The newest indie comics show on the block BEC (Brooklyn Expo of Comics) kicks off this weekend at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Williamsburg. While following in the tradition of the previous Comic Arts Brooklyn show, it also comes in with everything a new comics show could possibly want, right out of the box: awards, a week of shoulder events, and even a cute mascot. The Beat got to chat with the people behind the show, Bryce Gold, Executive Director at BODEGA, and Communications Manager Christina Lee about the show and their bigger plans.
THE BEAT: Just to set the scene and fill in the backstory, were you fans of Comic Arts Brooklyn? With Gabe Fowler coming on to do programming, and a return to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, BEC definitely seems like a continuation of that show. How do you see the relationship?
Bryce Gold: I loved Comic Arts Brooklyn with all my heart! I have a great photo of a young, bright eyed and bushy tailed me outside Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church (same venue we’re using for BEC this year) holding up the very first comic I published with Pyrite Press, which I brought hot off the presses to show off to some of my friends and exhibitors at that year’s show. I then tabled myself for the last two iterations of the show back in 2018 and 2019. When ideating on Brooklyn Expo of Comics, we felt like we wanted a “spiritual successor” to CAB, both with timing and curation. We also knew we wanted Gabe Fowler, founder of CAB and Desert Island comics, to join us in this new chapter. Gabe has curated this year’s programming slate, and we’re so honored to have him on board and to MC our panels this year.
Christina Lee: I’m an illustrator and cartoonist myself, and have been a longtime fan of both Desert Island and CAB, so it’s been an honor to collaborate with Gabe on BEC.
THE BEAT: At the same time, a lot has changed since the last CAB, which was held at Pratt in 2019. Has anything made it easier or harder to put on a show since then
Bryce: The pandemic certainly changed the event landscape in NYC and beyond, but the comics community always finds a way to keep on thriving. A ton of community events here in New York spawned in that era which are still thriving today: Big Milk, Frog Farm Fest, DICE (Ditmas Indie Comics Extravaganza), PictoBeach, BICS (Brooklyn Independent Comics Showcase), BKABF (Brooklyn Art Book Fair), to name a few. I think when there’s a resilient community and a drive to create and connect with one another, comics will always thrive. That being said, I think costs are the biggest obstacle to events today. Booking any venue is so much more expensive than it ever was before, it really feels like you’re planning a wedding when doing something at this scale or larger nowadays. Even single night events like comics readings are costly – I have nothing but respect for folks that are out there doing the work and curating comic events here in the city to bring people together.
Christina: In addition to cost, NYC is a logistically insane city to throw an event in. As Bryce said, venues are expensive and it’s difficult to find one that can fit the needs of this kind of show without costing an arm and a leg while also being conveniently located. In October, I went to the Philly Comics Expo organized by Gina Dawson and Tom Marquet (who run Partners & Son, a Philadelphia-based indie comics store), and I thought it was incredible. It was well-curated and felt like the exact right size, and the programming was great. The atmosphere felt very supportive and caring— I recently got married and so many cartoonists gave me a congratulations as I walked through the exhibit floor. The after party was a bonfire at a skate park, which was happening concurrently as 2 different EDM parties. A party like this in NYC would be impossible!
THE BEAT: What is the main goal for having another indie comics show in Brooklyn? Who do you see as the audience? And how do you reach that audience?
Bryce: Brooklyn obviously has a thriving comics and illustration scene, and as someone who has tabled for years myself at shows nationally and internationally, there has felt like this huge “gap” in the fall convention circuit without a show here in Brooklyn! That really was the first goal – provide the community with a reason to return to Brooklyn in November. From there, Courtney, James, and I wanted to see what else we could do to expand that role and offer cartoonists and New Yorkers an even better opportunity to experience comic arts and support artists from New York and beyond here in our back yard. That’s why we built the BODEGA CAT awards, and why we’re bringing back a full slate of panels to this year’s show for audiences to really engage with the work straight from the creator’s mouths. It’s also why we’ve built out a number of other BODEGA offerings this year. We’re screening original animations from 33 local animators in collaboration with K Downs called Bacon Eggs And Toons. We’re releasing our first anthology of New York-based cartoonists telling New York stories called the Brooklyn Annual of Graphically Elevated Literature, aka BAGEL at the show this year. We’ve commissioned local artists like David Sandlin for our show poster, and cartoonists and designers like Alex Krokus and Patrick Crotty to design our mascots and logos. Our audience will always be appreciators of the graphic arts, and we want to spotlight local creators at every opportunity to show off what our community has to offer.
Christina: In 2021, I came to Brooklyn from Pittsburgh where I was highly involved in the arts community: I organized the Pittsburgh Zine Fair for a few years and co-founded Pullproof, an artist-run community screenprinting studio. I love making spaces and experiences where people can find a place of belonging, so it’s been a joy to work with Bryce, Courtney, Paloma, Gabe, and James in organizing the very first BEC.
NYC is full of amazing artists, but it’s become increasingly inhospitable for creatives to live in this city. As a result, it’s difficult to find creative communities that convene under the pure act and love of artmaking, and that’s what we hope to create with BEC. It’s a free celebration of the past, present, and future of indie comics centered on Brooklyn creators. I personally feel it is more urgent than ever to continue upholding these communities as in-person gatherings become rarer and rarer… And as Bryce mentioned, there’s already a wonderful tapestry of similar events that do this already; we’re hoping to be another offering.
A fair I feel like is our North Star is Short Run, organized by Kelly Froh in Seattle, Washington. I love this event because it strikes a great balance of good curation alongside being big tent enough to be accessible to newcomers. For the past 10 years, Froh has done a phenomenal job of highlighting Seattle’s indie comics community with Short Run and inviting national and international talent to their event.
THE BEAT: You have a whole week of shoulder events for BEC, including readings, book parties and an awards show. Was this always part of the vision for BEC or did it grow organically?
Bryce: We always knew we wanted an award ceremony in conjunction with the show, and we knew we wanted to have a new annual publication to pair with the event, but the rest of these came about organically! We have to give a big shoutout to the United Kingdom’s Thought Bubble, who really set the stage for expanding a convention beyond the confines of just a weekend. We know a ton of folks doing a ton of cool things here in Brooklyn, and always wanted to make that part of the experience. Big shoutouts and thank yous to the Brooklyn Public Library, Kindplay Foundation, animator K Downs, Gabe Fowler of Desert Island, and Alex Laird of Frog Farm for partnering with us to make the week leading up to BEC as jam-packed with cool activities for art lovers of all ages to experience what our community is creating here in Brooklyn.
THE BEAT: How does it fit into the larger mission for BODEGA? And what are the different roles for Bryce, Courtney and James?
Bryce: The BODEGA team has big dreams and big ideas for the future, and as we continue to expand and grow I’m eager to share them with our borough and city. As Executive Director for BODEGA, my mission is to continue to find avenues to explore with local partners to facilitate creative opportunities for Brooklyn-based and NYC artists. With everything BODEGA does, we want to showcase and highlight local talent, encourage growth in the community, enrich the local scene, and help nourish creatives here in Brooklyn.
THE BEAT: What are you most excited about for this year’s show?
Bryce: Seeing so many friends and publishers I’ve admired and looked up to my entire comics career come back to Brooklyn. Our exhibitor list is off the charts. Also the CAT awards! We’ve spent the year putting a lot of things in motion, and it’s so exciting to see them all come together this week.
Christina: There are just too things to name, so I’ll go with 3: I’m really excited for John Vasquez Menjias’s puppet show, “Young Lords of NYC”, which will be a part of Sunday’s panels, the debut of Lale Westvind’s newest book with Breakdown Press, Hax Memora, and Toy Box Coffin’s reissue of Mat Brinkman’s 2007 Craptime Comics Halloween Special #2.
BEC is free to attend. More info here.
