SPX Totally Awesome Once Again!
Friday, October 2nd, 2009
Yep This is Pretty Much a Tradition Now.
This past weekend Rachel and I took our now annual trip to SPX (Small Press Expo) in Bethesda Maryland. It’s a not a bad drive from Pittsburgh and it gave us an excuse to see Justin Kownacki who now resides in Balitmore. Last year was our first experience and it was awesome! ( thanks to Joe Deferari and his lovely wife ) This year was even more amazing.
So What is it?
It’s a conference centered around short runs of screen prints, graphic novels, comics, hand made toys, zines, mini comics, t-shirts, and other various warez. Okay, before you glaze your eyes over you need to understand one thing. It is not a comicon! Nobody dresses up like bobafett. Instead its more like a graphic artist Saturday market. There are tables and tables of hand made, self published, and small run materials. And most of it is very well put together. You just can’t find anything like this anywhere else.
Not only can you buy lots of cool stuff, you can interact with the artists. I love this part! Everyone is so nice. They take the time to talk with you, answer questions, and sign merch. Despite it being a customer service roll I found many of my favorite artists to be very charming, well spoken, and thoughtful. Making me love them even more.
Okay So How Much?
The conference is only $10 for one day admission. You can stay for both days, but Sunday loses a lot of moentium. Most everyone is tired and maybe a little hung over from the after party the night before. The good thing about Sunday is there is less traffic, but the bad thing is most of the really good stuff is all gone. So pick your poison. I prefer Saturday.
My Guide To SPX
Most of the materials break down like this
- Graphic Novels
- Establish artist will sell there books for around $20
- There are lesser known artist with limited run materials typically made by hand that will go from $8 - $15
- Prints and Various Artwork
- Prints of artwork go from about $20 - $75 depending on the artist and the size of the work.
- Mini Comics (my new favorite thing!)
- These are small version of comics that fit into the palm of your hand
- Typically created via home printer of copy machine
- They range from they are $1 - $3
- NOTE: Some artist will package all of there mini comics together in an anthology and sell that for about $10 - $15. SO KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN
- Toys and Hand Made Warez
- Many tables also offer hand made art in the form of screen prints, toys, and other hand made objects
- This is a wide range. Anywhere from $5 - 50 depending on the object
Honestly you can’t bring enough money for all of the amazing things you can buy. If I sound crazy and excited, it’s because I am.
This Years Goods - And My Awards Go to…
By awards I really mean money 
- FartParty by julia wertz volume 2 - (2009 Most Enjoyable)
- Carnival of comics vol2 by Jim8ball - (2009 caught my eye)
- atom bomb bikini by Robert Ullman - (2009 Best Line work)
- adrift by jpcoovert - (2009 Best use of blue)
- Rocketo by Frank Espinosa - (2009 Best Bargain $5)
- House print by Many dunn - (2009 Most Impressive package)
- Living is easy #1 by Jesse Lonergan - (2009 caught my eye)
- Crush all hu-mans by R stevens - (2009 Charmed me into buying a book)
- Pictures for sad children by john campbell - (2009 Surprise of the Show)
- American Eh by Heather Bryant - (2009 caught my eye)
- Please Please by Nate Powell - (2009 solid material and all around nice guy)
- Sounds of Your Name by Nate Powell - (2009 solid material and all around nice guy)
- Breathers by Justin Madson - (2009 So glad they were there cause I took a risk on them last year)
Conclusion
This trip is like the kickoff of the fall time creative season. I’m not sure what it is, but for me there’s just something in the air when it gets a little crisp. It happens right around the time that you notice… HEY! Where’s all the sunlight. All of my outside activities fade away and my brain starts seeking out creative projects like screen printing, painting, drawing, graphic novels, and writing. My gears shift and I just want to hermit away making things all night long and into the weekend.
Maybe it’s the buzz after the trip. Maybe it’s the great conversation from the road trip. Maybe it’s the plans we make to “get a table next year” every year. Whatever it is I’m hooked. This is one of my favorite events of the year. As I read each of my treasures I get a little sad, but then also happy because tomorrow is one day closer to next years SPX. Somewhere out there, there’s an artist just as excited getting their material ready for next year. I just hope that I’ll be one of them.
