small press
APE ’09 | A few more items to add to your shopping list …
The Alternative Press Expo, or APE, kicks off at 11 a.m. tomorrow at The Concourse in San Francisco. Here are a few more updates that I almost missed thanks to an overzealous spam filter … my apologies for not getting these up earlier.
First up is Lee Post, an illustrator who is traveling down here to the Bay Area all the way from Anchorage, Alaska — the land of “Sarah Palin, meth shacks, and aerial elk-massacres,” he said in his email.
“My friend Pat Race and I will be coming down from Alaska to take part this year at booth #549,” Post writes. “I’ve been down the last four years, hanging out with Jon Adams of Truth Serum fame, but I’ve finally made the jump to booth owner this year.”
Post will be selling The Best of Your Square Life as well as a new mini-comic he did for 24 Hour Comics Day called In Alaska Everyone Has a Beard. He’ll also have this APE-themed print:
Post says that Race is an illustrator from Juneau and is part of the collective Alaska Robotics, who do webcomics, T-shirts, and video shorts, one of which was recently featured on BoingBoing.
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Dogtown
Next up is Russ Kazmierczak, Jr. of K.O. Comix, who you can find at table 510. They’ll have the self-published Dog Town by Brent Otey, a post-apocalyptic dogs vs. cats western sci-fi epic, and Karaoke Comics #1 by Kazmierczak, an anthology featuring fictional and biographical tales inspired by karaoke — both hot off the press! Their usual assortment of superhero comics and fanzines will be available, too. Russ has more info on other stuff he’ll have on hand at his blog.
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And finally, I mentioned the other day that Jamaica Dyer is a special guest and will be hanging out at the SLG table, but she sent over a few more details on what she’ll be up to …
I saw your post about APE, and wanted to say hi! I’ve been going to APE for about 7 years (a wee teenager when I started) sharing tables with friends to sell my mini-comics. This year is super exciting because my first graphic novel is coming out! I’ll be at the Slave Labor booth signing copies of the book fresh-off-the-press and have some home-made wallets and art prints, I’m on a few panels, and I’m a special guest. Very exciting!
I think her email probably encapsulates everything I love about APE — folks making comics with their friends who go on to be one of the show’s special guests.
Here’s the trailer for her new book, Weird Fishes, which you can buy at the show tomorrow:
MoCCA Art Festival moves to April; Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Fest announced
MoCCA 2009
The Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art has announced that its annual MoCCA Art Festival has been moved from its usual summer-months perch in June to the weekend of April 10-11 for 2010. Founded in 2002, the Manhattan-based MoCCA (which, like Frankenstein’s monster, has taken on the name of its creator in the popular parlance) quickly became one of the highlights of the alternative/indie/small press convention circuit, drawing on New York City’s large number of local comics creators and thriving population of arts-interested consumers to cement its place alongside such venerable shows as SPX and APE.
Last summer’s MoCCA spurred a host of complaints about the event’s disorganization and the oppressive heat in its unairconditioned new venue, the 69th Regiment Armory at 68 Lexington Ave. A move to the comparatively temperate month of April, coupled with a year of Armory experience under the MoCCA organization’s collective belt, could go a long way toward remedying those problems. (The cost of a table will likely remain a sore spot, though.) Moreover, given its location in the media capital of the world and its appeal for the graphic-novel wings of major New York publishers (heck, even DC’s Vertigo imprint exhibits at the show), moving MoCCA out of the increasingly crowded and competitive summer-fall convention season makes may make it easier for the show to maintain an identity as a major-minor player in the con circuit vis a vis those exhibitors and audiences (although the spring is hardly less crowded at this point).
Meanwhile, the NYC small press scene’s bustling Brooklyn-based subset now has a show to call its own: The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Fest. Overseen by two of the Borough of Kings’ altcomix anchors, retailer Desert Island and publisher PictureBox Inc., the con will take place on December 5th at Our Lady of Consolation Church (184 Metropolitan Ave.) in the decade-defining hipster enclave of Williamsburg. Charles Burns, Kim Deitch, Ben Katchor, Michael Kupperman, Gary Panter, Dash Shaw, Jillian Tamaki, Matthew Thurber, and Lauren Weinstein are listed as featured guests, and admission is free. With that December date, we’re guessing a lack of air conditioning won’t be an issue…
(Hat tips: Tom Spurgeon and Heidi MacDonald)
APE is coming
APE Aftermath
The Alternative Press Expo, or APE, will take place the weekend of Oct. 17-18 at The Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco. Next week I plan to put together a preview post or two, so if you’re exhibiting, please feel free to send me information on your plans — what you’ll be selling, where you’ll be … that sort of stuff.
Also, if you’re going to APE and looking for something to do before the show starts or after hours on Saturday, Isotope Comics on Fell Street has events planned both Friday and Saturday night. APE special guest Dean Haspiel will sign copies of the ACT-I-VATE Primer at the store on Friday, while Saturday brings the annual APE Aftermath party and the presentation of the Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics. Add’em to your calendar!
ComicsLive | A guide to upcoming comic-related events
Welcome once again to ComicsLive, a guide to upcoming signings, conventions and other comic-related events. Information on submitting your event can be found at the bottom of this post.
Today
Cleveland | Claudio Sanchez of the band Coheed and Cambria and writer of Amory Wars and the upcoming Kill Audio will sign at Carol & John’s Comic Book Shop from 2 to 3 p.m.
Los Angeles | Nick Simmons will sign copies of Incarnate #1 at Golden Apple Comics from 1 to 3 p.m.
Ojai, Calif. | Opening reception for the Sergio Aragones art exhibit at the Ojai Valley Museum. This event is sold out, but the art exhibit runs through Oct. 4.
Orlando | The Mini MegaCon kicks off at 10 .m. and runs through Sunday. Guests include Darwyn Cooke, Jeff Parker, Chuck Dixon, Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Dick Giordano and many more.
Pittsfield, Mass. | The Storefront Artist Project hosts Todd Dezago from noon to 2 p.m. for a class on “Story Structure and the Language of Comics,” followed by a signing at 3p.m. by Howard Cruse.
San Francisco | The San Francisco Zine Fest kicks off at 11 a.m. and runs through tomorrow at the County Fair Building.
ComicsLive | A guide to next week’s comic-related events
Welcome to ComicsLive, a guide to upcoming signings, conventions and more. If you’d like to submit an event for inclusion, please email them directly to me. Please include the venue, city and state, start time, event details and any related websites where we can send folks for more information. Virtual events, like online creator chats, are also welcome.
Friday, July 3
Bloomington, Minn | CONvergence — “a celebration of the funny side of science fiction and fantasy” — continues through Sunday and will have Dwayne McDuffie and the Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew as its special guests, among others. More details can be found here.
Brooklyn, NY | The comic shop Rocketship will host a release party for local artist Adam Suerte’s latest comic, starting at 8 p.m. Details here.
White River Junction, Vermont | First Friday Book Release party, with four new books debuting by Colleen Frakes, Denis St. John, Morgan Pielli and Jen Vaughn at Revolution. Details here.
This weekend, it’s SPACE in Ohio
SPACE
This coming weekend the Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo, or SPACE, blasts off at the Aladdin Shrine Complex in Columbus, Ohio. Admission is $5 a day or $8 for both Saturday and Sunday.
About 150 indie creators will be on hand to sell their comics and original art, including Eisner nominee Nate Powell (Swallow Me Whole), Ryan Claytor (And Then One Day), Jay Hosler (Optical Allusions) and Matt Feazell (Cynicalman). On Saturday, Carol Tyler (Late Bloomer, Weirdo) will display some of her work from her upcoming book You’ll Never Know Book One: A Good and Decent Man. The Ohio State University Cartoon Library and Museum will host a reception on Friday night to kick off the weekend and will feature original artwork from Bill Watterson, Jeff Smith and P. Craig Russell.
For more information on panels and other events related to th show, check out the official SPACE blog.
