Category Archives: event

Behold! The Stapler!

event, Events, mini-comics, Mini-Comics Day, Minneapolis, mn

To add a little extra excitement to our Mini-Comics Day event in Minneapolis tomorrow (Saturday April 9th), we are giving out a prize for The Best Local Mini-Comic of the Day… also known as The Stapler.

In addition to The Stapler, the winner will get some cool prizes from some of our sponsors. The prizes will include a copy of the book Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s, courtesy of Big Brain Comics, two Lutefisk Sushi box sets full of Minnesota mini-comics (volumes C and D) and a copy of BIG FUNNY courtesy of Altered Esthetics, and possibly some other goodies.

For all the info about our event in Minneapolis go here. To find an event near you go here. And, of course, you can just participate at home or your local copy shop if you don’t have an event happening near you.

Mini-Comics Day just stared in Indonesia! Hopefully we will have lots of posts from around the world as the day commences at the Mini-Comics Day blog.

Mini-Comics Day is Tomorrow! (Saturday, April 9th)

Cartooning Projects, event, Events, mini-comics, Mini-Comics Day, Minneapolis, mn, Opportunities, St. Paul

Mini-Comics Day is tomorrow (April 9th)! 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.

We currently have sixteen sites listed around the world planning events for Mini-Comics Day. If you are interested in hosting an event, let me know… email me at webmaster(at)cartoonistconspiracy.com.

Here is the scoop about the Minneapolis event:

As with all our events, it is free and open to anyone who wants to participate. Table space is provided on a first-come, first-served basis. We hope to be getting started at 10:00AM sharp.

The copier on site, provided by our generous hosts at The Minnesota Center for Book Arts, will be available for use for a $5 donation… however, Big Brain Comics is giving us $50 to put towards this fee, so the first 10 people to use the copier will have their fee covered. Obviously, there will be a lot of demand for the copier at certain times of the day, so please be courteous of others and don’t bogart the machine. You’ll want to bring a $5 bill if you plan on using the on-site copier.

Wet Paint will be providing some free supplies, and will have useful items for sale for part of the event.

Big Time Attic will be donating some paper.

The Cartoonist Conspiracy will be providing some copies of our How to Make Mini-Comics mini-comic for folks to assemble and refer to.

We’ll be having an after party, where we will be giving out the prize for the Best Local Mini-Comic of the Day. This will be a block away from Book Arts in the side room at Grumpy’s Downtown (1111 Washington Ave. S.) from 5:30 to 9:00PM. We’ll clear out of the side room at 9:00 (a band will be taking over the space), and the fun will continue until whenever in the main room of the bar.

There will be a prize given out for the Best Local Mini-Comic of the Day. The prize will include a copy of the book Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s, courtesy of Big Brain Comics, a Lutefisk Sushi box set and a copy of BIG FUNNY courtesy of Altered Esthetics, and probably some other goodies.

Obviously, only comics made entirely on the day of the event will be eligible for the prize. To enter your mini-comic, drop 4 copies of it in the box we will have at the Book Arts event, or bring it before 6:30 to the side room of Grumpy’s Downtown. Make sure to include your name, address, email address and other contact information you think is pertinent with your submission. All submitted comics will also be included in a reading rack at the upcoming Art? show at Altered Esthetics in May.

The submitted comics will be read and a winner will be determined by three local non-cartoonists; author of Superheroes, Strip Artists & Talking Animals: Minnesota’s Contemporary Cartoonists Britt Aamodt, Big Brain Comics proprietor Michael Drivas, and Altered Esthetics founder Jamie Schumacher.

Please do spread the word to everyone you know who likes to make comics! If you use facebook, you may want to check out the Mini-Comics Day facebook page.

The Minnesota Center For Book Arts
1011 Washington Ave S
Minneapolis, MN
April 9, 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.
We’ll also be having an after party, where we will be giving out a prize for the Best Local Mini-Comic of the Day. This will be a block away in the side room at Grumpy’s Downtown (1111 Washington Ave. S.) from 5:30 to 9:00PM. We’ll clear out of the side room at 9:00 (a band will be taking over the space), and the fun will continue until whenever in the main room of the bar.
Contact: Steven Stwalley
webmaster(at)cartoonistconspiracy.com

Minneapolis Jam This Thursday, April 7th

event, Events, jam, Minneapolis, mn

Come and discuss strategy for Mini-Comics Day this weekend (Saturday, April 9th)!

Micro-Comics sold by Marvel in capsule vending machines in the late 60's

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative “jam” comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwords, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond’s while you’re there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee… they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

How to Make Mini-Comics Q&A This Thursday, March 24th, at Wet Paint 5:30PM

event, Events, mini-comics, Mini-Comics Day, Minneapolis, mn, Opportunities

Want to participate in Mini-Comics Day, but have no idea how to make a mini-comic? Well, Mini-Comics Day sponsor Wet Paint will be hosting a q&a session with some Conspirators (Zander Cannon, Athena Currier, Danno Klonowski and myself) this Thursday to talk about making mini-comics. We’ll be bringing along examples and we’ll have copies of our How To Make Mini-Comics mini-comic textbook for folks to read and assemble. Hope to see you there!

Wet Paint
Thursday, March 24th 5:30-7:30PM
1684 Grand Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55105
651.698.6431
email: info(at)wetpaintart.com

Mini-Comics Day Update

awards, event, Events, mini-comics, Mini-Comics Day, Minneapolis, mn

There’s a little over three weeks to Mini-Comics Day (April 9th)!

We currently have twelve sites listed around the world planning events for Mini-Comics Day. If you are interested in hosting an event, let me know… email me at webmaster(at)cartoonistconspiracy.com.

There are some new resources available on the Mini-Comics Day website that event planners and participants may find useful, including customizable promotional posters and flyers.

We also have templates available on that page that you can print or provide to people as an easy guide to lay out their mini-comics with (for 8-page and 16-page minis). Inexperienced mini-comics creators may want to print out the How to Make Mini-Comics mini-comic.

If you use facebook, you may want to check out the Mini-Comics Day facebook page.

For the Minneapolis event we plan to have an after-party event where we will give out a prize for the local “Best Mini-Comic of the Day,” judged by three local non-cartoonists; author of Superheroes, Strip Artists & Talking Animals: Minnesota’s Contemporary Cartoonists Britt Aamodt, Big Brain Comics proprietor Michael Drivas, and Altered Esthetics founder Jamie Schumacher. The prize will include a copy of the book Newave! The Underground Mini Comix of the 1980s, courtesy of Big Brain Comics.

We also hope to also include the comics submitted for judging in an upcoming gallery show at Altered Esthetics… more information about that soon.

Please do spread the word.

Just Add Ink Meeting at Psycho Suzi’s Tomorrow (March 15th) at 9PM

Altered Esthetics, anthologies, Cartooning Projects, event, Events, gallery show, Just Add Ink, Minneapolis, mn, Opportunities, Projects, St. Paul

Again, way too late notice… my apologies. Please, please do come and get involved if you are wanting to help get our cartoonist cookbook together for our Just Add Ink show at Altered Esthetics in August.

Agenda from Jamie:

Hello All,

Just a reminder that we’ve got a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, 9:00pm, Psycho Suzi’s.

Preliminary Agenda
Decide roles
Decide on how submissions will work (Maybe a “Plan A” and “Plan B” depending on funding)
Talk about print processes and options (bring budgets and figures if you have any)
Website stuffs

Tuesday March 15th, 9:00pm – Psycho Suzi’s.
___

Action Items (from last meeting)
Everybody to look into the cost of printing various types of pages and books. (binders, etc.)
We can bring this information with us to the next meeting to make an educated decision.
Everybody think about roles and how you want to be involved.
Jamie to draft sponsorship level and create spreadsheet for sharing
Jamie will bring a few budget drafts to the next meeting
Danno to bake us all a cake

Some things to establish:
Submission guidelines
“Mini-grants” guidelines and budget (and checklist for Ae staff)
Distribution guidelines (This came up last time. 1 book per artist? Or 1 book per entry?)
What will go on the preliminary site (and who is creating it?)

Looking forward to seeing all of you tomorrow!

JUST ADD INK Preliminary Meeting this Tuesday at Psycho Suzi’s 9:00PM

event, Events, gallery show, Just Add Ink, Minneapolis, mn, Opportunities

We are having a preliminary meeting for our upcoming cartoonist cookbook show, Just Add Ink, this Tuesday at Psycho Suzi’s at 9PM, where we will start to get our plan together. If you want to get involved in organizing the show, I encourage you to show up. Sorry for the short notice, I meant to get this information posted sooner. If you want to participate in organizing the show and can’t show up Tuesday, please let me know so we can get you on our planning email list (email me at webmaster(at)cartoonistconspiracy.com).

Don’t worry, participation in the show will be open to anyone who wants to participate… so please do not show up if you want to participate in the show, but have no interest in helping put it together.

Photo Gallery from MIX 2010

event, Events, Minneapolis, MIX, mn

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!