Small Press Spotlight: NYCC 2022 Edition

This week’s Small Press Spotlight is dedicated to some of the creators doing their thing at New York Comic-Con 2022. As much as I wish I got to see and chat with every indie, self-published, or Artist Alley creator onsite, there was just too much awesome all around me to get it all in. So here is but a small taste of what I saw. 

Erik Arreaga

First up on the NYCC main show floor was independent artist and storyteller Erik Arreaga. Based in San Diego, most of his work is self-published and centered on his own experiences growing up in southern California. Having been freelancing and hitting the con circuit since the ‘90s, Arreaga is no stranger to comics and comic art, especially for smaller publishers. 

“I love working for only independent companies. I’ve drawn Spider-Man and stuff like that. But I’ve always enjoyed working for the little guy. And over the years I’ve done my own couple of little books.”

Arreaga has a new series in the works that he draws from his own heritage and experience. 

“It’s going to be a Latina superhero and it all takes place in San Diego. I’m kind of over the New York thing and everyone is from Chicago or something. I think San Diego needs a spotlight. And I think what’s going to be real different about my story is it’s not focused on just being superhero stuff, but it’s going to be actual superheroes with actual human problems, illnesses. We all have that one friend that has a certain condition or whatever that is kind of rare. And I don’t think superheroes show that and it doesn’t bring enough awareness. And my wife got sick last year, but I don’t think a lot of people know about the condition that she had. And I like to bring that out into characters. That way people can really relate to characters more than just being like, oh, they’re the same ethnicity, or no, we share the same condition, how do we handle it? That’s what I’m working on right now. And I’m hoping to get it out next year.”

Scott Bryan Wilson & Liana Kangas 

Earlier this year The Beat gave you a sneak peek at Trve Kvlt, a hilarious series filled with fast food and Satanists from the creative minds of Scott Bryan Wilson and Liana Kangas. The comic became a hit amongst fans looking for a fresh story, and now IDW has taken on publishing the series to a broader audience. Wilson and Kangas signed copies of the book at NYCC and got to meet some of the fans who have been behind the series from the start as well as new readers just discovering it.

Max Alan Fuchs

Wilson was also tabling with Max Alan Fuchs in Artist Alley where both offered visitors some of their work, which ranged from bigger companies to the small, independently published fare. One of Fuchs’ top options was The Motherfucking Fucker from Halcyon Days Press. The story is “an outlaw comic about love, betrayal, kissing, spandex, muscle, and splattery heaps of gore, all set on the mythological stage of the wrestling ring.”

Alex Segura

While Segura has had plenty of success with bigger companies such as Marvel, Archie Comics, and Dynamite, the writer has also been the creative force behind smaller books as well as novels such as Secret Identity from Flatiron Books. At the show, Segura set up in Artist Alley, offering con-goers a range of options such as The Black Ghost and his works of fiction. Segura is also part of the Zestworld community.

Miss any of our other NYCC ’22 coverage? Find it all here!