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Small Press Expo gives an Update on the Union Boycott of the Montgomery County Conference Center

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SPX 2026

Small Press Expo has sent an email regarding a Union issue concerning the Montgomery County Conference Center, where SPX is held every year.

In the spring of 2025, Montgomery County and the Marriott signed a contract to continue their operating agreement (Montgomery County owns the Conference Center and Marriott manages the facility). That new contract did not include a clause to allow collective bargaining. UNITE HERE Local 25, the union of hotel, restaurant, and casino workers in the DC area, has been seeking to unionize it for a year.

The Montgomery County Council approved a bill in September 2025 that would require any hotel or conference center supported by county funding to enter into labor peace agreements with employee unions and other labor organizations if they receive the county’s financial backing. That legislation doesn’t apply to the Conference Center SPX takes place in as there’s a 10-year contract with Marriot regarding its use which won’t end until December 31, 2034. The legislation would impact it after. Though, there’s hope that it might affect it before that date.

Due to the lack of a fair union organizing process UNITE-HERE Local 25 called for a boycott to protest the omission of the collective bargaining clause in the Conference Center contract. The boycott has gone national with the support of the AFL-CIO. There is no strike by the staff of the Conference Center and there are no collective labor issues under discussion between that staff and Marriott management. But, the boycott has cost the conference center with events being cancelled. It’s estimated that over $205,000 in revenue has been lost in 2026 alone.

While it is connected to the conference center, the boycott does not extend to the Marriott.

For the last 20 years, SPX has been held at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. With the boycott, the convention has been put in a tough position.

While it supports labor and the right of all workers to organize, bargain collectively, and advocate for fair treatment, it’s also bound by contracts and locked in to the location until 2029. To cancel its contract would cost the convention $85,787 in a cancellation fee which would be enough to close the convention. And, relocation would cause the costs to increase 30% or more for tables, badges, and hotel rooms.

The situation puts the convention in a tough spot and not long after it was impacted during COVID and its future was unknown. Like SPX, we hope that all parties can reach a fair agreement as quickly as possible.

You can read SPX’s position below.

The Small Press Expo is a 501(c) 3 non-profit that has been an institution in Montgomery County, Maryland for more than 30 years, drawing tens of thousands of people and international acclaim via our annual festival. For the last 20 of those years, we have been holding SPX at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, and we now consider it our home.

Our purpose throughout that time has never wavered. We exist to promote, preserve, and protect the labor of creative professionals. SPX further supports the right of all workers to exercise their fundamental right to organize, bargain collectively, and advocate for fair treatment. The ability of working people to act together is a cornerstone of a fair and equitable workplace.

At the same time, we want to be transparent about our own circumstances that do now allow us to participate in the boycott:

  • SPX has contracts at the Bethesda North facility from this year until 2029. If we cancel any one of those contracts, SPX does not have the financial resources to cover the cancellation fees that we would incur. The result of canceling any of the contracts, including the one for this year whose cancellation fee is $85,787, would be that SPX closes permanently.
  • Even if the cancellation penalties were to be paid, our show cannot relocate to another venue in the DC area. We have explored this possibility and relocating would mean a prohibitively large increase of 30% or more in prices for tables, badges, and hotel rooms; which would affect the overall affordability of the show to the SPX Community.

We recognize that some will be disappointed by that decision, but we believe it is important to be honest about the commitments we have already made rather than imply we can take actions that are not realistically available to us.

Our inability to join this particular boycott should not be understood as indifference to the issues at stake. Montgomery County is our home and we wish to see it prosper for those who live and work here every day. We continue to support the rights of workers to organize and to seek fair wages, safe working conditions, and dignity on the job, and we hope the parties are able to reach a fair agreement as quickly as possible. 

Small Press Expo 2026 announces more International Special Guests

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Small Press Expo has announced Carol Tyler as a Special Guest, along with International Special Guest ILYA, and for the first time, International Special Guests from Taiwan for SPX 2026.

SPX 2026 is the first stop for the Taiwan Comics Showcase. A ee mi, Ding Pao Yen, Monday Recover, Crystal Kung, and Rio are part of a special D.C. area showcase organized by Fantom Comics and sponsored by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office.

The show takes place on Saturday, September 12, and Sunday, September 13, with programming and workshops about the amazing world of independent comics as well as an exhibitor floor featuring over 450 creators.

Carol Tyler

We are thrilled to announce that Carol Tyler is a Special Guest at SPX! Carol Tyler is a cartoonist who bridged underground and alternative comics with her debut in Weirdo magazine in 1987. She is a CXC Master Cartoonist and a Slate Studio Prize winner and was just inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame. Her latest book, THE EPHEMERATA: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief has been nominated for an Eisner Award, a Harvey Award, and a Ringo Award.

The show takes place on Saturday, September 12, and Sunday, September 13, with programming and workshops about the amazing world of independent comics as well as an exhibitor floor featuring over 450 creators.

Additional Special Guests will be announced over the next few weeks.

ILYA

British writer and artist ILYA is an award-winning graphic novelist, author of ROMO THE WOLFBOY (SelfMadeHero, 2026), ‘How to Draw Comics’ (in comic strip format!) and the ‘The End of the Century Club’ book series. ROMO’s globetrotting adventures and diverse, eccentric casting make it a Tintin or Asterix for the new age… and All Ages! In an unmissable workshop, lifelong comics practitioner ILYA takes you on an eye-popping journey through both time and space, using his latest graphic novel series ‘ROMO the WolfBoy’ as the prism. Don’t miss ‘Romo the WolfBoy: A Walk on the Wild Side’ at SPX.

A ee mi

A ee mi debuts two new titles making their North American premiere after releases in Taiwan in 2025 and 2026: MEOWNIVERSE and MEOWMEOWBAKERY. Originally serialized online in both Chinese and English, these comics explore the full range of human emotion & experience through the lives of A ee mi’s idiosyncratic characters meowmeowbug and lazylazydog. A surrealist mix of humor and melancholy.

Ding Pao Yen

NOT READY FOR REAL LIFE is Ding Pao Yen’s English debut, a collection of 4 short stories clustered around the idea of young adulthood in a futuristic yet nostalgic world. Vampires, kaiju, ancient fish eggs, and silent underwater cities, all overlapping with the vicissitudes and precarity of starting to find your way in the world.

Monday Recover

SEE YOU THERE, BEYOND THE OCEAN is her first U.S. release. Drawn by Monday Recover and written by Chiao Meow, See You There Beyond the Ocean is about a third grade girl, class outcast Wu Hsiao-jung—an introverted girl who hates going to school. So of course she’d have nothing in common with her cheerful, outgoing classmate Tung Ko-wei…right? As it turns out, both girls have a passion for drawing comics, and their shared love of creating brings the unlikely pair closer together. Thus begins the story of a beautiful, bittersweet friendship, the ups and downs of childhood, and a project left forever unfinished…

Crystal Kung

Crystal Kung‘s new full-color collection FOUR IN LOVE is her first U.S. graphic novel release–four short stories seeking to answer the question, “What is ‘love’ to you?” Is it the determination to find your soulmate, guided by the red thread of fate? Is it an ideal dream quashed by the pains of reality? Is it a quest to seek companionship in a virtual world? Or is it the bravery to hold hands when facing adversity?

Rio

UNEMPLOYED KILLERS SUPPORT GROUP is Rio’s debut English release: a razor-sharp, darkly hilarious noir-esque manhua–not your average self-help group. Selected by Taiwan Pavilion as a featured work to be showcased at the 2023 Angoulême International Comics Festival.

SPX reveals its 2026 Poster By Sanika Phawde

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Small Press Expo has revealed the SPX 2026 poster. Sanika Phawde has designed this year’s poster, along with the convention’s flyer, and online banners.

SPX has also made sure to thank all of the creators from the comic and cartoon communities for giving them and Sanika permission to use their characters in this year’s very special poster.

A list of the characters and their permissions are below.

SPX 2026 Poster

In the center:

  • Nancy – courtesy of Andrews McMeel

On the right side from the top to the bottom:

  • Vladek from Maus – courtesy of Art Speigleman
  • Coyote Dog Girl from Coyote Dog Girl – courtesy of Lisa Hanawalt
  • Albo from Albo! – courtesy of Kruittika Susarla
  • Malaka Gharib’s character from I Was Their American Dream – courtesy of Malaka Gharib
  • Ignatz mouse by George Herriman – courtesy of Small Press Expo
  • Laura Dean from Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me – courtesy of Rosemary Valero-O’Connell and Mariko Tamaki
  • Marlys Mullen from The Greatest of Marlys – courtesy of Lynda Barry
  • Cathy from Cathy – courtesy of Cathy Guisewite

On the left side from the top to the bottom:

  • The mother’s shadow from Passing for Human – courtesy of Liana Finck
  • Siobhan Gallagher’s character from Full of Myself – courtesy of Siobhan Gallagher
  • Julia Wertz’s character from Bury Me Already (It’s Nice Down Here)- courtesy Julia Wertz 
  • Enid Coleslaw from Ghost World – courtesy of Daniel Clowes
  • Four Ears from Four Ears – courtesy of Anand Shenoy
  • Gabrielle Bell’s character from her autobiographical comics – courtesy of Gabrielle Bell
  • Krazy Kat by George Herriman – courtesy of Small Press Expo
  • Asterios Polyp from Asterios Polyp – courtesy of David Mazzuchelli
  • Aditi Mali’s character from her autobiographical comics – courtesy of Aditi Mali
  • Esther Feinberg from Unterzakhn – courtesy of Leela Corman
  • Prince Valdrinor AKA Skip, designed by Amy Reeder from Dimension 20’s Starstruck Odyssey inspired by the Starstruck comics series created by Elaine Lee and Michael Kaluta – courtesy of Dropout

Small Press Expo 2026 announces its International Special Guests

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Small Press Expo has announced its International Special Guests for SPX 2026 from Spain, England, and Canada.

The Spain Arts & Culture have helped support in bringing Fran Mariscal, Lola Lorente, and Don Julio Serrano to SPX 2026.

The show takes place on Saturday, September 12, and Sunday, September 13, with programming and workshops about the amazing world of independent comics as well as an exhibitor floor featuring over 450 creators.

Fran Mariscal

Fran Mariscal is an emerging Spanish graphic novelist whose debut book, Moribundo, has drawn critical acclaim for its striking visual storytelling and emotionally rich narrative. Blending psychological horror with themes of grief, toxic relationships, and hope, Moribundo introduces a compelling new talent in contemporary Spanish comics. In Portraits: 12 Lives, 12 Journeys, he portrays the life and groundbreaking work of Valentín Fuster, the renowned Spanish cardiologist whose contributions have had a profound impact on cardiovascular medicine in the United States.

Lola Lorente

Lola Lorente’s English debut, Mary Pain, is a sorrowful yet hopeful portrait of a young adult at a crossroads in life—a quintessential loser looking for meaning and redemption in a town full of ghosts.

Lola Lorente’s slick black inkwork feels sophisticated and voluptuous, and her rendering of townsfolk and their customs is a sensorial delight. Her devoted attention to fabric textures, body shapes, and one-of-a-kind faces brings this cast of oddballs and weirdos, sometimes verging on the grotesque, fully to life. 

Don Julio Serrano

Don Julio Serrano is one of Spain’s most acclaimed comic artists and cartoonists, celebrated for his sharp wit, distinctive drawing style, and long-standing collaborations with leading Spanish publications, including El Jueves. Through humor and satire, his work offers an insightful look at contemporary society, making him a prominent voice in Spanish comics. Be sure to read his contribution to Portraits: 12 Lives, 12 Journeys, where he illustrates the life of Spanish Nobel Prize-winning scientist Severo Ochoa.

Paul B. Rainey

Murder School is a memoir of British middle school bullying and one precocious comic nerd’s fight to make it through while remaining as invisible as possible. 

British graphic novelist Paul B. Rainey takes a classic “school daze” tale—both wistful and hilarious—and manages to turn it on its head with a couple of his now famous twists. Find out the truth behind The Murder School and the effect it’s had on Rainey well into middle-age.

Arizona O’Neill

Opioids and Organs is a damning critique of an industry that takes advantage of society’s outcasts. It is a heartwrenching memoir of a daughter losing her father and a scathing indictment of the medical industry.

This is the graphic novel debut of Canadian Arizona O’Neill, who weaves together a dramatic personal history with that of how humanity made its scientific advances. A muted yet striking pastel palette and a doll-like fantastical elegance belie both the gruesomeness of the book’s topic and the rage of its author.

Rachael Smith

England-based Rachael Smith is very excited about her debut appearance at SPX! Find her over at the Avery Hill Publishing table where she will be signing copies of Who Killed Nessie? and talking about future projects too!

Small Press Expo Announces Derf, Kim Deitch, James Spooner, Noah Van Sciver, CK Gormally, and Raquelle Jac

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Small Press Expo has announced the second group of Special Guests for SPX 2026. This is in addition to the previously announced Special Guests Lisa Hanawalt, Julia Wertz, Frederick Noland, Peter Bagge, and Jared Cullum.

The show takes place on Saturday, September 12, and Sunday, September 13, with programming and workshops about the amazing world of independent comics as well as an exhibitor floor featuring over 450 creators.

Derf

Derf’s latest graphic novel, THE DISSIDENTS. will debut at SPX 2026. The book follows a group of political cartoonists who draw for the provocative magazine The Masses. Art Young, Boardman Robinson, Cornelia Barns, and others were stars in their day, but are now forgotten. What they document in their cartoons is a country spiraling into darkness, under attack by German saboteurs, and secretive private militias, plagued by racism, and rocked by class war. An autocratic president will not tolerate any dissent or criticism. The cartoonists are harassed, spied upon, blacklisted, and finally indicted for sedition and put on trial— with 20-year sentences hanging over their heads. Two others are forced to flee the country into exile. One is imprisoned and tortured! Another is incarcerated by the U.S. Army and scheduled for execution!

The Dissidents is a gripping, layered, and shocking story, told through the eyes and the work of the political cartoonists of The Masses. It’s a story of artistic courage in the face of merciless authoritarianism. In The Dissidents, Derf delivers a unique account of U.S. history– and lost comics history– that connects the events of today to seeds that were sown over 100 years ago.

Kim Deitch

It is an honor to announce that legendary underground cartoonist Kim Deitch is a special guest at SPX 2026! One of the most prolific artists of his generation, Deitch enters his 60th year of cartooning more inventive than ever and showing no signs of slowing down. He’ll be signing copies of his newest book, How I Make Comics--a creatively kaleidoscopic, non-stop exploration of how Deitch’s imagination turns ideas, influences, and irritations into comics in his inimitable style–and Reincarnation Stories, a cosmic jigsaw puzzle of creation.

James Spooner

It Starts with Anger is the latest by James Spooner, published by Pantheon. From award-winning filmmaker and graphic novelist James Spooner, comes the untold origin story of the AFROPUNK movement and festival. In the early 1990s, a mixed-race Black teenager arrives in New York City searching for belonging in the punk scene, only to discover that racism and exclusion persist even within supposedly progressive spaces. Through zines, music, activism, and a cross-country journey documenting Black punks, Spooner helps give voice to a generation that had been largely overlooked. What begins as an underground cultural movement eventually grows into the internationally recognized AFROPUNK phenomenon. Blending memoir, comics, and punk ephemera, It Starts with Anger is a coming-of-age story, a celebration of Black punk culture, and a reflection on the uneasy relationship between rebellion and commercialization.

Noah Van Sciver

We are thrilled to announce that Noah Van Sciver is a special guest at SPX 2026! Over the past decade, Noah Van Sciver has established himself as the most versatile graphic novelist working today. Whether it be in the service of straight-up satire (Fante Bukowski, Beat It, Rufus!), serious historical nonfiction (Joseph Smith and the Mormons, The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln), autobiography (As a Cartoonist, One Dirty Tree), or books for younger readers (Calamity Before Jane, Johnny Appleseed), Van Sciver’s singular voice and style has proven remarkably malleable to the needs of each project. With his newest graphic novel, The Mess, Van Sciver stakes yet new creative ground as a fiction writer, crafting the most magnetic and literary work of his career.

CK Gormally

Cara Gormally, ‘CK’, will be signing their debut graphic memoir, Everything is Fine, I’ll Just Work Harder (Street Noise Books). This graphic memoir tells the story of a workaholic professor who embarks on a transformative therapeutic journey after an facebook friend request re-surfaces long-buried trauma. Reviewers describe Gormally’s book as a “map for those who feel lost” offering “a fresh perspective on the most intimate parts of our brains.” Infused with research describing the science of trauma, fellow recovering work-too-hard badasses will be encouraged to learn that sometimes the strongest thing we can do is learn how to be soft as we become our true selves.

Raquelle Jac

We are so pleased to announce that Raquelle Jac is a special guest at SPX 2026! Her debut graphic novel, Bimbo Agitprop, captures the reality of growing up in West Texas in the early 21st century, through Satanic Panics, Y2K, a recession, abusive parents, crummy men, identity-centric politics, and woke/anti-woke pendulum swings. In the tradition of Aline Kominsky-Crumb and Phoebe Gloeckner, Jac wields art like a knife to organize, agitate, and dismantle the predatory systems that immiserate us all.

Small Press Expo Announces Lisa Hanawalt, Julia Wertz, Peter Bagge, Frederick Nolan and Jared Cullum as Special Guests for SPX 2026

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Small Press Expo has announced the first group of Special Guests for SPX 2026. The show takes place on Saturday, September 12, and Sunday, September 13, with programming and workshops about the amazing world of independent comics as well as an exhibitor floor featuring over 450 creators.

Additional Special Guests will be announced over the next few weeks.

SPX 2026 is honored to have the following creators as Special Guests to this year’s show:

Lisa Hanawalt

I Can’t Stop Thinking About Horses and Sex marks the long-awaited return of Tuca & Bertie creator and BoJack Horseman producer/production designer Lisa Hanawalt to comics. This is the honest, silly, horny and vulnerable memoir of a horse girl, now in her forties and reflecting back on a lifetime of obsessions.

Whether Hanawalt is confronting large life issues like whether or not to have kids, being an anxious lil freak, caring for a sick horse, revisiting childhood trauma, or dealing with a major breakup and the ensuing lustfulness—she delivers a reading experience that’s relatable, affirming, and almost always hilarious. In lush colors and kinetic lines, she charts the strange terrain of life, one bumpy, dusty horseback ride at a time.

Julia Wertz

Julia Wertz is thrilled to be coming back to SPX after over a decade of absence. The last time she attended, she was single, urban-exploring dirtbag living in NYC and she’s returning this year as a married mother living in California, but probably still kind of a dirtbag. She’ll be selling/signing copies of her newest book Bury Me Already (It’s Nice Down Here) as well as some of her older books. And maybe some hats. Come say hi! 

Peter Bagge

We are so excited to announce that Peter Bagge is a special guest at SPX 2026! He is is one of the primary architects of the alternative comics genre that exploded in the 1980s and 1990s. His bestselling comic series, Hate, is arguably the Great American Grunge novel. Part screwball comedy, part soap opera, part loose autobiography, Hate is an enduring chronicle of the 1990s as well as riotously relatable to anyone bumbling through their twenties.

Frederick Nolan

Frederick Nolan is the auther of Major Taylor: The World’s Fastest Man from Drawn & Quarterly. Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor, a Black man who was one of the greatest American athletes of the early 20th century. Taylor was born in 1878 in Indianapolis and came of age during the height of the Jim Crow era, facing racism at every turn. 

Cartoonist Frederick Noland is a cyclist himself and in this epic biography of America’s first Black world champion, he thrills in the records Taylor broke and the adoring public he found across around the world. Noland documents how racism inflected Black life in the post Civil War era: cyclists would collude to injure Taylor, and he faced segregationist policies even in liberal cities such as San Francisco.

Jared Cullum

Jared Cullum is a Reuben Award (Best Graphic Novel) winning | 2-time Eisner Comic Industry Award nominated Author-Cartoonist and traditional painter of things. He’s best known for his award winning graphic novel series, Kodi, and work on the spin off series Usagi Yojimbo: Kaito ’84. Top Shelf is proud to present the sequel, Kodi 2: A Place to Call Home at SPX where Jared will be signing and showing original hand-painted watercolor and gouache pages.

The 2025 Ignatz Awards… and the Winners are!

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2025 Ignatz Awards

Saturday night during the Small Press Expo (SPX) was the annual presentation of the Ignatz Awards, a celebration of outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning.

Ignatz Awards nominees are determined by a panel of comics professionals. This year’s team of jurors included:

  • Denis Kitchen
  • Carol Tilley
  • Isabella Rotman
  • Jonathan Baylis
  • Beth Hetland
  • Olivia Li

Voting for the Ignatz Awards was open to anybody on the SPX email lists and anyone requesting a ballot.

Congrats to all of the winners and nominees. The winners are marked in bold.

OUTSTANDING ARTIST

  • Sarah Airriess, The Worst Journey in the World (Iron Circus Comics)
  • Deb JJ Lee, Death Fiddles and We Dance (Self-Published/Shortbox)
  • Kazimir Lee, Low Orbit (Top Shelf Productions)
  • Lomig, JOHN MUIR: To the Heart of Solitude (NBM Graphic Novels)
  • Anders Nilsen, Tongues Supplement #1 (NoMiracles)

OUTSTANDING ANTHOLOGY

  • Braba: A Brazilian Comics Anthology ed. Rafael Grampá and Janaína de Luna (Fantagraphics)
  • Come Find Me ed. Will Dennis and Sean Edgar (DSTLRY)
  • Datura Magazine vol. 3 ed. Sunmi and Mar Julia (Self-Published)
  • Loud: Stories to Make Your Voice Heard ed. Brett Israel (Dark Horse Comics)
  • Rust Belt Review vol. 6 by Sean Knickerbocker (Self-Published)

OUTSTANDING COLLECTION

  • I Ate the Whole World to Find You by Rachel Ang (Drawn and Quarterly)
  • Milk White Steed by Michael D. Kennedy (Drawn and Quarterly)
  • Preparing to Bite by Keiler Roberts (Drawn and Quarterly)
  • Them-Shaped Cloud by Max Huffman (CRAM Books)
  • World Within the World by Julia Gfrörer (Fantagraphics)

OUTSTANDING COMIC

  • Belly Full of Heart by Madeline Mouse (Silver Sprocket)
  • Big Gamble Rainbow Highway by Connie Meyers (CRAM Books)
  • Lucky Cap Scouts by O. Stevens (Silver Sprocket)
  • The Re-Up #6 by Chad Bilyeu and Juliette de Wit (Bistro Books)
  • Tongues Supplement #1 by Anders Nilsen (NoMiracles)

OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC NOVEL

  • Adrift on a Painted Sea by Tim Bird (Avery Hill Publishing)
  • Land of Mirrors by María Medem (translated by Aleshia Jensen & Daniela Ortiz) (Drawn and Quarterly)
  • Precious Rubbish by Kayla E. (Fantagraphics)
  • Processing: 100 Comics That Got Me Through It by Tara Booth (Drawn and Quarterly)
  • Skin by Mieke Versyp and Sabien Clement (Fantagraphics)

OUTSTANDING MINICOMIC

  • Allodynia by Violet Kitchen (Self-Published)
  • Big Apple Matinee by A. T. Pratt (Self-Published)
  • The Connoisseurs by Alex Swift (Frog Farm)
  • The Mole by Arantza Peña Popo (Self-Published)
  • Szarlotka by Jas Hice (Frog Farm)

OUTSTANDING ONLINE COMIC

OUTSTANDING SERIES

  • Disciples of Soil by B. Mure (Avery Hill Publishing)
  • PeePee PooPoo by Caroline Cash (Silver Sprocket)
  • The Re-Up by Chad Bilyeu & Juliette de Wit (Bistro Books)
  • Tongues by Anders Nilsen (NoMiracles)
  • Wedding Juice by Sanika Phawde (Self-Published)

OUTSTANDING STORY

  • A Pillbug Story by Allison Conway (Black Panel Press)
  • Ballad for Black Cassandra by Olivia Stephens (Self-Published)
  • Boy Island by Leo Fox (Silver Sprocket)
  • How to Talk to Your Succulent by Zoe Persico (Tundra Book Group)
  • Ruin of the House of the Divine Visage by Spire Greenwood and Eve Greenwood (Self-Published)

PROMISING NEW TALENT

  • Trishelle Jeffery, Best Breasts in the West (Fieldmouse Press)
  • Mili St. John, The Edge of Autumn (Self-Published)
  • Ricky Lima and Daniele Aquilani, Undergrowth (Top Shelf Productions)
  • Connie Meyers, Big Gamble Rainbow Highway (CRAM books)
  • Vicky Yang, Unmoored (Self-Published)

Small Press Expo 2025 Debut Highlights

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Small Press Expo has announced that over 140 books and comics will debut at SPX 2025. The festival takes place on Saturday and Sunday, September 13-14, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center with over 500 creators, 280 exhibitor tables, 50 publishers, 22 programming panels and 18 hands-on workshops to introduce attendees to the amazing world of independent and small press comics.

We’ve gone through the list and picked some of the comics, graphic novels, and zines that stand out. But, the great thing about SPX is everything you discover at the show! If you’re a fan of small press and indie comics, it’s a can’t miss event!

A complete list of of the over 140 books debuting at the show, including cover images and publishing information, can be found on the SPX web site.

9 Times My Work Has Been Ripped Off

Raymond Biesinger
$18.95
Published by Drawn & Quarterly
SPX Table W1-5

A veteran illustrator imparts practical advice for the working creative with candid humor

New York Times and New Yorker illustrator Raymond Biesenger has over twenty years of experience as a self-employed creative. You might say he’s been through it all: from chasing down a concert promoter for payment on a fifty-dollar Megadeth poster design, to a regular stint at Monocle, to confronting a government agency for stylistic theft. Biesinger’s ingenuity for solving the most unexpected issues extends far beyond his primary task of filling the page.

Sure, everything an aspiring creative needs to know might be at their fingertips. But the question of what to do when their work has been exploited remains. In 9 Times My Work Has Been Ripped Off, Biesenger undertakes the challenge of answering that ever-present question by revisiting some of the most unforgettable—and at times—irrationally absurd moments in his career with a wink and an encouraging nudge. 9 Times… proves time and time again that creative problems will more often than not require creative solutions.

This portable, and elegantly illustrated guide to navigating and maneuvering the least glamorous aspects of the creative industry is a future classic suitable for everybody from the earnest novice to the seasoned professional.

9 Times My Work Has Been Ripped Off

A Scientific Study Of Transexuality

Oscar Woodiwiss
$10.00
Published by Fieldmouse Press
SPX Table M2 – M3a

Originally published as a part of the 2023 ShortBox Fair, an online digital comics festival, Oscar Woodiwiss’ A Scientific Study of Transsexuality is a satirical fictional scientific journal that explores the expression of transsexuality in nature. Woodiwiss’ moves deftly from the microscopic to the cosmic, interrogating cultural norms and affirming the sensual beauty of the trans body.

A Scientific Study Of Transexuality

Beyond A.D.: 20 Years After the Deluge

Josh Neufeld
$10.00
Published by Hang Dai Editions
SPX Table W60

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the devastating flood that followed, Beyond A.D. is a companion zine to Josh Neufeld’s “A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge.” It features selected updates, related comics and illustrations, unseen artwork, and other “DVD extras” to accompany the book.

Beyond A.D.: 20 Years After the Deluge

Bridge Planet Nine

Jared Throne
$19.99
Published by Top Shelf Productions
SPX Table W56-W59

A heist gone wrong. In this gritty, intimate sci-fi graphic novel, four down-and-out thieves touch down on an abandoned colony planet for an easy heist… until the masks come off.

Bridge Planet Nine

Cookies And Herb

Matt MacFarland
$15.00
Published by Fieldmouse Press
SPX Table M2 – M3a

Matt MacFarland grew up in the Reagan years in small town California. The people who made up his life, like his elderly neighbor Herb, helped him feel understood in an indifferent, insecure world. With gentle humor and compassion, Cookies and Herb honors and memorializes those people who gave Matt support and care when he needed it most.

Cookies And Herb

Demon Summoner Gash Gash

Connor McCann
$25.00
Published by Strangers Publishing
SPX Table A1

WHO WILL SURVIVE THE CENTIPEDE GOLGOTHA?

After an unspeakable tragedy, Mason Marrow must descend into a world of grindhouse black magic in order to save his town and family from an impending cosmic massacre.

DEMON SUMMONER GASH GASH is a genre-bending odyssey through heaven and hell. Inspired by Devilman, Gummo and Cormac McCarthy, it’s everything you’d expect out of a Connor McCann comic and more.

Demon Summoner Gash Gash

Double Take

Kat Foyle
$5.00
Published by Fieldmouse Press
SPX Table M2 – M3a

People often speculate what it would be like if they had a doppelganger somewhere out in the world. If you had a doppelganger, would they be cooler than you? More successful than you? Would they imitate you at the grocery store? Kat Foyle’s Double Take explores this idea and all of the anxieties and irritations that would surely come with it.

Double Take

House Haunting

Kelly Phillips
$6.00
Published by Kelly Phillips
SPX Table L4

A real estate ghost story: A true encounter with a haunted house

The summer we decided to start looking for a house to buy, we came across a unique listing: a strange, old house at the top of a steep hill, surrounded by darkened cliffs and filled with mysteries. Why is the second floor bathroom filled with windows? How long have the third floor bedrooms been staged as children’s rooms but left abandoned? Why do none of the staircases have handrails? Why won’t the front door lock so we can leave?

Upon discovering an empty room with nothing more than a lone piano, and an ominous portrait of a woman, the energy within the house starts to turn, and our three heroes find themselves accompanied by a presence that’s eager for them to also call this place home.

House Haunting

Snow Emergency Route – an adoptee graphic memoir

Lynn Von Sien
$20.00
Published by Leaf in Pocket Press (self published)
SPX Table W29B

Colorful midcentury coming-of-age misadventures are folded into the ticking clock of terminal cancer in this tragicomic memoir. After moving back to the neighborhood of her youth with two cats and a helpful fiancé in tow, Lynn Von Sien navigates her elderly mother’s decline. A deep dive into a complex adoptive mother/daughter relationship, teeming with wisdom and emotional truth.

Snow Emergency Route – an adoptee graphic memoir

Soften the Blow

Bread Tarleton
$39.95
Published by Fieldmouse Press
SPX Table M2-3A

Audrey Morris is a trans woman who was once a popular professional wrestler. Transphobic management and a horrible in-ring accident drove her from the sport. Sequestered in a small town, she struggles with her identity, body dysmorphia, addiction, and isolation in a series of surreal, interior vignettes. Can she find self-acceptance and community in the face of her own trauma?

Soften the Blow

Stay Awake and Watch

Turner Hilliker
$15.00
Published by Holiday Pay Press
SPX Table W10B

Inspired by classic shows like The Twilight Zone and Tales From The Crypt, Stay Awake And Watch is a 76-page comic book horror anthology influenced by late-night horror television.

Stay Awake and Watch

The Fire Breathing Duckling

Frank Cammuso
$14.00
Published by Toon Books
SPX Table D11A

It’s the classic ugly duckling tale—but this time around, the little one turns out not to be a swan, but a dragon. And when their duckling siblings find themselves in trouble, it’s our little fire-breathing friend who saves the day. Whereas Hans Christian Andersen’s original is synonymous with inner beauty, Frank Cammuso’s loving update turns it into a parable of inner strength.

The Fire Breathing Duckling

The Jungle #2

Keenan Marshall Keller and Tom Neely
$10.00
Published by Uncivilized
SPX Table W47-49

Johnny and The HUMANS struggle with the rules of their new world; butting heads again and again with anyone and everyone on the block, leading to conflict with Thumper and the God Bullies, whose interest in NADA snowballs into an all-out Bloody Brawl in the Boiler-room!!
This issue has it all, including Crazed Christian Sermons, Threats of Forced Trepanation, a heaping dose of Ape Cock, Witchy Occult Ceremonies, a Bloody Brawl, and mountains of SKIN SHIT!!! This is crazy Apesploitation Action at its BEST!

ALL IN “KING-KONG” SIZED MAGAZINE FORMAT!!!

The Jungle #2

The Needle and The Damage Done

J.T. Yost
$10.00
Published by self-published
SPX Table 13B

This collects two true stories of addiction (“Shot Thru The Heart” and “Down The Hatch”) adapted into comics by J.T. Yost. They originally appeared in the “BOTTOMS UP! True Tales of Hitting Rock-Bottom” anthology (in black & white). Three color (black, violet, fluorescent pink) interior printed on cream paper with two color (mint, fluorescent pink) covers printed on black card stock. Limited edition of 100, numbered on the inside back cover.

The Needle and The Damage Done

This Place Kills Me

Nicole Goux, Mariko Tamaki
$20.00
Published by Abrams Books
SPX Table w72

A compelling, propulsive YA graphic novel mystery from acclaimed Eisner Award–winning author of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, Mariko Tamaki, and Eisner-nominated illustrator Nicole Goux

Multiple starred reviews! “Certain to leave readers breathlessly enthralled.” (Kirkus starred review)

At Wilberton Academy, few students are more revered than the members of the elite Wilberton Theatrical Society—a.k.a. the WTS—and no one represents that exclusive club better than Elizabeth Woodward.

Breathtakingly beautiful, beloved by all, and a talented thespian, it’s no surprise she’s starring as Juliet in the WTS’s performance of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy. But when she’s found dead the morning after opening night, the whole school is thrown into chaos.

Transfer student Abby Kita was one of the last people to see Elizabeth alive, and when local authorities deem the it-girl’s death a suicide, Abby’s not convinced. She’s sure there’s more to Wilburton and the WTS than meets the eye. As she gets tangled in prep school intrigues, Abby quickly realizes that Elizabeth was keeping secrets. Was one of those secrets worth killing for?

Told in comics, letters, diary entries, and news articles, This Place Kills Me is a page-turning whodunnit from award-winning writer Mariko Tamaki and acclaimed illustrator Nicole Goux that will have readers on the edge of their seats and begging for an encore.

This Place Kills Me

Small Press Expo Announces Signups for Workshops at SPX 2025

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SPX 2025

In addition to the 22 program panels, there will be 18 workshops over the two days of SPX 2025, to be held September 13 & 14 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.

These workshops are free and open to any participants. They’re aimed at a wide variety of ages and skill sets, from kids just starting out to experienced cartoonists looking to sharpen their skills with a master class. In response to last year’s enthusiastic response, we will continue to have two figure drawing workshops featuring model Babs New(d). (18+ only, please.)

Graduates and representatives of the Center For Cartoon Studies (CCS), the Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW), and the School of Visual Arts (SVA) will be on hand to lead many of these workshops.

Here are a few highlights of this year’s workshops:

  • Connecting With Your Audience Through Cover Design, with Briana Loewinsohn & Thien Pham
  • Mastering Pictorial Composition: Rewire Your Brain, with Celine Loup
  • Drawing The Shapes Of Feelings, with Mara Ramirez
  • Choose Your Own Path – Making Interactive Comics with Multiple Endings, with Bread Tarleton

Sign up for any of the 18 workshops at this year’s show here on the SPX web site.

Small Press Expo announces City Wide Events for SPX 2025

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Small Press Expo 2025

Small Press Expo has announced numerous events that take place around SPX 2025 from September 11 – September 13. SPX will be hosting related events at the Library of Congress, The Czech Embassy, Fantom Comics and People’s Book. Detailed information on all of these events can be found on the SPX web site.

As part of the convention, this year’s SPX is welcomes the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) yearly meeting and panel presentations.

The festival takes place September 13-14, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, across the street from the North Bethesda Metro stop on the Red Line). SPX will have over 500 creators, 280 exhibitor tables, 22 programming panels and 18 hands-on workshops to introduce attendees to the amazing world of independent and small press comics.

Lists of Special Guests, Debuts, Exhibitors, Program Panels and Workshops can all be found on the SPX web site.

Thursday September 11

An Evening with Graphic Novelist Štěpánka Jislová

The Embassy of the Czech Republic is pleased to welcome acclaimed Czech graphic novelist Štěpánka Jislová for a special presentation of her award-winning autobiographical graphic novel Srdcovka (translated into English as Heartcore)

Time: 6:00PM
Place: Embassy of the Czech Republic
3900 Spring of Freedom Street, NW, Washington, DC 20008

Author Talk: Ronald Wimberly and Ben Passmore

Ronald Wimberly & Ben Passmore return to Fantom for a joint launch event celebrating the new issue of LAAB magazine: “Three’s Company” as well as Passmore’s upcoming graphic novel Black Arms to Hold You Up: A History of Black Resistance.

Time: 6:30PM
Place: Fantom Comics
2010 P St NW, Upper Floor, Washington D.C., DC

Friday September 12

SPX Lecture at the Library of Congress: Paul Karasik on How to Teach Anything Comics

Join us for an afternoon with two-time Eisner Award winning cartoonist and international comics instructor, Paul Karasik, who has taught the craft of making comics for decades and will share his unique methods for teaching comics that can be applied in any classroom to any discipline. Teachers, students, cartoonists, and comics fans: come prepared to participate in learning more about how comics are built and how your brain is built.

Time: Noon
Place: Madison Building Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave., Washington DC

Maia Kobabe and Sarah Peitzmeier, PhD for Breathe: Journeys to Healthy Binding

A graphic guide to chest binding with real-life stories and research-backed advice from bestselling Gender Queer author MAIA KOBABE and University of Maryland professor SARAH PEITZMEIER.

Breathe arose from the need for a resource for folks considering chest binding as gender-affirming care. Dr. Peitzmeier interviewed twenty-five people of different ages and backgrounds about their journeys with binding, and then she and Kobabe combined excerpts from those interviews with evidence-based resources on binding into this extremely accessible guide.

Time: 6:00PM
Place: Peoples Book 
7014 Westmoreland Ave Suite A, Takoma Park, MD 20912

Fantom Comics Pre-SPX Party

Fantom Comics will hold live comics readings with SPX Special Guests Caroline Cash and Paige Hender, along with SPX Exhibitors Erin Lisette and Andrew White.

Grayson Bear will supply live art to the proceedings

Time: 6:30PM
Place: Fantom Comics
2010 P St NW, Upper Floor, Washington D.C., DC

Saturday September 13

American Association of Editorial Cartoonists Program Panels

The AAEC brings its annual meeting to SPX. They have a full panel schedule on Saturday, including:

  • Perspectives: Diversity In Political Cartooning
  • Art Of The Nightmare: Facing Down The Regime With Steve Brodner

Time: 11:00AM-5:00PM
Place: Brookside A/B at the Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center
5701 Marinelli Drive Rockville, MD. 20852

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