Two weeks ago I got on a plane with Max Young headed for Portland, OR to attend our very first Stumptown Comics Fest. It was the first time either of us had been to Portland, so we left a few days early so we could check out the city. Let me tell you guys – Portland is amazing! We had such a good time there and everyone was incredibly friendly.

The journey out there pretty crazy – we left Savannah at midnight and made the 3.5 hour drive up to the airport in Atlanta. Two planes and a short layover in Denver later, and we landed in Oregon. But there was no time to sleep then! We only had a couple hours before an appointment at Oni Press, so we checked into the hotel and ran upstairs to make ourselves look halfway respectable. We took a cab over to Oni where Editor-in-Chief James Lucas Jones was kind enough to give us a tour of their space and take a look at our portfolios. It was really nice of him to take the time to do that, and we both got some good feedback and had a terrific time.

Afterwards we walked over to the Green Dragon Bistro and Brewpub to finally get a real meal and have a couple beers. I’m glad we went, because on top of trying some excellent beer, we also had a waitress who gave us tons of recommendations of places to check out around the city. We hit up several of them and they did not disappoint.

The next day we got up early to  have brunch downtown before going over to Periscope Studio. Periscope seemed like an awesome workspace, full of a diverse range of cartoonists and illustrators who were all very welcoming to us. We were given a tour of the space, which is full of drafting tables and shelves full of comics and art hanging all over the walls. Steve Lieber was kind enough to review each of our portfolios and give us some feedback. We chatted a while about comics, the city, their internship program, and then thanked them and went out to explore downtown Portland.

The crowd at Periscope gave us directions to Floating World, Portland’s alternative comics shop. They had a lot of great stuff and it was hard not to spend all the money I’d brought for the convention right there. Now they have even more great stuff, because Max and I gave them a few copies of our own comics for them to sell! If you live in Portland, head over to Floating World and look for SPAZ! #4 and #5, or Max’s Blacked Out and JetPack Shark. Before we left I purchased Noah Van Sciver‘s 1999 (part of Box Brown’s Retrofit Comics project), and Derf‘s long awaited My Friend Dahmer. I have a copy of the original 24 page My Friend Dahmer comic that Derf published back in 2002, and have been looking forward to the longer version of his story for ages. Later in the hotel room I read the entire thing and I will say beyond a doubt that it’s Derf’s best work that I have seen. He’s got a blog for the book where he posts information about signings and some of his photo-references and stories about his high school days with Dahmer. You can check it out right here.

On the way over to Floating World, I’d noticed a sign for the Portland City Grill, which I remember our waitress from the Green Dragon had mentioned as being on the 30th floor of a downtown building and having a great view. I am a sucker for any place that serves overpriced cocktails and has a view, so we went into the building and got in the elevator. I was shortly sipping a martini and surveying Portland – which is gorgeous, for the record. From our vantage point Max spotted a very long line winding out of a small business and we both determined that whatever it was it had to be good, so we went to check it out. The line turned out to be coming out of Portland’s famous VooDoo Doughnuts, and by the time we got there the line had diminished significantly and we were able to just walk in and get a doughnut practically right away.

Max got a doughnut with Capt'n Crunch on it.

–But what was I supposed to be talking about? OHH right. The Comics Fest! Of course. I’d brought a ton of minicomics with me, printed, but not assembled. They fit better in my suitcase that way, and frankly I’d been pretty busy and didn’t have time to put them together when I was at home. Max and I spent a good portion of the night before the show folding and stapling minicomics in front of the television.

At the show we found ourselves sitting next to Monica Gallagher who, in addition to her comics, was also selling prints and cards and other fun stuff you can find in her Etsy shop. I grabbed a copy of her book Boobage, and autobiographical comic in which she describes her experience growing up with very small boobs. I’ve often considered making a comic of my own very oposite experience: growing up with incredibly large boobs and making the decision to have breast reduction surgery as a teenager. It was so funny to see how parallel our experiences had been. She even includes a scene in her ballet class where her small breasts were expected, an asset even. At around the same age I had been dropping out of ballet due the fact that my center of gravity changed so drastically when I hit puberty that I kept falling over in class (not to mention looking ridiculous in a leotard). This was a fun read and made me consider once again whether I should work on my own boob-comic.

I wandered around the show quite a bit on the second day, talking to people about my upcoming Unsolved Mysteries anthology and wound up meeting Eroyn Franklin. I was pointed towards her table when I mentioned to someone that I was looking for people interested in nonfiction comics, and found that she had all kinds of outstanding stuff on her table. Two of her comics were these long, panoramic accordion folded pieces and I just had to get one. I picked out The Here, a 5″x84″ story that feature two conversations reading in opposte directions. I just loved the format of this book and the distinct sense of place Franklin creates with her artwork.

The Here, by Eroyn Franklin. Photo borrowed from her website.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Julia Gfrörer, a very talented illustrator and cartoonist, and I picked up a copy of her Flesh and Bone. This minicomic combines elements of humor and horror in a very creepy story involving death, witchcraft, and some bizarre sexual overtones. I’m really into Gfrörer’s dark visual style and highly recommend checking out the illustrations she has posted on her website.

In addition to a stack of kickass minicomics, I also picked up a few longer works. I made sure to go by Nate Powell‘s table on the first day of the show. I’d met him briefly at SPX a few years ago and remember him being a really nice dude, and I’d loved Swallow Me Whole so I thought I might pick up something else of his. I settled on Any Empire, a book that examines the effect of war on middle-America and is set, Powell told me, in the same fictional town from Swallow Me Whole. As usual, Powell’s artwork is fantastic and I can’t wait to sit down and read it. Also, it turns out Nate Powell is still a really nice dude.

I swung by Jonathan Case‘s table early on the second day of the show to pick up his graphic novel Green River Killer, written by Jeff Jensen. I’m glad I did because he said he was running low and I’d gotten one of the last copies he’d brought. I thought that might happen, since the night before at the Stumptown Comic Art Awards Case had been nominated for several awards and had won Best Artist and Best New Talent. Case’s book is a nonfiction story written by the son of the detective that investigated the notorious Green River Killer that took the lives of dozens of women in the Seattle area in the 1980s and 90s. As someone who dabbles in true crime comics myself, I had to check it out.

Behind my table at the show. Photo borrowed from Joshin Yamada.

Too worn out to do much else, once the show was over Max and I spent the evening drinking beer in the hotel room and packing. I can’t imagine having a better time than the weekend we had in Portland! We met some awesome people, explored a fun city, picked up some fantastic comics - and I broke my sales record for conventions. Not half bad. The Stumptown Comics Fest will most certainly be on my list of conventions to attend next year.

I went to FLUKE for the first time last year and had an absolute blast, so this year I convinced SCAD homies Max Young, Jackie Roche and Ellis Rosen to pile into a car with me at the ass-crack of dawn to drive to Athens, GA. Ellis even had his friend Sam Marlow with him, also a cartoonist, and so around 5am the five of us began our journey, crammed into my Honda Accord, headed towards the 40 Watt Club in beautiful downtown Athens.

Behind my table at FLUKE (photo borrowed from Jackie Roche)

As anticipated, it was a great show! FLUKE is a small event geared towards indie creators, self-publishers and zines. People were selling some pretty impressive minicomics – and there were people there to buy them. I love FLUKE because people go there specifically looking for minicomics, which is fantastic. It’s cheap to get into the show too ($2, I think?) so it makes it more likely that people will wander in off the street and make impulse purchases – and a $1 minicomic is really the perfect impulse purchase.

Ellis Rosen and his comic, The Shadow's Nose

Another reason FLUKE is great is that it’s so small. The 40 Watt is such an intimate setting: a relatively small room full of people who appreciate minicomics and zines, just kind of hanging out. The fact that it isn’t huge and overwhelming allows people to feel comfortable lingering at a specific table to chat or look through comics without worrying they might miss something. It has a very casual, relaxed vibe that I really enjoy. A contributing factor to that vibe may be the fact that the 40 Watt opens up their bar during the show, so creators and visitors can have a beer while they flip through minicomics and peruse the show. 

Having a drink or two at a show is a brilliant idea and I don’t know why this isn’t more commonplace. It can certainly be helpful for those of us who may tend to get nervous when talking to strangers. I think it even helped Max’s sales – one of his comics stars a guy who discovers he has super powers when he drinks alcohol, and I saw more than one person, beer in hand, chuckle at the premise and buy a copy. You can read a teaser of Max’s comic, Blacked Out, on his website.

Max Young, creator of Blacked Out

Because it’s so small and in a modest-sized town, FLUKE is more of a local/regional show,  which I think strengthens the community feel it has. I saw lots of familiar faces there, including Kevin Burkhalter, Blue Delliquanti, and the guys from Globster Press. A ton of the exhibitors there were students from the SCAD Savannah and Atlanta campuses, or SCAD alumni. Among others from the SCAD graduate program in attendance were Pickles Dill, Heidi Black, Becca Hillburn and Sarah Benkin!

Sarah Benkin, creator of Star Power.

Sarah’s working on a really kick ass project right now called Star Power: a Dr. Seuss inspired erotic comic about a group of strippers who think they look the best, and a group of strippers who feel insecure, and what happens when a crazy plastic surgeon comes to town! Sound familiar? Sarah has somehow combined The Sneetches and soft-core porn in a way that doesn’t totally ruin my childhood. She is funding her project through Kickstarter right now, so check out her page for all the cool swag you can get if you donate.

“Star-titted strippers are where it’s at!”

“You’re lanky!”

“You’re hairy!”

“And you’re all WAY TOO FAT!”

So even when people said “look at those hotties!”

The strippers from Clipper all hated their bodies… What happens next?? Find out in:

So FLUKE was a success! I got to meet some cool people, hang out with friends, read comics and have a few beers – not to mention selling a ton of minicomics! I totally underestimated how well the show would go and didn’t bring enough of my new issue, SPAZ! #5, and it sold out! FLUKE was a nice warm up for the con season, being a smaller show. A lot of the creators there were either going to MoCCA or Stumptown the following weekend and I know that, for me at least, FLUKE helped me tremendously in preparing for the bigger show. I packed a LOT more comics before heading out to Portland for the Stumptown Comics Fest the next weekend (and ended up selling out of some comics there too anyway).

Patrick Dean drawing a mummy werewolf on fire.

Once again, FLUKE organizers Patrick Dean and Robert Newsome have put on a fantastic show. I’m not sure where I’ll be living this time next year but I sure hope it’s close enough to warrant going back again – this truly is one of my favorites.

Wow! April has been action packed! I feel as though I just got home from FLUKE the other day (I did) and I’m already packing for the next convention. By the time this post goes up, I’ll be on a plane with Max Young heading to Portland, OR. We’re going out there for the Stumptown Comics Fest where we’ll be hanging out on the 28th and 29th, selling minicomics and chatting with anyone who wants to come up and say hello. The event will be held at the Oregon Convention Center, and is open from 10-6 on Saturday and 12-6 on Sunday. Come find us at table D19!

Max and I will be at table D19 - come say hi!

Neither of us have ever been to Portland before and we’re both very excited! If anyone out there has any recommendations for things to do in the area (where to have dinner, fun bars, etc.) we’re all ears!!

It is spring and we are all gearing up for the con season down here in Savannah, although truthfully, it looks more like flu season over at my apartment. I’ve been pretty sick the past few days and unable to work on anything other than bowls of carrot ginger soup and season 1 of Mad Men. It’s been pretty pathetic over here.

Aw, sick.

That said, I will be attending a few events this year, once I start feeling better and get my shit together! I thought I might let you guys know about some of them:

First off, I will be attending FLUKE in Athens, GA. This is a one-day show on Saturday, April 21st, and will be held at the 40 Watt Club in downtown Athens – a fine venue, if I do say so myself. I had heaps of fun at this event last year and am very much looking forward to returning, along with a handful of my SCAD homies like Ellis Rosen, Max Young, and Jackie Roche.

The following weekend, I will be travelling all the way to the opposite side of the country for the Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland, OR on April 28th and 29th, where I will be tabling with Max Young. Neither of us have ever been to Portland before but we hear it’s an awesome place for cartoonists so we’re both very excited. If anyone has any good recommendations for restaurants, bars, or fun things to do in Portland – please let me know!!

Directly following my (projected) graduation from SCAD, I will make my triumphant homecoming to be at CAKE in Chicago on June 16th and 17th! I have always wondered how a city home to Quimby’s, arguably the best alternative comics shop possibly ever, could be without a good alternative comics show. Finally! This will be remedied! There are tons are talented folks in the Chicagoland area and I think this will turn out to be a really great show. Plus it gives me an opportunity to see my many friends back home.

Later in the year I will be attending SPX in Bethesda, MD on September 15th and 16th, which is a really fun show that I haven’t be able to go to for a couple years because of scheduling conflicts. I should be tabling with Matt Moses of Hic and Hoc Publications, the publisher collaborating with me on the Unsolved Mysteries anthology (that we’re still accepting submissions for!!). I am very excited about finally coming back to this show, it’s a great one.

In the meantime, I’ll be putting together issues of SPAZ! #5, which will be available at all of these shows. I’ll also be working on new comics, which will be featured here on the website or in other publications to be announced later. If you live in or around any of the cities these events are being held in, come out to the shows to say hi and check out all the many talented artists that will be attending each one. I’m excited for what promises to be a really great year of shows.

On an unrelated note…

I’d like to congratulate all the people who were nominated for Einser Awards this year – especially my dear friend Ellis Rosen, whose work was featured in Yiddishkeit: Jewish Vernacular & the New Land, nominated for best anthology this year! It’s a great collection of stories that, as Jeff Newelt put it in HEEB, illuminate “the origins of a jew ne sais quoi.” It’s a great read and well deserving of the the nomination. Mazel tov to everyone who worked on the project (especially you, Ellis!).