My Trip to the Small Press Expo (SPX) 2010 in Bethesda, MD

The Small Press Expo (SPX) is North America's premiere Indy cartooning & comic arts festival held annually in Bethesda, Maryland. I was lucky enough to attend on Saturday September 11th, 2010. This year the SPX was hosted at Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. The SPX featured over 170 tables, 450 exhibitors, an animation festival, and panel discussions and interviews. It's one of the best east coast conventions. All the exhibitors are super nice.

You can purchase tickets in advance or at the door. A one day pass is $10 or both days for $15. The room with the tables was overwhelming because you want to hit every one, but people were everywhere. I wish I had gone over the list of exhibitors in advance so I know what I wanted to buy.

I have to confess I have collected comics my entire life, but never went to conventions. I like the creators being unknown and vague. Also I'm usually broke and conventions feature a lot of great buys that any serious collector can't pass up. I was intimidated to meet all these people at one time. I also didn't dare tell them about my desire to write comics as well. I always told myself I'd have something to sell at a convention before I went. I hope to have a book to sell next year, but we will see.

My Purchases

Jerzy Drozd (Website)
Had a table with many of his comics, but I was interested in the 80s cartoon art he had for sale. He uses them to warm up before he works on comics. They are uncolored and feature He-Man, G.I. Joe and other characters from all your favorite cartoons. For an extra $5 he said he'd color it with crayon. I was sold. I was surprised at how nice he was. As he colored we talked about our favorite He-Man episodes, Big Foot and The Muscle Machines, Jem, all the other shows that defined our childhood. I'm glad I went to him first. He reminded me that the creators are just like the fans and they just love comics and animation.

Tugboat Press (Website)
Papercutter # 7-8, 12-14 is an anthology comic in black and white. Each issue is better than the last and many have already sold out. I nearly have a complete collection. If you haven't read it please pick up an issue you won't be disappointed.

Nate Powell (Website)
Swallow Me Whole Hard Cover. Nate Powell is a really nice guy and signed my copy of Swallow Me Whole.

DC Conspiracy (Website)
Doctor Dremo Vol 2 & Doctor Dremo's Taphouse of Tall Tales and Short Stories - The Splendors of Love. When I bought the Splendors of Love they gave me Doctor Dremo Vol 2 for free. Neither is very good, but some had neat art. I love anthology comic fiction, but the quality is all over the place. They will also be hosting the 5th Counter Culture Fest October 24th @ Noon to 8 @ R.F.D.'s.

Jesus Wept (Website)
Jacob Eckstein's Jesus Wept is a disturbing comic that I only became aware of at SPX. It reads like a comic made by a political prisoner in between his shifts at the labor camp. I was only given a sample because I ran out of money by this point (bring cash!). The Xerox pages make it feel more authentic. It's a rant against God and all that is holy for no conceivable reason. What I enjoy most about this is how nice Jacob was when I met him.

The Center for Cartoon Studies (Website)
A Brief Introduction: How To Start To Think About Learning To Draw Comics was free and is a cute sales pitch for the Center of Cartoon Studies. As college pamphlets go this is the best one I've ever seen. I want to go to this school and I can't even draw. Also free at their table was Caboose which is a newspaper sized comic with all of the talent from the Center for Cartoon Studies.

School of Visual Arts (Website)
This table had a lot to choose from and I think I got it half right. Inkstains is an anthology magazine for the students to showcase their work. I was given a free copy of Inkstains Winter 2008 when I bought the lackluster and easily forgettable Spooky ServiceLLC by Adrian James. I would highly recommend Inkstains.

Michelle Nunnelly (Website)
I didn't get a chance to talk to her because I was running my arm full of free goodies and comic books out to the car, but she did slide her Comic Book Previews on top of my stack. It's a limited preview of some of her work, but the art style is Jhonen Vasquez with cleaner shapes and lines. It works for whatever she's doing and I'll keep my eye open for more Nunnelly in the future.

Other
Rambo 3.5 by Jim Rugg can be read online for free here.

You can find a full list of exhibitors here.

Attending Tips
-Bring Cash, a lot of cash. Many tables accept credit, but most do not.
-Parking is on location, but costs $10.
-Wear Comfortable shoes. You'll be standing and walking a lot.
-If you can only go one day go the first because many books sell out the next day.
-Bring a book bag or something to carry comics, art, and freebies in.