CORRRECTION: Oops, we told you we were blotto — that was a 3-year-old poster. Info and graphics corrected.

We’ll be away during this weekend’s Alternative Press Expo so we won’t be able to make all our usual “going APE” Jokes and our coverage must be a bit perfunctory. The guest list is incredible from Art Spiegelman to Kevin Huizenga. Some company doings:

SLG/Slave Labor
Fantagraphics

There are lots and lots of parties, but to see them all you will have to go to the JUMP:

There’s a big signing Friday night at Comix Experience with Hope Larson, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Gene Yang and Kevin Huizenga.

Saturday many events clamor for attention:

There’s a The Cartoon Art Museum and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund party:

On February 21, 2004, come to CAM to mingle with dozens of the finest stars in comics and many up-and-coming cartoonists as they gather to celebrate the comics medium and support these two distinguished organizations. The party will be held from 8 to 11 PM at the Cartoon Art Museum, where over 300 pieces of original art spanning 100 years of comics history will be on view, including works by contemporary legends Alex Ross and Frank Miller, underground masters R. Crumb and Justin Green, rare pieces by pioneering cartoonists George McManus and E.C. Segar, and comic strip icons Walt Kelly and Charles Schulz.

There’s the Gallery Nineteen Eighty-Eight’s big Indie art opening.

And the Truth Serum party:

Bring Your Mom!
Saturday, April 21st
8:00 PM
826 Valencia, 826 Valencia St., San Francisco

The 2nd of what appears to be, but will likely never again be an annual Truth Serum book release party, alongside the unstoppable power of the handsome gentlemen bringing you the Big Stone Head Extravaganza.

Join us for an evening of games, free stuff, laughs (probably not at your expense), things to eat/drink and a short play. You don’t have to bring your mom, but do you really want to leave her alone on a Saturday night? She probably wouldn’t do that to you. More info available at Big Stone Head or The University of Myopia.

And finally, here’s the official PR. WHEW! Had to cram it all in.

THE EVENT: The Alternative Press Expo (APE), America’s largest gathering of fans of alternative and self-published comics, is getting ready to hit the Bay area once again, with a great list of guests and nonstop fun for two full days. Located in San Francisco’s Concourse Exhibition Center, the 14th annual APE takes place Saturday, April 21, through Sunday, April 22, 2007. Last year over 4,800 people attended the underground event.

HIGHLIGHTS: The annual event salutes the independent comic spirit, and features panels and programming with some of the top creative talent and rising stars working in comics today, plus hundreds of artists and independent publishers. The event is more funky flea market than traditional exhibit hall filled to the rafters with some of the best and most cutting edge comics, art, books, and fanzines.

SPECIAL GUESTS (for a complete guest list visit www.comic-con.org)

Art Spiegelman, the legendary comics creator who started in underground comics, Pulitzer Prize winning creator of Maus: A Survivor’s Tale.

Francoise Mouly, co-creator of the comics anthology RAW and art editor at The New Yorker Magazine.

Hope Larson, one of the most promising cartoonists in comics, started out on the web comics site Girlamatic.

Brian Lee O’Malley, creator of the Scott Pilgrim series and winner of numerous awards.

Gene Yang, started as a self publisher, his latest graphic novel American Chinese was a finalist for the prestigious National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.

Kevin Huizenga, Ignatz Award winner for Outstanding Story for Ganges #1

Karl Christian Krumpholz, writer & artist of the comic series Byron.

WHEN:
Saturday, April 21: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sunday, April 22: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

WHERE: Concourse Exhibition Center, 620 7th Street, San Francisco.

ADMISSION: At-the-door prices: Two-day: $10; One-day (Saturday or Sunday): $7.