Category Archives: event

Reminder: Mark Siegel of First Second Books to Speak at The Loft February 26th… UPDATE: Also at MCAD February 25th

event, Events, Minneapolis, mn

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 be­loved 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).

Minneapolis Event Site Announced for Mini-Comics Day, April 9th 2011

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

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.

Mark Your Calendars… April 9th, 2011 is MINI-COMICS DAY!

event, Events, Mini-Comics Day, News, Opportunities

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.

Mark Siegel of First Second Books to Speak at The Loft February 26th

event, Events

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).

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 be­loved 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).

Brittney Sabo, Anna Bratton and Lars Martinson Signing at Big Brain this Saturday, December 4th!

event, Events, Minneapolis, mn

Some fantastic Twin Cities cartoonists are signing their new graphic novels at Big Brain. They just got A-Listed by the City Pages, so read all about it here. I’ve already had the pleasure of reading Britt and Anna’s Francis Sharp in the Grip of the Uncanny! Chapter One, and it is a gorgeous and fun read… you won’t want to miss it.


Big Brain Comics 1027 Washington Ave. S. Minneapolis, MN
Sat., Dec. 4, 4-7 PM

Andy Singer’s Fruit Sticker Art Show

event, Events, gallery show, Minneapolis, mn, show, St. Paul

Conspirator Andy Singer has a show coming up this weekend of his Fruit Sticker Art… here’s the info:

I will be in a small show of Fruit Sticker Art at The West 7th Street Mississippi Market Coop From November 14th until December 14th. The show includes work by 3 artists– myself, Andrea McCormack and Richard Carlson. It’s a fun show, made entirely of fruit stickers.

Mississippi Market is located at–
1500 West 7th Street (near Otto)
Saint Paul, MN 55102
and is open daily from 8am until 9pm.

There will be a brief “buy-your-own-food” opening reception where you can meet and eat with the artists from 2-3pm, Sunday, November 14th.
Come eat some fruit!

AE on the Town: Come Draw at the Como Zoo October 9th

Altered Esthetics, event, Events, Minneapolis, mn, St. Paul

Kristy from Altered Esthetics asked me to pass on the following invite to you all… sounds like fun.

Looking for opportunities to draw animals in less than natural environments? If so come join us at Como Zoo, Saturday October 9th at 1 pm. Bring sketchbooks and a drawing implement of your choice. Our first meeting spot will be outside the south end of the Primate house. Look for the Ae sign. At this time we will be discussing our game plan and dispersing from there. At 3pm we hope you will stick around for show n’ tell outside Zooper Foods. If you need more information please contact Kristy or Cassie at workshops (at) alteredesthetics.org. We will be there rain, shine or snow “hehe”. Hope to see you at the Zoo!