The Stumptown Comics Fest made its debut on the main floor of the Oregon Convention Center this year, moving from the Doubletree Hotel and nearly doubling the event's square footage.
One move that caused concerned talk among Portlanders was director Indigo Kelleigh's decision to curate the show, choosing the exhibitors who would receive tables from the large number of applicants. While allowing Kelleigh to direct the focus of the show, it created a stir among previous attendees who were used to the "first come, first served" method of previous shows.
"The concerns I had before the show didn't end up happening," said Kelleigh on the last day of the convention. "I've heard from lots of people who are really happy with the setup this year."
That happiness appeared to extend to the attendees this year as well.
"Our box office numbers were up over 3100 for the weekend," Kelleigh responded when contacted after the convention, "which I believe is our best attendance ever!"
Kelleigh will take a short break before planning begins again.
"I'm really looking forward to next year," he said.
Fan favorite artist Brandon Graham (King City) provided original artwork for the convention's poster, program, free totebags, and a different design for each badge category.
Portland Mayor Sam Adams, who has proclaimed April to be Comic Book Month in the Rose City, took his dedication a step further. The Alter Egos Society conducted "Project Mayor-Man," a contest to design a superhero based on the mayor. On Saturday Adams appeared in the winning design, taking pictures and selling posters to benefit p:ear, a local organization which mentors at-risk and homeless youth.
"Samdroid," designed by Manny McIvor, is equipped with "solar power for energy during the day" and "coffee power for energy during the night!"
The coffee is Stumptown, of course.
Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover had a hundred copies of their Top Shelf book Gingerbread Girl shipped specially from China in order to debut them at Stumptown. Not expected on shelves until late May, it is also available to read on the web. Artist Coover (X-Men: First Class Finals, Small Favors) was adamant about how Gingerbread Girl should be described. Not a webcomic, she said, but "an original graphic novel being serialized on the web," since the story was created to be a book.
Their book received a "great reaction" at the show. Coover reported that a couple bought Gingerbread Girl on Saturday and returned Sunday to say how much they had enjoyed it, a first for the Periscope Studio member.
Author Tobin (Spider-Girl, Marvel Adventures) laughed: "I have a love for biography comics, but I don't like people." He finds that real-life stories can be too constraining.
"I like stories where the boundaries can expand," Tobin explained. "The characters don't know where they'll be going."
Gingerbread Girl is the story of 26-year-old Annah Billips, but is told by the people in her life, who all have different memories of the woman."
It's a book about a jury," said Tobin. In other words, a story about the way perception colors recollection.
In their spare time, the couple is working on Imbecile: A Love Story and will be appearing in Jim Henson's The Storyteller anthology, due in September from Archaia. Tobin is also writing a "words novel," and has completed the alien invasion story Falling Skies for Dark Horse.
The upcoming "medical horror comic" Witch Doctor has been generating a great deal of press since first being announced, and writer Brandon Seifert and artist Lukas Ketner's table was covered with medical paraphernalia and copies of their Witch Doctor teaser.
The 4-issue series is being released in June by Skybound, Robert Kirkman(The Walking Dead)'s imprint for Image Comics. What is more noteworthy is that Witch Doctor is currently the only book coming from Skybound that does not directly involve Kirkman himself.
The Portland-based creative duo were actually discovered through Ketner's cover for an issue of Willamette Week. Kirkman noticed the art and looked up Ketner on the internet, finding the free issue of Witch Doctor.
"Kirkman just sent an email to Lukas out of the blue," said Seifert.
If the miniseries is successful, the pair hope to create an ongoing series along the lines of Hellboy, which is ongoing, but grouped into stories, as opposed to appearing monthly.
"I'd also like to do a crossover with Batton Lash's Supernatural Law," Seifert added. "Maybe Wolff and Byrd could defend the doctor from a malpractice suit."
Vera Brosgol's much-talked-about book Anya's Ghost will be released on June 8th with a party at Floating World Comics. The creator had no copies to sell at Stumptown, but was able to provide one to the Portland Comic Books Examiner for review, which should be expected in the near future. An additional copy of Anya's Ghost was raffled off to a lucky winner.
Brosgol was quite happy with her Stumptown experience, having sold out of her first solo mini-comic. Her next appearance will be at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, May 7th and 8th.
Portland author Shawn Aldridge was at the Fest to promote his upcoming sci-fi P.I. series Vic Boone.
"It was a pet project," he said. "I didn't think anyone would read it."
Issue #1 recently received an 8.5 score on IGN's comics site and was an Editors' Choice.
Vic Boone, published by 215 Ink, will be released in June, and its creator is working hard to make it successful.
"I've send about four or five hundred individual emails to comic shops this week," Aldridge said. "They can just order one copy if they want. I'm sure there are people who will buy it just for the David Lloyd cover."
Aldridge had previously interviewed the V for Vendetta artist, so when Vic Boone was being created the author emailed and asked Lloyd to do the cover.
He was totally interested," remembered Aldridge, "but I had to agree to three rules: I couldn't see it until it was done, he had to be able to do what he wanted, and it couldn't be a variant cover."
There was no problem meeting the demands.
Aldridge was selling copies of The Stumptown Files, an exclusive Vic Boone collection assembled for the Stumptown Comics Fest.
"An artist I was working with decided to add a white streak to Vic's hair," Aldridge said about one Stumptown Files story, "so I was able to write a story showing how he got it."
Another comic making its first appearance at Stumptown was Briar Hollow, by writer/artist Terry Blas and colorist Kimball Davis. The webcomic began in March of last year, so there was no product for the team to display at last year's Fest. In fact, Stumptown 2011 is Kimball Davis' first comic convention.
"Terry is helping me through it," Davis said, smiling.
The first three issues of Briar Hollow's six-issue Volume 1 are available in printed form, and Blas said that it received good response from convention visitors.
"It's a learning experience," he added. "I'm refining my pitch as I go."
Blas, who was a member of Portland's Robopocalypse Comics Collective along with Tranquility Base's BT Livermore, was left high and dry lest year when his first colorist left the project. Blas quickly recruited friend Davis for the task. The self-taught Davis, who got into art after reading the comic Witchblade, had a selection of his own work available at the table as well.
Artist Bill Mudron named his table "Copyright Infringement Island" for the many pieces of fan art he had on display. The clear standouts were his period-art-influenced Dr. Who panels and 2' x 3' map of Hyrule, land of the Legend of Zelda video games.
Mudron explained his fan art perspective: "I think, 'What do I want that no one else has made?'"
The Hyrule maps were available at a $40 price point, which was a first for Mudron.
"I've never priced anything at more than $20," he said, "but these cost almost $40 to print." By convention's end, all twenty were sold.
Mudron has had contact with BBC Drama personnel, but hasn't heard from them about the Dr. Who prints.
"I sent a pack of prints to BBC offices," he said, and pointed out: "At least I'm a fan!"
Mudron said he would be interested in providing art for the series in some capacity, obviously a dream job for any devotee.
In addition to freelance work for video games and iPhone apps, the artist is currently working on a book chronicling the history of Nintendo, a work that should see the light of day next year.
A winner at the Stumptown Comic Art Awards, Zack Soto proudly displayed his trophy for Best Anthology alongside copies of Studygroup 12 #4.
"I knew I wouldn't win for Best Publication Design," he said. "Michael DeForge (Spotting Deer) put out a beautiful book."
The artist and editor took his victory in stride.
"I feel really cool about it," he confessed, "but you could vote on the internet, so my mom probably voted like forty times."
Soto also has a spread in the recently-published issue 6 of Diamond, from Floating World Comics.
In the "Making Comics" panel, artist David Hahn talked about his upcoming projects. The first is All Nighter, a five-issue series from Image Comics. Originally planned as a book for Minx, DC's imprint aimed at teenage girls, All Nighter moved to Image when the imprint was shut down before printing began.
"I don't see it as a book for teen girls," commented Hahn. "It's for everybody."
All Nighter follows 20 year old Kit Bradley, an art student with a "troubled kid" past, whose new housemate changes her life.
Hahn's other project, Power Chords, is a "rock and roll superhero comic" that he is co-creating with standup comic John Roy. The book, also from Image, will kick off later this summer.
Although Randall Kirby (Bop! Comics, Young Bottoms In Love) did not have a table at Stumptown, the folks at Prism Comics gave him some space at theirs to display his books.
Kirby was also showing his portfolio, which contained six finished pages of a 30-page Captain Zombie story featuring megalomaniacal tuber Potentater and his assistant Spudmonkey. Originally appearing in Bop! Comics in 2003, Captain Zombie, along with sidekick Emaciated Boy, is anticipating a rebirth of sorts.
"There's a huge zombie glut right now," Kirby said, "and I want to re-stake my claim!"
The tabletop in front of Dicebox creator Jenn Manley Lee held no books, but did include a spread of pre-order cards for the print edition of her webcomic. Dicebox Vol. 1 goes to press in a week, and is expected on shelves in June. The printing of Dicebox was completely funded by pre-orders, which indicates the popularity of the webcomic.
The pre-order options range from "The Simple," which is a signed copy of the book, to "The Sponsor," which includes "a personally signed, hard-bound copy of the book, with a hand-colored tip-in, custom dice (in a cup!), the limited 'Wander' print, a Rafferty kerchief and your choice of page recreated by the artist’s own hand in watercolors. In addition, a Sponsor's name will be printed in the book, crediting them as making this print version possible."
Dicebox Vol 1 will be full-color and 324 pages in length. There are no plans as yet for a release party.
"I'll wait until it gets closer," said the author.
Artist Matt Grigsby was excited to be tabling at Stumptown's new location.
"It's the first time it's felt mature," he said. "Jim Demonakis [director of Emerald City Comicon] was here and said he was impressed with the show," because it remained creator-focused while growing in size.
Grigsby's newest print, Ursula, Queen of the Caspian Sea -- his take on The Little Mermaid's villainess -- was a conversation starter.
"People have asked me to create a triptych of Disney villains with Ursula at the center," he reported. Grigsby chose Ursula because he was "blown away by how they animated every tendril" in the movie.
The artist had also been hearing buzz about Moreau's Army, his new project with writer David Walker. Walker sold out of his new novel, Darius Logan: Super Justice Force, at Stumptown.
"It's an off year for me," said Grigsby. "I'm doing more print stuff because I'm in the middle of projects."
The Raven's Gambit team of Susan Tardif and Rich Ellis were in attendance, selling the first two issues of their fantasy series.
"It will be six issues," said Tardif, "and the first issue is available online."
Tardif, who doubles as a Digital Arts Coordinator at Dark Horse Comics, is currently working on the second Library Collection of Carla Speed McNeil's Finder series, as well as season 9 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She reports that Dollhouse, which had a one-shot this month, will be returning this summer.
Tranquility Base's Lisa Rosalie Eisenberg was operating on two hours of sleep Saturday morning after staying up late to complete issue #4 of her comic I Cut My Hair.
"I am running on adrenaline and caffeine right now," she said, but good response to the comic made it worthwhile.
Barry Deutsch was doing brisk business, aided by his recent Eisner Award nomination. Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword is nominated for "Best Publication for Teens."
Rick Remender (Uncanny X-Force, Venom) reportedly had a "crazy good show." Sales were up for the Portlander, who described how he went from being an illustrator to a writer.
"I started putting off my art jobs to do writing," he explained. "Eventually my art clients stopped calling, so now I'm a writer!"
Creators were generally in agreement that sales were up for the weekend, signalling an upswing in comic fans' personal economies and a positive draw for the convention. The Stumptown Comics Fest will return next year to the Convention Center, and is expected to take up an even larger space than this year's show, providing more table availability for applicants.
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