Portland, Oregon Festival to Celebrate Sixth Year

The 2009 Stumptown Comics Fest is officially open for exhibitor registration. A handful of eagle-eyed attendees watching the show's website have already beaten the registration rush--which sold out last year's fest before the Early Bird Deadline--so don't delay!

Longtime exhibitors will notice some improvements to our pricing structure, aimed at encouraging the greatest number of cartoonists, publishers, retailers, and small-press enthusiasts to participate in the show. While the Early Bird window has been eliminated, its discounted $70 price for a half table (which includes one exhibitor badge) is now the standard price. A full eight-foot table (with two badges) will put one back $150, and additional square-footage will accrue additional costs. Extra exhibitor badges are available for $10 apiece. All the details are available in a handy PDF registration form at the Fest's online headquarters, stumptowncomics.com.

The registration and payment deadline is February 18th, 2009. Checks should be made out to the Stumptown Comics Foundation, and mailed with a completed registration form to:

SCF 2009 Registration
P.O. Box 40715
Portland, OR 97240

The goal of each year's Fest is to outdo the offerings, operations, and low-key awesomeness of the prior year. Last year featured record attendance, industry veterans alongside brand-new creators, tours of comics-related gallery shows, and a staggering number of events coinciding with the mayor's "Portland Comics Month" proclamation--all in addition to the Fest's full slate of workshops, panels, signings, portfolio reviews, fantastic guests, and the Trophy Awards. Stay tuned for the announcement of this year's Special Guests and brand-new workshops!

The Stumptown Comics Fest is an annual festival celebration of comics and cartooning art in Portland, Oregon. Our Sixth Annual fest will be held on April 18th-19th, 2009, at the Doubletree Hotel Lloyd Center, 1000 NE Multnomah St, Portland, OR 97232. Hope to see you there!

Posted by SCF Admin at 6:16 PM | Permalink

On November 8th and 9th at the Portland Convention Center, the Stumptown Comics Foundation will join forces with the Wordstock Book Fair to raise further awareness about the changing role of visual narratives in education and pop culture.

Alongside local cartoonists and writers--plus special Wordstock guests Mike Mignola (Hellboy) and Lynda Barry (What It Is) and notable creators Alison Bechdel (Fun Home) and Spain Rodriguez (Nightmare Alley)--local publishers Dark Horse Comics, Oni Press, Top Shelf, Shadowline, and Sparkplug will be participating in the fair's first "graphic novel garden."

In addition to the esteemed creators and publishers (and homegrown comics fest) to be found in Wordstock's graphic novel garden, a variety of workshops and demonstrations will be offered for interested attendees. Among them: Comics essentials, character design, silkscreening, hand bookbinding, and visual storytelling, as presented by cartoonists Farel Dalrymple (pop gun war), Theo Ellsworth (Capacity), Julia Gförer (As Befits a Man exhibition), John Isaacson (D.I.Y. Silkscreening), Jesse Reklaw (Slow Wave), and Jim Valentino (Image Comics co-founder). Other creators in attendance at the two-day festival include Elijah Brubaker (Reich), Theo Ellsworth (Always Somewhere Nearby), Joëlle Jones and Jamie S. Rich (12 Reasons Why I Love Her), Carolyn Main (Quickies), Shanno Wheeler (How to be Happy), Aron Nels Steinke (Crazy Cat Dance), Sarah Oleksyk (Ivy), Periscope Studios (various). Jesse Reklaw will premiering his new book, The Night of Your Life, from Dark Horse Comics. Demos and live drawing will abound!

Finally, in conjunction with the annual book fair, comic-book aficionados can enjoy First Thursday, author readings, and book premieres (plus exclusives!) at the Fuzzy Glamour Gallery show on Thursday November 6th. Join fellow comics fans and creators for eats, drinks, and funnybook hobnobbing from 6pm to close at 625 NW Everett St., #111!

As public, educator, and retailer interest in the art form grows, the Stumptown Comics Foundation will continue to provide answers, resources, and recommendations to local readers. Join us, or come by and say hello!

The Stumptown Comics Foundation is a not for profit organization devoted both to promoting comics and cartooning art and to celebrating the medium's rich culture in Portland, Oregon. Our Sixth Annual Stumptown Comics Fest will be held on April 18th-19th, 2009, at the Doubletree Hotel Lloyd Center, 1000 NE Multnomah St, Portland, OR 97232. Hope to see you there!

Shannon Wheeler
Wordstock Liaison
wheeler@tmcm.com | 503.210.0123

Katie Moody
Stumptown Publicity
stumptowncomicsfest@gmail.com
Website: www.stumptowncomics.com

Posted by SCF Admin at 12:30 PM | Permalink

The date for the upcoming 2009 Stumptown Comics Fest will be Saturday April 18th & Sunday the 19th, and the Fest will take place again at the Lloyd Center Doubletree Hotel in Portland, Oregon. Price of admission has yet to be decided.

Exhibitor registration is now open, with tables running $70 for a half, $150 for a full 8-foot table, and $200 per full table afterwards. Each full table comes with two exhibitor badges, and half tables come with one. Previous exhibitors will notice some changes to the pricing structure - namely that additional tables are more expensive than a single table. After the crazy demand for tables last year, we're trying to encourage more exhibitors to get fewer tables, to allow more people to exhibit.

The Registration deadline is February 18th, 2009, and tables went quickly last year, so be sure to register soon! After we receive your registration and you're confirmed a table, you'll be notified via email, and your name will be added to our Exhibitors' List.

Download the form here!

Posted by SCF Admin at 12:00 AM | Permalink

Reports are filtering in from all corners of the web this week:

• Portland Mercury - Blogtown, PDX
• Tom Spurgeon's report at The Comics Reporter
• Comics Reporter: Stumptown 2008 Collective Memory
• Steve Duin, part 1
• Steve Duin, part 2
• Sara Ryan
• Liz Baillie
• Lex Fajardo
• User Frank Castle's report from The ComicGeekSpeak Forums

Posted by SCF Admin at 10:34 PM | Permalink

So, Stumptown Comics Fest 2008 is already a simple memory, but what a memory it is! The show has never been so bustling, so vibrant, and so constant, near as I can recall.

I want to thank our tremendous corps of volunteers, who were tireless in making sure all the little things ran smoothly. The Fest simply could not have gone off as well without them. Or at least, my mental state wouldn't be so relaxed right now! Our planning committee likewise did an excellent job arranging everything for this year's Fest, and with a shorter timeline than we ever have before. We'll definitely have more time next year.

Also, thanks to all of the fantastic exhibitors and guests who were able to join us for the weekend. Especially to Mike Richardson, whose professionalism took center-stage as he left my nervously-prepared interview topics in the dust and delivered an inspiring talk on the philosophies that drive Dark Horse Comics. Nearly all of our panels for the weekend were filled to capacity, aside from the slowness of early Sunday morning - something to note for next year.

And lastly, thanks to all the folks who made the journey to the Doubletree to check out our not-so-little-anymore Comics Fest. Some came from the other side of town, some came from the other side of the country. Some crossed international borders! Attendance was up by leaps and bounds over last year, and I think we just about filled every square inch of the floor with people. Without all of you the Fest would just have been another room filled with cartoonists. And I think we all know how boring that can be.

So thanks again to everyone who joined us for Stumptown Comics Fest 2008. Keep watching this space for updates, recaps, photo-blogs, and newsbits, as we begin planning for SCF 2009! And if you attended Stumptown this weekend, we'd love to hear your impressions of the Fest, both good and bad, to help us plan for next year. Thanks!

Posted by SCF Admin at 7:31 AM | Permalink

- Started with a nice, easy morning - with an actual line of people queued up outside, waiting to come in. nice.
- All the panels and most of the workshops that I attended were standing room only - even the big room, which was a last-minute addition to the Fest.
- Craig Thompson's admiring throng disrupted traffic for part of the day. Sadly he won't be returning Sunday. Sorry!
- From the looks of things, we're continuing our pattern of selling more admissions on the first day of the Fest than we did the entire previous year - nearly 1200 folks showed up today! Thank you, Portland weather!
- I'm off now to Cosmic Monkey Comics for the Trophy Awards ceremony and the Art Battle! See you there!

And if not, I'll see you at the Fest tomorrow at 10!

-indy

Posted by SCF Admin at 8:56 PM | Permalink

Hey, all, as we gear up for this weekend's fantastic Fifth Stumptown Comics Fest, we've been noticing quite a bit of press, both local and online, talking about the event. Here's a more-or-less full rundown:

1. THE OREGONIAN Devoted a two-page comic and an arts-section cover to Stumptown.
   • Full feature (at Webcomics Nation)
   • Full feature (3-page PDF)
2. PORTLAND MERCURY
   
   
   
   • A full-page color comic by Dylan Meconis and Bill Mudron.
   
   
   • Meconis's post on the matter
   
   
   
   
3. WILLAMETTE WEEK
   Interviews Stumptown guest Brian Michael Bendis.
   




4. PORTLAND TRIBUNE
   Profiles Stumptown while discussing the recent 24-hour "Drawpocalypse" hosted by Cosmic Monkey Comics.
   
5. INKSTUDS
   
   • Stumptown podcast, featuring guests Larry Marder, Dave Roman, Tara McPherson, and Stumptown founder Indigo Kelleigh
   
   
   • Podcast featuring Stumptown exhibitor Sarah Oleksyk
   
   
   • Podcast featuring Stumptown exhibitor and Sparkplug Comics distributor Dylan Williams
   
   
   
   
6. COMIC GEEK SPEAK
   
   • Stumptown podcast featuring Guests Tara McPherson and Raina Telgemeier
   
   

If you know of any we've missed, let us know!

Posted by SCF Admin at 10:29 AM | Permalink

This Tuesday morning (April 22) from 9:30 to 10am, Words & Pictures welcomes Dark Horse Comics founder Mike Richardson. A staunch supporter of free speech and artistic autonomy, Mike is the special guest of honor at this month's Stumptown Comics Festival.

Words & Pictures airs on KBOO community radio, 90.7fm. Not near a radio? You can listen to the real-time webcast at http://www.kboo.fm/listen And look for the webcast soon afterwards at http://www.kboo.fm/WordsandPictures

Posted by SCF Admin at 8:20 AM | Permalink

Got this note from Scott Allie, editor of the Myspace Dark Horse Presents site:

April 26 and 27 at the Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland (www.stumptowncomics.com), Dark Horse editor Scott Allie be reviewing portfolios specifically to fill the "newbie" slot for the next two months in Myspace Dark Horse Presents.

Every month MDHP features the professional debut of a creator whose work was found on MySpace.com. For the last three years Portland's Stumptown Comics Fest has been a great place for new creators to show off their work in one of the greatest comic book cities in the nation. If novice artists and writers think they have what it takes to join the ranks of Ezra Claytan Daniels, Brian Churilla, Katie Cook, Matt Brenier, Rebecca Sugar, Ilias Kyriazis, Jeff Wamester, and Jason Graham—all of whom made their paid, professional comics debut on MDHP— they are encuraged to show up with a stapled, 8 1/2 x 11 copy of their work and a print out of their MySpace homepage. A print-out of the candidates MySpace homepage is mandatory! Eligibility requires that the participant has examples of their work currently displayed on MySpace, and that they have never had comics released by a professional publisher or through Diamond Distribution, through a major comics website, or one that charges a fee. Ashcans and free, self-run websites do not disqualify, and ultimately eligibility is left to the discretion of the MySpace Dark Horse Presents editors. At the end of the weekend, Scott Allie will select two cartoonists to create original strips to appear on MDHP later this year, alongside the likes of Joss Whedon, Steve Niles, Mike Mignola, Tony Millionaire, and Stan Sakai. Scott will have a table at the show, but review of portfolios for MDHP will be limited to one block of time per day, in the Dark Horse booth—see below. Visit the Stumptown website (http://www.stumptowncomics.com) and the MySpace Dark Horse Presents (http://www.myspace.com/darkhorsepresents) page for more information.

Schedule/Location:
Dark Horse Booth—Table #39
Saturday 1pm-3pm
Sunday 2pm-4pm

An exciting opportunity for all exhibitors and attendees at this year's Comics Fest!

Posted by SCF Admin at 6:23 PM | Permalink

Three quick last-minute announcements about this year's Trophy Awards...

First, due to great interest from e-comics folks, the Trophy Awards committee has decided to add a brand-spankin'-new category for Webcomics! If you'd like to nominate your webcomic for an award, be sure to include the url for your site in the Additional Notes field!

Second, since there are a number of talented people who didn't snag a table before they all sold out, ALL FEST ATTENDEES are now eligible to enter. You still have to be present at the Awards Ceremony, though, otherwise we WILL trash-talk you if you win.

And finally, the deadline for entries has been extended to April 24th! That's right, we're pushing it to the limit, to give you all as much time as possible to get your books into our hands. All the info you need is at www.stumptowncomics.com/awards.

Posted by SCF Admin at 8:42 PM | Permalink