If I Were At SPX, I’d Do These Things

The Small Press Expo (SPX) begins today. SPX is one of a handful of premier events for small press and alternative comics in all of North America, and with its single-room, single-hotel nature retains a summer camp (I guess now it's a Fall retreat) intimacy and friendliness that makes it a favorite with a lot of pros.

If I were there, this is some of what I would do.

1. I would attend a lot of the excellent-sounding programming, particularly the spotlight panels. If I could only go to one, it would probably be Kim Deitch, one of the great living cartoonists. There are also fine panels with artists that don't tend to do a lot of panels, like C.F. and Nick Abadzis.

2. I would take a slow walk around the room, looking at all the booths, taking as much time as I can, with one rule: I can't buy anything. This has commercial advantages in that you don't end up impulse buying, but mostly it's one of the few shows that you can take in all at once, and it's an interesting snapshot of the comics art form.

3. I would buy things on a second pass around the room, concentrating on mini-comics with high-end production values, but only from people who weren't annoying pieces of shit the first time around. In addition to lots of new work from alt/indy giants like Drawn and Quarterly and Top Shelf (Super Spy is an interesting book), I would look closely at everything offered by Bodega Distribution, PictureBox Inc. (is Maggots out yet?), Partyka, Buenaventura Press (buy Elvis Road if you haven't yet) or Sparkplug. I really like David King's work, and would seek out his latest from the Sparkplug people, even though he's not going. I'd also buy anything I found from Warren Craghead, who may go but isn't listed.

4. I would buy as much original art as I could afford. I love this show for original art. You know what would be awesome? Eleanor Davis original art. Roger Langridge sells freakishly lovely pages if you've never seen them.

5. I would take a photo of Larry Marder and every other cartoonist there from the 1980s generation, because their being at SPX is one of the best things about SPX. On a certain level, the show is still Camp McCloud, with Scott as the Camp Director, people like Tom Hart and Brian Ralph as the C.I.T.s and emerging artists like the I Know Joe Kimpel bunch as the campers. In fact, I would try to take as many photos of as many cartoonists as possible.

6. I might go to the comics criticism panel, but I kind of think there's been a lifetime's worth of talk on writing about comics recently, and that this time could be better spent just doing more and better work. If I went to any theme panels, I would try to ask a question or two of whatever unfortunate soul that gets stuck up there with three or four big-name super-talkers -- this always happens, and is always funny.

7. I would try as best as I could to have a lot of free time to hang out and chat. It's a very chatty show, and attracts some of the nicest comics talents. I would tell a lot of stories about previous Expos, none of which would be true.

8. I would try to break bread with some old friends, and invite along some new friends.

9. I would try to hang out a bit with my writing-about-comics peers like Mr. Wolk and Mr. Mautner and Mr. Collins and Ms. MacDonald.

10. I would try to buy a copy of the new Special Edition of Joe Sacco's Palestine. That work has gotten only better with age, the new edition is gorgeous, and the supplementary material is thoughtful and well-designed. It will be gone in a heartbeat, and two months more to wait is two months I could be reading the thing. In general, though, I wouldn't worry too much about making sure I got whatever gets called "the book of the show." In most cases I find buying for my bookshelf ten years from now always serves me better than buying for the on-line conversation next Tuesday.

11. I would ask someone from the area meet with me for a couple hours of the show, ideally someone who loved comics but wasn't immersed in the scene aspects of it, because that kind of outside perspective can be fascinating. And devastating.

12. I would sit in the back of the Ignatz Awards and make jokes, but not so loud I would ruin the experience for anyone else.

13. I would find the time to eat a giant, unhealthy breakfast.

14. It would be cool to meet Bill Griffith.

15. I would choose an outdoor Sunday activity over an indoor Sunday activity.
 
posted 10:18 pm PST | Permalink
 

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