This past weekend was my first experience with the annual Stumptown Comics Fest. The past few years, I've been slowly rediscovering my love for comics, as well as trying to catch up on the nearly~15 years I haven't been reading them. Back then, like most kids and teenagers of my day, I went into the shops with blinders on: I only wanted books from the big, major companies: Marvel, DC, Image, etc. Indie comics were rarely, if ever, on my radar. But with age ~~ and with living in Portland, one of the most comics~saturated cities in the country ~~ has come an interest/admiration/respect for all of the artists making their way through whatever independent and subversive channels they can find. And while Stumptown doesn't ignore the big players in the industry (Marvel wunderkind Brian Michael Bendis usually shows up every year; and this year featured guests Paul Pope and Kurt Busiek among many others), its main focus and goal is to bring attention (and hopefully, some much~needed cashflow) to the folks out on the fringes: the self~published, often handbound, creations from the people that most comics readers wouldn't know about if it weren't for such events as the Stumptown Comics Fest.
I started my day with a volunteer shift. Over the past year or so, I've learned that volunteering at events of interest is the way to go: you usually only have to give a minimal amount of time, and in return you get complete, free access to the event. So, for Stumptown, I ended up working the first three hours of the festival: keeping lines in order, checking handstamps at the door to the panel discussions, etc. Pretty easy.
Then afterwards, I was able to make my way around the room, meeting the likes of the wonderful Ed Luce, Liz Prince, Kate Beaton, Hope Larson, and many, many others. I came away with a stack of amazing comics from some highly talented people, a sketchbook with some equally amazing sketches (hope to get those scanned soon), and ridiculous amount of free stuff (most of promotional, but featuring some incredible artwork nonetheless).
Indeed, it was a wonerful experience that I hope to be a part of again next year.
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