All posts by STWALLSKULL
Photo Gallery from MIX 2010
I had not previously seen this photo gallery on Metromix Twin Cities from the 2010 MIX festival.
The MIX festival was recently mentioned on the Star Tribune website in the story “11 more for 2011.”
As last year’s 1,000 fanboys (and girls) will attest, not all comic-book conventions are about dressing up like Batman. The Minneapolis Indie Xpo features indie comics dedicated not to super powers, but to the power of storytelling.
Nov. 5-6, Soap Factory, 518 SE. 2nd St., Mpls. Free., www.mplsindiexpo.com.
The event is now listed on the Soap Factory website.
Note that MIX has an active Twitter feed here.
Mark your calendars! Only 8 months and change until MIX 2011!
Reminder: Mark Siegel of First Second Books to Speak at The Loft February 26th… UPDATE: Also at MCAD February 25th
The Loft is hosting Mark Siegel, the editorial director of First Second Books, in a special Q&A session this February 26 from 10 a.m. to noon at Open Book. You can learn more here (PDF).
UPDATE: In addition to the Loft event (although I don’t see it listed anywhere on their site), MCAD is hosting Mr. Siegel on February 25th:
Don’t miss a visual talk on Graphic Novels Today with publisher Mark Siegel of First Second Books! This FREE event takes place at MCAD’s College Center (on the second floor) at 6:30 pm this Friday. Come after work and be transformed (no radioactive spiders involved). Parking is available at the nearby MIA ramp and on local streets.
Thanks to Michael Drivas for passing that info on to me!
About Mark Siegel:
In 2006, Mark Siegel launched an ambitious collection of graphic novels in every age category, in a wide range of themes and styles, with talent from all over the world. In its first year, American Born Chinese became the first comic ever nominated for a National Book Award, and soon afterwards, the first to win the coveted librarians’ Printz Award. Many beÂloved indie cartoonists make up First Second’s stellar author line-up, from Sara Varon to Scott McCloud, Jessica Abel to Paul Pope, Eddie Campbell to Joann Sfar, and many others— including seasoned talents and newcomers, with projects in fiction and nonfiction, for children and for adults. In addition to First Second, Mark Siegel has a number of projects of his own, has illustrated several award-winning pictures (Seadogs, Long Night Moon, To Dance) and is currently serializing an adult graphic novel online (www.sailortwain.com).
More Minnesota Cartoonist Press
Ken Avidor has been added to the excellent list of artists included in City Pages 100 Creatives list.
The Pete Hodapp interview at the Daily Crosshatch has concluded:
[Part One][Part Two][Part Three][Part Four]
Will Dinski was recently a guest on Inkstuds.
Ryan Dow was recently featured on the Idiot Engine Podcast.
Lars Martinson was recently featured on the Deconstructing Comics podcast. Lars also had his work recently featured here and here.
Also, have you seen Sarah Morean’s Lunch Break posts at the Daily Crosshatch? She is posting regular links to webcomics there, and is looking for folks to contribute their lists. Here is the info on how to do that:
Would you like to guest edit Lunch Break? Send a self portrait (as a drawing or photograph) plus five links to your favorite webcomics to Sarah Morean at smorean@gmail.com.
Lunch Break is a short round-up of favorite webcomics appearing here each weekday at noon. Here’s something for you to enjoy over your lunch break or whenever. The premise is simple: it’s another day on the internet. Here’s a new or forgotten comic that seems interesting. Have something to recommend? Email us: crosshatchdispatch@gmail.com.
Congratulations, Britt!
Congratulations to Britt Hammerberg on winning the sequential art prize in the Arts in Harmony juried art show in Elk River.
Also, congratulations to Britt on the tenth anniversary of her webcomic FAMIB. Why don’t you send her some fan art (contest deadline February 28th)?
UPDATE: Whoops, Danno beat me to this.
Ursula Murray Husted to Present on Making Comics at Pecha Kucha Night MSP #6: Handmade
Minnesota cartoonist Ursula Murray Husted is giving a presentation on making comics at “Pecha Kucha Night MSP #6: Handmade.”
Time
Tuesday, March 8 · 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Location
Bryant Lake Bowl
810 West Lake Street
Minneapolis, MN
Minnesota Cartoonists in the Press
There has been a whole lot of coverage of the Minnesota cartooning scene recently… here is a round up.
First of all, the excellent Star Tribune story about the Twin Cities cartooning scene by Tom Horgen from last Sunday’s paper can now be read in its entirety online. Don’t miss the video with Peter Gross and the gallery in the sidebar.
In their ongoing 100 Creatives series at the City Pages, they have now covered Local Hero Kevin Cannon, Zander Cannon, Lars Martinson, DWITT, Adam Turman and Altered Esthetics’ own Kara Hendershot, among many other great local artists.
Twin Cities Public Television recently did a feature on Zak Sally.
The Daily Crosshatch just posted videos of Lars Martinson‘s “How to Self-Publish a Graphic Novel in 8 Hard Steps†presentation from the 2010 Graphic Novel Writing & Illustrating Conference sponsored by the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, MN.
The Daily Crosshatch also recently ran an interview with Pete Hodapp the cartoonist responsible for what was probably my favorite comic in the Lutefisk Sushi Volume D box, The Possum and the Pepper Spray. Apparently part 2 of the interview is coming soon.
Tom Kaczynski was recently interviewed at the Comix Claptrap.
Minneapolis Event Site Announced for Mini-Comics Day, April 9th 2011
April 9th, 2011 is the date for the first annual Mini-Comics Day, celebrating the art of cartooning and creating hand-made comic books.
On Mini-Comics Day, participating cartoonists from around the world will write, draw, and print copies of a mini-comic, completing the entire process from start to finish in a day or less. Anyone in the world can participate.
Mini-comics have been democratizing the art of making comic books since the 70′s or earlier… with the popularization of photocopiers, it became apparent that anyone with an inclination and some spare change could print a little comic book. Wildly varying in both form and content, mini-comics are a wonderful synthesis of cartooning and hand-made art objects.
In Minneapolis, the event will take place at The Minnesota Center For Book Arts. There will be open table space for participants to work at and a copier on site for printing purposes. Additionally, there will be an after-event at a to-be-determined location where participants will be able to swap their mini-comics, and prizes will be given for the best mini-comics produced during the day.
More information about participating can be found at minicomics.org.
Mini-Comics Day is sponsored by The International Cartoonist Conspiracy and The Minnesota Center for Book Arts.
The Minnesota Center For Book Arts
1011 Washington Ave S Minneapolis
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
(in the Flexispace and Gallery Space)
Copier will be available on site.
Table space will be provided on a first come, first served basis.
Please contact 
if you plan to participate so we can get a rough idea of the number of participants in advance.
Evolution Signing by The Brothers Cannon at Big Brain Comics February 12th
Click the image for more information.
WHAT: Book signing & party
WHO: Kevin Cannon and Zander Cannon will be signing Evolution: The Story of Life on Earth
DATE: February 12, 2011 (Darwin’s 202nd birthday!)
TIME: 4-6pm
WHERE: Big Brain Comics, 1027 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN
WILL THERE BE SNACKS & BOOZE: Yes
Mark Your Calendars… April 9th, 2011 is MINI-COMICS DAY!
April 9th, 2011 is the date for the first annual Mini-Comics Day, celebrating the art of cartooning and creating hand-made comic books.
On Mini-Comics Day, participating cartoonists from around the world will write, draw, and print copies of a mini-comic, completing the entire process from start to finish in a day or less. Anyone in the world can participate.
Mini-comics have been democratizing the art of making comic books since the 70’s or earlier… with the popularization of photocopiers, it became apparent that anyone with an inclination and some spare change could print a little comic book. Wildly varying in both form and content, mini-comics are a wonderful synthesis of cartooning and hand-made art objects.
Guidelines: To participate, create a mini-comic from start to finish on April 9th, 2011 (including writing, drawing and printing it). You can make your mini-comic by yourself or with other artists.
Format: Your mini-comic can be any size, length and format you desire. A standard mini-comics size would be eight 4.25″x5.5″ pages (which can be made from one 8.5×11 sheet of paper printed on both sides).
Help: For more information on how to make a mini-comic, see the Cartoonist Conspiracy’s mini-comic tutorial How to Make Mini-Comics. More resources can be found here.
Submit: Optionally, you can post information and/or images from your comic on the Mini-Comics Day blog. Contact for an account to post here.
Bonus points: If you are working with a group of cartoonists, you may want to consider collecting your mini-comics together to distribute as a set. Bags, rubber bands, or boxes all work great for this purpose.
Also, you may want to consider trading copies by submitting some to the Mini-comix Co-op.
Events: There will be two kinds of events related to Mini-Comics Day:
Cartooning Events, where cartoonists meet to work on their mini-comics around their peers.
Mini-comic Swap Events, where cartoonists can trade and sell their minis.
If you would like to organize an event, contact us at so we can promote your event and add it to our event listing.
About The International Cartoonist Conspiracy: Founded in Minneapolis in 2002, The International Cartoonist Conspiracy is a loosely organized group of cartoonists with cells all over the world. The Conspiracy has been responsible for many collaborative projects, including anthologies, gallery shows, and numerous jams every month. Any cartoonist anywhere can start a cell, and anyone with a desire to draw comics is encouraged to participate.