Chicago Alternative Comics Expo
CAKE 2018
CAKE Chicago is free — by far the best kind of expo. What artist has money to spend getting into an expo where they’ll buy more things inside?
Recently, my budget’s been tight . And because I can’t bear to throw away anything paper, I (try to) consider print purchases much more carefully than I have in the past. Why should I buy this? Why does this justify space in my crowded bookshelf??
The solution: buy items for strictly research purposes. They also happen to make me delighted on the side… So, for “research purposes” I’ve been trying to find the perfect balance of form, content, and pleasure that a comic can offer. I want to
love the overall artistic style and visual aesthetics of the comic
love the meaning and parallel between style+form+narrative
and just love the story itself
Thus far, Blankets by Craig Thompson, Going Under by Zviane, and Logicomix by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou are the best contenders. Let’s see how I succeeded in my quest for the perfect comic this time…
A note on Risograph Printing
It’s rampant in small press expos like this. If you’re unfamiliar with the process, here’s a good explanation. I’m simultaneously drawn to it because of the aesthetics and repelled by its popularity. Risography seems a bit like organic peanut butter. I love it but never buy the stuff because it’s just not practical. Unless I do the hard work of making the peanut butter myself. Still, risograph prints, like homemade organic peanut butter, are divine.
The Birth of Linda/The Death of Linda
When you open the book, you’re done — smitten with the style of Tess Eneli Reid. I love this so much I die a little as I open and close it over and over like a maniac. I asked, and apparently she puts them together by hand while binging on Netflix.
If you can’t tell by the pictures, the book is an intricate mixture of triangular accordion folds. Each individual triangle has an illustration. Unfortunately, this is tough to read as a narrative. Each diamond or triangular illustration demands so much attention, the book is more a beautiful curiosity than a story. That’s not a real drawback… I would buy this curiosity any day.
The Last Delivery by Foot
I got some excellent tips about choosing brush pens from Melissa Duffy. Hearing about pens was just delightful :) I could talk about them for ages… This conversation led me back to a frequent realization I have: As a comic book creator trained as a fine artist… I feel sometimes that my skill and knowledge of materials is outstripped by my artistic and philosophical ambition.
I learned to think conceptually and to create visual arguments and questions. I also learned how to think formally and within an art-historical context. But not the genuine all-around practicalities of being an illustrator. Especially with ink.
What I did learn — the historical use of ink… ink as a protest against the elitist ideology of paint… ink as a vestige of Orientalism in the west… those are all fair game for an artist statement. But not that vellum Bristol is more suited to “scumble” than smooth Bristol. What a problem to have!
So… just being at a show dedicated to printed things, no matter what their content, was really refreshing. I just loved meeting everyone!
2 — Prints + Curiosities
Ghost Slappers
Kitty Stickers
Free Paper
Free paper’s my favorite. The Alt Comics zine/magazine seems particularly fascinating. Just need to remind myself to read it. I guess that’s what this post is for.
By the way!
I only introduced TWO comics that I bought at CAKE.
I lost the last one for the 30 minutes that I got all my materials together. It was set apart because of its unique and poignant content. Then… I lost it. Still, this is serendipitous. I can do a whole post about it and my reasons for buying it in my next article.