SPACE Oddities

My old pal Tom Cherry decided to table at the Small Press and Comics Expo this year, a great show in Columbus Ohio that we have both visited several times.  I offered to help him table, which mostly meant I walked around and talked to other cartoonists and then drew sketches that forced people to take a wide berth around his booth.  A fun day and a neat event.

SPACE Table

Tom Cherry's wares on display at SPACE.

Sketchy SPACE

Demand was minimal for my offbeat convention sketches at Tom's table.

SPACE Barbarism

I have been following Tom Scioli's career for a long time and met him some years ago at SPACE.  Here he is signing American Barbarian for me, a lunatic masterpiece.

SPACE Swag

Some of the stash I picked up at SPACE.  I am a longtime fan of Pam Bliss and really like her mixed-media Green Peas and Chickenhorses and was pleasantly surprised by something I'd never heard of before called Indestructible Universe Quarterly.  I picked up some new Cynicalman and King Cat Comics and really enjoyed meeting King Cat's John Porcellino.  I have been reading his autobiographical comic for over ten years and had the surreal experience of feeling like I knew somebody I had never met before.

SPACE Fans

Tom Cherry signs a copy of one of his minicomics for a fan named Simba.

SPACE Men

Finally got done reading a great, and great big, stash of stuff I picked up at the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo a while back.  I went with my trusty sidekick and actual cartoonist Tom Cherry for the second time together, my third overall. 

I would have to say I like the new venue even better, and the show has continued to grow.  I talked to several artists whose work is breaking into the mainstream but continue to return to SPACE as it is where they got started.  It's a good sign.  And there are plenty of young guns still coming up through the ranks.

I'm a longtime fan of John Porcellino's King Cat, and was glad to pick up new stuff from him there.  I have been a fan of Indiana cartoonist Pam Bliss for many years and enjoy talking to her and seeing her work.  Some new stuff I enjoyed--for art or storytelling or both--included Blue Wraith, Silver Comics, Imitari Project, Haunted House Heroes, Ten Gallon Tomb Raiders, Cragmore, and Gulatta.

Far and away the find of the show was Jim Rugg's lunatic Afrodisiac, a pitch-perfect send-up of 70s comics of all stripes.  Tom picked this up for me and is now my new BFF.

Next year I think Tom and I are going to try to have our own table there, where I will attempt to draw another 24 Hour Comic, I think. 

Even sooner you can catch me at the Blue Whiskey Film Festival in beloved Palatine, Illinois, where I will be a festival judge.  I always enjoyed visiting during Microcinema Fest there and shockingly haven't seemed to wear out my welcome yet.

Until later I am at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Live from SPACE #1

The dudes from Mean Goat Comics giving my 24 Hour Comic The Liberator some props at the Small Press and Comics Expo in Columbus Ohio.  See their own stuff right here.

Live from SPACE #2

Me and Pat Lewis, whose minicomic Thankless Job I've admired for a long time.  His other stuff is pretty good, too.  More of him here.

Live from SPACE #3

I've followed Indiana cartoonist Pam Bliss for a long time.  She told me when she googles her name, the last picture I took of she and I always comes up first.  Here's a fresh pic for her and me from the Small Press and Comics Expo in Columbus Ohio.

Live from SPACE #4

Me and Tom Scioli, whose The Myth of 8-Opus burned my brain about ten years ago, at the Small Press and Comics Expo in Columbus Ohio. Check him out here.