Get ready for APE this weekend in San Francisco! Associate Publisher Eric Reynolds will be selling you all your favorite comics and a couple of new shiny debuts! Visit table 112-115 for a whale of a time with plenty of special guests.
• Couch Tag by Jesse Reklaw Veteran alternative cartoonist Jesse Reklaw, creator of the long-running weekly comic strip Slow Wave, delivers this tragicomic graphic memoir, his first long-form work. Presented as a series of comic novellas that together comprise a thoughtful, sometimes dark and often hilarious memoir about childhood, family, death, mental illness, sex and drug use, the entire book is told through cleverly inviting conceits like cat histories and card games.
• Celebrated Summer by Charles Forsman This original graphic novella is a funny and moving story of escalating humor and tension between two disaffected teens, Mike and Wolf, who take a spontaneous summer road trip after dropping acid. As the stark black and white of Forsman's cartooning indicates, however, this is not a psychedelic, Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby kind of trip. Instead of the escapism they crave from their fragile home lives, the LSD only heightens their sense of ennui, exacerbates their fears about the world they're about to enter as adults, and creates doubts about everything they think they know.
• Black is the Color by Julia Gfrorer Black is the Color begins with a 17th century sailor abandoned at sea by his shipmates, and as it progresses he endures, and eventually succumbs to, both his lingering death sentence and the advances of a cruel and amorous mermaid. The narrative also explores the experiences of the loved ones he leaves behind, on his ship and at home on land, as well as of the mermaids who jadedly witness his destruction. At the heart of the story lie the dubious value of maintaining dignity to the detriment of intimacy, and the erotic potential of the worst case scenario.
Several fantastic cartoonists are joining us for the show and will be signing. Stop by the table and get a new book or sketch from 'em! Not enough? We've got cartoonists on panels like you wouldn't BELIEVE! Take a load off and enjoy some stimulating conversation
Saturday, Oct. 12
12-2pm Jesse Reklaw + Mark Kalesniko
2-5pm Graham Chaffee + Ben Catmull
5-7pm Justin Hall + Mark Kalesniko
4-5pm Justin Hall + Mark Kalesniko
Saturday Panels:
1:00pm-1:45pm The Importance of Independent Press
APE special guests Ron Turner (underground comix pioneer and head of Last Gasp), Dan Vado (SLG Publishing and APE founder), and Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics) discuss why the independent press is a necessary part of the comics community. Moderated by Andrew Farago of the Cartoon Art Museum, the panelists will discuss not only why they believe in the independent press but how you can become a part of it, too.
Programming Room
1:45pm-2:45pm Ten Years of the Cartoon Art Museum
San Francisco's comics history runs deep, from the first modern comic strip in the late 1800s to the birth of the underground comix movement in the 1960s. The Bay Area continues to produce some of the world's top cartoonists, and the Cartoon Art Museum's Small Press Spotlight focuses on the works of these talented individuals. Cartoon Art Museum curator Andrew Farago joins artists Susie Cagle (This Is What Concerns Me), Renée French (Micrographica), Justin Hall (No Straight Lines), Roman Muradov (bluebed.net), Fred Noland (Black Sheep), and Andy Ristaino (Adventure Time, Night of the Living Vidiots) as they celebrate the tenth anniversary of this ongoing exhibition and talk about the past, present, and future of comics in the Bay Area.
Programming Room
5:15pm – 6:00pm Spotlight on Bill Griffith
Meet the creator of Zippy the Pinhead! APE special guest Bill Griffith will be giving a slideshow talk on his long history in comics, from his days in the San Francisco Underground, where Zippy was born in 1970, to his syndication in daily newspapers, as well as work for The New Yorker and other magazines. Bring your own taco sauce; polka-dotted muu-muus optional.
Programming Room
Sunday Panels:
1:30pm – 2:15pm Spotlight on Anders Nilsen
APE special guest Anders Nilsen will do a short reading from his new book Rage of Poseidon (D&Q) and discuss the book's origins. The talk will touch on the role of mythology and religion in his work (from Big Questions and Sisyphus to the present), what stories are for, and what the difference might be in re-imagining old stories that most people don't remember versus ones some people organize their lives around and hold dear. Audience questions are welcome.
Programming Room
3:00pm – 3:45pm The Queer Cartoonists Panel
The Queer Cartoonists panel's tenth anniversary is here! Come celebrate an entire decade of fabulous and talented creators discussing the art and business of comics, talking about the complexities of LGBTQ identity, and answering probing questions from moderator Justin Hall (No Straight Lines, Glamazonia). This tenth anniversary has a star-studded cast of panelists, including APE special guest Colleen Coover (Bandette), Beth Dean (Pregnant with Desire), Dusty Jack (Shounen Fight!), MariNaomi (Kiss and Tell), Desmond Miller (Between Here and the Lint Trap), and Sean Z (Myth, Bent-Con). On top of all that, the recipient of the Prism Comics Queer Press Grant 2013 will be announced!
Sunday October 13, 2013
Programming Room
4:30pm – 5:30pm Keeping Comics Alive for the Next Generation
Every generation hopes to leave behind a legacy for the next to follow. What does that mean in the comics industry? Why is it so important to keep comics alive, and how can this be accomplished? Moderator Ricardo Padilla (The Latino Comics Expo) discusses these questions and more with panelists Colleen Coover (Bandette), Bill Griffith (Zippy), Anders Nilsen (Big Questions), Raina Telgemeier (Drama), Ron Turner (Last Gasp), and Dan Vado (SLG Publishing).
Programming Room