Pants About Town – Minneapolis Indie Expo 2011
Some of you may remember us talking about the Minneapolis Indie Expo earlier in November. Some of you may even have come down and talked to us. Well we weren’t there just sitting around and soaking up the ambiance. We were busy talking with many of the artists and creators exhibiting thier wares on that chilly weekend.
We’ve compiled the nearly 4 hours of interviews into 9 easy-to-digest pieces. If what you hear sounds interesting, make sure to click the links and check out the artists’ work. Also we’ve endevoured to get all the names spelled correctly, but the weekend was a blur even right afterword, let alone a month later, so if you see something, be sure to let us know (if a name is followed by an asterix, that means I lost your card and the googles are failing me, so please email evan@fancypantsgangsters.com so we can get your stuff linked)
Part 1 – MIX At A Glance
It’s hard to encapsulate everything going on at MIX, from all the comic creators to the small publishers, the new artists together with the old veterans, and just the general good vibes of that weekend. Here was our attempt.
Sarah Morean – MIX Show Runner and all around cool lady.
Dustin Harbin
Leyna Gifford
Jordon Shiveley (Grimalkin Press)
Chris Yates
Part 2 – The Fresh Faces Of MCAD
One of the coolest things about MIX was the table run by students of the Minneapolis College Of Design, a wonderful local art school which, judging by the work shown at the table, has quite the comics program.
Cassandra Butterbaugh (Occultango)
Greer Lawson (20 Girls In 20 Days)
Jack Kotz & Lucas Munson (Siamese: Conjoined Reality)
April Kasulis (Old Rice)
Melissa Mariko Kieselburg (Art School Cooking, The Bright Side)
Coleman Gilbert
Ben Tigh*
Bob Algeo (Hum, In Absentia Press)
Part 3 – Strength In Numbers
It’s always nice to see up-and-coming artists band together under a single banner. That way, even if the success is delayed, the pre-success parties are well-attended.
The Black Hat Collective
Lee & Lisa Blauersouth (Godseeker)
Johnathan Gugolz (Grey Bouquet Designs, Cordyceps Tickles)
Jeremiah Haliney (Thousand Acre Wasteland)
Tim Tapp (Maggie And Kowala)
Selena Travino* (Ruby)
ANA Comics
Duane Nichols (Xeafarian Tales)
Anthony AMPH Harry (The Midnight Raider)
Part 4 - On Computers Now
There wasn’t a webcomics track at MIX simply because there were so many. Here is a tiny sampling.
Steven Stwalley (Soapy The Chicken, Monkey’s Paw, Cartoonist’s Conspiracy)
Zach Miller (Joe And Monkey)
Randal Mullholland (Something Positive, Super Stupor, Rhymes With Witch)
Justin Babb (JBABB Comics)
Otis Frampton (Oddly Normal, Song Of Xanthia, Escape From Planet Nowhere)
Rob Stenzinger (Art Geek Zoo, Babies Love Comics, Guitar Fretter)
Part 5 – Sisters Are Doing It
No this isn’t the section about hot twins or anything, just a bunch of cool lady artists that you should know about .
Athena Currier (Action Athena)
Nicole Lorenz (Fat Ladies In Spaaaaace!)
Emily Kluwin (Histromedy, Zeb From Outer Space, Horn Boy)
Jordyn Bochon (The Terrible Death Of Finnegan Strappe)
Ashley Hay
Spike (Templar, AZ, Poorcraft, Smut Peddler)
Part 6 – The Old School
Sometimes there’s no better compliment to reading a comic than the feel of newsprint, the smell of paper, or in some cases the actual wieght of wood. Here are a bunch of artists and publishers that aren’t afraid to get traditional or at least non-digital.
JP Coovert (One Percent Press)
King Mini (The Things You Carry)
Andy Singer (No Exit)
Bob Lents & Donnie Lemke (Stone Arch Books)
Brent Schoonover (Mr Murder Is Dead, Horrorwood)
Part 7 – More Indie Than Indie
Mini comics, zine art, fan comics about supervillans powered by cocaine. The fact that these aren’t mainstream is more a fault with the mainstream itself.
Eric Schuster (Prizon Food)
Julie Sydor (Snowflame, The Song From The Raven Planet)
Dan Wiecken (Gagged)
Sam Sharp* (These Yams Are Delicious, Viewotron)
Corinne Mucha (My Every Single Thought, Freshman)
Alex Fukui
Neil Brideau (Oh Boy! Comics!, The Plot)
Part 8 – Minnesota Pride
It is the Minneapolis Indie Expo, you know. Not the “Everywhere else Indie Expo”.
Aric Mckeown & Lemuel Pew (Blank It Comics)
Sam Hiti (Tiempos Finales, Death Day)
Paul Taylor (Wapsi Square)
Brittany Sabo (Franis Sharp In The Grip Of The Uncanny)
Kevin and Zander Cannon (Far Arden, Top 10, T-Minus)
Part 9 – The Best Of The Rest
Everything that didn’t fit neatly into one of the other parts. Don’t let the lower placement fool you, though, these are all quality creators.
Joe Combs (Business Casual, Rusty The Wonderdog, Infinite Loop)
Daniel Olson (Super Maxi Pad Girl)
Gordon McAlpin (Multiplex)
Katie Sekelsky & Matt Bennardo (Time Travelers Pocket Guide, Machine Of Death)
Bob Lipsky (Uptown Girl)
Mark McGinty and Lupi (Germ Warfare)
Mark Rudolph (Reqiuem Podcast)
Spanky Cermak (Dynamite Pilot, Space Sherriff)
