Dates and times of the show:
The 2013 Stumptown Comics Fest takes place April 27 & 28, 2013.
10am to 6pm on Saturday, the 27th.
12pm to 6pm on Sunday, the 28th.
Festival location:
The Oregon Convention Center on 777 NE ML King Blvd. Portland, OR 97232 - Click for location map.
Cost of entry:
$10 a day or $15 for a weekend pass.
Students with valid student high school or college ID - $7 a day or $12 for a weekend pass.
Children 12 and under are Free (when accompanied by ticket-buying parent or guardian).
Is there a show hotel? Do you have hotels that offer a festival discount?
The Jupiter Hotel is the official hotel of the Stumptown Comics Fest. Attendees can make their reservations at the Jupiter Hotel by clicking HERE. However, there are many local hotels near the Oregon Convention Center. Rates are based on availability and time of booking, please check with the individual hotel. Click this LINK for an official list.
How many exhibitors can attendees expect?
We have 45 booths and 124 tables that will be filled with a variety of creators, publishers, and retailers. Many of our exhibitors are sharing booth or table space so it's hard to give a definite count, but rest assured we've packed the exhibition hall with as much creativity as we could fit.
Can I expect major publishers and comic book creators?
You bet! The Stumptown Comics Fest has always focused on compelling creators and comics as a storytelling medium of all genres. We're proud to bring you publishers like Dark Horse Comics, Oni Press, Top Shelf Comix, and other well-respected comic book publishers. Being the 10th anniversary of the festival, we're proud to host the largest number of guests in the festival's history. Guests include Fables creator Bill Willingham, Eisner award winning artist Becky Cloonan, multiple award winning writer Greg Rucka, as well as some of the countries premiere comic book studios like Periscope Studio and Tranquility Base. With over 25 special guests you can be certain you'll have a great time. Check out this LINK for the full list.
Can I bring in items for guests to sign at the festival?
While we highly encourage you purchase items from our many exhibitors to help support their work, you are still more than welcome to bring in items. However, each guest may have personal preferences in what they are willing to sign and how many products. All we ask is that you maintain respect in your request, for both the creator as well as your fellow attendees.
Are guest always available to sign things or is there a signing schedule?
We don't have a traditional signing schedule as you find at many conventions. Guests that are willing to sign will simply sign your items when they're sitting at their table. One of the highlights of the Stumptown Comics Fest is the accessibility between creator and fan, the best way to learn when and where a guest can sign your item and talk about their work is to simply walk up and ask. However, we will make all attempts to let attendees know when a guest is at an official panel or event.
Do vendors take credit cards?
The ticket counter for the Stumptown Comics Fest will accept credit and debit card payments. While exhibitors determine their own form of payment, most will accept credit cards. Food vendors connected with the Oregon Convention Center also accept credits cards.
What's the room capacity for panels?
The average room capacity for panels is approximately 80 people.
Where do I go if I lose my wallet / keys / kid?
We will have a centrally located attendee services kiosk within the festival floor where Stumptown volunteers will help you with a lost item or misplaced child.
Since the Stumptown Comics Fest is an all-ages event, will exhibitors only show items considered safe for all-ages?
While the Stumptown Comics Fest is highly focused on hosting an all-ages environment, we understand that every parent or guardian has a varied view on what they consider all-ages. With that in mind, we are compiling a list of exhibitors in our festival program that may produce material of an adult or mature nature. With that in mind, we can't estimate what everyone considers all-ages and ask that you review our list of exhibitors before letting younger kids walk the convention floor. We will also ask our exhibitors to be mindful of their own work when in the presence of younger attendees.
Where can you get food near the convention center?
The Oregon Convention Center has multiple food vendors located within the facility. There are also many restaurants and cafes within walking distance of the festival. Also, being located on the MAX line as well as major bus routes, all of Portland's wonderful collection of culinary offerings are just a transit ticket away.
Are there places to sit and rest near the vendors?
There are many locations throughout the Oregon Convention Center where tired attendees can rest their feet.
The Stumptown Comics Fest Trophy Awards works to bring recognition to the amazing and creative writers, artists, and publishers that the Stumptown Comics Foundation strives to support. Publications under review for these awards were been submitted by the various talented folk involved in the Stumptown Comics Fest event. Submissions were judged not by a panel of "professionals", but by those attending the Fest on Saturday, April 24, meaning the trophies were awarded based on the popular vote of actual comics fans. Without further ado...
...congratulations to the winners of this year's Stumptown Comics Fest Trophy Awards!
- Outstanding Debut: The Complete Ouija Interviews, Sarah Becan
- Outstanding Writing: Boilerplate, Paul Guinan & Anina Bennett
- Outstanding Art: Boilerplate, Paul Guinan
- Outstanding Small Press: Bearfight!, BT Livermore
- Outstanding Publication Design: Panorama, Stephenny Godfrey
- Outstanding D.I.Y.: Bearfight!, BT Livermore
- Outstanding Webcomic: Wondermark, David Malki
- Mystery Award: Portland mayor Sam Adams, in recognition of his naming April as Comic Book month for the third consecutive year
This year, the Trophy Awards ceremony was hosted by podcaster Bobby "Fatboy" Roberts, cartoonist Carolyn Main, and Shannon Wheeler (of The New Yorker and Too Much Coffee Man fame), and was held Saturday night at Cosmic Monkey Comics.
The awards ceremony was followed by the ever-popular and rowdy Comic Art Battle. Hosted by local Marvel comics scribe Jeff Parker, the Comic Art Battle has been described as a cross between Pictionary and professional wrestling... and it was definitely not a scene to miss for those involved in the independent comics scene. We hear there was even a "dance off" tie-breaker!
Our appreciation goes out not only to those who coordinated the event, but to all who submitted their work for review, and to the comics fans who entered their votes. Thanks you all, and we hope to see you again next year!
Tonight, after the close of the 7th Annual Stumptown Comics Fest, head over to the Bossanova Ballroom for our official after-party, in appreciation of our amazing volunteers for this year's festivities!
The evening will feature a live DJ set by our surprise guest Paul Pope(!) plus a screening of his movie "Psychenaut". We'll also have music and visual performance by Twigs Lvov (Jack Lewis), and perhaps a surprise or two... The doors open at 8pm and after-party entrance is $8 cash, $5 with your exhibitor badge, and FREE for our lovely volunteers--just show your volunteer badge to get in!
Upstairs from the after-party, the Bossanova Lounge will be hosting the April Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, featuring the sultry siren of burlesque, Miss Harvest Moon! Doors for Dr. Sketchy's will open at 7:30pm and the drawing starts at 8pm. There is a $10 cash entrance fee, which will ALSO grant you entrance to the main floor event at 9:30pm.
The Bossanova Ballroom is at 722 east Burnside Street in Portland Oregon. Sponsored by Baby Tattoo Books, Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, MacTarnahan's Brewing, The Royal Tease, The Bossanova Ballroom, Wacom, The Stumptown Comic Book Foundation, and darkmonkeygod.
Well, hello and welcome again!
Quite a year since many of us last met here at the Doubletree. April is now not only Comic Book Month here in Portland (check out copies of the third annual official decree around the Fest - courtesy of Portland Mayor, Sam Adams), but seemingly across the nation! We are very grateful to Comic-Con International's San Francisco Wonder Con, The New York based Museum of Cartoon and Comic Art MoCCA Festival and C2E2 - the new Chicago Pop Culture event from the NYCC organizers, for working to share April with us. Thanks gang (and shout out to Staple and ECCC, as well)!
Speaking of great thanks, please be sure to let our guests and exhibitors know how much you appreciate their making the trek to Stumptown. Dean Haspiel (ACT-I-VATE, The Alcoholic) and Paul Pope are winging in all the way from New York, Batton Lash and Jackie Estrada are up from San Diego, Â Kate Beaton (Hark, A Vagrant) is in from the wilds of Halifax, Montreal-based Drawn and Quarterly exhibits for the 1st time and hosts R. Sikoryak and James Sturm, Graham Annable debuts his Grickle collection from Dark Horse Comics, Craig Thompson is once again taking rare time away from his drawing board during the home stretch of Habibi, Hope Larson is a host of Drink & Draw Like a Lady, Lucy Knisley created stunning badge art for us, illustrator of "Stumptown" from Oni Press Matthew Southworth is here, and home town hero Theo Ellsworth coaxed his NY based publisher Secret Acres to visit. Plus, we've got exhibitors from literally all over the world!
Sponsors are a huge part of what makes this show possible; MacTarnahan's Tap Room and Brewery, Muse Art & Design, Bob Self of Baby Tattoo Books, Portland Art Museum (bringing the R. Crumb Genesis exhibition to PDX beginning June), Brown Printing, Pollyanne Birge and the office of Mayor Sam Adams, CBLDF, Dr. Sketchy's PDX, Wacom, Alter Egos Society, and The Sequential Art Gallery, to name a few. Supporting them supports us!
More support has come from great friends of the Fest including Diana Schutz, Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Richardson, Jim Valentino, Dylan Williams, Kevin Smith, Harvest Moon, Bernadette Baker, Cort and Fatboy, and countless others. We are ever grateful to them. On a more personal note, thanks to my mom, who encouraged my love of comics throughout her life which ended abruptly last summer. You are missed. Thank you to Angie Kelley, Bob Schreck, Diego Kirsch, and all of you for your personal support of me. It means more than I can articulate.
Enough gratitude cannot be given to the Festival organizers. Many do not realize that the Stumptown Comic Book Festival and the Foundation which sponsors it are entirely volunteer based. From the people walking around handing out water to the Festival director, to the board of directors of the Foundation itself, we all do it for the love of comic books and the joy of community. Thanks go to Sequential Art Gallery proprietor and Stumptown Foundation President Kaebel Hashitani, Zeo Cohen, Dylan Meconis, Michael Cassella, John C. Worsley, Fest founder Indigo Kelleigh, Neal Skorpen, Sarah Corsiatto, New Yorker Cartoonist Shannon Wheeler, Cosmic Monkey Comics co-owner Andy Johnson, media maven Merrick Monroe, Floating World Comics owner Jason Levian, Adam Rosko, the mysterious Myrrh Larsen, Geek-in the-city and now with Things From Another World Aaron Duran, to recognize by name just some of the people responsible for wrangling this show!
Once again, we end where we begin: with you. Thank YOU, because without your continued outright love and championing of comic books, cartooning, graphic novels, manga, graphics, or whatever else you wanna call comic books, none of this would happen. Your passion and appreciation provide the support and drive that it takes to make the Stumptown Comic Book Festival a community-based event celebrating the thriving artistic and cultural expression that is comics. May it remain so forever.
Best,
Stumptown Comics Fest 2010
This year we're partnering up with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund again to provide a designated space for Guest signings. We've even managed to wrangle signings by visiting artists Mike Allred and Kurt Busiek!
Each day beginning 10AM, numbered signing tickets for that day only will be available for free from the CBLDF table (Table 25) on a first come - first served, one per artist per person basis. Yes, you can get tickets for each artist, just not more than one ticket for each artist. You will need to have your numbered ticket and line up approximately ten minutes before the signing time begins. There will be Stumptown Volunteers to guide you.
Saturday April 24
Mike Allred 12PM-1PM
Paul Pope 1PM - 3PM
Kurt Busiek 3PM - 4PM
Sunday April 25
Mike Allred 12PM-1PM
Craig Thompson 2PM-4PM and possibly beyond.
Paul Pope 4PM-6PM
*Times are subject to change.
Again the tickets are free, but we do request you take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with what the CBLDF does and to donate to this worthy cause.
While photography is welcome, we must ask that you do not request photos with the artists during their signing times, as that slows things down quite a bit. Thank you. Generally, artists will not be doing sketching during these times, but some will have works for sale. Paul Pope's work is available at table 31.
As with past festivals, you may end up lined up outside under the covered deck, so please be sure to bring weather appropriate dress. We'll make sure you don't get wet, but can't control the temperature!
As always, the month leading up to the Stumptown Comics Fest is a busy one, and an extra busy one at that! The event is organized by volunteers united by our love for comics and comic art, and we do what we can to make the most of a single weekend of comics regalia. In the weeks leading up to this year's Fest, we have seen a wonderful amount of support from individuals and media organizations--both local and online. In our final week of preparation, we would like to extend a giant THANK YOU to the people who support the Stumptown Comics Fest and understand everything the Foundation has set out to achieve.
This is our seventh year of organizing the Fest and it is largely due to the support of the public that we have managed to grow so large. So, here's a little recap of some of the media support Stumptown Comics Fest 2010 has received...
April 1: The month of April opened with the 6th Annual Stumptown Comics Fest Art Show, hosted in the Antoinette Hatfield Hall of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. This year's show featured over 40 artists, many of whom will be exhibiting at the Stumptown Comics Fest, and showcased 80 unique pieces of comics art. The opening reception was kicked off by Portland's own Mayor Sam Adams officially declaring April 2010 the city's third annual Comic Book Month. Mayor Sam Adams and his office have been strong proponents of the arts and we are ever honored to have the support of our wonderful city.
April 8: Local radio show Words & Pictures, hosted on KBOO by S.W. Conser, welcomed Stumptown Comics Fest director Shannon Stewart and Stumptown Comics Foundation president Kaebel Hashitani to talk about Comic Book Month and this year's Fest. The 30-minute broadcast is available to stream or download on the KBOO website, and Shannon and Kaebel both did a great job in their representation of the organization. Thanks guys!
April 12: The multi-disciplinary comic fan that is Kevin Smith graced Portland for one glorious evening, and gave the Fest a great shoutout ; "This April, Portland, OR is (by Mayoral Proclamation) CITY OF COMIC BOOKS! So get your rump down to Stumptown Fest!" We were floored to have Kevin mention the event, and thanks to an attentive website administrator didn't have any issues hosting the stream of new visitors Kevin's link sent our way. Thanks man, truly.
April 14: The morning City Council meeting saw a few unusual additions to its schedule of speakers, including the Stumptown Comics Foundation's president Kaebel Hashitani, who attended the meeting to speak on behalf of the Stumptown Comics Fest, talking to our City Council about the myriad of ways the Fest and its exhibitors contribute to the local economy and arts culture. The Portland Mercury's Blogtown posted a great article covering the testimony. If reading that article isn't enough and you'd like to hear the whole presentation, you can watch this video of the City Council meeting on their website; scroll down on the menu under the embedded video and click on Agenda Item #490 to go directly to Kaebel's presentation on behalf of the Fest.
April 15: The pre-Fest issue of the Portland Mercury (Vol. 10, No. 47) dedicated their book section to Stumptown Comics Fest! We recommend you visit the website to read the reviews, or go grab a copy of the paper while it lasts in newsstands.
April 16: The long-respected online and paper publication The Comics Journal posted a very thorough "Stumptown Comics Fest 2010 Preview" article. The post includes a large number of artists, writers, and publishers exhibiting at this year's Fest, and asked them what sort of exciting things attendees of the Fest can expect to see at their tables. This article is a great resource for people planning on spending their weekend at the Stumptown Comics Fest, and even includes links to respective websites. Well done!
April 17: Mayor Sam Adams continued to show his support of the Fest by lending us a hand in our search for volunteers when for volunteer signups and included a link back to our Volunteer page. Mayor Sam isn't the only one who has repeatedly given us support on Twitter, and we appreciate every single retweet and @stumptowncomics we get!
April 19: Just yesterday online publication Ain't It Cool News posted a great interview with Paul Pope, who was a surprise addition to this year's guest list (and who is also spinning tunes at our official afterparty!). In the article "THE AICN Q&A: PAUL POPE", Russel (a local writer and illustrator) and Pope cover so many topics we could never summarize it accurately... well, AICN's line of "Mike Russell Delivers A Must-Read Interview With Paul Pope! BATTLING BOY, BATMAN: YEAR 100 And Much More Discussed!" is pretty good. You should really hop over and spend some time reading about one of America's comics greats. We are very proud that Pope is joining us this year and look forward to what he will bring to the Stumptown Comics Fest!
Okay, maybe that wasn't really a "little" recap! And there's more on the way; promotions will continue over the course of the week, and we look forward to seeing what people write/blog/tweet/talk about after the Fest. If you think we've missed anything, please give us a tip on and we'll try to include it in our next roundup of Stumptown Comics Fest coverage!

Stumptown is honored to be welcoming indie-comics wunderkind Paul Pope as a Guest of the April 24-25 2010 Comics Fest!
Pope originally launched himself onto the self-publishing stage in 1993 with his genre-defying work Sin Titulo. His second published work, The Ballad of Doctor Richardson, earned Pope an Eisner nomination and was later reprinted by Portland's Dark Horse Comics. In the years since, Pope's vicious, 'take-no-prisoners' approach to brush work, and his unique world-building talents have earned him numerous accolades over the years on such work as THB, Batman: Year 100, Heavy Liquid, and One-Trick Ripoff, and he is also the only American comics artist to have worked with Japanese manga publisher Kodansha for over five years!
We'll be posting additional information about Paul's appearance in the weeks leading up to the Comics Fest, so keep checking back!
Artists Reception: Thursday, April 1, 2010 6:pm - 9:pm
Gallery runs through Monday, May 31, 2010.
Portland Center for the Performing Arts, the Stumptown Comics Foundation, and Sequential Art Gallery are excited to present the 6th annual Stumptown Comics Art Show, coinciding with Portland's third annual Portland Comic Book Month. The exhibit this year showcases an unprecedented 40+ artists, ranging from local to international professionals and emerging talent, with 80 pieces of comic book and illustrated art.
Opening reception will be hosted at PCPA on First Thursday, April 1, from 6-9pm. Mayor Sam Adams will be in attendance to read the official proclamation of April as Portland's Comic Book Month, and many of the participating artists will also be on hand throughout the evening. Catering and drinks for the event will be provided by PCPA's ArtBar and MacTarnahan's Brewing.
Free guided tours featuring the exhibit as well as other local galleries will be provided to attendees of the Stumptown Comics Fest (April 24-25; stumptowncomics.com). The Stumptown Comics Art Show will be available for viewing throughout April and May in the Antoinette Hatfield Hall of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts at 1111 SW Broadway (10am-5pm, Monday-Saturday; www.pcpa.org). For a complete list of artists please visit www.sequentialartgallery.com.
We're pleased and proud to announce several fantastic additions to our already excellent Guest List for Stumptown Comics Fest 2010!
For the first time in the Fest's history, Canada's eminent publisher of experimental and literate graphics work, Drawn & Quarterly, will be exhibiting at Stumptown, and they're bringing two of their fantastic artists to share with the rest of us!
R. Sikoryak got his comics-drawing feet wet in the early days of the 'art commix' movement spearheaded by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly's RAW anthology. His work appeared in nearly every issue of RAW, and has since appeared in Fortune and The New Yorker. His latest book, Masterpiece Comics, mashes the dramatic and philosophical angst of Kafka, Voltaire, and Oscar Wilde, with the pulpy renderings and 4-color glory of classic comics such as Peanuts, Batman, Blondie, and Little Nemo in Slumberland, creating an unlikely brew that dares the reader to not view either original work through this new warped mirror.
D&Q is also hosting James Sturm, who is not only a celebrated graphic novelist, but is also the founder of the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont. James's books include James Sturm's America, Above And Below, and The Golem's Mighty Swing, and he also wrote Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules, which won an Eisner Award for Best Limited Series in 2004. James's newest book, Market Day, will be released from D&Q in Spring 2010.
Hope Larson's first graphic novel, Salamander Dream, was named one of Publishers Weekly's Best Comics of 2005, and she has been living up to that early promise ever since. Her follow-ups, Grey Horses and Chiggers, have been celebrated by critics, and her work has earned her numerous accolades including the 2007 Eisner Award for Special Recognition. Hope's latest book, Mercury, tells a story in which a girl's past and present intersect in a search for love and treasure.
Matthew Southworth's first major comics work, Stumptown, graphically reminds its readers of its Portland-based setting with his beautifully-rendered artwork, telling the story of Rex, a private detective working the seamier side of the Rose City. Matthew will be on-hand over the weekend to share his inspirations and the techniques he uses to capture all of the drama of this town we call home.
Kate Beaton began posting her irreverently historical drawings in her LiveJournal account in 2007, and the only word to describe the reaction to her work in the subsequent years is 'explosive'. The first edition of her book, Never Learn Anything From History sold out in less than a weekend, and now, over 250 comics later, Kate makes her triumphant first appearance at the Stumptown Comics Fest!
And finally, friend-of-the-fest Craig Thompson will also be returning to join us at the Doubletree on Sunday April 25th for a special signing session!
This year we're excited to have another stellar lineup of Special Guests from all corners of the comics industry!
Creator of the Eisner-nominated comic Billy Dogma, as well as the force behind webcomics collective ACT-I-VATE, Dean Haspiel will be joining us for his first time at Stumptown as our Special Guest of Honor. Dean's work has ranged from superhero comics for Marvel and DC, as well as collaborations with such underground luminaries as Harvey Pekar, Françoise Mouly, and Jay Lynch.
Batton Lash created the long-lived legal duo Wolff & Byrd: Counselors of the Macabre in 1979, and the pair have appeared in magazines, newspapers, comic books, graphic novels and for the last few years in their own online comic. Batton also created the classic crossover comic, Archie Meets The Punisher, and has since written several longer stories for Archie Comics, as well as the regular Radioactive Man comics for Bongo Comics. But it's his self-publishing efforts with Exhibit A Press that have made Batton a convention staple on both coasts.
Several previous exhibitors are also returning this year as Special Guests, including Stumptown regular Graham Annable, Lucy Knisley, and Theo Ellsworth, whose insanely detailed artwork has made his graphic novel 'Capacity' a critical success, and who contributed the fantastically mind-bending artwork for this year's Fest poster!
Look for more Special Guest announcements in the coming weeks!
Want to join in and help us with this year's Comics Month events? Sign up now to volunteer! Help is needed in many different areas, from promoting events, distributing flyers, coordinating floor events, setting up and tearing down panels and workshops, and assisting Exhibitors and Guests at the Fest. You'll have the opportunity to meet and help some of the greatest cartoonists and comics artists ever to assemble in Portland, and for your trouble, you'll receive a Volunteers Badge that will guarantee you entry to the Fest when you're not busy helping us out!
Signing up to volunteer is a simple, one-step process. Just fill out our handy on-line form, specifying your ability and your availability, and our Volunteers Coordinator will get in touch to let you know where and when your help is needed.
The 4th annual Stumptown Trophy Awards are currently accepting submissions from artists, writers, illustrators, and self-publishers exhibiting at this year's Stumptown Comics Fest. The Fest takes place April 24th & 25th in Portland, OR, and the deadline for submissions is April 15th, 2010.
Trophies will be awarded in the following six categories:
DIY: For self-published, hand-made works
Design: For overall publication design
Writing: For exemplary writing, and compelling narrative
Art: For illustrations that clearly help the story
Web Comic: For comics and art which appeared initially online
Debut: For works making their worldwide debut at this year's Comics Fest
A seventh trophy, the Mystery Award, will be given at the discretion of the organizers of the awards.
To submit your work for this year's Trophy Awards, begin by filling out the submission form located online at https://stumptowncomics.com/awards. A $5 submission fee is required for each category in which you wish to submit a work for consideration, and a copy of the work must be sent to:
Trophy Awards
Portland, OR
or (if the work is digital) emailed to , before the April 15th deadline. All eligible works will be added to the ballot to be distributed to attendees at the Stumptown Comics Fest on April 24th. Votes will be collected throughout the day and tallied, and the Trophies will be awarded at the after party being hosted by Cosmic Monkey Comics in Portland, OR.
The After-Party is a tradition dating back to the very beginnings of the Fest, and has been hosted at Cosmic Monkey Comics since 2006. This year's party and Trophies Ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 24th starting at 8pm. The Trophies will be presented by Stumptown's own Shannon Wheeler and Carolyn Main, along with radio, film and comics Geek Celebré, Bobby 'Fatboy' Roberts (co-host of the local Cort and Fatboy radio show). After the Trophies Ceremony, be sure to stick around for the infamous Comic Art Battle, where Stumptown cartoonists square off, trading jibes, swipes, and ink-stained blows, competing for fabulous prizes and the adoration of the beer-addled crowd!
Inquiries about the Trophy Awards should be directed to .
Howdy, all:
The Exhibitors List for this year's Fest is now available, and I am simply amazed by the tremendous response we've already received! Nearly 100 tables are already registered with only ten weeks left until the show! We're continuing to receive bundles of registration packets in the mail, and we'll continue to confirm tables on a first-come, first-served basis. We won't be releasing any additions to the list until we can definitely confirm additional tables, though, so if you're sending in your form, and don't see your name on the list in the coming weeks, please don't panic! We just want to be absolutely sure that we've got room for everybody before we confirm any more exhibitors.
And that's not to say you shouldn't send in your registration forms, either! All registrations received over the available tables will be placed on the waiting list, and will have guaranteed space at next year's Comics Fest! So, get that form in now, kids! Time (and space) is running out!
Every year, the comics-loving residents of Portland, Oregon have one major event that they look forward to, and that event is the Stumptown Comics Fest. This year, on April 24th and 25th, Stumptown will bring the best creators, artists, writers, and publishers from all over the comics spectrum to the for a weekend-long celebration of the comic arts. The Fest will close out an entire month of events around the Rose City designed to display the depth and artistry of the comics medium.
Stumptown is excited to announce a variety of Special Guests and events this year, starting with appearances by Batton Lash, creator of the long-running Supernatural Law; Brooklyn-based artist and community organizer Dean Haspiel is the driving force behind the online-comics collective Act-I-Vate, and he'll be here with several other Act-I-Vate artists to regale us with tales of the early days of the group; Local artist Theo Ellsworth (whose visually stunning and critically-acclaimed graphic novel 'Capacity' debuted in 2008) will also be joining us as a Guest, and provides artwork for this year's poster. The Panel schedule for 2010 includes a presentation by Kate Beaton talking about her insanely popular historical humor comic Hark! A Vagrant!. Continuing the Stumptown tradition of providing access to the best comics industry resources, we'll also be hosting another round of Portfolio Reviews with editors and art directors from top local publishers Top Shelf Comics, Oni Press, Dark Horse Comics, and Fantagraphics Books. Additional exciting Event and Guest announcements will be made in the coming weeks leading up to the Fest.
Registration of new exhibitors is currently open for this April's Comics Fest, but after early pre-registration following last year's event available table space is limited. Interested exhibitors should download the registration form (available now at stumptowncomics.com/registration) and send it in with payment before the March 24th deadline.