SPX
My friend Sarah and I just got back from wandering around SPX, the Small Press Expo, which is an independent comics convention. It’s focused on real paper comics, but I stopped by because there were a few webcomics represented there. We met Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content, David Malki of Wondermark, and Colleen of Fluff in Brooklyn. Jeph, Jeph’s gal Cristi, David, Colleen, Colleen’s pal Marianne, Sarah, and I all went out for dinner at a very nice Thai restaurant and had a lot of fun. David filled my car with a story about telling the difference between Garfield the cat and Garfield the 20th president (”the beard, not the whiskers”).
The expo was really cool. I hadn’t been to a convention before, and it seems this one is a good one to start out at. It was very grown-up, very nice and artsy and people tended not to have costumes or anything. Just a lot of hipsters hanging around with tables covered in absolutely breathtaking art. I picked up a copy of Two-Fisted Science, which I’d seen on BoingBoing, and blabbed at the author for a while.
I’m at Sarah’s place, about to crash, and I just turned my head to the right and there were a pair of EYES, set in the face of a strange cat sitting on the back of the couch, literally an inch, an inch and a half from my face, staring at me intently. I propose all animals with quiet feet and eyes above a certain level of creepiness be fitted with bells immediately.
END REPORT.
October 14th, 2006 at 1:48 am
I was out there today as well, a friend of mine is self-publishing a comic and I was there for solidarity. Ended up seeing a lot of cool stuff and getting my copy of The Phantom Tollbooth autographed by Jules Feiffer. If you go again tomorrow, you should wear a large paper hat or something else distinctive so my wife and I can go all fanboy on you.
Someone was selling t-shirts in the far corner that said “Science is my bitch.”
October 14th, 2006 at 1:50 am
[...] Chappy from the marvellous xkcd.com shares this story: [...]
October 14th, 2006 at 1:52 am
I saw that shirt! I tried to stand around to start a fight or something but he didn’t seem like he was looking for one.
Sadly, I’ve gotta head out tomorrow morning, so I won’t be back. I will probably show up at some kind of more webcomicky convention at some point, as this one seemed like a lot of fun.
October 14th, 2006 at 2:02 am
It was the first comic conveniton of any sort that I’ve visited. It was kind of nifty, but I don’t know that I’ll become a regular attendee of such events. I might not have gone to this one except that I live in the area.
One thing that I found to be really cool was how committed folks are to getting their work out there and recognized. I can’t help but think that there is a lot of brilliant work going unseen because people don’t take the next step.
I’m tempted to buy the Science is my bitch shirt as a companion to the ‘it works, bitches’ shirt my wife owns. It would be bitchin’.
October 14th, 2006 at 3:45 pm
But did the cat have blue eyes?
October 16th, 2006 at 1:49 am
Suggestion: turn off trackbacking. It can overwhelm a blog’s comments if unchecked!
October 16th, 2006 at 8:21 am
[...] On this side of the Atlantic, things were quiet in the indy-comics world everywhere except Bethesda, Maryland over the weekend, thanks to so much of it gathering there for the 2006 Small Press Expo. Heidi MacDonald was there, and posted a bunch of SPX-related information to her weblog, including reports from days one and two, plus a listing of this year’s Ignatz winners, who each literally get a brick as their prize. You can also read Expo observations from Chris Mautner, Johanna Draper Carlson, Xaviar Xerexes, Joe McCulloch and a short, webcomics-centric report from Randall Munroe. More will doubtlessly be forthcoming. [...]
October 17th, 2006 at 10:42 am
Hey, by the way, I ran into this site and thought immediately of you.
http://alumni.imsa.edu/~freakyjo/mathjokes.html
October 18th, 2006 at 7:32 am
I think it speaks to the difference between you and I, Randy, that you are *more* comfortable in a room full of scads of hipsters than around a bunch of costumed geeks.
::shudders:: hipsters.
October 20th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
Off-topic, and therefore illogical, but just wanted to let you know that your particular brew of romance, sarcasm, math and language is a source of perpetual delight to me, a total stranger. I don’t remember where I found xkcd (BB, maybe), but I realized today that Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are better days because they’re xkcd days.
-robin
October 21st, 2006 at 7:10 pm
Just in case you guys were looking to pick up the Science is My Bitch shirt online.
I completely sold out of the shirts I brought halfway through day two at the con.
October 21st, 2006 at 11:49 pm
“…I don’t remember where I found xkcd (BB, maybe), but I realized today that Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are better days because they’re xkcd days.” -Robin
Although I know where I found xkcd (my friend sent me a link), and there’s another comic I read on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I have to completely agree.
I completely understand the cat thing. My computer used to be placed right next to a couch, and my two kittens would sit there, sometimes trying to step on my shoulder to get attention. Even now, one of the kittens decides she has to get my attention by clawing at the backs of my legs…it irritates me, really. If my room were bigger, I’d be really tempted to throw her across it, but I don’t want to hurt her…she’s a good cat, all things aside.
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I can’t tell you how happy I am that you went to SPX b/c I found your card on one of the cluttered tables and have been enjoying your comic ever since .. even though I went to a liberal arts school :)
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