The organizers of the Expo, an annual gathering of comics artists and publishers held in Bethesda, Md., since 1994, were forced to cancel the event following the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.
Unlike most American comics conventions, the Expo (originally called the Small Press Expo, or SPX) is more of a cultural event, hosting up-and-coming younger artists as well as the old masters of art comics. Only artists and small publishers are allowed to display at the show, allowing them more direct access to readers and peers than traditional conventions permit.
This year, the show had expected to host more than 100 cartoonists, including Art Spiegelman, Kim Deitch, the Hernandez Bros., Scott McCloud and recent Doubleday author Jason Little. In conjunction with the International Comic Arts Festival, an academic symposium on international comic art, the Expo would have welcomed such comics artists as Arnold Roth, Blutch, Thomas Ott and Bryan Talbot.
The real stars of the Expo are the show's younger talents, artists who come in droves to sell their hand-made comics chapbooks, self-published works and art objects. Jeff Smith, author of Bone, told PW that Expo is great for discovering new artists. "Every year some piece of work rises to the top at the Expo," he said.
But much like Comic-Con International, the major industry trade show (News, June 25), exhibitors at the Expo depend on the sales of books made at the convention—the show's cancellation may be crippling to some small publishers. "Canceling Expo will cost Top Shelf a good chunk of the money we had planned to pay off our printing bills for the rest of the year," publisher Chris Staros told PW. Like other small publishers, Staros plans his publishing year around the sales generated at conventions like Expo and Comic-Con.
Drawn and Quarterly publisher Chris Oliveros explains that selling at conventions allows him to appeal directly to readers while earning full retail on his books—nearly twice what he would earn selling to distributors. "I guess you can argue that over the coming weeks, people will be buying those books in the normal channels," Oliveros said, "but it doesn't quite add up over time."
Meanwhile, the Expo comics community is carrying on. Last weekend, impromptu events in New York, California and Maryland were held by artists who had planned to attend the show. In New York City, SP-Xiles, the impromptu local Expo drew 80 exhibitors and attracted a crowd of about 200 people. The event also raised $1,925 that was donated to the Red Cross and the New York City Firefighters Relief Fund. In addition Alternative Comics, a Gainesville-Fla.-based publisher is releasing 9-11 Emergency Relief, a collection of personal accounts of the tragedy, to raise money for the Red Cross. "These events are really good for the community, which is what the Expo is about ultimately," said Highwater Books publisher Tom Devlin.
While Expo organizers may have lost this year's labors, they are hard at work pulling next year's show together. "The show, just like America, is very resilient; it'll be back next year and it will still be the premier alternative comics show," Staros said.
