Category Archives: Events

Participate in MicroCon

Events, Minneapolis, Useful Information

MicroCon is coming up on April 30th this year at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. The Minnesota Comic Book Association puts on some of the most creator-friendly comic conventions in the US, and they have invited the whole Cartoonist Conspiracy to attend. The MCBA continues to offer free space to ALL cartoonists at their conventions (they are also responsible for FallCon). That’s right, ANY CARTOONIST can get a space for FREE at a convention loaded with comic fans. It is very rare to have this sort of opportunity, I hope a number of you will take advantage of it. At most conventions you have to pay for space, and it isn’t cheap.

For more information, and a form to send in asap so they will reserve you a space, download this pdf.

PARTICIPATE IN THE WEINER ROAST!

Events, Lutefisk Sushi, mini-comics, Minneapolis

As part of the Lutefisk Sushi Volume B show, we are featuring the work of Roadkill Bill artist Ken Avidor. We are also doing a mini-comic “roast” of Ken and his work… the Weiner Roast. For those of you who don’t already know, KEN AVIDOR, transit-obsessed, sensitive, tree-hugging environmentalist, political agitator and bicycle enthusiast is also KEN WEINER, former Screw art editor, party machine, devil may care ne’er-do-well and alcohol enthusiast.

For Ken’s perspective on his duel nature, see this cartoon.

Both Kens plan on making an appearance at the Lutefisk Sushi Volume B show.

To participate in the mini-comic, send your submissions to us at:

Weiner Roast
c/o Big Time Attic
1618 Central Ave NE Suite 216
Minneapolis MN 55413

or email them (as minimum of 300dpi B&W jpgs) to:

cartoonistconspiracy@mn.rr.com

The deadline for participation is January first.

It is not necessary to participate in the Sushi show to participate in the Weiner Roast. Ken encourages us to be brutal with these, although I’m not sure which Ken.

LUTEFISK SUSHI VOLUME B CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Events, Lutefisk Sushi, mini-comics, Minneapolis, Projects

LUTEFISK SUSHI VOLUME B CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

While we don’t have an official date yet, Lutefisk Sushi Volume B will be happening, with the opening at Creative Electric Studios some time early next year. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the previous event/compilation, you can see more about it here.

We need submissions!
The focus of the show will again be around a big ol’ fancy hand-serigraphed box of mini-comics with a cover by Roadkill Bill artist Ken Avidor. It will be limited to 150 copies… every participant will receive one.

To participate:
1) You must live in Minnesota or be Doug McNamara or Jesse McManus. It has something to do with the Mc, apparently. Persons named Andy Singer will also be accepted.
2) You must provide us with 160 copies of your comic. Not 161, not 159, not 2,364. 160. Your mini-comic can be no larger than 5.5″ x 8.5″, or it won’t fit. It can be any format and length. Last year we even had a scroll hand-silkscreened in invisible ink.
3) You may also include other comics you wish to have sold at the gallery. Make sure your name is in the comic somewhere and put a price on the cover. Comics that have no price on the cover or somewhere obvious will not be sold.
4) You must matte, frame, or otherwise make presentable and hangable any originals you intend to have displayed. Kevin still has papercuts from last year. It is not required that you display originals, but it is encouraged. Put your name and the price of the piece on the back (remember the gallery takes a cut when pricing).
5) You must submit everything by no later than January 1, 2006.
6) You must include the form with your submission.
7) You must show up on opening night to pick up your Bento Box, or you must make other arrangements before then if you plan on getting one.
8) You must pick up your remaining original artwork, unsold comics and money (if any) at the end of the show. Any money not picked up by the artists will be kept by the gallery to buy beer… and any artwork or comics left behind will be peed on by feral, unneutered, violent cats in heat.
9) While it is not required, your assistance would be greatly appreciated collating the Bento Boxes at the collating party. Hopefully we’ll only have to collate them once this time.

We intend to include ALL submissions that meet ALL the criteria in the box. Entries not meeting ALL of the above criteria will most likely NOT be included in the box, and we will make our best attempts to be cold-hearted bastards about this. No previous comic book making experience is necessary to participate. While we plan on having all entries meeting the criteria included in the Lutefisk Sushi Volume B Bento Box, if we get a whole hog slaughter of entries, we may have to cut it off somewhere- we’ll let you know if the limit is getting close on the conspiracy website. We had 35 participants last year, and the box was packed to overflowing. We will use a bigger box this year.

In addition to the boxes, there will also be a lot of original artwork from the participating cartoonists on the walls. Using the artwork from the comic you submit to the Bento Box is preferred, although it is not required. ALL artwork should be priced for sale… let’s make the gallery some money, they have a mortgage to pay. Submitting multiple items for display is fine. Due to limited space, we may not get all artists in the box represented on the walls, but we’ll give it a shot.

In addition to the main show, there will also be a “sideshow” similar to the King Mini exhibit last year. This year we are featuring Ken Avidor (creator of Roadkill Bill). As part of this we also plan to produce a mini-comic featuring Ken’s work and works submitted by participants that are inspired by, satirizing or commenting on Ken’s work or Ken. Think of it as a comic “roast.” This comic will be included in the boxes. Everyone is encouraged to contribute a page to this comic, although it is not required.

Profits from the originals and comics will be split with the artists and gallery last year it was 60 (artists), 40 (gallery)- it hasn’t been negotiated yet but it will most likely be in that neighborhood this year as well. Profits from the Bento Boxes will also be split with the gallery, and our part will go into covering supplies and other miscellaneous expenses, including the collating/decorating/hanging Afghani party pizza… remaining funds will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund in the form of paid memberships for participants- we hope to get memberships for all participants, but in the event we don’t make enough money to do this we’ll draw the appropriate number of names at random.

Lutefisk Sushi Volume B is being sponsored and organized by The International Cartoonist Conspiracy (www.cartoonistconspiracy.com), Creative Electric Studios (www.creativeelectricstudios.com) and Big Time Attic (www.bigtimeattic.com).

DOWNLOAD THE SUBMISSION FORM HERE

PARTY THIS FRIDAY – SEPT 16th

Events, Minneapolis

We hope that everyone can make the debut:


“BONE SHARPS, COWBOYS, AND THUNDER LIZARDS”
———– BOOK RELEASE PARTY————-


Friday, September 16, 2005, 4-7 pm
BIG BRAIN COMICS
1027 Washington Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55415
(add this to your blogs, Blackberrys, and events calendars)

Featuring special guest…flying in just for this party, GT Lab’s JIM OTTAVIANI!!!

The 168-page true science epic about two ruthless wild west paleontologists will be available for the first time anywhere, and Jim Ottaviani and Big Time Attic will be on hand to sign copies, tell tales, and show off the original art.

Bring in your dog-eared copies of “Two-Fisted Science” and “Suspended in Language” to get signed, or any of BTA’s individual books…or, hey, just come for the free beer and stand in the corner quietly until the beer runs out.

The Wild West provided the setting for some famous battles, but the gunfight at O.K. Corral doesn’t hold a candle to the Bone Wars. Following the Civil War, the (Re-)United States turned its attention to the unexplored territories between the Mississippi and the Pacific. The railroads led the way, and to build them we blasted through mountains and leveled valleys and exposed rock that hadn’t seen the light of day for millions of years. This is the story of Edwin Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, two scientists who found and fought for those bones, and the artist Charles R. Knight who almost single-handedly brought dinosaurs back to life for an awestruck public. Guest starring Chief Red Cloud and hundreds of his Indian Braves, the gun-totin’ and gamblin’ Professor John Bell Hatcher, colossal and stupefying Dinosauria of the New World, and featuring special appearances by The Cardiff Giant, P.T. Barnum, Buffalo Bill Cody, Ulysses S. Grant, Alexander Graham Bell, and a plentiful supporting cast of Rogues and Gallants from the Eastern Scientific Establishment and The Old West, the colorful supporting cast makes for a rich blend of history, adventure, science, and art.

You’re invited to be a guest at FallCon 2005 October 8th and 9th

Events, Minneapolis

The Minnesota Comic Book Association (run by the extremely generous Nick Post of The Source Comics and Games) has invited all cartoonists to come to Fallcon 2005 October 8th and 9th and get some free table space to promote themselves and enjoy the convention. This sort of generosity is rare for a convention (generally you have to pay for a table at a con… they are around 800 clams at San Diego). It is especially rare for such a first rate convention… FallCon is the largest comic convention in the state of Minnesota and is always a blast to attend.

You can download a pdf I’ve posted for attending here. The pdf includes more info about the convention and has a form to send in to let them know if you’re attending. I’ve added an area to the form you can check if you want to request that you be seated near the conspiracy.

Once you fill out the form, send it to:
MN Comic Book Association
PO Box 131475
Saint Paul, MN 55113

While you’re at it, you’ll probably want to get added to the MCBA’s mailing list as well, which you can do on the left side of their home page.

“The MCBA is a non-profit, non-aligned, all volunteer association dedicated to promoting the comic book medium, comic book creators, publishers, comic book retailers, comic book media and the comic book genre as a whole and has successfully done so via the convention & special event format for over 16 years.”

THE YEAR LONG GRAPHIC NOVEL PROJECT

Events, Minneapolis, Projects

For those of you who participated in 24 Hour Comics Day, beyond the exhaustion you felt you were most likely excited and exhilirated at how much work you could get done in a limited amount of time. We’ve decided to embark on a project inspired by the 24 hour event that hopefully will bear even more exciting creative fruits.

We are starting THE YEAR LONG GRAPHIC NOVEL PROJECT.

THE GOAL: To complete a graphic novel in a year.

THE CHALLENGE: To complete a minimum of three finished pages of comics towards a larger work by the end of each month for a year. More than three pages is, of course, excellent.

THE RULES:
1) The end of the month is defined by the end of the new six hour monthly meetings at The Minnesota Center for Book Arts.
2) While the intent is certainly to produce a lot of pages in a limited time, it is also to produce a lot of high-quality work. Therefore, you can do as much work and planning outside of the meeting time as you want to. In fact, you can come to the meetings with your required number of pages (and as many more as you want) already completed.
3) You can start at any meeting… at this time these meetings are intended to be ongoing indefinitely. It should be noted that many people will probably start at the first meeting, so if you want a good race, this may be a good place to start.
4) If you do the bare minimum, you’ll have 36 completed pages at the end of the year… 36 pages completed is the shortest length that will be accepted as a successful year long graphic novel.
5) You are not required to tell one cohesive story to be considered a graphic novel. You could do all one page strips. There are absolutely no rules about content, other than that the content must be comics.

The Minnesota Center for Book Arts has generously offered some monthly space for Minneapolis area cartoonists to draw in. We will now be meeting on one Saturday a month to draw(this will replace the Sunday Funnies meetings… times will be listed on the Cartoonist Conspiracy website).

It should be noted that this is an open studio time for all cartoonists… you are not required to participate in the Year Long Graphic Novel Project to come and draw with us.

The first meeting will be July 16th 10AM-4PM in the MCBA Flexi Space (for those of you who were at the Spot On Festival, this is the room Big Time Attic had a table in, next room over from the space where we had part of the 24 Hour Event).

July 16th 10AM-4PM
The Minnesota Center for Book Arts
The Open Book Building (in the Flexi Space)
1011 Washington Ave S, Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN 55415
PHONE: 612-215-2520

SPOT ON FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND JUNE 11-12

Events, Minneapolis, Projects

The Spot On Fair is this weekend and it should be fun… It is part of the Spot On: The Art of Zines and Graphic Novels gallery show that has been there since April 9th (and has recieved some favorable reviews) Many conspirators are participating. There will be a conspiracy table (as well as tables for many other cartoonists and zine makers) where any conspirator can bring comics to sell, and we’ll attempt to manage it (Please put prices on the cover of anything you want to sell, and give us a sheet with the price of the books and the number of copies you’re leaving with us… we absolutely will not deal with your books if you do not do this, unless you talk us into it). We accept no responsibility for lost or stolen books.

This is also intended to be a trading festival, so regardless of whether you have something to sell, bring comics and zines to trade to people for their comics and zines.

Here is the schedule:

SPOT ON FAIR SCHEDULE


Saturday June 11 (10-5)

10-12 Family Day – Zines

Construct your own zine with Alec Mueller – comic artist and By Design graduate.

1-2:30 Craft of Cartooning: Tips and tricks from Cartoonists

Featuring:
Kirk Anderson
Ken Avidor
Andrey Feldysteyn
Shad Petosky
Andy Singer

3-4:30 Cartoonists and their influences

Featuring:
Ken Avidor
Andrey Feldysteyn
Steven Stwalley

Sunday June 12 (12-5)

1-2:30 Tom Cassidy


3-4:30 Mini-Comics: the Art of Making Comic Books by Hand

Featuring:
Bob Lipski
Doug McNamara
Danno Oschendorf
Quillan Roe


Shad Petosky and Rana Raeuchle will also be participating in some of the panels… I imagine some other folks may join in as well.

Thanks much to Big Brain Comics for donating the table for the Conspiracy… Big Brain, if you didn’t already know, is just a half a block away from the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, who is hosting the fair, and houses one of the most amazing masses of comic literature you’ll ever see in one place. Thanks also to Book Arts and Jeff Rathermel for concieving and organizing this event.

The Minnesota Center For Book Arts (MCBA)
(at the Open Book)
1011 Washington Ave. South
Suite 100, Minneapolis, MN 55415

www.openbookmn.org
www.mnbookarts.org

Hope to see you there!

REMEMBER MOM THIS WEEKEND

Events

And how she threw away all your comics when you were a kid by going to your local comic store to celebrate our favorite holiday of the year… FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is May 7th!

Apparently there is some other holiday this weekend too.

“We know that when we start talking about Free Comic Book Day it sounds like we’re talking about Ride A Lucky Dragon Day or Dance the Dance of Magic Dancing Beans Day. Here’s the thing though, Free Comic Book Day is real. It’s a real day when real jolly comic book retailers across the land give free comic books to anyone who goes to their stores.” -Shad Petosky of Big Time Attic

And they are giving out some doozies this year… like this one for example:

———————————–

Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards: A Tale of Edwin Drinker Cope, Othniel Charles Marsh, and the Gilded Age of Paleontology fcbd edition

by Jim Ottaviani, Zander Cannon, Kevin Cannon, and Shad Petosky

Dinosaurs! Cowboys! Scientists! What more could you ask for? This special FCBD Edition offers a complete short story and tantalizing introduction to the fall’s upcoming graphic novel. In addition to the cowboys, dinosaurs, and villainous men of science Bone Sharps also features the world-renowned artist Charles R. Knight, Chief Red Cloud and hundreds of his Indian braves, the gun-totin’ & gamblin’ professor John Bell Hatcher, and special appearances by the Cardiff Giant, P.T. Barnum, Buffalo Bill Cody, and a supporting cast of rogues & gallants from the Eastern scientific establishment and the Old West. Cover by Mark Schultz.

———————————–

There are a bunch of other great looking books coming out for the holiday… besides Bonesharps I’m particularly looking forward to SUPERIOR SHOWCASE #0 FCBD EDITION, ALTERNATIVE COMICS PRESENTS FCBD ED 2005 EDITION, COMICS FESTIVAL! FCBD EDITION, THE ADVENTURES OF PAUL FCBD EDITION, FUNNY BOOK FCBD EDITION, and KEENSPOT SPOTLIGHT 2005 FCBD EDITION. You can read more about all of these fine, fine, fine looking books on this page.

And all for free! How do they do it, you may wonder, wonderingly, with a question mark, the way you do. Well, Virginia, you see, Free Comic Day succeeds through the “Spirit of Free Comics.” Similar to such spirits as the “Spirit of Christmas” in that it spreads joy and good cheer throughout the land by giving, it is also similar to the “Spirit of Crack Dealing” in that it operates on the principle “try one for free, and we know that pretty soon you’ll be hooked.”

There are creator signings coinciding with the event all over the country, including at Big Brain Comics, where Shad, Zander and Kevin from Big Time Attic will be signing the Bonesharps book… Chris Jones (Batman Strikes) will also be at the event, signing THE BATMAN STRIKES! #1 FCBD EDITION.