Saturday March, 2015
10 South 19th St
Pittsburgh PA 15203
Poster by Mark Zingarelli
Poster by Jeremy Baum
Poster by Jeremy Baum
Special Guests
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Jeremy Baum (Madbaumer37 Press, Memory, Dörfler) - Pittsburgh based artist, illustrator and publisher, Jeremy Baum is known for his finely detailed, hallucinatory imagery. Under his imprint, Madbaumer37, he has published his own work in numerous magazines and the book collections Postland and Heathen, as well as publishing the work of others, most notably in the 2013 anthology, Memory, which featured numerous artists from the Pittsburgh area together with an accompaniment of creators from around the world. His latest work, Dörfler, will be published by Fantagraphics Books in 2015.
For more information on Jeremy's work please visit http://madbaumer37.tumblr.com -
Joyce Brabner is a pioneer of activist comics journalism. She produced, edited and contributed to the seminal mid-1980s comics works, Real War Stories and Brought To Light, which confronted the US military’s recruitment practices and the CIA’s covert involvement with the Iran-Contra affair (and much else besides). Since then she has continued to create and promote comics that actively confront status quo complacency in direct opposition to the mainstream comics industry’s churning out of escapist power fantasies. She was also the wife and sometimes writing partner of comics legend, Harvey Pekar, one of the founding fathers of self-publishing. Brabner collaborated with Pekar and artist Frank Stack on the graphic novel, Our Cancer Year, which documented Pekar’s struggle with lymphoma and which formed a core part of the film, American Splendor. Her latest work is Second Avenue Caper, done in collaboration with the artist, illustrator and fellow PIX 2015 guest, Mark Zingarelli, which presents an irreverent chronicle of the personal response and initial activism of N.Y.C.’s gay community during the early days of the AIDS crisis.
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Charles Forsman is best known for his uncompromising approach to small press comics. A 2008 graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies, he inaugurated his self-publishing career with his handmade series, Snake Oil, for which he twice received the Ignatz Award. His hard-hitting, self-published series TEOTFW, followed, which was collected by Fantagraphics Books in 2013, who also published his graphic novel, Celebrated Summer. He created the lo-fi, low budget, “micropress” imprint Oily Comics to publish TEOTFW, and then broadened its focus to pioneer an entire line of $1 mini-comics that were offered through a variety of channels, including online retail, subscription packages, and through stores via wholesaling. Oily Comics has published dozens of titles by a broad range of comics creators, from relatively high profile artists such as Michael DeForge and Dan Zettwoch to a host of lesser known but equally deserving talents, who were then able to reach a wider audience through the Oily Comics platform.
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Melissa Mendes graduated from the Center for Cartoon Studies in 2010, and received a Xeric Award the same year for her book Freddy Stories, which presented a singularly sympathetic view of life through a child’s eyes. She has continued to create and publish comics since, most notably her Oily Comics series, Lou, in which she crafted an intimate and insightful portrait of an adventurous nine year-old tomboy that ran for 17 issues. She is currently testing the waters with Patreon to fund her latest work, The Weight, a graphic novel in progress that was inspired by the life of her grandfather.
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Frank Santoro is a world renowned artist, cartoonist and educator currently based in Pittsburgh. Over the past twenty years, he has consistently applied himself to developing new approaches to creating comics, while simultaneously pushing down barriers separating comics from fine arts and the classical tradition. He has produced a unique body of work in a wide variety of formats, in the process pioneering an approach to comics production that consciously tailors form to content. His most heralded work, Storeyville, was self-published in tabloid newspaper form in 1995 and has been subsequently reissued in deluxe hardcover editions by publishers in the US and France. With the artist/animator, Ben Jones, he co-created and drew the cult comic book series Cold Heat. He co-founded the comics criticism magazine ComicsComics with Dan Nadel and Timothy Hodler. Santoro maintains and edits the Comics Workbook tumblr blog as a showcase for his students as well as new and under-appreciated comics work. His comics have been published in Kramers Ergot, Mome, and The Ganzfeld. He was a featured artist in the 2011 Pittsburgh Biennial at the Carnegie Museum of Art, for which he was commissioned to produce a 16-page tabloid newspaper, Blast Furnace Funnies, which has subsequently been produced as a high end artist edition. His latest works are the 2013 Graphic Novel, Pompeii, published in the US and France, and the 2014 self-published Morgan. In 2011 he founded the Santoro Correspondence Course, a distance learning program for cartoonists that has influenced comics pedagogy at the same time that it is molding and informing the next generation of comickers and cartoonists. Anyone considering signing up for the next session, can get started here:
http://franksantoro.tumblr.com/post/112652003245
http://comicsworkbook.tumblr.com
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Don Simpson was one of the early entrants to the explosion of creator owned comics in the early 1980s. In 1984 he debuted his premiere creation, Megaton Man, a full color comic book series which melded a Kurtzman-era Mad satire informed and updated by Jerry Lewis and Jean Luc Godard and brought its full weight to bear on the superhero genre, making a lasting imprint. Now 30 years after that debut, he is working on an all-new Megaton Man graphic novel. In the intervening years, he created the science fiction series, Border Worlds, contributed to Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor, collaborated with Alan Moore on "In Pictopia" and 1963, and free-lanced for many other comic book titles. He also illustrated Saturday Night Live alumnus (and later U.S. Senator) Al Franken’s 2003 bestseller Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. For years, Don has taught cartooning workshops throughout the Pittsburgh area, including the Carnegie Museum of Art, and in 2013, he earned a PhD in history of art and architecture from the University of Pittsburgh. He currently teaches art and art history at Waynesburg University. (Check out this freely available download of his Figure Drawing Basics – Action and Structure: https://www.academia.edu/2214932/Figure_Drawing_Basics_Action_and_Structure_2000_2nd_ed._March_2015_ )
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Mark Zingarelli is a Pittsburgh area (Irwin) based comics artist and illustrator who has had a long and storied career. He first rose to prominence during the mid to late 1980s in the pages of R. Crumb’s Weirdo magazine during the years when it was under the editorship of Peter Bagge. Fantagraphics published Zingarelli’s Real Life comics in 1990, and he went on to collaborate with Harvey Pekar on a number of stories for Pekar’s American Splendor series of magazines, comics and books. He is also a widely published and highly rated illustrator whose classic, comics style illustrations have been gracing the pages of publications such as The New Yorker, Newsweek, Esquire, The Washington Post, Spy Magazine and many, many others for the past twenty-five years. His latest work, done in collaboration with fellow PIX 2015 guest, Joyce Brabner, is the graphic novel, Second Avenue Caper, which presents an irreverent chronicle of the personal response and initial activism of N.Y.C.’s gay community during the early days of the AIDS crisis.
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Rachel Masilamani is a Pittsburgh based comics creator who has been quietly amassing a unique and significant body of work since the dawn of the century. She started off strong, being awarded a Xeric Grant for the first issue her series, RPM way back in 2000, and has continued to craft her finely nuanced, personal comics in small run self-published comics, anthologies like MeatHaus, Graphic Classics and Dog City. She is currently working on a new graphic novel, Non Partum, which is being published in installments on Mutha Magazine.
http://www.rpmcomics.com
http://muthamagazine.com/author/rachel-masilamani/
Programming
Schedule DAY MONTH, DATE YEAR
7:00 - 8:00 – Intimate Form in Comics
with: Cynthia Lee, Rachel Masilamani, Christina Joy Neumann, and Lizzie Solomon
moderated by: Jessica Heberle
A roundtable conversation that examines the use of style, narrative, and timing to create a visceral experience for the reader.
8:00 - 8:30 – Self-Publishing Panel I: Crowdfunding
with: Melissa Mendes, Chris Stevens & Dave Wachter
moderated by: Joyana McDiarmid
8:30 - 9:00 – Self-Publishing Panel II: Production & Printing
with: Jeremy Baum, Charles Forsman & Jim Rugg
moderated by: Frank Santoro
9:00 - 9:30 – Self-Publishing Panel III: Sales & Distribution
with: Charles Forsman, Daniel McCloskey & Jared Smith
moderated by: Bill Boichel
9:30 - 10:00 – Melissa Mendes in conversation with Juan Fernandez on Comics Practice: Precursors, Influences and Education
10:00 - 11:00 – Joyce Brabner & Mark Zingarelli: Words and Pictures, a collaborative process
Joyce Brabner and Mark Zingarelli briefly discuss their respective careers before focusing on their recent collaboration, the just released graphic novel, Second Avenue Caper: When Goodfellas, Divas and Dealers Plotted Against the Plague.
Sponsors
Exhibitors
Cynthia Lee (Love and Monsters Anthology, The Green Stripe, King Pellinore and the Questing Beast, Monster ABCs) I'm a comix artist and illustrator who lives in Pittsburgh, PA. I like to draw monsters, merfolk, and googly eye creatures. My stories tend to explore communication (or lack of), love, and loss. I like to write quiet moments, like in a museum after hours or in an isolated part of the woods. In addition to illustrating, I also teach workshops on shrink plastic pieces, bookbinding, stopmotion, and comic books. I love learning new mediums and teaching peeps how to use tools and materials. juniperfloor.tumblr.com greenonioncomix.com
Nate McDonough (GRIXLY) - Nate is the creator of all-ages comics such as Experimental Explorations, Clever Renderings and Tedious Commentary Adventures. His collaborations include Whimsical White Boy Stuff, Alternative Melancholy #5 and Please Acknowledge Me! He has contributed art to Wantonly Obscure Tales, Solemn Stories and Unique Expressions. He chugs India Ink all day long, sleeps in a septic tank and is known to blindly stumble through the night until he faceplates into a curb. He lives in Pittsburgh where he hoards thousands of (mostly dead) cats
Check out his webcomic about his job in Monsanto's legal department (updated weekly!) grixly.com
Jasmine P. (Cinema; Big Myth Playground; 100 Days Journal comic) - I draw comics and stuff. I draw both autobio and fiction stories. There are so many stories I want to tell and not enough time to tell them all. jasmine-pinales.com jpds14.tumblr.com meisterjdraws.tumblr.com
Tara Helfer (Unicorn Mountain, The All-Creator's Wife, Apophenia) - Tara Helfer is an illustrator, cartoonist and animator who grew up in the woods of western Pennsylvania. She should probably draw more "nice" things. She is currently co-developing a short with Nickelodeon. tarahelfer.com
M.L.Walker (Hero Corp., International; CHUTZ-POW! Superheroes of the Holocaust; COMIC-TANIUM!) - Marcel Lamont (M.L.) Walker is a lifelong resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and graduate of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. He works as a freelance illustrator, graphic designer, comic-book creator, and photographer. As the creator, artist and writer of the independent comic-book HERO CORP., INTERNATIONAL, he has recast his friends and associates in a world of corporate American superheroes.
He is the lead artist and book designer for CHUTZ-POW! Superheroes of the Holocaust, an anthology comic-book produced by The Holocaust Center of Greater Pittsburgh which tells the true stories of Holocaust survivors. Similarly, Walker is the featured artist in COMIC-TANIUM! The Super Materials of the Superheroes, a nationally touring sciences-and-art exhibit sponsored by The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, which juxtaposes real-life modern-day scientists with similarly themed mainstream superhero counterparts.
Walker continues to teach art workshops at Pittsburgh’s ToonSeum, The Museum of Cartoon Art, for whom he has also contributed artwork for their NORTH and OAKLAND anthology comic-books. www.MarcelWalker.com
Jimmy Riordan (Held Up, Le Roman du Lievre, Marginalia: Appendix G, Seagull Library) - Jimmy Riordan is an Alaskan born multidisciplinary artist and educator who recently moved to Pittsburgh. Technically trained in book-arts and printmaking, his practice extends beyond the bounds of any specific medium. Riordan's projects have involved earth building, letterpress, translation and comics. All united by his interest in autodidactics, the self-taught and group learning. Riordan just finished Held Up, his first graphic novel and will debut the book at PIX. amidparadise.com, riordanjimmy.com
tymothi godek (!, December remembers November, Autological Comic for Jason Overby to Sing, ALLIZDOG, facsimile) - Wooster, Ohio has exactly zero comic book stores, but it has a Walmart, four McDonalds and tymothi godek. Tym makes weird comics for both web and print. He received a Xeric Foundation grant in 2009 his over 30-foot long continuous comic strip, !. His sometimes abstract, awfully elliptical journal comic and sketchblog, mostly banal, has run off and on in various forms since 2005. He's a Virgo, so you know what that means. Tym lives in Wooster with his wife and two children.
Wayne Wise is a freelance writer/artist living in Pittsburgh. In the 90's he co-created the Xeric Award winning comic Grey Legacy, worked as an inker for Malibu Graphics, and began working at Phantom of the Attic Comics in Oakland (an Eisner Award nominated comics retailer). In 2002 his first novel, King of Summer, was published. In 2009 he self-published the first issue of Grey Legacy Tales, contributed to North and in 2013 to Oakland. In 2011 he joined the digital self-publishing revolution and released three novels. Scratch, This Creature Fair, Bedivere: The King's Right Hand and a new edition of King of Summer are all available as ebooks and paperback novels. He serves as the Resident Comics Scholar at the Pittsburgh Toonseum and teaches a 300-level academic course on “Comics and Popular Culture” as an adjunct professor at Chatham University. In 2014, in conjunction with the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, he wrote the comic Chutz-POW!: Real Superheroes of the Holocaust, working with artists Christopher Moeller, Dave Wachter, Marcel Walker, and Mark Zingarelli. You can read more about him at his blog at www.wayne-wise.com, or read some of his comics specific musings at http://masksblog.wordpress.com/
Jenn Lisa and Juan Fernandez (Dog City, Garrettsville) - Jenn Lisa’s only real goal is to spread good. Once from a small town in Ohio, she is now living and “working” (by chance) in a neighborhood in Pittsburgh called Fondness. Nobody really knows what she does there all day, incognito. One thing we do know: all comics work is done by Borislav Čaušević Lisa, her cat. jennlisa.tumblr.com
Juan Fernandez is a Pittsburgh based cartoonist. He does comic-making workshops for kids, teens and adults and edits Dog City, a small press comics magazine dedicated to publishing quality minicomics. He co-facilitates the Pittsburgh Comics Salon with Frank Santoro. Improvisation is at the heart of his cartooning practices. crinkledcomics.com
K.S. Brenowitz (High Hopes, Blackout, Delivery (in progress)) - Illustrator, cartoonist, and wearer of one seriously sweet hat, K.S. Brenowitz is known for both her strikingly complex linework and twisted sense of humor. She specializes in sci-fi, horror, and fantasy. www.ksbrenowitz.weebly.com
Lizzee Solomon (Mutual Paradise) - Lizzee Solomon is an artist based in Pittsburgh, PA. She first got interested in comics after discovering that there is more out there than just superhero comics. 'David Boring' by Daniel Clowes, 'Black Hole' by Charles Burns, and 'Frank' by Jim Woodring were early favorites. Since her early days, Lizzee has been doodling and drawing. This propelled her into career as an artist. In addition to making comics, Lizzee is a painter and multimedia sculptor. Her comics and illustrations have been featured in Andromeda Quarterly, The Kindlin' Quarterly, Soaked Moist, Memory, East End Brewing Co. Illustration Ale labels, and The City Paper. For the past few years, she has been self-publishing Mutual Paradise -"comics and cartoons that will glom onto [your] brains and start rewiring them, employing a well-honed scalpel of satire." Lizzee's comics are gross, absurd, explicit, funny, obsessive, and, at times, offensive. You have been warned... lizzeesolomon.com
Greg "El Grego" Garay (Jack B: Ride the Air) - I'm an artist, illustrator, a storyteller and a problem solver. Think of “a roller derby in the sky”. Jack and the WeFlyHi crew set out to take the new sport of Skyriding to impossible heights. Skyriding was created when some young, bright kids “borrowed” an advanced Air Filtration Unit and reconfigured it into rocket boots. With the sky at their finger tips they fly into skybattles for respect, to push tech, and to break past their limits.
Jack B: Ride the Air comes from a place deep in my soul. As a youngish black man, I grew up not understanding my talents and abilities for what they were. Jack B: Ride the Air puts on display the power of youth when you harness it through competition, drive, determination, and hope. They create amazing feats through ingenious ideas and rapid fire instincts. That’s all you need to change the world. www.weflyhi.com
John Peña (Daily Geology) - John Peña is a multidisciplinary artist who grew up in the high desert of Washington State. A few of John's projects include: racing with clouds, sending a letter to the Pacific Ocean every day for the last eleven years and documenting his life through daily drawings. He currently lives and works in Pittsburgh. www.johnpena.net
Maggie Lynn Negrete (Adventuring Princesses) - Maggie Lynn Negrete creates comics and illustrations influenced by the late 19 and early 20th century illustrators. In graphic, black and white line art, Negrete renders work along the themes of feminism, adventure, friendship and a little bit of the occult. Her ongoing series, Adventuring Princesses has evolved into a new format as her characters begin their expedition. mgglntcreates.tumblr.com
Nate Taylor (Nate Taylor Books) - Nate Taylor is a Pittsburgh based illustrator who combines his passion for history, global cultures, nature, monsters and myth to tell jaw-dropping stories about unseen worlds. illustratornate.com
Terese Jungle (The Frizzball From Outer Space, Logoz, Energy, Janice, Ninetales, and Human Gestation) - By day a professional graphic designer and arts educator, by night a doodler, print maker, dreamer, imaginer, and storyteller, Terese Jungle (aka: t.jungle) has loved graphic novels for decades. She introduced her daughter Ana (aka: aj.dub) to the art form at age 2 by taking her to the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD along with her three self-published books, "Logoz," "Energy," and "Janice" to share with some of her favorite authors and artists. The books were sold independently and at Giant Robot in Los Angeles.
Nine years later, mother and daughter collaborated on their first mini zine, "The Frizzball From Outer Space" with “pillow critter” character that debuted at the Fall 2014 Mattress Factory Museum Art Market and is now available in local Pittsburgh stores, Divertido and The Shop in East Liberty. Inspired by their work on The Frizzball, Ana then created her first zine, "Ninetales" about her experience as a Pokemon gamer—with plans to continue the title as a series.
Terese also has a new top secret, full-length graphic novel in the works so please email to join her mailing list for updates: tjungle@tjungle.com. You can also see The Frizzball merchandise in advance at frizzball.com. Or just check out all the other multimedia stuff she’s been doing over the years, from logo design to installation art at tjungle.com.
Jeff McClelland (The Tick; FUBAR; Imaginary Drugs; Magic Bullet; The Amazing Transforming Superhero; Journal of Venture Studies; Teddy and the Yeti; The Naked Man at the Edge of Time; Black Terror: Wednesday at the Diner) - If Jeff McClelland was frozen for thousands of years, perhaps in a horrible Freon accident, only to be thawed and later reintroduced into society (probably by then known as "space society"), here are some of the questions he might ask his new space overlords:
1) How many Super Bowls have the Steelers won since I was frozen?
2) Does Frankenberry still exist?
3) There's a pill to regrow hair, right?
4) Did anyone ever get around to reading the comics I wrote?
The answers to these questions would probably determine whether society had become a Star Trek-like utopia or a big space dump.
Jeff has written for such titles as "The Tick", the New York Times bestselling "FUBAR" series, IDW's "Imaginary Drugs", DC Conspiracy's "Magic Bullet" comic newspaper, "The Amazing Transforming Superhero" from McFarland Books, Adult Swim's "Journal of Venture Studies", and his self-published co-creations such as "Teddy and the Yeti", "The Naked Man at the Edge of Time" and "Black Terror: Wednesday at the Diner".
Jeff lives in Pittsburgh until the frozen thing happens.
http://teddyandtheyeti.blogspot.com www.franksandbeansonline.com
Barry Linck (Phineus: Magician for Hire, Creephunter, Bastard Who: The Gentleman's Chronicle, Weirdlings, Gaslight Tales) - Barry Linck has been producing and publishing comic books for well over 2 decades. As writer, artist and creator, he has continued to produce his fan favorite ‘Phineus: Magician for Hire’ and ‘Gil: The Walking Dead (or Vampires Suck)’, a monthly comic strip. Barry served as artist on ‘Khozyain Protocol’, and contributed artwork for ‘The Creators’ and ‘Reverie’. Barry collaborated with Brian Babyok on such titles as ‘Pan’, ‘Phineus: The Glamour’, and ‘Dark Time’ An avid fan of role playing games, Barry co-created ‘Backwaters of Mysticism’ with John Burris. Barry did the art chores on the webcomic ‘Weirdlings’ .
Barry continues working on his 24th year of ‘Phineus: Magician for Hire’ , Bastard Who: The Gentleman's Chronicles and Phineus: Teen Wizard as well as ‘Creephunter’ with Mike Wood all while raising a family in Pittsburgh. I hope to some day sell out and have really bad Saturday morning cartoons of my stuff (they still do have Saturday Morning cartoons, yes?). http://olddyingkitty.com/Phinmagic/
Marlee Gallagher & Greg Sciulli (Hamnett House Histories: a series of sketches; Gregburgh prints) - Marlee Gallagher is a writer and community advocate living in Wilkinsburg, PA, a small town just east of the City of Pittsburgh. She has four loves: her dogs, Oto and Woo, her cat, Leroy, and her neighborhood. Greg Sciulli is a photographer and visual artist based in Pittsburgh, PA. His work consists of creating funny cartoon characters and taking funny photos of real characters. He has one love: '90s pop music. Marlee and Greg's current project, Hamnett House Histories, combines sketches of historic homes and characters in their community.
In their words: "When we look at the historic houses in our community, we’re inspired by their intricacies. It’s hard not to create stories about the antebellum house with the widow’s peak that sits far back from the road or the weathered little shack where, though windowless, tattered drapes still hang. Through Hamnett House Histories, we pair some of our favorite houses with fictional sketches of the characters that reside within them, whether in the past or present. Some houses have been long-abandoned, awaiting demolition; others are passed down through generations. Still others are part of our own personal narratives or simply places we wonder about as we pass them each day. All of them have histories." www.gregburgh.com
Nix Comics (Nix Comics Quarterly, Nix Western comics, Do You Remember Rock n ROll Record Stores, Nix Comics for Kids, Closing Doors, Pure Entertainment, Belligerent Kitties) - Nix Comics is a Columbus, Ohio based comic book publisher that specializes in material that is garage rock and punk themed material. Nix Comics are equally inspired by punk rock compilation albums and zines as they are pre-code genres and styles like horror and western.
Ken Eppstein is the lead writer, editor and high sultan of sales for Nix Comics. nixcomics.com facebook.com/nixcomics twitter.com/nixcomics nix-comics.tumblr.com
Dre Grigoropol (Dee's Dream, Lupa Cachula's Life, Don't Mayo Hate) - Dre Grigoropol is an active cartoonist and author based in Philadelphia who has been self-publishing comics and zines for the past few years. Her work has appeared in anthologies issued from all over the US and and she runs an ongoing web comic about an indie rock band at Deesdream.net. Dre enjoys art journalism and has contributed to a handful of well known publications. As of the beginning of 2014 she started a comics, illustration, and cartoon art appreciation website and podcast called Comixgab.com. To see the work she creates, check out Dretime.net. www.dretime.net
Bill Volk (Stranger Knights) - Bill Volk is a Pittsburgh native who draws, writes, and edits comics, sometimes not all at once. He has an anthology of genre fiction called Stranger Knights. billvolk.com
COWBOY HOUSE (Helper Bot, Storm Signal, SCREENS, Zookeeper VII, REAL LIFE, Ghost Hunters, & La Dah, Di Dah, Da Da Dee Dah, to name a few) - COWBOY HOUSE is a practical joke that has gone much too far, but everyone is too embarrassed to back out now. It is composed of Fred Frances, Jeff Gibbons, and Mike Madsen. They made 12 books for their subscription service, the Cowboy House Correspondence Club, in 2014. Season 3 of the Cowboy House Correspondence Club begins on March 14, 2015. cowboyhouseinternet.com
D.J. Coffman & Ally Monroe (The God Child) - D.J. and Ally make up the creative team behind the upcoming “God Child” graphic novel from Caliber Comics. D.J. is a small press veteran who began his comic career self publishing mini comics and graphic novels in the Pittsburgh area. Since teaming up, Coffman & Monroe have not only been working on God Child together but also spend the rest of their free time creating side projects and loving sequential art.
Jessi Zabarsky (Witchlight) - Jessi Zabarsky is a cartoonist and illustrator living in Chicago. She makes comics about food, bunnies, and cute/cool girls. Her currently ongoing series, Witchlight, is an adventure shojo story about witches and feelings. hugbox.tumblr.com
Scott Hedlund (Weirdlings, In No Way Memorable) - Scott Hedlund is a comic book maker from Pittsburgh, PA. Over the past 15 years, Scott has contributed pencils, inks, colors, covers, and letters to comic books and webcomics including: In No Way Memorable, Weirdlings, Fairhaven, Chaos Punks, WZWA, World of Orenda, Super Haters, and more.
Scott also co-hosts on the Comic Book Pitt podcast, Pittsburgh's premiere comic book podcast, along with Dan Greenwald and Jared Catherine. www.comicbookpitt.com
Seth Storck (Space Cadaver) - Seth Storck is a designer by day and illustrator by night. He has spent most of his free time making art since graduating from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 2005. His friends got sick of him always talking about making a comic book so he finally made one. Seth lives and works in Pittsburgh,PA. www.sethstorck.com
Jared Catherine (Walrus, Squatch Bros., Incrediman Comix & Stories) - Jared is a cartoonist and creator of the self-published series, Incrediman Comix & Stories. His other works include Mean Face, The Expressionless, Squatch Bros with Shawn Atkins and the critically acclaimed Walrus series with Brian John Mitchell. Jared’s work has also appeared in such anthologies as Memory and Love & Monsters. incredimancomix.com
Jared is also a co-host on the Pittsburgh based podcasts, Comic Book Pitt with Dan Greenwald & Scott Hedlund , Figure It Out with Shawn Atkins and What the Talk with Giancarlo Algarin. figureitoutpodcast.blogspot.com
Garrett Free (Arcadian Knights) - Garrett Free is a comic book writer from Pittsburgh, PA. He attended Penn State majoring in Software Engineering. He learned from a young age by attending art school at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, PA. After reading the Watchmen, Garrett began pursuing writing comic books as a new creative output. He finds that his biggest influences in his writing come from his own past experiences and music, but he also draws a lot of influence from old movies and video games. www.facebook.com/ArcadianKnightsComic
Lisa Imas & Erica Chan (Vampires Can't Surf) - Lisa Imas is an illustrator, comic artist, and arcane draw wizard who likes puns and making fun of the 90s. When she isn't drawing, she likes to spend her time reading superhero comics and being indecisive. hashtag-art.tumblr.com
Erica Chan is an illustrator from Brooklyn. When not drawing, she lets her friends get her hooked on third person shooters set in outer space. ericachan.net
Dave Wachter (The Guns of Shadow Valley, Breath of Bones: A Tale of the Golem, Night of 1,000 Wolves, Godzilla, That Hellbound Train, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) - Dave Wachter is the artist, co-creator and co-writer of the Eisner and Harvey Award nominated webcomic The Guns of Shadow Valley, published in collected hardcover form by Dark Horse Comics. For publisher IDW, Dave has done art for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, True Blood, That Hellbound Train, Night of 1,000 Wolves, and Godzilla: Cataclysm. He collaborated with Steve Niles on the acclaimed miniseries Breath of Bones: A Tale of the Golem for Dark Horse. In 2012, Dave was nominated for the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award. He currently resides in Pittsburgh with the feline god of destruction, Ollie. http://davedrawscomics.com
JolynCrystalConnie (Vaguely Embarrassing, Colour Me Pretty) - Jolyn Sandford is a student of Computer Science and Arts at Carnegie Mellon University, and really likes comic books. She is very serious about having fun. http://jmsandford.site44.com/
Crystal Yip is from Hong Kong. She enjoys long walks on the beach, pugs, and tempura. Also art. http://crystalyip.portfoliobox.me/
Connie is a human. Her interests include cloud watching, genre shows, and planning meals around saving room for dessert. And art. That too. http://ckdai.brace.io/
Calvert Comics (When The Heart Betrays The Blood, St. Andrew's Cross) - Mat Calvert is a writer/artist quickly establishing a reputation as a unmarketable weirdo. His work is sort of a dialectic contrasting literary art books and lurid sex and violence comics, which is a difficult sell to audiences who tend to favor one or the other. Mat Calvert perseveres however; the fact that the work isn't popular makes every reader and enthusiast special, and those special readers provide him with more than enough initiative to keep making new work.
Tomorrow belongs to him and his special friends.
Calvert Comics (When The Heart Betrays The Blood, St. Andrew's Cross) - Mat Calvert is a writer/artist quickly establishing a reputation as a unmarketable weirdo. His work is sort of a dialectic contrasting literary art books and lurid sex and violence comics, which is a difficult sell to audiences who tend to favor one or the other. Mat Calvert perseveres however; the fact that the work isn't popular makes every reader and enthusiast special, and those special readers provide him with more than enough initiative to keep making new work. Tomorrow belongs to him and his special friends.
Geoff Munn (Kiosk: Life In Neutral, S is for Ska, The Karloff Arms) - Geoff Munn is a Pittsburgh based Cartoonist/Animator. He creates the online comics Kiosk: Life In Neutral, #parenting, and Interstellar Squad. When not freelancing and creating comics, he's an avid toy collector, husband, and father of two. www.kioskcomic.com www.hashtagparenting.tumblr.com www.interstellarsquad.tumblr.com
The Panoptic Press (Panoptic Presents) - The Panoptic Press began in 2013 as the crux of collaboration between Steven Arenius, Justin M. Knipper, and Bile. In addition to the array of comics and content available on our website, we also specialize in handmade, limited-run printed media and apparel. With its members based in Rochester, NY and Tokyo, Japan, The Panoptic Press is continuously expanding our vision of sequential storytelling and print while collecting the very best of our work in our flagship anthology series, Panoptic Presents. thepanopticpress.com
Colin Panetta (Logjam: The Best Fucking X-Man Ever, Q&A, Dead Man Holiday) - Colin Panetta was born on a pillowy cloud of cotton candy, the perfect son of Phyllis Diller and The Jersey Devil. He sneezes money, and farts dreams. www.colinpanetta.com
80 Proof Comix (Days of Bewilderment) - 80 Proof Comix has been around since the late 80's in various forms. In 2007 it began a true storyline (Days of Bewilderment) featuring past characters put in a new situation. Taking bits, pieces, fragments, and experiences from working in the DD/Mental Health group home setting, I've worked on creating a comedic realistic look at the staff that work at these homes and some of the situations they face (without getting on a soap-box). Currently working on Chapter 7, Chapters 1-6 are collected in affordable editions. 80proofcomix.blogspot.com
Maryanne Rose Papke (Ghost Castle, Tile, Aloo Kazoo) - Maryanne Rose Papke graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2009. She then moved to Columbus, OH, and has been self-publishing short comics since 2010. Her comics are usually weird, often silly, typically cute, and sometimes sad. Oh, and most of them have dragons, though not on purpose. silverkraken.com
Pat Kain (Magic Clock) - Animator and comics maker who lives in Columbus, Ohio. patkain.com
Nathan Ward (Fun-O-Planet) - Nathan Ward (b.1992) is a cartoonist from Cleveland, OH. He has had comics published in Scene Magazine, Maximum Rock n' Roll, and Happiness Comix. His first full comic book, "Fun-O-Planet", came out in the fall of 2014. He is currently working on a couple other comics, one of which is a collaboration with alt-lit author/poet, Jordan Castro. When not doing comic things, Nathan plays in punk bands and hangs out with his dogs. nwardcomics.tumblr.com
Bob Corby (Leaves, Oh,Comics!, Big Ears & Flat Feet, Test!) - Bob Corby has been self publishing since 1986 under the Back Porch Comics imprint. Publications include the anthology, Oh,Comics!, two Bunny Blues series (the first consisting of mystery stories and the second a romantic comedy) and Test! ( a comic about math). For more info about Back Porch Comics go to www.backporchcomics.com
He also runs SPACE (Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo). The next show is April 12 &13, 2014. For more info about Back Porch Comics and SPACE go to www.backporchcomics.com
Rafer Roberts (Plastic Farm, Nightmare the Rat, Harbinger, X-O Manowar, Archer and Armstrong, Imaginary Drugs, Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream) - Rafer Roberts is the man behind the comic book PLASTIC FARM and the comic strip NIGHTMARE THE RAT. His art has been seen in LITTLE NEMO: DREAM ANOTHER DREAM and backing up a bunch of Valiant Comics. He drew DOPE FIENDS OF THE ZOMBIE CAFE and WILD WOMEN OF THE KITTY-KAT GALAXY with writer Sean Frost, and a few TIGER LAWYER shorts with Ryan Ferrier. He currently lives in western Maryland with his wife and muse and their hoard of cats.
Shawn Atkins- Maker of comics, doer of podcasts and master of the mystic dark arts. When not stalking prey for supper, he explores the 9th dimension with his muppet friend Ortho the Otter. You can follow the true exploits on Gello Apocalypse and his portfolio site.
See you around space cowboy