18 9 / 2012
Thanks for doing such a great job guys! Seriously, it was my favorite show of the year!!!!!
spx:
A huge thanks to the attendees, guests and exhibitors who made the pilgrimage to this years SPX, making it The Best EVER!! And thanks even more for the kind words we are reading on all of the Internets.
On behalf of me, Mike, Eden, Kevin, Bill, Nate, Greg and the Army of Volunteers, it was great having all of you and see ya next year!!
For those of you wondering how we felt after closing this years SPX, well, I think this says it all….
Till September 2013,
Warren
31 1 / 2012
The MCP went all SPX!
mdt:
So I do this thing. And it is amazing.
I have participated in the Small Press Expo almost since it began. I am so excited for what it’s become and, more importantly, what it will be. I am so fortunate to get to be a part of it.
WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?????
I am amazed and humbled and delighted I get to be a part of this thing. My fellow board members & others connected with SPX are now members of my extended family. I love that people are paying attention to what we’re doing.spx:
Wow… SPX just passed 10,000 followers here on Tumblr. We couldn’t be more humbled or more grateful. Thank you all so much for giving a little bit of your attention to SPX and thanks as well to Tumblr for their kind support in promoting SPX to their users. If you don’t mind, I want to take a moment to re-introduce ourselves to you fine people.
OUR MISSION
SPX is a non-profit dedicated to promoting, protecting and preserving independent voices in the comics medium. As an all volunteer organization - every penny we make goes to our charitable programs or internal investments. SPX receives no funding outside of what is raised by our annual events, which we would really, sincerely love for you to attend.
THE EXPO
Most of you are probably somewhat familiar with the annual SPX comics festival that takes place in Bethesda, MD. The Small Press Expo started out in 1994 as a regional indie comics show and has steadily grown in size and scope to become arguably the preeminent such event in North America, with top-flight guests and an excellent slate programming.
It looks a little something like this:
Last year over 3,000 artists and enthusiasts attended The Expo, along with special guests that included: Craig Thompson, Jim Woodring, Diam Noomin, Roz Chast and more. Our guests for 2012 include some dudes you may have heard of: Chris Ware and Dan Clowes with many more soon to be announced. Full info for the 2012 show is right here.
Please do think about making the trip. We can hang. It would rule.
THE IGNATZ AWARDS
Since 1997 SPX has been the home of the Ignatz Awards, celebrating excellence in independent comics. The Ignatz is unique in comics as afestival prize, with winners selected by attendees of the Expo. The only way to vote is to attend the show itself. The awards and after-party are open to all. NOTE: There will be a chocolate fountain.
While the annual SPX comics festival including the Ignatz Awards, is understandably how most people probably think of us, that doesn’t mean that the SPX team isn’t working hard for independent comics the other 363 days of the year…
Here’s what we do:
THE CBLDF DONATION
The proceeds from SPX’s annual festival are used to support a variety of charitable initiatives. Our longest standing relationship is with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. As their name implies, The CBLDF acts as a bulwark against censorship for comics creators of all stripes and provides an important voice in support of creative freedom. We’re extremely proud to have the CBLDF as the primary beneficiary of the SPX Festival.
THE LIBRARY GIFT PROGRAM
While our annual comics festival is the primary way we draw exposure to the best and brightest talents in independent comics, last year we added a new wrinkle. With the overwhelming support of several independent comics publishers, the Small Press Expo began an endowment program for local library systems.
Each year SPX will select several libraries for participation and these libraries will be provided a budget to select graphic novels at a reduced cost from participating publishers. SPX handles everything, making it simple to get independent comics on the shelves of cash-strapped local libraries where that work can be accessible to all.
We piloted the program in our home district, Montgomery County, Maryland, delivering more than 200 graphic novels into local libraries. For 2012, we’re aiming to line up participants in Maryland, Virginia and DC. SPX loves libraries! And we love to provide new avenues for young people to discover the fine work of independent comics artists.
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COLLECTION
Ok, this is the one that gives me chills.
2011 was a huge year for SPX. Not only did we launch the library gift program. We also saw the realization of something a long time in coming. Executive Director Warren Bernard spent over a year in negotiations with the Library of Congress in Washington, DC to facilitate a permanent repository for the work independent artists featured at SPX.
The SPX Collection at the Library of Congress was established to preserve the history both the artistic output of the creators who come to SPX, as well as the art that SPX itself generates as part of its yearly festival. The donated works will enter the Library’s permanent collection of comic books and comic art. Truly unprecedented!
At the 2012 Ignatz Awards, Warren spoke about the LOC collection rather movingly. I’d encourage you to give his remarks a look if you’ve missed them.
So that’s SPX in a nutshell.
We’re here for comics.
I hope you’ll stick around and, come September, pay us a visit in DC!
15 12 / 2011
SPX: The Small Press Expo: Hey kids, wanna have a table at SPX this year?
Do it now! BELIEVE!
spx:
Click the link below (or the little box at the end of this post) and fill out the online form. You’ll be notified the minute tables go on sale!
Click here for the exhibitor form!
We’ve got the biggest SPX ever happening in 2012 and we’re looking to knock your goddamn socks off.
We’ve added…
14 9 / 2011
A short little review of Small Press Expo and a look at some of the stuff I got.
Link time:
And here’s a link to my Beginning Cel Shading stream:
13 9 / 2011
HELLS YES!!!
spx:
Suoer Art Fight killed it at the Ignatz Awards after party. These guys LOVE SPX and we’re so glad to have them involved. Thank you to Jamie for helping to get it all together.
Same time next year, guys?
some highlights of super art fight at SPX tonight
11 9 / 2011
One of the sketches I did at SPX this weekend!!!
Kamen Rider DOUBLE done by Jamie Noguchi a true Kamen Rider fan.
09 9 / 2011
Some thoughts on comics in general and the broad spectrum of genres that Small Press Expo and webcomics encourage.
Oh, and if you missed it, I did a horribly painful live stream last night. I needed some lineart for a workshop I’m giving next weekend. Might try to schedule more of these, probably Tuesday and Thursday evenings, but we’ll see.
08 9 / 2011
spx:
Most excellent news!
Those of you on the exhibitor side had gotten a note from us about the potential split to the SPX show floor due to damage to the Marriott from the recent earthquake (yes, smartass, there WAS real damage - WE WILL REBUILD!).
You can see what was up in the hall when I visited, just yesterday… If we’ve been vague about posting the actual table diagram for attendees to review, now you know why. We might have had to shuffle the whole deck to new rooms. Well, it seems that worry is over.
The Marriott has done built and we’re set to go ahead as normal. While we had come up with some good alternate plans, the best result was to not have to use them. Big sloppy love to the Marriott, SPX’s home for several years now, for making it happen.
If you guys weren’t so darn GOOD at the show this wouldn’t have happened. They wouldn’t have pulled out all the stops for a bunch of hooligans! I doubt it.
Viva SPX!
30 8 / 2011
"Bernard: Oh yeah, a clear urgency, no question. From an SPX-centric perspective, we were seeing the great art in terms of posters, flyers, banner ads, etc, literally disappear. For example, there is no full set of SPX posters anywhere. The great art for the badges of most of the previous years shows have all but disappeared, never to be found. Not a good thing, because we have had some great posters and badges, amongst other great art done for us. From the indie comics perspective, it hit home with me like three years ago when I stopped by Derf’s table at SPX, where he had a special mini-comic of the stuff he does for the Washington City Paper. I had to get moving and said I would pick it up later. Of course, when I came back the next day it was gone, never to be reprinted again. I was not happy. And add to that the many indie produced items that have literally disappeared. I have been trying to find the very first Troubletown mini-comic, but even Lloyd Dangle does not have a copy. Lilli Carre’s mini-comics are no longer available; they are fantastic and deserve to be in the collection. But alas, even Lilli does not have them any more. As another example, Smoke Signal 1 and 2 cannot be bought or found for any price; they are rarer than Babe Ruth signed baseballs. It became apparent that we must try to save at least some of this material in an institution, where not only would it be preserved, but also made available to researchers who one day will be looking back on the early 21st Century indie comics scene."
HOLY HELL! THIS!!!!!
Introducing The Small Press Expo Collection | at the Library of Congress - The Comics Journal
Huge news. Massive!
(via spx)
(via spx)
