Well, folks, it's time for another Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, that behemoth of pop culture that descends upon Calgary at the end of April every year. You can find me in Artist Alley at table R12!
This will be my sixth year as an exhibitor, but you can't really count last year. A few days before the Expo, I bumped my head and ended up with a concussion. I missed the Expo, but at least I wrote a comic about getting a concussion (which you can get from me at the Expo, this year!)
This will be my sixth year as an exhibitor, but you can't really count last year. A few days before the Expo, I bumped my head and ended up with a concussion. I missed the Expo, but at least I wrote a comic about getting a concussion (which you can get from me at the Expo, this year!)
What else am I bringing to the Expo this year?
 | Well, I'll have the latest collection of Ramsay comics (2015-2017). These aren't exactly "new," but if you come and get it at the Expo you'll get a sneak preview of the May comic, which is all about a pretty wonderful project happening in my neighbourhood thanks to local non-profit Calgary Reads. I'm not going to say anything more about it here except that my contribution to this project is one of my 3 Things for Canada. So, come see me at the Expo and be one of the first to find out! |
I organized a panel on contemporary Canadian indie comics, featuring this amazing lineup of panelists:
Julia Smith & Sean Carleton of the Graphic History Collective (and it's their first time at the Expo, so be nice to them); Eric Dyck from Lethbridge; and Hope Nicholson, all the way from Winnipeg!
This is happening on Saturday, April 29th at 1:15, so please come and talk to us about the local comics scene where you live.
That brings me to my next NEW thing.
I'm working on a little comics strip about the Calgary/Alberta indie comics scene for the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics (which is pretty darn exciting for me, for a few reasons).
This project is the reason I decided to organize the panel mentioned above. I mean, I could write about my actual experience of the Calgary indie comics scene since I got involved, and this would be it:
I'm working on a little comics strip about the Calgary/Alberta indie comics scene for the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics (which is pretty darn exciting for me, for a few reasons).
This project is the reason I decided to organize the panel mentioned above. I mean, I could write about my actual experience of the Calgary indie comics scene since I got involved, and this would be it:
 | Sam's Tale of Calgary Independent Comics 2002: Damian Willcox, Kandrix Foong, Laurie Breitkreuz, me 2002-2016: Damian Willcox kept going while the rest of us got distracted doing other stuff. Well, I kept making comics, but I didn't really do anything with them. In the meantime, a whole bunch of other people started making comics I had no idea about. 2016: Panel One comics collective hosted its first Calgary indie creator festival, and I got to find out what some of these other amazing people were doing! 2017: We're having this panel discussion so I can find out more! (I don't think the above tale is going to cut it.) |
I am really looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts on this subject. Even if you can't make it to the panel, if you have some great insights about the evolving indie comics scene in this town (or around Alberta), please come and talk to me at the Expo or send me a tweet @calgaryhester! I'd love to hear what you think.
I'm also bringing ONE OTHER new thing to the Calgary Expo, and that's my contribution to this year's Expo Artbook. But I'll have to keep you in suspense just a little bit longer before I post that out. Stay tuned! And if you are coming to the show, remember... wear comfy shoes and bring water!
RSS Feed