Stumptown Rundown!

This past weekend was the third annual edition of the local Portland Oregon comic show, Stumptown Comics Fest.
Stumptown is a creator-centric indy comics convention, that draws a rather large contingent of NW area indy creators, as well as creators from abroad, and local publishers Oni Press, Dark Horse Comics, and Top Shelf. This year the show expanded to encompass two days, and a larger venue, taking up an exhibit hall at the Oregon Convention Center Friday evening, and Saturday afternoon.

I exhibited at the show last year, and although Super Real doesn't appeal to the indy crowd, it's still a great show for me to check out and pick up some cool indy wares. This year was no different, the new venue and increased size only made for a wider variety of enticing items. In addition to the dozen or so items I purchased, there were many others I'd have liked to of afforded, such as some really fine print makers with gorgeous offerings (such as the offerings from artist Kevin Dart and Fleet Street Scandal pictured above).

Here's a rundown of some of the cool items I picked up...

STAB KIDS by Corey (Rey) Lewis

$5 is the paid admission to this fine, sturdy ash can collection of tripped out Rey goodness. Stab Kids is the lead 14 page feature that follows the jelly-faced Aves Ives and eye-patched companion Coke Line as they go in search of mystical weaponry. Corey Lewis continues to incubate one of the most original art styles in comics today, heavy on the spaced manga by way of funked out Junko Mizuno in this outing. Also included are heavy doses of graphic style, guest friend pinups (including Rolston, and O'Malley), and many glimpses at other equally creatively vibrant Rey offerings in the works.
A must have for fans of The Rey! For those who haven't dug on the kid yet, get some Peng or Sharknife in your face pronto!
REYYY.COM



KILLED by Brandon Graham

KILLED is a collection of pinups, and shorts by creator Brandon Graham, all of which highlight not only his soft, curvy, simple-yet-detailed linework, but also his sharp humor, and expansive imagination! Also fun to follow is the influence between the studio/house mates Brandon and Corey Lewis. Here Brandon also works roommate Rey into a couple of the featured shorts to funny effect, and his pinups of characters, doodles, and drawings fill out this oversized collection that's a hell of a lot of fun for $5.
Watch for his upcoming book KING CITY from Tokyopop, and check out Brandon's work online HERE



DEADVALENTINES #0 by John C. Worsley

There are certainly no shortage of zombie comics, but it's such a rich, and popular genre, there's always room for more well told stories, especially one's that carve their own niche out. Deadvalentines is one such entry. Creator John Worsley sets up a cast and concept in 9 pages that show much promise. Focusing on a special agency charged with zombie cleanup, and the relationships of it's members, the book also features great writing and artwork. Worsley's style reminds me of Guy Davis, with perhaps some inky Cloonan thrown in as well, so yeah, that's good stuff. I'd love to see a series of this.
Check out Worley's work at OpenVein.com




10 GEN: Battle of the Robot Planet - Atomic Underpants

10 Gen was a nice little $1 ashcan I scooped up with some decent looking sci-fi artwork reminiscent of Runners. An 8 page offering with a story by Steven Sylvain and art by Jonathan Siruno that appears to be the first 8 pages of an upcoming series. The book features some familiar elements, but the artwork and genre are played with enough charm to have me primed for more. I love sci-fi, so if you're a fan of sci-fi comics, then hopefully we'll all get a chance to see more from this team.
It looks like you can check out the book online at 10GEN.net as a webcomic, with the first 4 pages currently available there now.



LOST ROBOTS by Clayton Hollifield

Local creator and friend Clayton Hollifield aka Clayholio has created many self published works, either on his own, or with writer collaborators, and has moved into webcomics, and is even now trying his had with cell phone content. One of his latest offerings, Lost Robots, is quirky and light humor offering. A full length comic at $3 features 3 shorts, and 3 robotic miss-adventures that include funkified robots, robots with ties, robots with beards, and robots with coconut-bikinis!

You can see more from Clay at his site HERE



NOTHING EVER LASTS from Chibi Comics

Chibi Comics were my neighbors, and I sat next to artist Ray Johnson, a really nice guy from the bay area. At one point Ray was sketching an interesting character that was featured in Nothing Ever Lasts, so I picked that up, as it was a superteam comic that had an interesting looking cast, with unique art and character designs. NEL is a solid independent take on the hero genre with some unique ideas at play in the concept. Worth checking out if you like your super heroes outside the big 2 publishers, or enjoy the art style featured.

Check out the variety of works CHIBI COMICS offer at their site HERE

Okay, that about sums up my haul from the show, aside from the Fear Agent volume 1 TPB I picked up from creator Rick Remender (who authors one of my current favorite titles, Strange Girl). Some good stuff!

I'll be back tomorrow with some of my sketches maybe, and a sketch from my buddy Randy who was cool enough to share his table with me!

Check out some of the websites here, they're worthy of your time, and a great variety of indy talents!