Post Stumptown 2008 Report
April 28, 2008, filed under: Studio, by Lex
So I’m back from a long and well-spent weekend in Portland where I attended the Stumptown Comics Fest. This is my third year attending and it just keeps getting bigger and better every year, the floor was packed with cartoonists and even better: attendees! Saturday was bustling with activity and Indigo Kelleigh (the mastermind behind the fest) did a great job balancing guests, exhibitors, panels and just the general flow of things (kudos Indy!).
Stumptown is also near and dear to my heart ‘cuz that’s where I met my publisher Bowler Hat Comics. They had the Blood-Bound Oath galleys on hand to show off and we got lots of folks interested in the book, handing out postcards and talking it up. The coolest part of the table was the Kid B. banner that got a lot of attention (”bigger than you even”).
Bowler Hat Comics: Marketing Director Allison Collins and Publisher Bo Johnson.
Part of the pre-fest activities included a great shin-dig held for comic publishers, cartoonists and librarians in the Portland area “Librarians Get Graphic.” The idea was to get us to mingle and talk about our work (not an easy task considering librarians and cartoonists are notoriously shy people). There was liquor and little tasty things strewn about the place, so that made it a little easier. Both Charles Brownstein of the CBLDF and Douglas Wolk of Reading Comics spoke at the event, urging cartoonists everywhere to create a story that featured “robots, pirates, princesses, and ninjas.” Shortly after, Brownstein and Wolk fought to the death.
And because there just aren’t enough comics to sate the truly obsessed, I took a trip to Excalibur Comics. Now THIS is a comics shop, long boxes full of floppies, wall to wall comics, and patrons going slightly mad at the enormity of choice laid before them…
BANNER!
Finally, part of the weekend was spent at the Bowler Hat offices, putting the final touches on the book and going over the design one last time before it goes off to print. It’s rewarding to see the book come together (and I’m a little surprised that it looks so good), I’m totally jazzed about where the series is headed. The book is slated for a July release and it will make its debut at Comicon but if you can’t wait (and I know you can’t) then pre-order the book from Amazon today!
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