SPX 2008 Photos

I left my assistant in charge of the studio while I was out of town for the Small Press Expo in North Bethesda, MD. That's him, Sam the cat, gazing all powerfully atop the old-style monitor and next to the Pooping Dog calendar!

I flew out of Boston to BWI. My thanks to a DC area editor friend who suggested that while BWI isn't on the Washington, DC Metro line, it is much less expensive to fly into coming into Dulles or Reagan. I caught a bus to the Metro for $3.10. It took a half hour for the bus to get to the Metro (end of the Greenbelt line; this was a direct bus from the airport terminal with no stops), and then maybe 15 minutes to get to Union Station on the Metro.


Above: the view from Mark Anderson's table at the Small Press Expo.

The room was huge -- and (as Mark pointed out) there were no big pillars anywhere -- just all unobstructed space. This room is the heart of the event, with most people spending hours here, browsing cartoon books that are either self-published, or published by small publishing companies.

Here are a few photos of a tiny slice of a large event.


Above: Jeff Lok, Mike Lynch, Trade Loeffler

It was great to meet Jeff Lok, a cartoonist I've emailed with over the years. He's graduated from the Center for Cartoon Studies and is living in Vermont. Jeff has already done it all: from gag cartoons to graphic novels. My pal Trade Loeffler, of "Zip & Li'l Bit" fame, from "the old neighborhood in Brooklyn," took the Amtrak down for the day.


Above: Mark Anderson, Richard Thompson and USA Today editor Casey Shaw.

It was great hanging out with Mark for most of the weekend. (Mark's account of the SPX is here, and he has a link to a trove of SPX photos on Flickr.) Richard gave a couple of signings on behalf of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. He also gave a talk, moderated by the affable Mike Rhode, about his career and his comic strip Cul de Sac.

I hope Richard doesn't mind if I share a small bit of his talk. I love behind the scenes stories and would like to share the warning he (Richard) got during the strip's development period about his character of Danders, the talking guinea pig. As you know, Cul de Sac is about the Otterloop kids and their parents. Danders is a supporting, minor character. The syndicate warned him: Talking animals are not your friends. He was further admonished: A talking animal could take over the strip, ala Snoopy, and Cul de Sac would meets its demise, and morph into the Danders the Talking Hamster strip.

Not that that would be a bad thing, but I would miss the Otterloop family, you betcha.

Above: Mike Lynch and Raina Telgemeier

I first met Raina back when she was a School of Visual Arts major. Now she's married to Dave Roman and doing her own comics, as well as a series of Babysitter's Club graphic novels with Ann M. Martin.

Factoid: Ann Martin's Dad is the New Yorker magazine cartoonist Henry Martin.



Abve: Most of the books I bought after Day One of the 2 day event, strewn out over my Marriott bedspread. Lots of good stuff that I still am catching up to read.


Above: Mark Anderson and John Kovaleski.

"Another customer, ripe for the plucking! Bwah ha ha ha!"

This is my favorite photo.


Just look. That's evil. Pure evil.



Above: Saturday dinner: Mike Lynch, Mark Anderson, Brian Moore and son.

I'm telling Brian's son to look at the camera to no avail. Brian's lovely wife Meghan is taking the photo and she's a professional photographer.

More anon.