Oly Comics Fest

Ah, the comic convention. The phrase brings to mind so many images: sweaty middle-aged men in superhero logo shirts selling longboxes full of meticulously bagged comic books, lines of fans with stacks of books waiting to be signed (and later sold on eBay), young women paid to dress up in Wonder Woman suits and entice the throngs of passersby into booths of collectibles…

Unfair preconceptions, perhaps, but not without a grain of truth. In a hobby that’s increasingly the province of long-time fans and companies trying their hands and multimedia cross-promotion in the worlds of Hollywood and video games, the large conventions must obviously reflect these trends.

The exceptions, and the respite from superhero monoculture, come from smaller conventions, the ones oriented not at the so-called mainstream of the hobby, but the ones that elevate artistry above commerce and celebrate the craft as opposed to it’s marketing.

Enter Olympia Comics Festival. You could not ask for a more grassroots, diverse, non-commercial (to the degree that any convention can be) event. You probably couldn’t ask for a smaller event, either. Hosted by Olympia’s Danger Room Comics, the May 20th festival encompassed events at several venues in downtown Olympia.

The festival kicked off with a stage show at the Capitol Theatre. We arrived a little bit late, but still managed to catch most of it. We walked in in the middle of a slideshow, featuring the event hosts (the staff of Danger Room) narrating a slideshow of panels from typically silly Golden Age DC Comics stories. This segment included dramatic readings of the tale of Batman Jones and a story about Jimmy Olsen trying to eat a submarine.

Next up was, for us at least, one of the main events. Guests of honor Jessica Abel and Matt Madden did a Q&A session with the event’s MC, talking about everything from their recent books (La Perdida and 99 Ways To Tell A Story, respectively), the process of getting those books published, and their current work as teachers and textbook authors.

The main stage show was rounded out by a series of sketches based on the idea of a “comic book news show” (ranging from amusing to perplexing, with the overall air of a middle school talent show), and a comic character impersonation contest, with attendees giving their best versions of Mary Jane Watson, Charlie Brown, any Adrian Tomine character, etc, etc.

We took a lunch break at Cafe La Voyeur, an excellent lunch spot and bar with a healthy selection of vegan food, and made our way back to the Olympia Center, where the artist’s expo portion of the festival took place. I can safely say that this was one of the smallest events I’ve attended. The entire expo consisted of a ring of tables around the outside of the room, and a half-dozen tables clustered in the center. The entire place was slightly larger than a high school classroom. Not that this was a bad thing, though. After feeling overwhelmed at the constantly expanding APE convention, an event of this size was sort of refreshing. It made it possible to get a good look at every table and chat with any of the attendants without feeling like you missed out on anything, or overlooked anybody you were interested in.

The biggest “name” there, other than the guests of honor, was Roberta Gregory, of Naughty Bits fame, but most of the cartoonists represented there were part of the burgeoning minicomics scene, and most of the material for sale was small-run, photocopied, or hand-printed type of works. I ended up spending around $20 and walked away with a few minis of varying sizes and prices, from the $3 Hate Me gag book by Jonathon David Hanh Vu Hill, to the $6 book Paralysis, by Hellen Jo.

We ended up leaving after a shopping trip at event sponsor Danger Room Comics, due to an onset of inexplicable exhaustion. This meant we had to skip out on the panel discussion, signing, and other events later that afternoon. But it was a worthwhile trip, and very healthy to see an small event like this, focused on the type of work that most people will never see. It’s sort of encouraging to know that there are people out there making events like this happen, and attending them, and getting excited about stapled and photocopied books of cartoons.

APE 2K6: In Text

Wow, what a whirlwind weekend.

(quick note: make sure you check the previous post for APE photos and celebrity comics blogger cameos!)

Our trip began shortly after we both got off work on Friday, as we scrambled to grab dinner and dash to the airport for our 8:45 flight to Oakland, CA. We used a park-n-fly service in Seatac, and the shuttle driver who took us to the airport shared the following joke with us after noticing my “Defoliate Bush” bumper sticker:

So there’s this little girl, and her cat just had a litter of kittens. She has a bunch of her friends over to show them the kittens, and after all the oohing and aahing, the little girl proudly proclaims “..and they’re all Republicans!”

Now her father, overhearing this, thinks it rather odd. But knowing children pick up odd little bits and pieces, he doesn’t think to much of it.

A few weeks later, the little girl has another batch of friends over to show off the kittens, and her father is confused to hear her announce that “..they’re all Democrats!” So this time, he asks his daughter, “But honey, didn’t you tell your friends a few weeks ago that the kittens were all Republicans?”

and the little girl replies “Yes, Daddy, but now their eyes are OPEN!”

Anyhow. A small tangent. But the flight was uneventful, and we arrived in Petaluma late Friday night, then headed down to the Concourse in San Francisco just in time for the doors to open at the Convention.

Our first stop was Coldcut distribution’s table. They have an indie comics ding-and-dent box every year at APE, where they sell slightly damaged books and pamphlets for $8 a pound. It’s usually a good place to get good deals, and this year was no exception. They had some old self-publish Paul Pope books, a copy of Locas, Paul Hornschmeier’s Collected Sequential, and almost complete runs of Demo and Rare Bit Fiends, among plenty of other goodies.

From there we wandered around the convention center for a while, taking in the sights and taking note of places we would want to stop at some point during the day.

How to even recap this? There were so many highlights during the day. The Top Shelf table was a great place to start, with Jennifer Daydreamer, Aaron Renier, Liz Prince, Jeffrey Brown, and Renee French all in one long line. I noticed the Papercutter #2 postcard on Liz Prince’s table, and she told us that she didn’t have copies, but that Tugboat Press had them, around the corner. So we headed off to Tugboat’s table to get copies for Liz to sign, and had a nice little conversation with Greg Beans from Tugboat. We talked about Emerald City Comicon, Seattle, Confounded Books, Stumptown, the state of comics retail, and future plans for his quarterly anthology title Papercutter. Greg may be one of the nicest, genuinely enthusiastic people we met there that day.

Not that enthusiasm was in short supply. The convention hall seemed a little less crowded than previous years, and there was certainly a little less bumping into people and squeezing through crowds. Not that attendance was sparse, just a little more comfortable for the size of the venue. There was a pretty outgoing atmosphere, and it was hard not to get caught up in the enthusiastic spirit that most of the artist brought to the event. I picked up quite a few minis and books by artists I’d never heard of before, like Joseph Bergin’s clever Death FAQ and Fistman minis, from Say Uncle Comics. Or Vasilis Lolo’s Hats mini and his Nebuli collaboration with Becky Cloonan. Or Tomasz Kaczynski’s Transalaska and Transsiberia books (beautifully screenprinted and wrapped with a vellum band) Or Robert Ullman’s Atom Bomb Bikini series of salaciously cute sketch pamphlets.

And of course, there were plenty of people there whose work I was very familiar with. I was happy to see that Anders Nilsen and Drawn & Quarterly both had copies of the Big Questions books I had missed, and Anders also had a book called Sisyphus, which I hadn’t heard of before. He’s one of my favorite artists these days, but I didn’t work up the nerve to ask him for a sketch until later on…

Kaz Strzepek, who I recently blogged about, had a book called Spaz, collecting two years worth of gut-wrenchingly hilarious comics about problem roommates and the ultimate in nerdy sexual fantasies. Like his previous Mourning Star minis, this book has a two color screened cover, and is bound with a matching, hand tied thread. Pure quality.

And then there was James Jean, signing copies of his amazing artbook, Process Recess, over at the Adhouse Books table. He whipped up a simple and evocative sketch on the inside cover in a matter of seconds it seemed. That man just oozes talent, and perusing his book only confirms that.

Derek Kirk Kim showed up later in the afternoon, with a stack of Lowbright minis so new, he hadn’t even finished binding them. He just whipped out an exacto, some patterned packing tape, and a cutting mat and went to work right there. He was so on the ball, he even caught someone accidentally giving him a twenty and two ones for a three dollar poster, much to that customer’s gratitude.

We were there for hours, and probably circled the convention floor a dozen times or more, but eventually, we took a break for dinner with some old friends, before heading over to the Mome book signing/after party at the Giant Robot store off of Haight Street. It was a pretty popular destination, but it was funny to walk in and see Jeffrey Brown, Gabrielle Bell, and Anders Nilsen trapped behind a table piled with copies of Mome, while everybody circled the piles of regular Giant Robot merchandise. I almost got the impression that they were there as a window display. At this point, I finally had Anders sign and sketch in my copy of Dogs & Water (which I’d picked up at the ding and dent box earlier). He put a lot time into a meticulously detailed drawing of abandoned socks, a boot, and a glass of water, while we talked briefly about Seattle and Big Questions. The after party was pretty well attended by other artists too. I spotted Aaron Renier, Kaz Strzepek, and Robyn Chapman, among others.

Bah! It’s all such a blur now, two days later, and mixed in with reunions with California friends. That’s probably the best re-cap I can put together now, even though there’s a ton of things left out. I ended up with a stack of books, comics, and minis over a foot high, many of them customized with sketches. Maybe I can get around to posting a few of the cooler ones…but then again I feel stretched thing these days as it is, what with another trip this weekend and several music/design projects in the works. All I can say for sure is, I can’t wait for next year…

APE: The Photo Post

SUCCESSLESS GOES APE!

Partially because I am lazy and partially because I am responsible for most of these photos, I’m responsible for the photos from APE. A word of warning: a large majority of these are blurry because we are sorta shy and didn’t want people to know we were taking photographs. Either way, we hope you enjoy!

From the radtacular Top Shelf Table from left to right: Jennifer Daydreamer, Aaron Reiner, Liz Prince (who seems to be checking Dylan out), and a shy Jeffrey Brown.

Becky Cloonan and Vasilis Lolos have got to be the most hardcore comic couple out there. They had a joint project on their table Nebuli, which looks awesome and he also helped her out on East Coast Rising

Next, we ran into Sophie of Gumpop and her friend. Too bad the guy we asked to take our picture is a bad with this camera as I am.

While waiting with Dylan for James Jean, I recognized Ian from
Brill Building and I awkwardly initiated an introduction. He is as intimidatingly smart and funny in person as I thought he would be. He also later introduced us to Graeme from Fanboy Rampage. Awesome comic blogger fun!

If you can make it out, which I doubt you can, here we have a lovely Derek Kirk Kim handbinding a delightful mini appropriately named Lowbright. He’s so rad. Enough said.

After a couple double-takes, I got so fangirly from seeing two of my absolute favorite cartoonists together that I made Dylan take this. Not too shortly after this was taken Dan Clowes pushed his son in his stroller. I think I got a little chocked up.

The floor starts to clear as the day winds down.

And Dylan tries unsuccessfully to mate with his Tomasz Kaczynski minis. I throw a fit and shread them to pieces.

I’m totally kidding.

Then we head over to the Giant Robot/MOME After Party Signing thing….

Dylan plays it cool while I try not using the flash some more. Why didn’t I learn my lesson? Why God, why?

An indie comic lovers dream team courtesy of MOME: Jeffrey Brown, Gabrielle Bell, and Anders Nilsen.

The crowd vies for the trio’s attention in the laid-back way the hipster set of the West Coast can offer.

Anders smiles pretty for me while Dylan tries his hardest to stifle his excitement for the amazing sketch Anders did for him.

Smiles all around

Remember where I kept going on and on about Jessica Abel being so awesome? Well apparently there is some cosmic favor being bestowed on me in the highly prized form of a nerdfest.

Olympia. Comics. Festival.

Fuck yeah, I’m so there.

And in other nerdfest news, Dylan and I are flying back to our former stomping grounds to get our APE on. We both had a blast last year and I am more prepared for the total monetary liquidation that will occur. It will be a short, expensive trip but it will kick so much ass it will be so worth it.

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