SPX tables sell out

I saw Warren Bernard, the SPX exec at Big Planet last night and he said that the artist's tables for the Small Press Expo sold out at the end of last week.

SPX's Jeff Alexander's memorial service schedule

Convenant Funeral Service has an online obituary for SPX's Jeff Alexander stating that the funeral will be Saturday, February 5th in Fredericksburg, MD.

Greg McElhatton remembers SPX's Jeff Alexander

Greg McElhatton remembers SPX's Jeff Alexander

Jeff Alexander, Small Press Expo organizer, has died

Reports are appearing on Facebook that Jeff Alexander, past Small Press Expo organizer, has died overnight, apparently of a heart attack. The information has been confirmed by Warren Bernard, this year's Executive Director (and SPX now has an online memorial). I didn't know Jeff very well, but we were friendly when we ran into each other, and I'm very sorry to hear this news. Jeff spoke to me last year about SPX before show, and I found another interview with him on Readers Voice as well. Like many comic cons, SPX is reliant on volunteers to make everything happen, and Jeff made much of the success of recent years happen.

I had planned to do a followup article at the City Paper after 2010's SPX, but time got away from me and it would have been stale. Here's the questions that Jeff answered about the con, in memory of Jeff and for history's sake.

Mike Rhode: How successful was your convention this year (2010)?

Jeff Alexander: I would say it was very successful.

Our attendance was up 10% for the third year in a row despite the sluggish economy.

Also, the inaugural year of the Animation Showcase exceeded our expectations and regularly had to turn people away when the room was full.

Mike Rhode: What will be changing for next year? Staying the same?

Jeff Alexander: I can't say for sure. I am stepping down as the Executive Director to have time to pursue other interests.

I am sure there will be some tweaking of the Animation Showcase based on what we learned this year, but fundamentally the show will remain the same.

Warren Bernard will be taking over next year and I'm sure he has a few plans up his sleeve for the future of SPX.

Mike Rhode: Do you have a favorite moment? Least favorite?

Jeff Alexander: My favorite moment came shortly after the show when local filmmaker Steven Greenstreet uploaded a two minute video from footage he shot at SPX.

It's hard to believe that SPX has the power to inspire such creativity.

The least favorite moment was not having a sign language interpreter available for two attendees.

This was their first SPX and were very excited about coming to the show. Having an interpreter there would have made their experience just that much more enjoyable.

Mike Rhode: What could have been done better? What did you 'hit out of the park'?

Jeff Alexander: If we had the time and resources to dedicate to it, I would have preferred to have done some cross-over events with Intervention.

We are competing conventions, but we share similar goals for promoting comics.

What we "hit out of the park" was in asking Paul Nadjmabadi and Angela Ottinger to head the Animation Showcase.

They assembled a first class committee and put on a phenomenal show.

Mike Rhode: Did you buy anything or meet anyone that's special for you personally?

Jeff Alexander: It was great to finally meet Kate Beaton and to see James Sturm, Keith Knight, and John & Sandra from Metaphrog again. Unfortunately, the job of Executive Director didn't leave me as much time to chat with them as I'd have liked.

I did find the time to pick up a copy of "Tigerbuttah" by Becky Dreistadt & Frank Gibson. It's an all ages book done in the style of the Golden Books from the 1950s and 1960s, but it's Becky's illustrations that make "Tigerbuttah" a must have book!

Belefski of Curls nominated for Lulu Award

Matt Dembicki's let me know that Carolyn Belefski of Curls is nominated for a Lulu Award - Carolyn has the story on her site. It looks like anyone who wants to can vote.

She also has her report on SPX up where she notes that she's publishing Elizabeth Watasin's return to comics. (whoo-hoo! I loved Charm School). She also discusses her new anthology which has a lot of local creators in it.

I interviewed Carolyn a few weeks ago for the City Paper - coming up soon, her writing partner Joe Carabeo.

A bit more on SPX

I still haven't pulled the pictures off my camera, but here's a nice video that features some of our local creators in the DC Conspiracy, including RM Rhodes in the purple -

Small Press Expo - Canon 7D
by Steven Greenstreet
September 13 2010

The video was recommended by David Malki, whose webcomic Wondermark is excellent. Here's his account.

More SPX from local folks

Matt Dembicki has a few pictures up.

Comicsgirl was there, but we've avoided another potentially hazardous blogger meeting again. Although I did meet Xavier Xerses at Intervention, and apparently the universe still exists. And "Comic Riffs" Cavna and I talked. Maybe it'll only be a problem if 3 of us meet at one time...

Bruce Guthrie's Small Press Expo photos

Bruce has two pages of pictures up - one from panels and one from the floor. When you go to one of his pages, the little pencil icon under the picture lets you create a caption for the image. Some caption fairies would be helpful, because Bruce doesn't do that - he's too busy taking more pictures.

That's is the great New Zealand expat Roger Langridge being interviewed.

And this is Kate Beaton and Julia Wertz on Dustin Harbin's panel blowing attendance for my counter-programmed one out of the water.



But we looked gooood.


Me, Richard Thompson, Marguerite Dabaie and Keith Knight.

Oooh, and Spurgeon linked to a video of Dean Haspiel's shirtless SPX moment.

And Dirk Deppey pointed out Brian Heater's con report. I love the Daily Cross Hatch and have never managed to run into Brian at the show.

Brave New Comic Strips panel at SPX audio is online

I had a good time doing this, and I think everyone was happy with it, so here's my recording for those who couldn't make it.

Brave New Comic Strips (September 12, 2010)


Small Press Expo panel from September 12, 2010.

The newspaper industry, long the home of American comics first popular dedicated format, faces an existential crisis presented by the emergence and proliferation of digital media. Against all odds, artists interested in the daily strip format continue to produce work with an eye for print. Mike Rhode will discuss the present and the future of the newspaper comic strip with Marguerite Dabaie, Keith Knight, and Richard Thompson.

A couple of SPX links and a Politics and Prose set

Greg McElhatton took some nice photos and has them online now.

Bruce Guthrie thinks his will be online tomorrow, but in the meantime has 2 sets (set 1, set 2) of pictures from Richard Thompson and Keith Knight's appearances at Politics and Prose bookstore.


Animator Marc Crisafulli, Politics & Prose's Adam Waterreus, SPX's Warren Bernard, Keith Knight, Politics & Prose's Mike G, Richard Thompson and Mike Rhode.

And here's my friend, and crack cartoonist, Ben Towle on his experiences. I talked to him on Saturday night, around the time that last picture was being taken and followed up on his recs on Sunday.

Off to SPX and Intervention

I'll be hanging around SPX until around 4 today, and then moving over to Intervention. Tomorrow I'll be at SPX and running a panel with Richard Thompson, Keith Knight and Marguerite Dabaie.

PR: Fanfare Ponent Mon at SPX 2010!

	FANFARE/PONENT MON AT SPX 2010 THIS WEEKEND Indie UK Publisher honored with two Ignatz Award noms North America's premiere independent cartooning and comics arts festival, SPX, is underway this weekend—Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 11–12, at the Bethesda North Marriot Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland—and Fanfare/Ponent Mon is pleased to announce its participation in this venerable event. This will be the independent UK publisher's second year as an exhibitor and to celebrate, the company is offering attendees the chance to win four Fanfare/ Ponent Mon titles. There is no purchase necessary and you do not have to be present when the winning entry is drawn. Just stop by booth F7 and fill out a form. Saying "Hi" doesn't hurt either! Double-Dose of Ignatz Fanfare/Ponent Mon is also proud to announce that it has received three nominations for the prestigious Ignatz Awards, SPX's yearly distinction for the best in graphic literature and cartooning. Jiro Taniguchi's mountain-climbing epic, The Summit of the Gods, Vol. 1, was honored with a pair in the categories of Outstanding Series and Outstanding Graphic Novel, while Willy Linthout's wrenching examination of his son's suicide, Years of the Elephant, received one, also in the latter category. Receiving a single nod is an incredible honor, never mind three, and Fanfare/Ponent Mon would like to thank everyone involved in the selection process. East Coast Premiere SPX 2010 will also feature the East Coast debut of Korea as Viewed by 12 Creators, the long-anticipated follow-up to the company's 2007 Eisner Award nominated Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators. The anthology features work by such graphic art luminaries as Choi Kyu-sok, Mathieu Sapin and Lee Doo-hoo. A limited number of the book will be available for purchase at a special show price. Hope to see you there! A limited number of the book will be available at the show for only $16, a savings of four dollars off the retail price.

A few SPX items from Matt Dembicki

 Matt Dembicki would like us to know:

-The D.C. Conspiracy (www.dcconspiracy.com) will have tables W3-W9
-We'll have FREE copies of our latest project, the 'Magic Bullet' comics newspaper
-Native American storyteller and 'Trickster' contributing writer Joseph Stands With Many will be a guest at my table at W9 on Sat., from 3-5
p.m.

A Chat with Carolyn Belefski online at City Paper

SPX is coming up and here's an interview with a cartoonist who'll be selling her books there -

Meet a Local Cartoonist: A Chat with Carolyn Belefski

Posted by Mike Rhode on Sep. 7, 2010

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/general/2010/09/07/meet-a-local-cartoonist-a-chat-with-carolyn-belefski/

PR: SPX Announces A Fort Thunder/Monster Debut Event with Brian Ralph and Paul Lyons

Bethesda, Maryland, September 2, 2010 - From 1995 to 2001, the Fort Thunder artists' space and performance venue in Providence, Rhode Island was a fertile creative center. Work produced by artists living at the Fort – both at the time and individually in the years since the space was shut down – has been enormously influential in the worlds of fine art, music, and comics. In addition to a wealth of posters, prints, artists' books and individual comics, two publications served as the venue's de facto comics anthologies: the mini-comics series Monster and the comics newspaper Paper Rodeo. Nine years after the
Fort's closing, a new issue of Monster will debut at this year's SPX.

The oversized (10" x 14") book, featuring offset-printed interiors and a silkscreened cover, will include new and previously unpublished work by Fort Thunder alumni including Mat Brinkman, Brian Chippendale, Jim Drain, Paul Lyons and Brian Ralph, as well as work by friends and colleagues including Keith Jones, Michael DeForge, and Chuck Forsman.

To mark the occasion, SPX Programming coordinator and Parsons faculty member Bill Kartalopoulos will moderate a special panel event titled "Return of the Monster: The Fort Thunder Legacy" on Saturday, September 11 at 5:30 as part of the festival's larger schedule of
programming events. The panel will feature artists and former Fort Thunder residents Brian Ralph and Paul Lyons. The discussion will also include Tom Devlin, who has published work by Fort Thunder artists both through his own former publishing company Highwater Books and now as creative director of Drawn and Quarterly, and PictureBox publisher Dan Nadel, who has extensively interviewed Fort Thunder artists and currently publishes work by Fort co-founders Brinkman and Chippendale.
Please join us for this special consideration of a landmark contribution to recent comics history.

SPX is a registered 501(c)3 which brings together more than 300
artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers and distributors each year. Graphic novels, mini comics and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators.

As in previous years, profits from the SPX will go to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), protecting the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals.  For more information on the CBLDF, go to their website at http://www.cbldf.org/.

The hours for SPX 2010 are 11AM-7PM Saturday, September 11, and noon-6PM Sunday, September 12. Admission is $10 for a single day and $15 for both days.

Caro on Lilli Carré’s minicomic “The Thing about Madeline”

Caroline "Caro" Small writes on Lilli Carré’s minicomic “The Thing about Madeline” and also her film Head Garden which will be shown at SPX.

PR: Small Press Expo Animation Showcase Announces Selections for SPX 2010

Small Press Expo Animation Showcase Announces Selections for SPX 2010

Bethesda, Maryland; August 13, 2010 - The Small Press Expo announces selections for the First Annual Animation Showcase, to be screened September 11 and 12 in conjunction with the Small Press Expo.

The 2010 SPX Animation Showcase features indepedently made animation created in a variety of styles and techniques. "These films let people know independent animation is as sophisticated as its big-budget brothers," says Showcase committee co-chair Paul Nadjmabadi. "Every year at SPX we see that pool of talent in comics that hasn't been recognized yet, that one-off that someone did that's the most amazing thing you've seen all year.

We want to bring that to animation."

Animations screening in the showcase include traditional and abstract storytelling in a variety of styles including stop-motion, clay-mation, hand-drawn, and computer animation. Selections include:

Good %^&$ing Morning                  Nick Arcidy

Suck It Up                                     Rebecca Boensch

Building Blocks                                     Vanessa Chan

Bleach and Glitter                   Vanessa Chan

Head Garden                                    Lilli Carre                 

The Discovery                                     Rodgers Dameron

The Magician                                    Dustin Maassen                 

Wonders of Nature: Our National Parks Yosemite                   Clasrissa Maralone

Hocas Croakus                                     Mark McDonald

One of a Kind                                     Dixie Pizani

The Melting Pot                   Shani Vargo

Krawll                                                       Matthew Wade

Birdy                                                       Agnieszka Woznicka

Deadline                                     Bang Yaoliu

 

More information on animators and films is available via the SPX Animation Showcase Web site at www.spxpo.com/animation.

SPX is a registered 501(c)3 which brings together more than 300 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers and distributors each year. Graphic novels, mini comics and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators.  

As in previous years, profits from the SPX will go to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), protecting the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals.  For more information on the CBLDF, go to their website at http://www.cbldf.org/.             

The hours for SPX 2010 are 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Saturday, September 11, and noon – 6 p.m. Sunday, September 12.  Admission, which includes the Expo and Showcase, is $10 for a single day and $15 for both days.

For more information, visit http://www.spxpo.com/animation/

SPX new animation showcase podcast interview

Fictional Frontiers with Sohaib (Episode 101) - Part II
Posted by Sohaib Awan, Jun 14, 2010 12:51 PM
Runtime: 07:41 |

2. Paul Nadjmabadi, Committee Co-Chair for the SPX Animation Showcase at the 2010 Small Press Expo (www.spxpo.com)

Thanks to Matt Dembicki for the tip

Small Press Expo tables are going, going, gone

SPX is reporting they are sold out of tables and have started a wait list.

Small Press Expo adds animation

The Small Press Expo is showing animation for the first time and the application process is online now.