Last Wednesday I braved the cold just long enough to drive up to Falcon Heights, Minnesota, and take part in the Twin Cities’ chapter of Indy Comic Book Week. It was well worth the trip.

The event was held at The Source, a local comics and games store. The Source has a large back room that they use to host, among other things, gaming nights and Free Comic Book Day. This was the first time it was used for Indy Comic Book Week. “When I heard about the event, I thought it was a great idea,” said Burl Zorn, a Source employee with a gray ponytail and a long earring dangling from one ear. Zorn has been working at the Source for ten years, and plans to be here for many years to come. Zorn’s job requires him to wear many different hats, and he does it all with a smile. Throughout the night, I watched him interact happily with all the different attendees, restock the free chips and pop, and talk excitedly with the artists about their work.

In all, there were 17 local artists tabling at the event, and over 150 different local comics represented on the racks that usually house the regular sampling of D.C. and Marvel titles. (Some artists submitted multiple titles.) The event lasted from 5:00 to 9:00, with a steady crowd throughout. “Things usually die down an hour earlier in the winter,” said Zorn, “because it gets so cold and dark, and people want to go home.” But the Indy Comics event seemed to keep things bustling longer.

The creator tables were covered with bright red and blue tablecloths, and a fancy name card marked each person’s place. I quickly found my own card next to Danno Klonowski’s. Klonowski is a pivotal member of the Minneapolis branch of the International Cartoonist Conspiracy, and throughout the evening, our corner of the room was visited by many different cartoonist conspiracy members, including Steve Stwalley, Dan Olson, Ryan Dow, and Mike Toft. Cross Hatch correspondent Sarah Morean also made an appearance (I was excited to finally meet her in person!). The small size of the event, and its emphasis on being local, gave it a friendly, intimate atmosphere that is often absent at larger conventions.

A highlight of Klonowski’s table was the first two issues of False Witness! The Michele Bachmann Story. False Witness was written by Bill Prendergast, and features the artwork of many local cartoonists, including Klonowski. Other brilliant offerings from Klonowski were issues from his ongoing series Many Tales of Cowardice, and his latest 24-Hour comic, from last October. Klonowski recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of his comics site, Staple Genius. To celebrate, he wrote up an insightful, hilarious, and self-deprecating history of his life as a cartoonist and posted it to his site, complete with images of Xeroxed copies of his early comics. In the last 10 years, Klonowski has created an impressive body of work, and the strength and variety of his work far outshone my own two pitiful minicomics.

Other creators at the event included Jennifer Menken, who is not actually a cartoonist but the creator of an online web series called Transylvania Television, populated by a cast of gorgeous handmade puppets. Menken was in fact sketching a puppet design during the event. Beside her was Michael May, of Cownt Tales, a comedic series “for moo-chure audiences.” He works on the series with fellow Minnesota cartoonists Gavin Spence, Paul Taylor, and Jessica Hickman.

At the next table over were Mitch Gerads and Scott Dillion of Johnny Recon. The two grew up together and have been close friends since second grade. Though they parted ways for college, they stayed in close contact, and eventually decided to collaborate on comics. Dillion’s the writer, Gerads is the artist—and the comic looks really cool.

Beside those two was Mike Bullock, a comics writer who has been part of many different collaborations over the years. One of the comics at his table was Lions, Tigers and Bears, an ongoing series that he says has a “Pixar movie feeling” in that it’s kid-friendly, but has something for all ages. Bullock is also currently writing for The Phantom, a job he originally got because he had a friend at Moonstone Books. It was supposed to be a temporary gig, but just as his temporary issue was finishing up, the regular writer quit, so Bullock became a full-time Phantom writer. Bullock declares himself a “lifelong comics fan,” who became interested in D.C. comics at age three. “I used to irritate my brother because I’d make up stories to go along with the pictures before I could read the actual words,” he said.

Sharing a nearby booth were Becky Grutzik and Matt Wendt, a comic-creating team and married couple. Their booth was full of beautiful colorful, expressive artwork, including Wendt’s dark comedy series Peep about an evil chicken, which Grutzik later spun off into a series called Peep Lite, for kids. Wendt and Grutzik do a number of art-related jobs to help pay the bills, including illustration work for Lerner Publishing in Minneapolis, and teaching a Tuesday night art class.

Across the room was Brent Schoonover with some fantastic and stylish books, including Horrorwood, a 1950’s murder mystery and Astronaut Dad, which follows “three NASA families from Houston, Texas during the boom years of the space race.” “Minneapolis is a great place for artists,” says Schoonover, who attended the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, which is where he met his wife, a photographer.

Near Schoonover was Carl Borg, of the Christian Comic Arts Society. He’s not a comics-maker, but a distributor. He was there with comic work by a number of his friends. Borg was born and raised in the Twin Cities area, and has been going to Fall Con for ten years.

Next to Borg was Bob Lipski, another Cartoonist Conspiracy regular, who has been working on his Uptown Girl series for six years now. Initially interested in working on children’s books, Lipski eventually decided to try his hand at comics and has been working on Uptown Girl ever since. He’s currently working on a giant Uptown Girl graphic novel. “I still enjoy writing and drawing these characters,” he says. “They feel real: it’s like I don’t have to write it anymore, they just tell me where to go. I’m not sure I could ever do a different series; it would be like cheating on my characters.” Lipski self-publishes all of his work, and sells it at various local comics events.

Towards the end of the evening, Burl Zorn circled the room with a large cardboard box, from which he pulled popcorn balls with a flourish, handing them out to the artists and their friends. We all munched on them happily (albeit awkwardly—that’s a difficult food to eat!). As the hour approached 9:00, comic books were piled into boxes, cardboard cut-outs were folded and tucked away, and comic fans piled into their cars and drove home. It was still ungodly cold out, but selling a few of one’s own comics (and acquiring a stack of new ones by local talents) kept us all a little warmer.

- Athena Currier

Here’s the equation: Guy walks into a comic book convention. He pays $7 at the door and spends 6 hours at the event, stopping to talk with each dealer and exhibitor along the way. At the event, there are 80 exhibitors and 40 dealers. Assuming this man has no refined taste and will read any comic whatsoever, how many gimmicks does a cartoonist need to part him from his money?

It goes without saying that there are financial risks and rewards to exhibiting at any convention — even at St Paul’s one-day-wonder MicroCon, which charges creators absolutely nothing for their tables and even feeds them lunch. I benefit tremendously from the generous Midwest Comic Book Association and their two annual cons MicroCon and FallCon, particularly since last weekend I sold books for a mere 25 cents each and spent most of my time walking around to interview people. Even on a bad day at MicroCon, Sarah Morean still leaves with a profit. This would not happen at any other show. I know this, and I understand that until I really sell myself, I’m never going to make enough money from my books to cover the after-con meal and beers I both seek and require.

I’m fine with the struggle, it keeps me motivated, but maybe you’re different. Maybe you want repeat customers and money to burn. A harem of colorists offering shoulder rubs between sketches. Notoriety confirmed at bigger shows like APE and Wizard World, where fans will navigate a treasure map full of artists just to see in-person what you’re working on next. Sounds lofty, but it can happen to you!  And I’m learning that it’s more likely to happen if you spread (and spend) a little blam and glam to make your table memorable, if not recognizable, for con-goers.

I talked with some indie creators last weekend who splurged on big billboards and gimmicks to achieve their big dreams, and asked what works and what doesn’t when it comes to dealing like a pro at conventions.

	Matt Wendt and Becky Grutzik Matt Wendt and Becky Grutzik have been conning for over a decade, since 1995/1997.  Through the years, they’ve learned a lot, and developed killer table-side manners. Moving from black and white books to color covers, up to huge banners, paintings and now plush toys, the Peep Lite empire and all its trappings has an impressive, identifiable look, completely DIYed through a combo of experiment and experience. Part of their success has come from listening to others, and taking their advice to heart.  They’re also totally flexible with their ideas and they always try new things each time they exhibit.  At MicroCon, they unveiled their first plush Peep Lite toy (not yet available for purchase) and at a previous show, Grutzik was surprised to sell a few Peep Lite paintings.  She says the paintings were made and displayed just for fun, but since the idea basically took off on its own, she hopes to make and sell more paintings in the future.
	Dan Olson: taking product placement to the MAX.  HA HA. Super Maxi Pad Girl is the creation of cartoonist Dan Olson and writer AJ Niehaus.  Olson’s wife hand-makes the plush action figures, which do contain a genuine maxi pad, amid other poly-fibrous materials. The Super Maxi Pad Girl book/doll duo is so gross it’s hilarious, and I’m sure it would make the perfect gag gift for your blossoming niece or daughter. Olson says people are attracted to the doll, but buy the comic about the doll, because it’s cheaper.  Cost. Comparison. Analysis. Decision. Means profit every time.
	Ryan Dow What does a happy Buddha say to you?  Does it say, “Buy my book!”  Well, it does to me. Ryan Dow originally made the cut-out characters of himself and Lil’ Buddha for fun. Kicks.  But when he unveiled them for the first time this year at S.P.A.C.E. in Ohio, then MicroCon in Minnesota, the after-thought struck him that maybe images of Buddha wouldn’t play so well in the often stuffy and Christ-centered Midwest. As luck or divine intervention would have it, Dow (himself a Buddhist) never got flack for the cut-outs, only more sales.  Seems like large happy faces of any denomination won’t scare free-thinking comics readers.  Whew.
	Adam Hansen 3d comics! Because life is much better in the third dimension. Every so often, movie studios revisit the old idea that gimmicks can save a terrible movie. Strong opinions lobby on both ends of the 3d spectrum, but at least for right now, 3d is back on the rise.  That’s not why Adam Hansen created a partially 3d book, but the lucky coincidence has indeed boosted sales. With only a slight 11 pages to show for his upcoming graphic novel, Hansen wasn’t sure how to debut the sample/preview at this year’s MicroCon.  He eventually took that work, inserted a few splash pages and games, made the new material 3d, and added a pair of 3d glasses to each book.  It’s not integral to the plot, but it’s a nice little treat for the book’s test audience. Hansen insists that the gimmick will not be part of future incarnations of The Sad State of Affairs of Rooster Jack, so like holographic covers of yore, this 3d version of …Rooster Jack is limited-edition.  And totally collectible.
	Paul Fricke Here’s a guy who would have made a killing at the Kids’ Comic Con in New York, but instead favored his friendly, neighborhood show. It’s nice to see something kid-friendly in the mix, especially at MicroCon, where nuclear families are as common a sight as nerd-pals in coordinated costumes. Fricke has been a professional cartoonist for over 25 years, which is basically the span of my life.  From 1986-1995 he was a full-time cartoonist, but for reasons often familiar to poor cartoonists, he began taking freelance projects, and only recently got back into the biz promoting his own work.  To give his re-entry more BAM! than ZAP! he got very creative with his marketing. At MicroCon, his Bedbug characters were the stars of an ABC book, hand-illustrated marbles (that deceptively look like candy — DON’T EAT THEM!), sublimation-printed tshirts, buttons, a portfolio showcase, a stand-up display, and juggling Bedbug bean bags.  Practically a one-man circus, and very memorable.
	Justin Skarhus of the Good Minnesotan anthology and 2D Cloud Justin Skarhus is the often unsung, but frequent frontman of the Minneapolis comics group 2D Cloud.  When I saw him on Sunday, he was flying solo at the booth after spending six hours at the Minnesota State fairgrounds on what was a very rainy, dark day.  We each tried not to seem exhausted as I asked him about the 2D Cloud set-up, and how it attracts people to the table.  Spread-out is not the ideal way to display 2D Cloud merch, so I was a little worried how the public would respond.  Apparently, the over-sized buttons have been a draw, and though they were selling great, the books were getting overlooked.  Very sad.  2D Cloud makes wonderful books. On the right side of the picture, you can make out a little house with a curious girl standing in front of it.  This is a recent display piece created for 2D Cloud’s exhibition space, and at the Walker Art Center’s Multiples Mall last winter, it looked awesome.  There, the space was cramped, and beside the house, a clothesline was set up with books hung from miniature clothespins.  So cute and interesting.  It looked like a little city.  For Microcon, unfortunately, the group had less time to prepare, the clothesline had been scrapped, and the spread looked more like urban sprawl.  Boo.  They swear the clothesline will return for TCAF in May though, so look forward to it!
	Justin Cermak I remember Justin Cermak from every Minnesota con I’ve ever attended.  That huge Space Sheriff display is working for him!  It’s big and memorable, and his customers remember and flock to it.  Cermak says, it pays for itself. This is actually the second Space Sheriff cut-out he’s worked with.  The predecessor to this piece had Space Sheriff smoking his trademark stogie, but since smoking turned off some parents and toymakers, he had a new one made.  It looks awesome, it’s made of plastic and it’s collapsible!  Very cool.  The previous model was made from foam core and didn’t hold up well to travel. Because he works on a few titles, he also got the roll up poster for Dynamite Pilot which is hanging behind him.  I like the cut-out best though.  It seems to successfully attract Cermak’s target crowd: anyone age 12+ who is getting bored with Disney.
	Will Schar Will Schar has a unique approach to setting the table: feed the people what they want.  He tailors his swag to the show, so for Microcon he’s laid out a pen and ink “action shot” on top of a pile of tender-looking tree prints.  At Stumptown, the tree prints were up top.  Because when you’re a nerd, a sensitive nerd, it’s nice to show you’re at home in both worlds and find ways to communicate with your people, wherever they may roam. A variety of textures and bookmaking styles are represented on Schar’s table.  An accordion-style book pops out from a vertical display and begs to be handled, one book cover indicates a story about exploration for the adventurous, there are levels of books peeping out from a rack, and a box full of plush toys for the kids.  Schar’s work refuses to be pidgeonholed, which makes him a versatile exhibitor with a well-attended booth.

- Sarah Morean