring the entire team to pull long hours with many weekends involved to make the comic the best product possible.

HTH Graphic Novel Project used a collaborative process that included 18-20 students ranging from 9th to 12th grade working in departments. Departments ranged from Research & Design, Illustration, Digital Art, Lettering, and Production.

Of the technology used to create the work, none was more valuable than the Wacom technology to digitally render each page for the entire graphic novel.

Research & Development for the book was a rigorous research process that included interviewing more the 25 students, teachers, parents, and local dropout center personnel. A professional writer was brought in to use as an editor for each step of the writing and story building process. The project was completed in a little over 15 weeks.

By bringing the issue of Nice Meeting You, Goodbye to the Alternative Press Expo, the HTH Graphic Novel Project hopes to spread the social message of high school drop outs, and also gain a larger audience of this issue and issues to come.

“This project will change the way that other schools look at after school activities.” Says Luke Piedad, contributing author and student. “The process has opened my eyes to a wider perspective on life and avenues to explore journalism.”

Alternative Press Expo

The Alternative Press Expo, or APE, is coming up this weekend in San Francisco. The show runs Saturday and Sunday at the Concourse on 8th Street. This year’s special guests include Daniel Clowes, Lynda Barry, Tony Millionaire, Renee French, Rich Koslowski, Megan Kelso and Tommy Kovac. In addition to an exhibitor’s room packed with comics of all shapes and sizes, they also have all sorts of panels and even a “speed dating” event to help writers find artists (and vice versa).

One thing I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet is that this year they’ve added a full slate of creator workshops, where you can learn how to draw facial expressions with Raina Telgemeier and market a comic that’s easier to read than to describe with Larry Marder, among many others. In other words, APE isn’t just about talking about and buying comics, it’s also about learning to create and sell them yourself.

Prior to the show, I’ll be posting what various companies and creators have planned for APE. If you’d like to be included, email me the details on where you’ll be, what you’ll be selling and all that good stuff. (I’d send them quickly, though, since the show starts on Saturday and I’ll likely just do one more round-up tomorrow).

And now let’s see what folks have planned …

*****

Sparkplug Comics

Sparkplug Comics will have many creators and books at table #118:

Sparkplug Comic Books will be at APE this weekend. Saturday and Sunday October 16th & 17th. There will be a group of us: David King, Virginia Paine, Tim Goodyear, Rina Ayuyang, Tim Root, Sophie Yanow, Renee French and Chris Cilla will be in attendance at the table or around it. We will be at table 118 next to Tom Neely’s I Will Destroy You at 119 and Pigeon Press at 120.

At APE:

* Renee French will be premiering her new book H-Day at the Picture Box booth at APE table 226. Renee will also have an artists spotlight interview at 6pm on Saturday.
* I’ll be on a panel at 1pm on Saturday with Susie Cagle, Thien Pham and Gene Yang talking about Bay Area comics over the years: http://www.comic-con.org/ape/ape_prog.php
* Sparkplug will have a ton of new distro comix at the Sparkplug booth including Crime World 2 by David King, Anais in Paris by Mardou, You Don’t Get There From Here #16 by Carrie McNinch, Act Five by Steve Ditko, Benol the Huckster by Max Mose and Gazeta edited by Lisa Mangum & Maria Sputnik

Koyama Press

Koyama Press will be at APE for the first time at table #728 with Michael DeForge:

We’ll have new books by Tin Can Forest – ‘Baba Yaga and the Wolf’, Aaron Leighton’s ‘Spirit City Toronto’ and ‘Wowee Zonk 3′. Michael DeForge will have two brand new prints . Mickey Zacchilli will be joining us with her new zine too! There will be other Koyama Press titles and this is your last chance to pick up LOSE!

Puna Press

Puna Press will be on hand with two new books:

The San Diego based publisher Puna Press is appearing at APE for the second year in a row. Puna Press has found the bay area to be a natural audience for its books, which are known for combining art and poetry, and art prints.

Barzilla and Other Psalms by Edwin Decker, the award-winning author of San Diego CityBeat’s “Sordid Tales” column, and Less by the award-winning artist Ted Washington, are two of the books featured at the APE from Puna Press.

Omaha Perez

You can find comics creator Omaha Perez at table #304:

I will have a small selection of original art for sale as well as books and comics, including this little comic which will only be available directly from me. PITCHES features my character designs and teaser art for a project with legendary comic writer JM DeMatteis, a scene from a sci-fi project with writer Richard Raleigh, plus scenes from HOLMES VS. HOLMES (yes, a sequel!) and my latest project, THE DRUDE. Please swing by and pick one up!

The Couscous Collective

The Couscous Collective, which includes Shaenon K. Garrity and Andrew Farago, will have its first anthology, Forest, at the show:

The Couscous Collective is pleased to announce the publication of its first anthology, FOREST, making its debut at the 2010 Alternative Press Expo. This 48-page collection of all-new material showcases the talents of seven of the founding members of the Bay Area-centered artist collective.

This magazine-sized publication features a full-color cover by rising star Konstantin Pogorelov and a brand-new comic featuring the cast of Skin Horse, the popular webcomic created by Shaenon K. Garrity and Jeffrey C. Wells. Wells will be making his first-ever appearance at this year’s Alternative Press Expo.

Contributors will sign copies of the new anthology at APE tables #237 and #238. Individual works from each artist will also be available for purchase.

The 2010 Alternative Press Expo also marks the debut of the second collected volume of Skin Horse, by Shaenon K. Garrity and Jeffrey C. Wells. The initial print run was financed through a fundraising drive on Kickstarter.com, a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors and explorers. The entire project was funded within 18 hours of its initial posting, and ultimately raised 200% of the capital needed for publication.

Couscous Collective members Andrew Farago and Shaenon K. Garrity conduct a workshop on writing humor comics on Saturday at 3:00pm at the Alternative Press Expo. This seminar, Write Funny!, is free with paid admission to APE.

The Couscous Collective was founded in 2008 as a collective of Bay Area visual artists and storytellers whose works “satisfy a variety of appetites.” Members include printmaker Liz Conley, cartoonist Elena Diaz, designer Pancha Diaz, museum curator Andrew Farago, cartoonist Shaenon K. Garrity, illustrator Konstantin Pogorelov, manga authority Jason Thompson and cartoonist Leia Weathington.

Conundrum Press

Robin McConnell will be at table #312 with a selection of books from Conundrum Press, including the debuting Inkstuds, a collection of interviews from the radio show of the same name.

Dub Comics

Jon Vinson of Dub Comics will have a new graphic novel, Edge of the Unknown, at booth #437:

EDGE is the story of Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle getting drawn into investigating a series of brutal murders, in 1920′s Hollywood. Inspired by their real-life friendship, it’s a hard-boiled mystery with a horrifying twist. It also “guest stars” H.P. Lovecraft, (since he actually did ghost write a story for Houdini in 1924 [EDGE is filled with tons of fun historical reference like this]).

Brian Anderson

Brian Andersen, creator of So Super Duper, will have a new comic, Friend of Dorothy, at table #603:

Friend of Dorothy

I’m an indie comic creator who self-publishes a line of awesome gay-themed comics (19 comics and counting) that are super fun, super cute, and totally for everyone, gay or otherwise. My books are funny and delicious and wonderfully fresh and cheeky!

My newest comic is called “Friend of Dorothy,” about the world’s first Oz-inspired Superhero! I was just interviewed about this new comic and my entire line of indie comics by Gay.com.

The One Comic Book that Should Make San Francisco Boycott APE!

Russ Kazmierczak, Jr., creator of Amazing Arizona Comics, is planning to shut down APE with his book:

Every year, independent comic book artists storm San Francisco with the dream that their work will be discovered and adored by fans, but one artist already accepts that his comic book will most likely be scorned and ridiculed, as well it should be.

Russ Kazmierczak, Jr., the writer and illustrator behind Amazing Arizona Comics, is bringing his unabashedly Arizona-oriented work to San Francisco, one of the most vocal cities against the Grand Canyon State’s immigration bill, SB 1070.

“When I moved back to Phoenix this year, I had no idea I’d be in the cross hairs of a nationwide boycott!” Kazmierczak explains. “I created Amazing Arizona Comics to help process the craziness going on around me.”

The first two issues of Amazing Arizona Comics are available now and will be on sale at the K.O. Comix booth #729 at APE. These issues star characters like Speed Cameron and June Monsoon, who are super deputies called “Arizonauts” in Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s posse.

“Sheriff Joe has been pretty secretive about his financial records lately,” Kazmierczak continues. “Who says he isn’t hiding a secret super deputy program?”

Ironically, Kazmierczak isn’t a fan of attracting controversy, as evidenced by his concern for the future of the Alternative Press Expo. “I’m from Arizona, and I’m bringing a comic book about Arizona to APE. So, San Franciscans boycotting Arizona shouldn’t come to APE! I hope I don’t end up shutting down the event forever!”

Semantink Publishing

Benjamin Glibert, director of publishing for Semantink Publishing, said they would have copies of Mythoi, among other stuuf, at booth #440:

Semantink will be at booth 440 this weekend with plenty of fun for anyone that stops by. MYTHOI writer James Ninness and cover artist Kevin Warwick will be signing both Saturday and Sunday as well as Joe Pezzula, Marcel Losada and Daniel Touchet, who all work on our weekly web-comic, THE UNDERGROUNDS.

We will have merchandise aplenty, including our newly released MYTHOI TPB, as well as stickers, T-shirts, and posters. Everyone that buys something will be entered into a raffle to win a limited edition MYTHOI laser engraving.

The Devastator

Geoffrey and Amanda, publishers of The Devastator, will have volume two of their humor anthology at the show:

The Devastator

The Devastator is pleased to announce we are the “Must See TV” of Comic Con Inc.’s Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco! This will be our first ever exhibition at APE. We’re as excited as Dr. Frasier Crane starting a new life in Seattle. We’ll be “living next door” to LA-based comedy newspaper ZOMBIE Worldwide at booth #335, just like Ross and Phoebe in the legendary sitcom Friends! Expect lots of laughs, giveaways, memorable characters and at least one Sweeps Week Wedding at our booth!

This weekend at APE marks our first-ever preview of The Devastator #2: Sci Fi. Our auspicious second volume is headlined by the talents of Adult Swim creators Jon Schnepp (“Metalocalpse,” Titmouse #1) and Angus Oblong (“The Oblongs”); and Ignatz Award-winner R. Sikoryak (Masterpiece Comics). The Devastator #2 will be available in stores and online December 1st.

Our house contributors hail from “The Simpsons,” “The Daily Show,” “Ugly Americans,”“Veronica’s Closet,” “Onion News Network,” Cracked.com, McSweeney’s, Drawn and Quarterly, DC Comics and BOOM! Studios.

We’re celebrating The Devastator’s first APE with awesome new stuff: Art prints from both books will be sold for the first time, and we’ll unveil The Devastator #2 cover, drawn by R. Sikoryak! Limited edition, APE-exclusive The Devastator #2 posters will be available as gifts with purchase Saturday, October 16th!

The Devastator is an independent publication founded in 2009 by Geoffrey Golden and Amanda Meadows, two comedy writer-editors from Los Angeles. Reading humor and comics as punk youths inspired them to bring back satire in print. (Also, staring at screens all day has given them Uromysitisis.) Now, The Devastator is available in more stores than ever. We’re carried everywhere from Meltdown in Los Angeles to Forbidden Planet in the UK! Check out devastatorquarterly.com/stores for a full list of retailers.

For more information, visit devastatorquarterly.com/about

Lovesick Robot Press

Lovesick Robot Press will have “homespun comics that don’t suck” at the show:

LOVESICK ROBOT PRESS: HOMESPUN COMICS THAT DON’T SUCK Six New Titles Debuting at the Alternative Press Expo

Lovesick Robot Press (LSR Press) is set to debut four new titles at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco on October 16 and 17th, 2010. They will be releasing Beware Brothers #1 by Pietro Norante; “Guys With Swords Vol. 2”, “YATTA!: A Chun Li fanzine”, and a book of astronaut illustrations set to Robert Browning’s “Child Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, all by Christopher MacDonald.

Most of these titles will be available both digitally and in print, with the digital releases being slated for December 2010. Special bonus content will be offered with the printed versions of these titles and the digital content will be available to read for free at the Lovesick Robot Press website. Lovesick Robot will also be selling related merchandise including original t-shirts, buttons, prints and sticker designs.

Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came illustrated by Christopher MacDonald – available October 2010!
Robert Browning wrote “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came” in 1855, taking the title from a song sung by Edgar in Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” This new interpretation of the 150 year old poem retells the tale using astronauts, outer space and asteroids as a visual aid.

YATTA!: A Chun Li fanzine by Christopher MacDonald – available October 2010!
Who loves Chun Li? Everybody loves Chun Li. This fanzine is a celebration of the beloved character who will forever be engrained in our generation’s childhood memory.

Beware Brothers Issue #1 by Pietro Norante – available October 2010!
Two brothers, minding their own business, when alluvasudden… robots attack! The Beware Brothers must use all of their cunning to create the tools to destroy the evil robots using nothing but garbage — can they do it before the world is destroyed?

Guys With Swords Vol. 2 by Christopher MacDonald – available October 2010!
For two years running, Christopher MacDonald has been depicting characters that are departure from what is “sexy” in mainstream gay culture. Guys With Swords Vol.2 is the year-two sketchbook collection of an under-represented perspective of the beauty in male sexuality.

EAT YOUR FUCKING VEGETABLES: Gardening and Cooking Tips from an Amateur Schmuck by Christopher MacDonald & Beki Parham – available October 2010!
“Gardening is the ultimate in hardcore bad-assery. And I’m not talking about flower gardens; fuck those. I like gardening because you can eat the result, and it’s good for you. It serves an important purpose, if you let it. So get ready, bitches. This is an attempt to crawl through all the bullshit and show you, the consumer, that it isn’t as hard and expensive as you thought. I am not an expert, and you don’t need to be. I speak from my own personal experience as a novice, slightly plant-retarded gardener.”

The Sinister Truth

A bit about “The Sinister Truth: MKULTRA”. A Cold War satire of the CIA’s mind control program of the ’50′s, this 102 page black-and-white graphic novel chronicles the clandestine agency’s attempts to “remove” Fidel Castro from power with a bungling Manchurian Candidate and an assortment of assassination equipment straight out of ACME: exploding cigars, poisoned wet suits and a plan to dose the dictator with LSD before he was to give a speech on live television. The CIA was also trying to make Castro’s beard fall out during the same broadcast. All of this lunacy is based on declassified documents sourced directly from the CIA courtesy of FOIA (some of the real smoking guns are included in the back of the book!).

The Bride

Artist George Webber will have his latest print at the show:

The Bride

“The Bride” is the latest Limited Edition Numbered Print by artist George Webber of No Cash Comics to be offered at this year’s APE Expo.
It’s well know that George is no stranger to Pin-up Girls, Monsters and Lowbrow Hot Rod art, as any one of his zines, sketch books or prints will prove.
But this year the defining lines of those genres are starting to blur more than ever and “The Bride” is the first in a series collector prints that will be a new high for the artist.

You can find George and his Prints and Comics at the No Cash Comics APE table #737

Sean Dietrich

Sean Dietrich will be at booth #738 with three new books:

I’m currently on tour from San Diego promoting my 3 new books ‘Bubbles from Atlantis’ (which debuted on Amazon.com at #3 in the South region), ‘I Brought the Gutter’ (my 180pg art book detailing over 700 live art shows I’ve done), and ‘The Fruits of Our Labor’, and will have copies of the books for purchase as well as prints, originals, shirts and sketches.

Cartoon Art Museum

San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum will host a party Saturday night at 8 p.m., featuring several APE special guests:

The Cartoon Art Museum hosts a fun-filled evening of Storytime! and Graphic Details on Saturday, October 16, 2010 from 8:00-11:00pm in celebration of the 2010 Alternative Press Expo (APE). Special guests include featured artists from the Cartoon Art Museum’s Storytime! exhibition Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy) and Raina Telgemeier (Smile!). Also appearing will be Amy Martin (The Single Girls), whose work appears in the current Small Press Spotlight. Popular syndicated cartoonist Keith Knight (The Knight Life, The K Chronicles), cartoonists Jon “Bean” Hastings (Smith Brown Jones: Alien Accountant, Haunted Mansion) and Rich Koslowski (Three Geeks, Geeksville), will also be in attendance. An updated list of party guests can be found at the Museum’s booth at the Alternative Press Expo. This party also celebrates the release of Keith Knight’s new Knight Life book, Chivalry Ain’t Dead.

Admission for the event is on a sliding scale, from $5 to $20, with guests encouraged to donate whatever they can to support the Cartoon Art Museum.

All proceeds from this reception will benefit The Cartoon Art Museum, a non-profit educational museum dedicated to the collection, preservation and display of original cartoon art in all its forms.

Alternative Press Expo

As Graeme mentioned earlier today, the Alternative Press Expo is coming up this weekend in San Francisco. The show runs Saturday and Sunday at the Concourse on 8th Street. This year’s special guests include Daniel Clowes, Lynda Barry, Renee French, Rich Koslowski and several more. In addition to an exhibitor’s room packed with comics, they also have a full programming slate and even a “speed dating” event to help writers find artists (and vice versa).

Over the next couple days, I’ll be posting what various companies and creators have planned for the show; you can find a few of them below. If you’d like to be included, email me the details on where you’ll be, what you’ll be selling and all that good stuff.

AdHouse Books

AdHouse returns to APE after a several year hiatus, bringing copies of Duncan the Wonder Dog, among others:

Duncan the Wonder Dog

We’ll be tabling with our good bud Scott Morse. So, look for us in the 33o area. Also, Adam Hines will be making his first APE appearance. Swing by and see why PWComicsWeek has said Duncan the Wonder Dog is their pick for book of the year.

We’ll have exactly ONE advance copy of the new Josh Cotter book Babs in the Sky with Neil Diamonds for people to peruse.

We’ll have just a few of the NoBrow editions with us. Our good bud’s at Last Gasp are also a distributor, so I’m sure they’ll have lots as well.

Top Shelf

Leigh Walton sends details on what Top Shelf Productions has planned for the show, which includes a new Dodgem Logic:

BB Wolf and the Three LPs

At Top Shelf, Brett Warnock and I will be hosting these fine folks:

–Renee French, guest of honor (we will have The Ticking and Micrographica)
–Rich Koslowski, guest of honor who drew the APE poster art! (we will have all his books including the buzzed-about new one BB Wolf & the 3 LPs and a new edition of his first Top Shelf book Three Fingers, plus copies of The King)
–JD Arnold, writer of BB Wolf & the 3 LPs with art by Rich. Also a Northern California comic retailer himself, at Comicopolis in Santa Cruz!

As well as all our great recent releases like Will Dinski’s Fingerprints, the underground Japanese comics anthology Ax, and Alan Moore’s Dodgem Logic magazine.

That includes the brand spankin’ new Dodgem Logic #5.

Fantagraphics

Mike Baehr and Janice Headley will be at the Fantagraphics table, where you can pick up Tony Millionaire’s Little Maakies on the Prairie and Mome Vol. 20:

You can find us at tables 113-116 (a different location than the past couple of years, for you APE vets out there). Myself and our Ambassador of Awesomeness Janice Headley will be staffing the table. Our signing and panel schedule is as follows:

Saturday:

12:00 – 1:00PM Spotlight on Megan Kelso, moderated by Marc Weidenbaum
1:00 – 3:00PM Megan Kelso booth signing
3:00 – 5:00PM Tony Millionaire booth signing
5:00 – 6:00PM Spotlight on Tony Millionaire, moderated by Renée French

Sunday:

1:00 – 3:00PM Tony Millionaire booth signing
2:00 – 3:00PM Art of Storytelling panel with Megan Kelso
3:00 – 5:00PM Megan Kelso booth signing

We’ll be debuting Tony’s new Maakies collection Little Maakies on the Prairie, and we’ll have pre-release copies of Adele Blanc-Sec Vol. 1 by Jacques Tardi, Dave Cooper’s Bent, and Mome Vol. 20. We’ll have plenty of Dan Clowes books you can buy and take over to the D&Q table to get signed, too. Hope to see you there!

Drawn + Quarterly

D+Q will be on hand with copies of Acme Novelty Library #20 (which I hear is pretty good) and much more:

Acme Novelty Library #20 by Chris Ware

This weekend in San Francisco, D+Q will exhibit at the Alternative Press Expo in SF, 10/16 & 10/17, at booth 222. Vanessa Davis, Dan Clowes and Lynda Barry will be signing! Lynda will be debuting her new book PICTURE THIS. Dan and Lynda have spotlight panels on Saturday and not Dan will NOT be at APE on Sunday.

New books include Lynda Barry’s PICTURE THIS, Brecht Evens’ WRONG PLACE, Tove Jansson’s WHO WILL COMFORT TOFFLE, Doug Wright’s NIPPER and Chris Ware’s ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY #20.

Saturday
1:00-3:00 Vanessa Davis Signing
2:00-3:00 Spotlight on Dan Clowes, questions by Picture Box and Comics Comics’ Dan Nadel
3:00-5:00 Dan Clowes Signing
4:00-5:00 Spotlight on Lynda Barry, with Picture This slide show!
5:00-7:00 Lynda Barry Signing

Sunday
1:00-3:00 Vanessa Davis Signing
2:00-3:00 Art of Storytelling panel with Lynda Barry & others
3:00-5:00 Lynda Barry signing

Writers Old Fashioned

Writers Old Fashioned

Writers Old Fashioned, the comic book guild that includes Jason McNamara, Matt Silady, STORM and several others, will be on hand selling their wares, hosting two panels and providing Heroic Tarot readings:

Come visit us at Table#224 to check out our wares and get an award winning Heroic Tarot reading from STORM (Sat. 1-3/Sun. 3-6)! Join us for a Comics Demo at 6pm on Saturday and attend our first ever Writers Old Fashioned panel at 12pm on Sunday! Here’s what the official APE solicit has to say:

12:00-1:00 Writer’s Old Fashioned—The Writer’s Old Fashioned group is the latest in a long line of illustrious San Francisco–based comics movements and is proving to be one of the most dynamic. Originally a small group of comics writers who began meeting in 2006 to exchange ideas, provide feedback, and imbibe a few drinks, WOF has expanded to include some cartoonists, comics illustrators, and even teetotalers. Moderator Justin Hall (Glamazonia) will grill Kirsten Baldock (Smoke and Guns), Stephenny Godfrey (Panorama), Jason McNamara (Martian Confederacy), Matt Silady (The Homeless Channel), Emily Stackhouse (Brazilia Noir), and Storm (Princess Witch Boy) about their creative endeavors and drinking habits.

Isotope Comics

APE Aftermath

James Sime and Isotope Comics will host their annual APE Aftermath party, featuring the 8th annual Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics ceremony. The party kicks off at 8 p.m. Saturday night:

It’s the party you’ve been waiting all year for! In celebration of the Alternative Press Expo it’s our biggest… our best… and our favorite event of the year with the return of DJ Bearzbub and also Top Shelf Productions publisher Brett Warnock’s for the Top Shelf Happy Hour. We’re sure to be packing the house to the rafters and beyond with cool comic lovin’ folks again!

Of course the highlight of the weekend can be none other than APE AFTERMATH’s 8th annual Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics ceremony at 10pm. Who will take home the most dangerous trophy in comics this year?!

APE 2010 poster (art by Rich Koslowski)

Aspiring creators will get some help with an age-old question — how do you find a collaborator? — at the Alternative Press Expo, held Oct. 16-17 in San Francisco.

Organizers have announced a Comics Collaboration Connection which, in speed-dating fashion, will allow writers and artists to talk one-on-one in 15-minute rotations about their ideas and talents. Those interested in taking the creative relationship to the next step can place their contact information in an envelope supplied for each participant.

The initiative will be split into two sessions of two hours each: From 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 16, writers will be stationed at large tables while the artists rotate; from 3 to 5 p.m. on Oct. 17, the roles will be reversed.

Those interested in participating may register in advance by emailing programs@comic-con.org with “APE Comics Collaboration Connection” in the subject line. You’re asked to indicate whether you’re a writer seeking an artist or an artist seeking a writer.

Don't you forget about me ...

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and ComicsAlliance have teamed up to raise money for the charity with a new art auction/exhibit called The Monsters Project. Right now they’re collecting monster-themed artwork, with plans to auction it off on eBay and at the Alternative Press Expo Oct. 16-17. Details on contributing can be found over on ComicsAlliance.

Todd McFarlane

Legal | A federal judge in Madison, Wisconsin, will hear arguments today regarding Neil Gaiman’s claim that Todd McFarlane owes him money for his copyright interests in three characters — Dark Ages Spawn, Domina and Tiffany — that he says are derivatives of their earlier creations Medieval Spawn, Angela and Count Nicholas Cogliostro.

“Our view is McFarlane just took some of the characters Neil was a co-creator of and just gave them different names,” Gaiman’s attorney Allen Arntsen told The Associated Press. “It’s a matter of principle.” In court filings, McFarlane attorney James Alex Grimsley denied Gaiman has any rights to the three additional characters, claiming they’re not based on the earlier creations. [The Associated Press]

One Piece, Vol. 27

Legal | A 14-year-old in Nagoya, Japan, has been arrested for allegedly distributing  One Piece, Naruto and other manga on YouTube before the titles’ release dates. The teen is accused of photographing the books page by page and uploading them as slide shows between Dec. 22, 2009, and Feb. 9, 2010, then announcing on Twitter what he’d done. Police are investigating how the boy obtained the manga before release. [Anime News Network, TG Daily]

Legal | The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly has voted down a controversial proposal to tighten regulations on the sexual depictions of minors in manga, anime and video games. [The Mainichi Daily News]

Publishing | Ka-Ming Cha provides a snapshot of the U.S. manga market, with a focus on digital piracy. [Publishers Weekly]

Parker: The Hunter

Publishing | IDW Publishing has released Darwyn Cooke’s acclaimed adaptation of Parker: The Hunter as its first original graphic novel available on iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. [Hero Complex]

Comic strips | The Honolulu Star-Advertiser has actually expanded its Sunday comics section. Among the additions is Deb Aoki’s Bento Box. [Star-Advertiser]

Awards | Tuesday is the deadline for comics professionals to vote online for the 2010 Eisner Awards. [Eisner Awards]

Conventions | Tirdad Derakhshani and Kelly Rowles report on this weekend’s Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con. [Philadelphia Comic Con]

Conventions | A video report from the second annual Cherry Capital Con in Traverse City, Michigan. [9&10News.com]

Conventions | This weekend’s Screaming Tiki Comics, Toy & Pop Culture Convention in Niles, Ohio, is spotlighted. [Valley24.com]

Lynda Barry

Conventions | The Alternative Press Expo, held Oct. 16-17 in San Francisco, has announced four special guests: Lynda Barry, Daniel Clowes, Rich Koslowski and Tony Millionaire. [Alternative Press Expo]

Creators | Rachel Cooke profiles Daniel Clowes. [Guardian]

Creators | Snow Wildsmith interviews Dave McDonald and Andy Runton. [Good Comics for Kids]

Creators | College student and aspiring comics creator Jason Salas talks about his five-week summer internship at MAD Magazine. [Las Cruces Sun-News]

Politics | Japan’s new national policy minister, Satoshi Arai, said he regrets his now-defunct political organization reported comic-book purchases as official expenses. [The Mainichi Daily News]

Color separation page from 'Akira'

Looking over the new Kodansha version of Vol. 1 of Akira (which, I’m sorry to say, is little more than the Dark Horse version on cheaper paper and the word Kodansha on the spine), I realized how much I appreciated colorist Steve Oliff’s work on the series when it was initially serialized by Epic, Marvel Comics’ fancy-shmancy line, back in the late ’80s and early 90s. I think it’s one of the few instances where an already great body of work was actually improved upon in translation.

I’m not the only one, as Ryan Sands at Same Hat! is a big fan of Oliff’s work as well. Apparently, Oliff was at APE last weekend selling the color reproduction pages to interested parties, and Sands shares a few pages on his blog.

If you want to know more about Oliff and his work, by the way, check out this interview with Frank Santoro, and this interview by Oliff about his experiences coloring Akira.

Oliff also was featured recently in his local newspaper, the Independent Coast Observer, in a non-comics, rather tragic fashion. According to the story, Oliff came upon a deadly car accident in Manchester, near San Francisco, and attempted to pull the driver from the crash but was unable to do so before the man died.

Hellboy

Artist Scott Morse shares on his blog several commissions he did at APE last weekend, including this one of Hellboy.

Jamaica Dyer's APE comic

Over at her blog, Weird Fishes creator Jamaica Dyer shares a report from this weekend’s Alternative Press Expo in the form of a comic. The comic covers Saturday, and she says Sunday is coming soon … and not to spoil the Sunday one, but I hear that Weird Fishes sold out at the show.

Some of my APE purchases

I probably spent more at the Alternative Press Expo this year than I have in previous years. It’s probably my favorite show of the ones I’ve been hitting regularly since moving to California a few years back, if only because at just about every single table in the place you have the opportunity to discover a comic you’ve never seen before. Although living in the Bay Area I have access to shops that not only carry independent stuff, but in some cases also have minicomics, it’s nice to have a venue like this where you can find such a wide range of books and talk to the creators directly.

So here’s what I came home with …

Heirophany by Rebecca “Bex” Freund: Bex is a student at the California College of Arts in San Francisco; her instructor, Matt Silady, introduced me to her. She has the distinction of being the first student at the school to have one of their comics appear in the school’s literary journal, which she had on hand, along with a huge 11 by 17 version of the story that she was selling. It’s a dreamlike, surreal horror story; one of the coolest sequences in the book has the main character getting yelled at by his boss, and the boss is represented by a body with a television for a head. Each panel featuring the TV has a different set of lips that appear to be yelling at the character, with no dialogue … Bex is deaf, and Matt said that’s what people look like to her when they’re talking. Overall it’s nicely done and kind of disturbing … I hope to see more from her in the future.

Carnivale: A Kit Kaleidoscope Story by Nick Mullins: I bought all three of Nick Mullins’ wordless mincomics set in New Orleans. I glanced at them as I was walking by his table and the art really jumped out at me. I haven’t had a chance to dive into them yet, but you can check them out online.

Karaoke Comics #1 by Russ Kazmierczak: This is a really fun minicomic about the author’s love of karaoke, which apparently came about after being bitten by a radioactive Michael Bolton CD (among other theories). It chronicles a couple of awkward moments he’s experienced at karaoke bars. It’s fairly short; the comics take up six pages, plus he reviews The Mint, a San Francisco karaoke bar. It’s a fun concept that I bet he could do a lot more with, both in terms of fleshing out the two stories here and adding some others.

Whirlwind Wonderland by Rina Ayuyang: This one, I believe debuted at the show; published by Sparkplug and Tugboat Pres, it collects several stories that have appeared elsewhere. Another one I haven’t had time to read yet, but I bought it based on Ayuyang’s work in A Girls’ Guide to Guy’s Stuff.

Dog and Mouse by Marian Churchland: You might recognize Marian Churchland’s name from the recent Elephantman arc she did, or from her upcoming graphic novel from Image, Beast, which I also picked up at the show. She only had 15 copies of Dog and Mouse, and each came wrapped in tissue paper for protection. I haven’t actually gotten up the nerve to open it yet; it’s very delicate, I guess is the right term, and I’m afraid of hurting it when I take it apart to get to the story. Soon, though, I’ll work up to it.

North Country by Shane White: White was on hand mainly to sell his newest book, Things Undone by NBM, but he also had copies of North Country, which NBM published in 2005. I read Things Undone last Friday night and really dug it, so I added this one to my buy list when I realized he was going to be there. I haven’t read North Country yet, but it looks like a very different book from Things Undone, at least in terms of artistic style. White said that the two books are part of a trilogy, with NC being the first book and Undone being the third, and both are based on his own personal experiences. He said the second part of the trilogy he’s being very careful with, as it’s about a time in his life and people he really respects, and he wants to make sure he gets them right.

Princess Witch Boy by Storm: I put this after my North Country write-up on purpose, as it shares a similar trait to White’s Things Undone book — both use the fantastic to tell very personal stories. In Things Undone, which a lot of people probably think is a zombie story based on the cover and the press leading up to it, White is telling a semi-autobiographical tale that uses a zombie metaphor to show how the main character is basically falling apart in both his work life and personal life. Princess Witch Boy, subtitled “A Fantasy Memoir,” is about a boy who, at least in his head, can shape shift into various female forms — a princess, a djinn, a supermodel sorceress — to escape from the real world. This first minicomic is pretty much the set up, a glimpse at a bigger story; Storm said he plans to make the next issue longer than the 16 we have here. But he does some nice things here, particularly on the first page, which is a text piece called “Sissy” that lists “advice” on how to be more manly — don’t play with dolls, make a fist when you check your watch, etc. It does feel like we’re only getting a small piece of what this will ultimately be, but I’m looking forward to seeing what it turns into.

Anthology Anthology by Jon Adams: Jon Adams is the mad genius behind Truth Serum, which you can read for free on the web. This is a collection of strips that appeared in various anthologies he’s contributed to (hence the title). I find these all very funny … my favorite in this collection is probably the one about two stormtroopers who discover Darth Vader’s secret journal and read it in the breakroom over lunch.

Comic Diorama by Grant Reynolds: Another one I haven’t had time to read yet; this one is a collection of short stories published by Top Shelf. I believe it comes out this Wednesday.

Dogtown, Book One by Brent Otey: Another one I haven’t read yet; it’s a mash-up of anthropomorphic animals, the Old West and science fiction, so you have a dog sheriff riding around on some sort of hoverbike. But a couple of things I like about it: first up, the art is really nice, esp. the full color cover, and second, it contains some fun “back matter” in the forms of classified ads and a map of the world where this is set. What I don’t like is the printing; I don’t know exactly what’s off about it, but the word balloons are harder to read than they should be. But I won’t let that stop me from reading it …