SPX

The Small Press Expo has announced the 2016 nominations for the Ignatz, the annual awards for independent comics. Indie Comics mainstays like Daniel Clowes and Adrian Tomine are represented, alongside newer stars like Carolyn Nowak and Tillie Walden.

The weekend is here! Take a look back at what’s happened in the past seven days. New comics, new stories, new podcasts, new art being made — it’s all part of the ComicsAlliance Weekender!

The weekend is here! Take a look back at what’s happened in the past seven days. New comics, new stories, new podcasts, new art being made — it’s all part of the ComicsAlliance Weekender!

The week’s over! And with it we reach the final days of September --- which you've all done a dazzling job with, by all accounts. But while you’ve been off working and living and doing all those things that humans do, what have you missed in the world of comics? With Weekender, ComicsAlliance is here to give you a heads-up on some of the stories that you might have overlooked, and to showcase some great writing on comics for you to enjoy over buttery crumpets this weekend.

The Eisner Awards at San Diego Comic-Con back in July were a great night for women in comics, but this past weekend's Ignatz Awards at Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland, recognizing achievements in small press and independent creator-owned comics, went one step further in celebrating women's contributions. Women claimed victory in every category.

If you don't have a chance to get to Bethesda, Maryland, this coming weekend, and you still want to keep the spirit of Small Press Expo in your heart, you're in luck! Comixology and SPX have teamed up to put 100 Comixology Submit titles on sale at 50% off, from now through to September 21, just by using the code 'SPX' at checkout. With so many great independent comics to choose from, we've selected some standouts that you might want to try.

Small Press Expo (SPX) has announced the nominees for the 2015 Igntaz Awards. It’s a diverse line-up with three nominations each for Sophia Foster-Dimino, Ethan Rilly, and Caldecott Honor and Eisner Award-winner Jillian Tamaki, as well as two nominations each for Sophie Goldstein, Kris Mukai and Noah Van Sciver.

The 2014 Ignatz Awards took place on Saturday evening, and were, by all accounts, a lively affair, topped off with a wedding in which Australian comics star Simon Hanselmann was betrothed to the medium itself! While what's referred to as the independent/small press comics scenes is by no means perfect, it is certainly more progressive, with the changes, representation, and greater equality that's rallied for in mainstream comics already present here to a significant degree, as can be seen reflected in the comics nominated, the nominees themselves, and the winners.

The Small Press Expo (SPX) announced the full list of nominees for the 2014 Ignatz Awards this week; with an aim to celebrate outstanding achievements in independent and alternative comics and cartooning, the awards are named after George Herriman’s brick-wielding mouse from his Krazy Kat comic strip, recognising exceptional work within the medium. Nominees are determined by a panel of cartoonists, this year comprised of Whit Taylor, Melissa Mendes, Thien Pham, Darryl Ayo, and Austin English, with votes cast only by attendees during SPX to decide the eventual winners.

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.