We’re a little late getting around to running this great announcement, but 2008 is really going to have a hard time being bested as “The Year of the Comic” when April has been proclaimed Comics Month in the city of Portland, OR. That’s real civic recognition! What would Wertham say?

Mayor Declares April 2008 “Portland Comics Month”

The Stumptown Comics Foundation is delighted to announce that later today, Mayor Tom Potter will declare this April Portland Comics Month. The proclamation officially recognizes both the cultural importance and creative influence of this vibrant art form on the entire city.

Portland has deep roots in the comic-book publishing world, as it is home to scores of comics industry professionals and to three of the nation’s most prominent independent comics publishers (Dark Horse Comics, Oni Press, and Top Shelf Productions). Moreover, the local comics community has seen sizable growth in the past few years, further bolstering the Rose City’s defining ties to the creative arts and industries.

To champion and support Portland Comics Month, the Stumptown Comics Foundation has catalogued a staggering number of comics-related events in the Portland metro area for the entire month of April. The current list is below; further information, additional events, and running updates are soon to be had at www.stumptowncomics.com/comicsmonth. Join us in this month-long celebration of sequential art—culminating in the Stumptown Comics Fest and Free Comic Book Day!

1 COMMENT

  1. And it’s only April… And there hasn’t been a big comicbook movie yet, like there was Sin City or 300. What next? Tom Batiuk getting a mention from the Pulitzer Board? Book publishers copying the Direct Market business plan?

    This ain’t the Golden Age, this is a freakin’ RENAISSANCE! The Plague is over, exciting discoveries from the Orient influence Western Culture, and new ideas threaten the hierarchies of old.

    The future’s shining bright, and I’m gonna go get sunburnt!

  2. The ratio of comics people per square mile in PDX is so high it won’t be long before they’re on the city council and the school boards. It’s pretty sweet. I can see moving back there before too many years go by….

  3. After all this hubbub, it’s funny how the graphic novel section is so weak in the Portland libraries. As with most libraries, the graphic novel sections in the various pdx libraries are all haphazardly put together, all tucked away in dark corners or crammed into one bookshelf, all disorganized. The graphic novel sections in libraries always look like afterthoughts, and pdx is no exception. For a town that has a month devoted to comics, you’d think they’d treat their comics sections with a bit more respect.

  4. >

    Just a reminder that Wonder Woman Day II last year , which raised $27,000 for women and children’s shelters, was ALSO recognized as “Wonder Woman Day” by the Mayor of Portland (thus opening the door for this new Stumptown honor).

    But it seems that comic book events that raise awareness and HUGE amounts of money for battered women and kids just don’t demand the kind of PR that this is getting…

  5. The Portland library has one of the best libraries I’ve ever seen, especially in the realm of graphic novels. The two branches I visit often have weak selections, but there’s no point in having every copy of every graphic novel at every location. The stock is spread out. Use the online catalog, and you’ll see there’s a whole lot more out there. I’ve probably read over 200 graphic novels/collections since I’ve been here, and I have another 50 or so on my list.