In celebration of our 40th Anniversary, SPX has generously put together a slate of panels and workshops that feature our artists in a wide variety of topics that’ll inform and spark inspiration.
Panels
Saturday, September 17th, 2016
Comics Journalism with Joe Sacco and Sarah Glidden
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM White Oak Room
Comics journalism is a form of journalism crafted by Joe Sacco in his award-winning graphic novels (Palestine, Safe Area Goražde, Fixer, Footnotes in Gaza, The Great War) and explored in depth by Sarah Glidden in her new release, Rolling Blackouts. Join these two amazing comics creators as they discuss the intersection of storytelling and fact, and how they report on humanity’s history and current events through the medium of comics. Moderated by Matt Bors of The Nib.
Spanish Fever: Stories by the New Spanish Cartoonists
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM White Oak Room
Cómics, tebeos, and novelas gráficas have been making waves on the European comics scene for decades! SPX is proud to present, in partnership with the Spanish Cultural Center, some ofthe most exciting Spanish talent in the comics scene! Bienvenido a David Rubín, Javier Olivares, Ana Galvañ, José Domingo, and Santiago García. Moderated by cartoonist and teacher Matt Madden.
The Spanish Fever panel is supported by the generous time and effort of Spain arts & culture.
Spotlight on Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM White Oak Room
The comics creating careers of Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez will be explored and discussed. The primary focus will be on Love and Rockets and its pivotal relationship to the development and growth of Fantagraphics — which has been publishing Gilbert’s and Jaime’s work for 34 of the 40 years it’s been in business — and to the transformation of American comics that this relationship ultimately led to; how we got to here and now from there and then. Punk rock may be alluded to. Moderated by long-time Hernandez Bros. historian Bill Boichel.
Forty Years of Fantagraphics
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM White Oak Room
It’s been 40 incredible years since a group of renegade comics fans came up with the idea that comics could be “art” planted the seeds of what was to become Fantagraphics Books. Today, SPX is honored to be able to look back at four decades of groundbreaking work by Fantagraphics and talk to some of the people who were there as it helped transform an art form and change the way the medium is viewed by the general masses. The panel will have Fantagraphics Founder/Publisher Gary Groth and Associate Publisher Eric Reynolds, along with long-time Fanta creators Daniel Clowes, Joe Sacco, Jaime & Gilbert Hernandez, Carol Tyler, Jim Woodring, Drew Friedman and Trina Robbins. The moderator for this once-in-a-lifetime panel is John Kelly, long-time contributor to The Comics Journal and Vice President of the Toonseum.
Sunday, September 18th, 2016
Spotlight on Charles Burns and Daniel Clowes
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM White Oak Room
Here’s one for the ages! Comics legends Charles Burns and Daniel Clowes together on stage, talking about their respective careers and current projects. Get here early if you want a seat. The lively discussion will be facilitated by Eric Reynolds, Associate Publisher and Editor of Fantagraphics Books.
Fantagraphics Next Wave
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM White Flint Auditorium
As we celebrate 40 amazing years of work by Fantagraphics artists, it’s also a time to examine who its new voices are. This panel, with a line up of some of the hardest working cartoonists in the world—Anya Davidson, Benjamin Marra, Noah Van Sciver, Simon Hanselmann—looks at where Fantagraphics is today and where it’s going tomorrow. Moderated by Bill Boichel.
Spotlight on Trina Robbins
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM White Oak Room
One of the very few female artists involved in the early days of Underground Comics, Trina Robbins has been a key member of the small press and alternative comics worlds for generations. A writer, artist, editor and historian, Trina’s latest work is The Complete Wimmen’s Comix, a two-volume collection of her groundbreaking anthology of the same name. She will be joined byThe Beat’s Heidi MacDonald for this in-depth discussion of her long career.
You Can’t Not Make Comics
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM White Flint Auditorium
What is it about comics that makes us fall in love with them? Whatever elusive quality it is, these artists have made room in their incredibly creative and diverse lives for making comics that make us feel things. Aimee de Jongh, Cathy G. Johnson and Eleanor Davis speak to building lives and careers while answering the call of comics creation, with Ron Wimberly moderating the discussion.
Music and Comics
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM White Oak Room
The worlds of Punk and Hip-Hop, the music that cartoonists Jaime Hernandez (Punk) and Ed Piskor (Hip Hop) grew up listening to as kids, has arguably made as big an impact on the aesthetics of their work as did the comics they grew up reading. Both artists will discuss how their love for the (at times) marginalized musical cultures helped inform their art. Moderated by The ToonSeum’s John Kelly.
Comics Carousel
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM White Oak Room
R. Sikoryak brings the Comics Carousel, a wild ride of live performances and readings from comics greats to SPX this year to amaze and excite everyone’s senses! This long-running performance series will bring together a once in a lifetime, all star lineup of Sophie Goldstein, Pascal Girard, Jeffrey Brown, Roger Langridge, and Carol Tyler to make comics magic happen before your very eyes! Don’t miss out!
Cartooning Workshops
Registration is required prior to attending. Students and teachers signing up by Tuesday, September 13 for the cartoon workshops get into both the cartoon workshops and SPX for FREE!
Saturday, September 17th, 2016
Spanish Language Instruction with David Rubín and José Domingo
3:00 PM – 4:30 PM Brookside
Sunday, September 18th, 2016
Carol Tyler of the Award Winning series You’ll Never Know
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Brookside