MIX poster art by King Mini

It’s been a long time coming, but MIX (The Minneapolis Indie Xpo) is just around the corner. Sarah and I (mostly Sarah) have been working like zombies on cocaine trying to make sure the show is as successful as possible. So before my brain completely shuts off and I fall face first into the computer screen, here’s all the deets:

MINNEAPOLIS INDIE XPO
AUGUST 21 | 9AM – 5PM | FREE
Where: THE SOAP FACTORY

There’s lots of programming too.

Art by Aaron Renier

The Friday before MIX (August 20) I will be signing copies of my new book, Fingerprints, at Big Brain Comics from 6-8pm. Aaron Renier (The Unsinkable Walker Bean) and Zak Sally (Sammy The Mouse #3) will be there as well signing their respective new books. I’m very excited for this.

I actually have a single copy of the Fingerprints, and I’m very pleased with how it turned out. Come on out to the signing and I’ll put a drawing of something on the inside of it. I’m not sure of what, but SOMETHING. Probably a FACE.

Or you can get a copy directly from the publisher, Top Shelf Comix.

Here’s the list of various news outlets that have been writing about MIX.  I’ll update this list as more and more people get hip to what’s up.

The Onion A/V Club
Vita.mn
City Pages
Downtown Journal
City-Pages Comics Issue
Vu @ weheartmusic.vox.com
The Visual Literati by Lucas Schulze @ The Loft’s Writers’ Block

The 7th Annual Twin Cities Zinefest has come and gone. This was the 3rd year that I had a contributing hand in its organizing. Ostensively, Sarah Morean has been coordinating the entire show for the last three years but I’ve been kept busy working on promotional items, signage and odds & ends.

For 2010, it was decided to change the two day festival to a one day show. The second day was always a little sluggish anyway. The result was that Zinefest as a one day show had twice the energy compared to the past two years. It was an amazing group of zine makers charged up by their proximity to each other.

I heard the panels and zine readings were a real hit this year. I never leave my table for more than 2 minutes at a time, so I’ll have to take others word for it.

The after-party was very well attended and totally rocking. It was organized by Lacey Prpic Hedtke with a panel discussion by Andy Sturdevant (which I also missed because I was eating pizza).

Andy even wrote and illustrated a zine that served as a catalog of some of his most favorite zines from his personal collection:

Joe Biel and Elly Blue took the train in from Portland and stayed with us for the weekend. You couldn’t ask for more pleasant houseguests and Sarah and I were regaled with their mischievous stories from back home.

Now here’s the real news: as much fun as working on Zinefest has been these last three years, 2010 was the last year Sarah and I will be involved. Sarah will be organizing the Minneapolis Indie Xpo, and a person can realistically only volunteer so much of their time before they burn out.

Massive gratitude goes out to everyone who exhibited and attended Zinefest this year and in previous years. What a fun time.

Step One:
Make a fake zine.

Step Two:
Photograph yourself holding said zine.

Step Three:
Screen Print

Step Four:
You’re all done.

Now go tell all your friends about Zinefest. It’s always a great time.

I just can’t get enough of comic book conventions. I guess I never tire of sitting in a chair for seven hours during the week and it needs to bleed into the weekend.

So Springcon was this weekend. It used to be called Microcon. But Microcon was only one day. Now it’s two days. Like Fallcon was. What’s Fallcon? It’s the same show, but It’s in the fall, but it’s also two days. No wait, now it’s only one day. And it’s not a convention. It’s a party. Or something.

Doesn’t matter. It’s put on by the guys at The Source and they did a fantastic job, as always. For a show with a more superhero/back issue bent, I generally have a great time.

For once, I actually got out from behind my table and walked around. Not all the photos of turned out, but you can see Raighne Hogan, Jon Thompson, Aaron Poliwoda, Barbara Schulz, Brian Defferding, Sean Lynch, Reynold Kissling, Britt Sabo, Danno Klonowski, and Sam Hiti.

There was only one book I was interested in getting. Check out the new issue of Good Minnesotan from 2DCloud:

The whole package a smart way to do a collection like this and I look forward to spending some time with it.

And that’s it. The next show for me is the Twin Cities Zinefest. See you there?

Drawn while sitting.

This last weekend I went to TCAF. It’s like a whole other country up there.

It was a very well attended show and I was fortunate enough to sit right next to publishing prizefighter Brett Warnock. I also got to know Kathryn and Stuart Immonen who are two of the most warm-hearted AND blindingly talented people I’ve met in a long time. Check out their new book Moving Pictures.

These comic shows are only once or twice a year for me, so it was also great to see all the guys from One Percent Press, David Huyck, Box Brown, and Chris Pitzer. I also met for the first time some wonderful people including Ed Brisson, David Yoder, and Josué Menjivar.

However, I didn’t meet Dan Clowes. Maybe he couldn’t find my table.

I took a lot of mediocre photos while I was there.

I’m honored to learn that Covered in Confusion has been selected as a finalist for The Maisie Kukoc Award for Comics Inspiration. From here, a vote will be taken and the winner will receive the award and a $350 cash prize. That’s a lot of staples.

Here’s the entire list finalists:

Will Dinski: Covered in Confusion
Damien Jay: The Natural World #1-2
Jonas Madden-Connor: Ochre Ellipse #3
Corinne Mucha: Buzz #3, My Every Single Thought
Sarah Oleksyk: Ivy #5
John Porcellino: King-Cat #70

To vote, you’ll need to go to the award’s website and request a ballot.

Those wild and crazy guys over at the Indie Spinner Rack have selected Covered in Confusion as one of the best of 2009. Suh-weet.

You can listen to Part One of the awards show right now!

I finally did a painting! Well, sort of.

It’s water color and ink. At first I actually thought, “Water color and ink? What a really novel idea! Nobody does that!” It took .004 seconds for me to realize how unobservant I am. It’s obviously a very popular technique among cartoonists.

Anyway, it was really fun to do and I’ll be doing more of them. If you like this one, it can be purchased through my Etsy Shop.

As an aside, below is my favorite Cheap Suit Serenaders song. It’s what I listened to while working on this painting.

Here’s some of the photos I took at the Chicago Zine Fest that took place this last weekend. I’ve a new camera and I’m still getting the hang of it.

The Zine Fest was a blast. I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of really, really talented folks for the very first time and the event was well attended.

Oh. And the photos don’t show it, but we saw a lot of mustaches while in Chicago. A lot. I always thought that was just a cliché.