This fall’s Small Press Expo—to be held September 13-14 in North Bethesda—has been quietly rolling out guests, and the list is expanding, even as john Porcellino’s poster reveals even more, including Olivier Schwauren and Michael DeForge. Announced guests include more alt-comix mainstays like Drew Friedman, Jen Sorenson and Ben Katchor, and contemporary masters Emily Carroll and Brandon Graham. Here’s the list of everyone who’s in:
Brandon Graham started out as a graffiti artist in his native Seattle and now is the writer behind the Image comics series Prophet, as well as the creator of his own comic mini-series Multiple Warheads. His other titles are King City, Elevator andUniverse So Big. SPX is honored to host this rare East Coast appearance by Mr. Graham, whose work can be seen on his Tumblr blog.
Emily Carroll was the recipient of this years Pigskin Peter Award, which is given to the best Canadian experimental or avant-garde artist. Her magical web-comic Out of Skin was awarded the 2014 Cartoonist Studio Prize given by The Slate Book Review and the Center for Cartoon Studies. Her first book, Through the Woods, is being released next month by Margaret K. McElderry Books. Ms. Carroll’s web comics can be seen at http://www.emcarroll.com.
Both Mr. Graham and Ms. Carroll will be signing their latest works at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund tables at SPX 2014.
Drew Friedman’s caricatures and comics have graced the pages of such esteemed publications as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Village Voice and Mad. His Old Jewish Comedians series of books was the subject of an extensive show earlier this year at the prestigious Society of Illustrators. He will be on hand at SPX to sign copies of his next book due out in August from Fantagraphics, Heroes of the Comics: Portraits of the Legends of Comic Books.
Mimi Pond is a cartoonist, illustrator, and writer. She has drawn comics for theLos Angeles Times, Seventeen magazine, National Lampoon, and has also written for television, including the first full-length episode of The Simpsons, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”. She is the author of the cult-classic book The Valley Girl’s Guide to Life. Her first graphic novel, Over Easy, was published this past April by Drawn & Qaurterly to critical acclaim and spent one month on theNew York Times graphic novel bestseller chart. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, the painter Wayne White.
Charles Burns completes the final installment of his trilogy that began with The Hive and X’ed Out with the release this September of Sugar Skull. Mr. Burns is renown for his epic graphic novel Black Hole, as well as his work for such periodicals as Raw, The Believer and The New Yorker. Courtesy of Pantheon Books there will be advance copies of Sugar Skull at the show, as well as a special book plate designed just for SPX 2014.
Jen Sorensen is the recipient of the this years prestigious Herblock Award, which is given every year for excellence in political cartooning. She also won the 2013 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in Cartoons as well as the 2013 National Cartoonist Society Award for Best Editorial Cartoons. Her political cartoons can be seen in various alt-weekly newspapers around the United States as well as at The Nib and her own web site, http://www.slowpokecomics.com. In addition to her weekly cartoon, she also does illustration work for such clients as the Kaiser Health News, The Dallas Observer, Ms. Magazine, Politico and her current home paper, The Austin Chronicle.
Tom Tomorrow aka Dan Perkins is the creator behind This Modern World, his weekly political cartoon strip that has been running since 1990. He is a two time winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in Cartoons, as well as the winner of the James Madison Freedom of Information Award and the 2012 Herblock Award. He is the author of 10 compilations of his cartoon work, as well as a children’s book and he created the cover to the Pearl Jam album Backspacer.
Ben Katchor started in the alt-weekly’s in 1986 and six compilations out of his award winning work, the latest is the 2013 Hand Drying in America and Other Stories from Pantheon Books. He is an associate professor at Parsons The New School for Design and has taught cartooning all over the world. Mr. Katchor is also works in the theater as a librettist, having won an Obie award for his work on The Carbon Copy Building.
