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Thanks, Heidi!

Surprisingly, there are lots of regional comic conventions in New Hampshire!

Thank you, Heidi! We love you!

I join my fellows in thanking you, Heidi!

I’m dang glad I moved to New Hampshire!

Raaaaahhh! New Hampshire! Raaaaaaaaaahhhhh!

Thanks for posting my MIMI’S DOUGHNUTS #12 cover, too, Heidi.

[…] Heidi MacDonald at the Beat has the info. […]

[…] Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics DEADLINE is Nigh! from THE BEAT […]

[…] Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics DEADLINE is Nigh! from THE BEAT […]

[…] Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics DEADLINE is Nigh! from THE BEAT […]

[…] Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics DEADLINE is Nigh! from THE BEAT […]

PANTER IS GOD.

it’s sold out already.

David, What about age level? Is this something I can put in the Children's Room? I can think of many a child who would enjoy something like this, but I'm not getting a good sense of whether or not it would be appropriate.

Age level is an excellent point, and I probably should have noted that.I'm going to have to nix the idea of the children's room only because there are a number of stunts that have "adults only" warnings that are clearly winks to teens. There is a disclaimer up front about the contents being "for reading enjoyment" and for that I would say this book works best at the teen level.It's too bad, now

Well, you know, I'd rather find out from you than an irate parent calling me about the whole burning-down-the-house thing. That's always so uncomfortable. I'm going to recommend it to our teen librarian, though.

Love it! Lora Innes has just signed onto my panel at C2E2!

So glad to see Ryan Dow’s Introspective Comics won the best webcomic.

[…] So… last week I was coming up with a new funny strip that I could post after we (inevitably) lost the Cybils Category we’re nominated for. (So optimistic, I know.) The punch line was going to be a new tagline for the comic: “The Dreamer: Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride.” And then I got an email from Bob Corby… telling me that we had won the SPACE award! Ruins my joke, totally, but I have to admit, winning feels better. […]

[…] SPACE, webcomic. Follow responses to this post with the comments feed. You can leave a comment or trackback from your own site. « Indy Comic Book Week at theSource […]

I read his cartoons, and Colin is obviously very frustrated. A the risk of causing him further irritation, I would suggest he certainly keep doing his drawing “OldSchool”, that is, with a pencil and pen on paper, not a stylus on a Wacom tablet.

Then, hire someone through his art community contacts to work with him on the stuff he hates, the @!%!$ computer stuff. That way he stays with his strengths and outsources the specialized work to someone else.

As far as the “all creative content is free” problem, maybe other posters will have suggestions on what they are doing to keep cash coming in.

Once upon a time, not long ago, a thousand chimpanzees were chained to a thousand typewriters…and came up with the script for Rambo 3.5.

Good-bye, Saber Tooth Tiger Mike, like your namesake…you once roamed the earth…but no more.

Awesome! I’d heard how great this was but I’m super stoked to finally read it. It’s as bitter and sarcastic as I hoped it would be.

Honestly, I kinda got sick of mini comics for many reasons. First, as a consumer, I feel they are over-priced (seriously, we complains about $4 36 page Marvel comics, but a lot of 16 page minis run $5. I know it’s apples and oranges, but it still stings and influences my decisions). Then, the really good ones, the ones worth truly reading, owning, and sharing, will probably eventually be collected in a nicer, shelf ready, bound collection. So, I’ll probably end up buying it again. And then there’s the whole storing issue. With scattered sizes, and I just don’t know what to do with them. I right now have a few boxes and it’s a mess. I have no idea whats in them. At least mainstream comics have a uniform size, making storing slightly easier, especially in the larger size.

So, when I go to small press shows nowadays, I still pick up a few minis, but I lean toward larger collections nowadays.

Well, I didn’t think that this year’s SPX was the Best. Show. Evar. I did see some great stuff, talked to lots of people, but I expect that from SPX.

I don’t know where my money went (sorry, MK) but much of what I purchased were books (including a copy of Greenberg the Vampire). It’s not the price or size, but more the content… I don’t know what’s inside, and if the idea, art, or person doesn’t sell me, then I won’t take a chance. I am a sucker for craft comics… movable type, multi-screens, nice paper… because I’m familiar with those techniques, and can use that as an icebreaker.

Looking at the PDF preview of that book, I wonder what from 2010 will compare.

(And Heidi, the first SPX was in…1994. You had a table next to the future Holly Golightly, back when she drew for Carnal Comics. Dave Sim was also there, about as far away from the Friends of Lulu table as possible. David Mazuchelli was selling Rubber Blanket. Some guy named David Lapham was selling Stray Bullets. A small show, but so full of talent!)

Mini comics don’t need to cost $5 each. There are some good deals on line for copies color even. I can usually do a 16 page color mini and sell it for $1.00. I also do a few linolem cut books where there are no printing costs other then the linolem, ink and paper. They seem to sell well anywhere even “pop culture” cons.

I’m usually in agreement with Frank, but here my youth leads me to disagree with him. I realize he’s been collecting this stuff since the 80’s and I only started in on self published stuff in recent years but I still think theres lots of fantastic minicomics being made by the new generation. I could see getting tired of wading through the crap, which there is undeniably a lot of. Still though, Leslie Stein’s work, Morgan Pierelli’s Indestructible Universe Quarterly, Joe Lambert’s stuff… those are some of my most cherished comics and I think that anybody who would pass them over for just about any reason is pieing their self in the face. There’s also the argument that books like Cold Heat, 1-800-Mice (isn’t Thurber self publishing it now?), and books like Argh or Theo Ellsworth’s stuff have much more in common with minicomics than they do with more mainstream alt collections like Fantagraphics or D&Q. I just think this line of criticism (which I was hearing more and more of from critics panels at the cons this past year) runs the risk of killing off any kind of enthusiasm to keep new comics alive. I mean, we already know that minicomics don’t make you any kind of coin anymore. Now we have to take away the sense of community and encouragement that was built around them too?

No Matt Feazell comics in NEWAVE? Very disappointing – he’s the first artist I think of when I think “Mini-comics.”

Waaaahh, no one’s making mini comics the way I think they should! Get off my lawn, you darn innernet kids!

Really. If you don’t like them, don’t read them.

Let’s try to keep a little perspective about mini-comics. Believe it or not, there are many people who create mini-comics not because they’re trying to impress anybody or break into “the business” but because they like creating comics and that’s one of the options for getting them to an audience.

I love, love, love really great mini-comics but I’m also in love with the idea of self-publishing in general as well as the community that exists around it.

Any given year there are tons of people making mini-comics most comics readers will never even hear of. Many of them also don’t do the convention circuit. Some of those minis are great and some of them are not so great but they’re being *made* and, if you ask me, that’s the important thing.

It seems like about once a year, I hear someone bemoan the death of mini comics / comix / small press. I’ll keep my comments only towards the mini comics end of this.

I am in a somewhat unique position in that I was very active in mini comix from 1979 up until around 1990. From that point until 2004, I had almost no contact with what was going on or who was publishing mini comix. So, basically, when I started checking things out again and buying a few mini comix in the new century, I was looking at it with the same eyes and expectations as 1990. I was amazed at the diversity and breadth of the medium. You have to remember that in the 80’s and 90’s we relied on the mails and a few newsletters and review zines to find others and promote our own work. So, in essence, many cliques existed all at the same time with very little knowledge that others were even printed. Then, with the internet, all of these cliques suddenly were able to find each other and cross over. It was amazing! I started getting in touch with my old mini comix friends. Many of whom had gone on to become respected professionals in comics and other areas. Upon contacting them, it seems the one thing we still have in common is the love of the mini comic format.

With the aid of the internet and what few print review zines I’ve been able to find, I discovered that the mini comics community is larger than ever! Not smaller or dwindling like I keep hearing. I still see tons of the xerox zines and inkjet superhero 8pagers and pocket sized porn comix and everything in between. From rank raw publications that are barely legible to polished projects with complex printing techniques. (For my money, by the way, I’d rather support that xerox zine rather than the slick project.) It shows me that still, people are guided by the need to create. Not for an audience, necessarily, but for themselves. Most minis are printed with a print run of less than 100, so to think that one person has seen the majority of mini comics being produced is a bit naive. I think most of us have very different points of view because we each have seen very different cross sections of the medium.

To cut short this ramble, I think every time I hear someone bemoan the current state of mini comix, just makes me question how possibly it’s not the lack of quality mini comics, but instead, perhaps they have just become lazy in the way they search them out. And in the end, I would just like to second Rick’s comment above about the important thing is that they are still being made.

Great news! Mike is one of the best cartoonists working today and always puts out quality material.
I look forward to this and will order plenty for the store.

Congrats!

that’s great! And it’s a reasonable price point too.

Awesome news, this is a fantastic comic!

Awesome news! Troop 142 has been one of my fave webcomics of 2010 and Secret Acres has shown that they know how to put together incredible books- both in production values and content. This is just wonderful, congrats to all!

Exelent work, like always.

That’s not actually Eric Adams in that photo. Yeah I know, he is wearing a hat too, but that’s not him. lol

That is Matt Feazell!

That’s me, all right. That was a great jam room. we ought to do it every year.

It’s true. I am not Matt Feazell. I recommend you Photoshop him out of that image and add me in immediately.

Nice write-up, Brady!

There were way more jams this year than I remember last year. In fact, I don’t remember being offered any on the expo floor last year, but I had to turn one down this year because so many were going around!

As for the Pittsburgh thing, it’s a relatively easy drive and we’re super hungry for affordable indie comics shows in our region!!! Plus, our indie comics scene is especially active right now.

There are comix creators in Pittsburgh ? Someday I’m going to have to open my front door and peer out…

Brady, fantastic write up! I’m glad that SPACE is getting some press, as coverage of it usually falls between the cracks of the better know indy cons, like SPX and APE. Bob Corby puts a herculean amount of effort planning and organizing this show, and it’s always been a source of frustration for me that not enough people attend it. It’s centrally located to Ohio and surrounding states, food and lodging costs in Columbus are very favorable, and there’s an amazing array of talent on display (I believe over 200 exhibitors this year). Of course, I’m spoiled, since I live only 10 minutes away from the current venue.

At my table, Saturday sales went in spurts, but overall it was a good day, comparable to last year. Sunday, though, was pretty dead. I mean, Sundays have always been slow at SPACE, the day where the exhibitors tend to go around and buy from or trade books with the other exhibitors. But this year it seemed even more glacial. It did give me a chance to go around and sample other books, though.

Fun fact: that’s me behind the table in the first picture under your Sunday write-up! The tall wire-rack on my table is holding the 17 volumes of the PANEL anthology I write and produce with the other Columbus-based creators in the PANEL collective, which you can check out here.

Thanks for the SPACE reportage; after the C2E2 entries, it’s nice to read about that ‘other’
Comics Convention for area fans not into the usual Super-Hero diet…

(Wish I could’ve attended— if just to ask Matt Feazell a question I’ve had for over 20 years: Are you ever gonna team up with Dennis Worden and have a Cynicalman and Stickboy team-up?? ;) )

It’s refreshing to see coverage that isn’t about C2E2. Didn’t know this was going on. I’ll have to keep an eye out for next year.

Hey guys! Really glad you liked the post! So sorry to have mis-identified Eric when it was really Matt. Ooph! Otherwise, the event was a lot of fun and it was a lot of fun to do this piece, too. Thanks for Heidi for giving me the opportunity and thanks a ton to the folks who liked it on Facebook and Twitter!