Honing my Cartoonist Impersonation at SPX 2009

Part of my reason moving to Chicago was to really embrace my self-image as a Cartoonist, finally moving away from self-image as Coder. I mean, I grew up drawing, and I grew up playing on my ancient Commodore 64. Not much has changed. But right before I exited teenhood, I rebelled from my hacker nerd roots and sold all my gadgets and drove to an isolated island and lived in vans and cabins without amenities for a few years. At the end of a five year computer hiatus, I'd done a pretty bang-up job of scrambling what meager social graces I'd accumulated as an Oregon bumpkin, while missing the most obvious opportunity in history to make a fortune from being a hacker nerd. Bye bye dot com boom! Life truly is all about timing, and I've apparently been brought into this world with a cheap Timex knockoff calculator watch for my internal timekeeper.

Of course, the best way to fulfill your destiny as a cartoonist is to shut the fuck up, hide in a room, and put pen to paper. Step two is to meet up with your fellow afflicted, stuff yourselves in a giant convention hall, splay your wares on a table and stroke your beard while slurping the brownbagged whiskey, right? Hence, this year I decided to make the trek to the oft-touted SPX in Bethesda, Maryland.

I had finished the last few pages of my new comic, Piecemeal while in France. It wasn't easy finding the time to hole up and draw while traveling in Europe, but I somehow managed to get in just enough to complete the issue. I also managed to get terribly ill in Paris and spent an entire day in bed. The next day I barely recovered and crawled to the Eiffel Tower, determined not to waste my last day in France, propelled by copious painkillers and wine. The day after that I had to get up at 7am and haul my luggage through the metro to Charles de Gaulle airport, barely making my flight and pulling off an impressively '80s-esque montage of running through the airport in socks while coughing and hacking and freaking out about my name being bellowing out over the intercom for LAST CALL TO CHICAGO! Nine hours later, I'm on the El, then a mile walk home with my luggage. By the time I got home I was spent.

I then had basically ONE DAY to scan my comic, finish the last few details, print, assemble, pack, and then BACK TO THE AIRPORT! And I'm still sick! And my ears decided to plug up from the cabin pressure changes so I can barely hear a thing! ON & ON!

Everything turned out pretty well despite the odds, and I was soon landing in Washington DC, figuring out yet another metro system. At this point I was feeling like a well-seasoned traveler. I shot off towards the Marriott in Bethesda with comics in tow.

Photo of Kazimir Strzepek and Nate Beaty by Tom Neely

Greg hadn't shown up yet and I soon ran into my doppelganger Kaz Strzepek. Turns out he and Bodega fellas Randy and Pete were heading to Atomic Books for the Nerdlinger awards and readings by Gabby, MK Reed Liz Baillee and Julia Wertz We hopped in the car and were soon in bumper-to-bumper traffic towards Baltimore. It took over an hour to get there, and as we drove in I realized "Hey, isn't this where The Wire was filmed?" Sighs, "Yes." "Can we turn around?" Light laughter. Oh, Nate! You're a crack up.

Atomic Books was very cool. Baltimore not so much. Of course I didn't see much of it at all, but what I did see didn't woo me. The depiction from The Wire didn't help either. However, Atomic's well-stocked, free bar made up for everything. The readings were great, which was kind of a shock. I've never really understood the concept of reading comics on a screen in front of a group of people. But keeping it short and sweet really worked well and everybody did a great job. My faith in comics readings was.. well, kindled.

The Nerdlingers were distributed to those who were present (very few), we drove back, and then dispersed to get a bit of shuteye before the convention. Greg and I had a great heart-to-heart as long as we could before heads crashed onto pillows.

Anyone who's been to a convention knows there's not much point in describing it. You walk around, you look at comics, you talk to folks. Well, I did that. I found a lot of great comics, I reconnected with many folks I hadn't seen for ages, I took photos, I slurped the whiskey. I managed to stumble to the Ignatz award ceremonies and hooted and hollered for Lisa Hanawalt Damien Jay and Jordan Crane's well-deserved wins. Then we broke formation and scattered towards various parties.

SPX is unique in that it's pretty isolated from any outside-the-convention activities, and most folks stay in the hotel right in the same building. This allows for an even more concentrated drunken celebration following a day of peddling wares.

Dustin Harbin did a damn good job of describing SPX and the various parties located in around the Marriott, including the many SHHHHHH! rooms. The stories were true: SPX really was the most fun convention for after-parties. I had a great time and accosted many folks with my giant camera.

At some point Grant Reynolds and Jeffrey Brown and I stumbled over to Arby's for some cardboard sandwiches. Despite the terrible food we managed to enjoy ourselves.

The next day I was feeling pretty out of it, still recuperating from the Paris Grippe, as well as jetlag and still-compressed ears and general fatigue, not to mention a wicked hangover.

Some Comics I Enjoyed

Grant's first book, Comic Diorama came out on Top Shelf for the con. My favorite part is the first story of an explorer's journal, but the whole thing is beautifully drawn and as with all of Grant's work imaginative and expertly drafted.

Gabby's book Monsters finally debuted. By far one of my favorite graphic novels in a long time. Not only is it educational on our favorite friend herpes, it's really a tour de force in perfect storytelling and comic timing. Highly recommend picking this up.

Another favorite was Lisa Hanawalt's I Want You put out by Buenaventura Press. Lisa manages to draw the most disturbing things and make them sexy. She also draws the sexiest things and makes them disturbing. Bugs, tumors, well-dressed animal-headed humans and exquisite smashed cars. Add one more cartoonists to my "must break fingers" list.

So many great comics debuted at SPX, including Driven By Lemons by fellow Trubble Club member Josh Cotter. When I sat down to read this, I couldn't put it down. By the time I was done, one word came to mind: "mindfuck." Yes, that's extreme, but I've never been affected by printed matter like this. It triggered strong memories of my many hallucinatory experiences, including my near-death experience in the hospital. Josh has captured so perfectly something I've always longed to write about but could never figure out how. It definitely connects on a conscious level with stunning drawings and fascinating abstract storytelling, but he's also exploring dark struggles with sanity and losing grip with the ability to piece together reality. The production on the book is immaculate, basically an exact reproduction of a sketchbook he drew it in, spine, cover and all. (The book even has an iPhone preview)

Corinne's bizarre & dry humor oozes from Buzz #3 Who else would think to draw an anthropomorphic strip called "Little Ol' Expiration Date Discovers the Fountain of Youth"? All sorts of thought-provoking subjects, like sloths concerned about teeth whitening, 36-hour clocks, and nostalgic twenty-something cavemen.

I left SPX with warm fuzzy feelings for my fellow cartoonists and a heap of inspiration, with only 2 weeks until the next con, APE!