The Alternative Press Expo, a.k.a. APE, “runs amok” in San Francisco this weekend. The event takes place April 21 and 22 at The Concourse and will feature hundreds of alternative and self-published comic creators and comics. The guest list includes art spiegelman and his wife Francoise Mouly, Bryan Lee O’Malley and his wife Hope Larson, Gene Yang, Kevin Huizenga and Karl Christian Krumpholz, among others.

After the break you’ll find a breakdown of what various companies, creators and comic shops have going on, both at the show and after hours …

AiT/Planet Lar

My buddy Wayne posted on the SFist article with Larry Young from yesterday, where he talks about muscle cars and their APE plans. Larry also dropped me an email about their plans:

Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, winner of the 2005 Isotope Award for Excellence in Minicomics, will be at the ol’ AiT compound at booths 434 & 435. Matt Silady will be there with an advance look at THE HOMELESS CHANNEL, our May book. We’ll also have advance looks at THE BLACK DIAMOND and MONSTER ATTACK NETWORK, by ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’s Marc Bernardin, Adam Freeman, and artist Nima Sorat. Plus all the regular goodness.

Fantagraphics

Fantagraphics has the details of what they’ll be up to over on their blog, including their complete signing schedule … if you’re looking for art spiegelman this weekend, be sure to visit their table:

Now, as for what we have planned. First of all, ART SPIEGELMAN and FRANCOISE MOULY are the two big guests of the show this year, and the two of them have generously offered to do all of their signings this weekend at the Fantagraphics booth. We’ll have copies of their books on hand (from MAUS to LITTLE LIT to IN THE SHADOW OF NO TOWERS and beyond) for sale and both will be autographing on both Saturday and Sunday.

Also signing this weekend: BEN CATMULL, TED STEARN, ANDRICE ARP, TOM KACZYNSKI, ANDERS NILSEN and KEVIN HUIZENGA (the last two will be signing at the Drawn & Quarterly tables, but will be happy to sign copies of GANGES, MOME, THE END or MONOLOGUES FOR THE COMING PLAGUE if you want to walk them across the aisle!).

New books at the show: THE COMICS JOURNAL #282, LOVE & ROCKETS #19 by Los Bros Hernandez, RUNAWAY COMIC #3 by Mark Martin, THE THREE PARADOXES by Paul Hornschemeier, PERCY GLOOM by Cathy Malkasian, HOUSE by Josh Simmons, CASTLE WAITING #6 by Linda Medley, and, with any luck, the amazing Fletcher Hanks collection, I SHALL DESTROY ALL THE CIVILIZED PLANETS!

SLG

SLG posted the list of creators they’d have on site over on their recently upgraded and very slick-looking LiveJournal page:

Signing at our booth or appearing at their own tables at APE are some very illustrious comic book creators:

Aaron A. (tentative)
Joshua Archer
Camilla d’Errico*
Jen Feinberg
Jon “Bean” Hastings
Eric Jones
Karl Christian Krumpholz
Todd Meister
Rikki Simons and Tavisha*
Landry Walker
Serena Valentino
Gene Yang*

*This artist has his or her own table at the convention.

SLG’s Jennifer de Guzman also makes note of several offsite events, including The Indie: An Art Show Celebrating Alternative Press Artists at Gallery 1988 (located at Sutter Street and Polk in San Francisco), an opening reception for the Funny Papers show at the Olive Hyde Gallery in Fremont on Friday and a post-APE event happening on April 28, the Manga, Art and Graphic Novel Expo for Teens in Fremont.

Sparkplug Comic Books

Sparkplug also dropped us an email about what they’ll be up to (thanks for forwarding, Chris!):

Sparkplug Comic Books is on our way to the A.P.E. tonight but before we head out on the car ride I’d like to announce the publication of two new books and send out some info about the shows.

A.P.E. will be the premiere of two new books:
Windy Corner Magazine #1 by Austin English and friends:

Windy Corner Magazine will be an ongoing outlet for cartoonists to write about (and draw about) the art of cartooning. Interviews in every issue will employ artists interviewing artists about the nuts and bolts (technical and mental) of drawing. Commissioned comic strips by one artist about a stylistically similar master will also be a regular feature.

Bookhunter by Jason Shiga:

Bookhunter is an action-packed crime thriller about the library police. You know, the people they send after you when you have a book overdue. Shiga works as a librarian, and this book pulses with the blood and sweat of real-life experience, coupled with the clear desire to mislead innocent people about what librarians do all day.

APE:

We’ll be selling books at Table 309 (next to Global Hobo) this weekend April 21st and 22nd. Not only will we be selling Bookhunter and Windy Corner #1 but we will be carrying the full line of books Published by Bodega, Manx Media, LaMano21, Typocrat, Teenage Dinosaur and Aron Nels Steinke. We’ll also have a T-shirt or two designed by Renee French. That table is gonna be packed.

Artists Austin English, Jeff LeVine, Eric Haven, Mats!?, Trevor Alixopulos, Renee French, Kazimer Strzepek and Tim Goodyear will be around during the show.

Oni Press

Oni will be there with two new graphic novels on hand:

FIRST IN SPACE, a Xeric award-winning project from newcomer James Vining, will debut at APE. FIRST IN SPACE is based on the true story of Ham, a chimpanzee that NASA trained for the first sub-orbital spaceflight. Mr. Vining will be at the Oni booth to sign copies and talk about his experiences researching the project.

SHENANIGANS is a screwball romantic comedy by writer Ian Shaughnessy (STRANGETOWN) and artist Mike Holmes, who was the Oni Press Talent Search winner in 1995. Misunderstands and bad Irish accents are the perfect recipe for fun in this delightful romp!

Along with these incredible graphic novels debuting at APE, several creators will be on hand to talk about their upcoming project, sign books, and do sketches.

Creators expected at APE include:

Matthew Loux (SIDESCROLLERS, F-STOP)
Hope Larson (GRAY HORSES)
Bryan Lee O’Malley (SCOTT PILGRIM, LOST AT SEA)
Ted Naifeh (COURTNEY CRUMRIM, POLLY & THE PIRATES)
James Vining (FIRST IN SPACE)

Come by and see us at the booth!

Drawn & Quarterly

From their web site:

This year Kevin Huizenga is a special guest at APE! Check out his events and stop by the D+Q booth to meet him in person. Also, Anders Nilsen will be there Saturday only.

Saturday:

12:30 - 2:30 Anders Nilsen signing at the D+Q booth
2:30 - 4:30 Kevin Huizenga signing at the D+Q booth

5:00 - 5:55 Spotlight on Kevin Huizenga

Sunday:

12:30 - 1:40 Panel with Kevin Huizenga: “Graphic Novels Now”
2:00 - 4:00 Kevin Huizenga signing at the D+Q booth

NEW STUFF

John Porcellino’s King-Cat Classix debuts at APE 2007! And don’t miss Adrian Tomine’s Optic Nerve #11

Top Shelf & Isotope Comics

Brett Warnock blogs about getting ready to head for SF for APE, and the books Top Shelf will be debuting at the show. I dropped him an email to see if they had anything else going on, and in addition to playing comic guy by day, he’ll be working a second gig at Isotope Comics Saturday night:

i WILL be guest bartending again this Saturday at Isotope Comics, for their Annual Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics. I made my signature margaritas last year, and will be doing it again this year. I’m not sure what time i’ll be on, though.

The two books that will be debuting at the show are Micrographica and SuperF*ckers #4 (YES!!!), per the Top Shelf blog:

Oh, and i’ll be down at APE this weekend, so if you’re in San Francisco, you should swing by. It’s still one of the most important, energizing, and fun conventions in comics. More like one of the many fine festivals you might find in Europe (which are all about celebrating the art form), than the plethora of crappy flea-market cons here in the good ol’ USA.

Renee French’s new book Micrographica will be there (as will Renee herself), plus i just received a handful of advance copies of James Kochalka’s SuperF*ckers #4. It’s a hoot.

Also appearing from Top Shelf will be Jeffrey Brown, Lilli Carre (i think…), Jeremy Tinder, Nate Powell, and long-lost pal and fabulous cartoonist Josue Menjivar.

Comic Relief

Happy 20th birthday to Comic Relief, which hit the big 2-0 on Sunday. They have birthday-bash plans this weekend:

Berkeley, CA —Comic Relief: The Comic Bookstore is proud to announce that April 15, 2007 marks our twentieth anniversary of business in Berkeley , bringing to Northern California the world’s most diverse selection of graphic novels, with over 20,000 titles in stock at all times. The first retailer in the nation to heavily promote and sell comic books in book format, Comic Relief continues to support sequential literature in all its wonderful formats, genres, and storytelling styles. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Comic Relief intends to hold a number of events and signings in keeping with its commitment to representing the finest aspects of comic book art.

To inaugurate its 20th anniversary, Comic Relief will be hosting a party on Saturday, April 21st, starting at 7pm, in conjunction with the Alternative Press Expo, the only convention in Northern California devoted to alternative publishing and independent voices. Comic Relief invites aficionados and novices both to come by to explore its vast selection of comics and graphic novels and to enjoy food, drink and music in honor of this remarkable anniversary. Additionally, be sure to keep an eye open for further announcements about more exciting events to be held in honor of our 20th anniversary.

WHAT: Comic Relief’s 20th Anniversary Celebration

WHERE: 2026 Shattuck Ave.
Berkeley , CA 94704

WHEN: 7 pm - the wee hours

Directions to Comic Relief: The Comic Bookstore, are available at www.comicrelief.net. For more information, call (510) 843-5002 or email info@comicrelief.net

Comix Experience

Comix Experience will host a signing with four of APE’s special guests on Friday:

For a full list of everyone who will be exhibiting at APE, click here.

If you’re exhibiting at APE or have some sort of event going on in conjunction with the con, drop me a line and I’ll add it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 19th, 2007 at 12:18 pm and is filed under Comic Books, Conventions, Creators, Events, Graphic Novels, Independent, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.