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Greg Rucka has been on a tear lately. Not only has he written two Star Wars novels and a comic book series set post-Empire, he’s also been impressing in the creator-owned sphere. Lady Sabre, Lazarus and Stumptown continue running on all cylinders, and his newest series, Black Magick with Nicola Scott, recently launched to great acclaim. I […]

Photo by Deborah Curtis Lipski

by Matthew Southworth

[Special to the Beat: we challenged frequent Beat commenter and artist Matthew Southworth to give us a Stumptown report and this is the delightful result! Thanks so much, Matthew!]

It’s 5:40 Saturday morning and I haven’t really slept. I never sleep when I have an early appointment, and now I’m up and showering and readying myself for the trip to Portland’s Stumptown Comics Fest. Goodbye kiss Machelle, double-triple-check that everything’s in the car and cellphone iPod Coke Zero and check the oil and fill the tank get the junk food hit the highway.

It’s 7:10 and we’re all assembled–me, Dalton Rose of the gorgeous comic SACRIFICE (http://samhumphries.com/sacrifice-comic-book/ and www.daltonjamesrose.com) and Brian Beardsley of StudioB Media (www.studiobmedia.com). It’s roughly 3 hours from my little picturesque town of Mukilteo—lighthouse, saltwater, ferry boats and driftwood—to Portland, and this morning there are tons of police cars stopping motorists. Must be quota day.

It’s 10:15 and we’ve crossed the Columbia River into Oregon. Now we’re at the Red Lion in Portland but it’s too early to check in. I’ve just realized that despite all my preparations last night, in my effort not to wake Machelle this morning, I’ve forgotten my suitcase. There go the t-shirt sales, but I can get more Stumptown books directly from Oni.

Perhaps this is a good place to tell you who I am and what I do. I’m Matthew Southworth, and I draw a book written by Greg Rucka called STUMPTOWN. It’s published by Oni Press. Sometimes I draw for Marvel and DC and Dark Horse, and I’m writing and drawing my own project called DAY FOR NIGHT. You can investigate me a little further by going to http://matthewsouthworth.tumblr.com/ .

Though it’s called “Stumptown”, there is no actual connection to the Stumptown Comics Fest. There’s no actual connection to Stumptown Trade Review, either, though later in the day I’m doing a live podcast with them. “Stumptown” is a nickname for Portland itself; it refers to the remainders of the thousands of trees that were cut out of the dense Oregon forest when Portland was founded.

It’s 10:30 and the show is hopping. Dalton and I are set up at our table right beside good friend to me and good friend to comics, Steve Lieber. Steve was kind to me when I first met him at a con years ago, and he’s been an excellent and gener

Saturday night saw the Stumptown Awards handed out by host Bobby “Fatboy” Roberts as part of the annual festival. And here they are!

Best Artist
Jonathan Case, Green River Killer

Best Writer
Brandon Graham, Prophet

Best Cartoonist
Jaime Hernandez, Love and Rockets

Best Letterer
Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo: Fox Hunt

Best Colorist<br />
Dave Stewart, Hellboy: House of the Living Dead; Chimichanga

Best Publication Design
Petrograd, Tyler Crook and Keith Wood

Best Anthology
Lies Grownups Told Me edited by Nomi Kane, Jen Vaughn, Caitlin M.

Best Small Press
Fugue #1 by Beth Hetland

Best New Talent
Jonathan Case, Dear Creature, Green River Killer

Reader’s Choice
Vic Boone by Shawn Aldridge, Geoffo Panda

Nominees in each category were chosen by a panel of judges consisting of comics industry professionals, journalists, and retailers, and then voted on by the comics-reading public. Congrats to all.

As we’ve been putting together the listings for this bi-coastal duel indie comics weekend extravaganza, it occurs to us that we are just not very plugged in to the Portland scene…well not the way we are NYC that’s for sure. So we’re doing our best to cover this, but maybe what we need is a PDX correspondent?

Anyhoo, Stumptown actually has a great events page with all the weekend goings on. So we’ll put post the pictures and links here. Send us reports!

FRIDAY APRIL 27th

Drink and Draw with Peter Bagge at Bridge City Comics!



HENRY & GLENN FOREVER & EVER RELEASE PARTY

WHO: Tom Neely, Ed Luce, Benjamin Marra
WHAT: Book release and signing
WHEN: Friday, April 27th, 6-8pm
WHERE: Floating World Comics, 400 NW Couch St.

Gridlords! First comics reading at The Waypost
Date: Fri, Apr. 27, 2012
Time: 8:00pm – 11:00pm
A multimedia comics reading showcasing work by comics artists Jesse Moynihan, Theo Ellsworth, Malachi Ward, August Lipp, & Maria Sputnik.

SATURDAY, APRIL 28th

Stumptown Comics Festival Fundraising After Party!


Geeklesque Saves the World!
Bossanova Ballroom, 722 E. Burnside, Portland, OR (Map)
Date: Sat, Apr. 28, 2012
Time: 7:30 pm – 11:00 pm

SUNDAY APRIL 29th

Stumptown Comics Fest After Party at Pony Club 
Pony Club Gallery – 625 NW Everett St. #105
Date: Sun, Apr. 29, 2012
Time: 6:00pm – 10:00pm

Zeitgiesty Brandon Graham covers the Stumptown Comics Fest

We’re proud to present the 2011 poster for the Stumptown Comics Festival, illustrated by Brandon Graham! A northwest native, Graham embodies the creatively bold spirit that continues to energize the independent comic book community in Portland, OR and beyond. A 2008 Eisner Award nominee for Best Writer & Artist, Graham has continued to receive praise for his unique, original graphic novel, King City, well after its original publication and subsequent change from TokyoPop to Image. In addition to being a special guest of Stumptown Comics Fest 2011, Graham is serving on the inaugural jury of the 2011 Stumptown Comic Arts Awards.

Attendees to the festival will have the chance to purchase a special print of the show poster by Brandon Graham, as well as t-shirts with the art celebrating the seventh successful year of Stumptown Comics Fest. Plans are currently being made to offer any remaining prints and shirts to those unable to attend via online sales following the festival weekend. Chance are, however, demand will be so high that supplies will be sold-out.

Brandon Graham joins guests Eric Powell, Randy Emberlin, Sarah Glidden, Carla Speed McNeil, Molly Crabapple, Benjamin Marra, and several other extraordinary creators at the Oregon Convention Center on April 16th and 17th. Full guest and exhibitor list, with many more to be announced, available at StumptownComics.com.

Portland’s Stumptown Comics Fest, an increasingly popuar stop on the indie comics festival circuit, is moving to the Oregon Convention Center, a bigger venue that will allow for growth. it has been announced. Initial guests were also announced: Carla Speed McNeil, Molly Crabapple, Kurt Busiek, Larry Marder, and Barry Deutsch. Details below:

The 8th annual Stumptown Comics Fest will take place on April 16th and 17th, and be held in its new location at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. In recent years the exhibition hall has been packed to the gills; this move to the Convention Center will give attendees room to breathe with 30,000 square feet of exhibition space (nearly double the square footage) and will allow the amount of table to be increased with room for future growth.

A small number of guests have already been confirmed for the next fest, from local, national, and even international stages. Guests are to include: Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Molly Crabapple (illustrator, founder of Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School), Kurt Busiek (writer for DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image), Larry Marder (Tales of the Beanworld), and Barry Deutsch (Hereville). This list is by no means complete, and regular announcements will be made over the coming months as more details are confirmed.

Indigo Kelleigh, founder of the Stumptown Comics Fest, is returning as the festival director for the next three years (2011-2013). Kelleigh brings his experience in both event coordination and the comics industry to the team, and is already working to make this upcoming year a peak at what’s to come. Shannon T. Stewart, Festival Director for the 2009 and 2010 fests and a current Board member of the Stumptown Comics Foundation, is supportive of Kelleigh’s involvement. “We’re all elated to have Indigo, the creator of the Fest, return to the position of Director,” says Stewart, “and I personally look forward to working with him and to the amazing ideas he has in store for Stumptown over not just this season, but the next few years leading to the ten year anniversary!”

This will be the eighth year of the Stumptown Comics Fest (founded 2004), which has become the largest creator-focused comics festival in the Northwest. The amount of comics fans attending the event continues to climb as does the national and international attention our local event garners from artists, writers, editors, and publishers. For continuing updates regarding the event, head to the official website at www.stumptowncomicsfest.com