SPX 2014 To Celebrate The Alt-Weekly Comic With James Sturm, Jules Feiffer And Lynda Barry

SPX, the Small Press Expo, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and to celebrate, it's centering its entire 2014 convention on a much-read -- but not-often-discussed -- type of independent comic: strips from alt-weekly newspapers.

Late last week, organizers announced the first three major guests: Lynda Barry, the cartoonist behind Ernie Pook’s Comeek from The Chicago Reader; Jules Feiffer, the so-called godfather of the alt-weekly newspaper comic, and James Sturm, who co-founded The Onion and Seattle's The Stranger in addition to being an accomplished cartoonist and graphic novelist.

“Starting with Jules Feiffer almost 60 years ago, the unfortunately now-declining alt-weekly has a rich heritage whose influence extends into today’s graphic novel and comics scene," SPX executive director Warren Bernard told The Washington Post.

Many of those cartoonists and comic creators will be at the convention. The Post lists Tom Tomorrow (This Modern World), Renee French (The Soap Lady), Box Brown (Andre the Giant) and Michael DeForge (Ant Colony) as guests.

This year's SPX takes place September 13-14t at the North Bethesda Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Check out the convention poster by Box Brown below.