Comicsgirl

I’m currently “borrowing” an Internet connection and probably won’t be back to posting mode until Wednesday. But by then, I hope to have read my haul of comics and have my photos edited to as good as they will get.

Small Press Expo was a ton of fun. I hope all the exhibitors did well and all the attendees had a good time. It’s definitely like a big party. I wish SPX could go on forever (well, not really. It’s exhausting, but in the best way).

Oh, I would like to applaud Indigo Ink of Columbia, Md., for totally coming through for Small Press Expo. The story is probably too complicated to recount, but they were the unsung heroes of the show and went above and beyond. If you have things to print, check them out.

I got a little bit of a later start today since I lingered over brunch with friends, so I’ve only been here about an hour. It’s noticeably less crowded today, but it’s still buzzing with people. Also noticing that plenty of people are beginning to look tired — the collections of people sitting on the floor in the lobby has grown considerably. I have no issue with that — some of my favorite memories from last year is when I decided just to sit and read comics for an hour.

I am out of money. I am even out of money that I don’t actually have. But I am happy with my purchase. It would certainly be fun to buy more, but after MoCCA this year, I’ve been pretty well set for minicomics.

I like the diversity of the crowd — lots of women, both in terms of attendees and exhibitors. There is also a good amount of children, which I also think is great. Yeah, we’ve been joking all weekend about a certain demographic of people who comes to SPX (we were developing an SPX bingo … out of love, of course, out of love) but there is also a good number of people who don’t fit into that. I think that’s great.

This certainly is the friendliest show. I loved MoCCA and I’ll go again, but I think this is more fun.

I have a Picasa album of some OK photos from the show. I have a cheap little camera that doesn’t know what to do. I’ll be able to edit them a bit more on another computer. I just wanted to show some sights, including the volunteers who’ve been working hard all weekend.

It does seem like this show’s been really well attended so far this year. There aren’t any hard numbers for comparison, but I think it does seem that the move to Saturday/Sunday was a good one.

We are in the last couple of hours so I’m not sure if I’ll have another update, except for reviews. But I think everyone can agree that it’s been great. I’m sorry if you missed it.

• 07:09 I will be at table F3. When I am not running around, of course. #
• 08:29 Misadventures: Grabbed the wrong USB cable and got on the wrong train. Maybe I needed more sleep. #
• 13:09 Still have yet to buy anything, but Pete Stathis gave me a copy of Evenfall II #
• 13:22 Tim is doing really well here. I am suprised and delighted. #
• 14:39 At least they keep the air conditioning cranked in here. #
• 14:57 This is becoming a matter of endurance. I need a nap. #

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I bailed at about 5 p.m., deciding to head back home to Arlington instead of staying with Tim in the hotel. That would’ve been fun but I was (and am) very tired. So I’m missing the Ignatz, which I’m fine with.

I did sit in most of the panel on YA and children’s comics. Some interesting comments, especially about how traditional book publishers know how to get their books shelved where kids can actually get to them (in other words, in the children’s department of a bookstore) and comic publishers don’t. (This was part of the reported problems with the Minx books.) Also that most comic publishers put “all ages” on books aimed toward, well, all ages, which includes children. Traditional book publishers know about age groups.

I thought all of that was interesting, that publishers that usually work in prose are better at getting comics into the hands of kids than comic book publishers are.

But the general consensus was that kids like comics. I’m waiting for the day when we start reading articles with headlines like “Comics: They’re not just for adults anymore.”

It remained very crowded throughout the day, which is good for the show but bad for browsing. I spent my allotment of money pretty quickly though (I have a few dollars left for minicomics). All in all, it was a great — if exhausting — day.

Tomorrow, I will bring my correct USB cable and post some photos.

It’s impressively crowded. Who knew this many people cared this much about comics?

I think it’s great, though, although it does make it a little harder to see everything. I have, though, managed to spend most of my money already.

Something I’ve noticed is that there seems to be a lot more fantasy-oriented comics here this year. The indie comics scene has been dominated by a lot of autobiographical stuff for a long time, and certainly, that’s still present, but I’m glad to see people branching out with the sorts of stories they’re telling.

I will be glad when the crowd thins out a little. We’re probably at the peak of the crowd for today.