OILY/SPX

Come buys some comic books at table J1

Guys, Girls, Cats, and Dolls,



Today Melissa and I will be getting the Oilymobile out of the garage with brand new struts and driving south to dirty-old Bethesda, Maryland. Once again we stress and strain and lose sleep until we are in the comfort of those Marriott pillows and blankets. What a year it is going to be at America’s own Small Press Expo!



The thing I am most proud of and excited for this year are Oily’s nominations in the 2014 Ignatz awards. Daryl Seitchik (Missy) and Nick Drnaso (The Grassy Knoll) both garnered nominations and holy moly do they deserve it. I think the Ignatz are one of the better awards given out in comics because the nominations are chosen by a panel of cartoonists and voted on by attendees of SPX during the first day of the show. It is a true festival prize and and tends to shine a light on works that don’t always get recognized for one reason or another. So here’s to Daryl and Nick. I’ll be rooting for you all the way.



Next up, we have a brand new comic called Daddy debuting at this year’s show. It is a black and red affair written by Josh Simmons (Habit) and James Romberger. Josh won’t be at the show but James is coming down for his first time. Look for him at our table and with the fine folks of Uncivilized Books.



What else is happening? Oh, our own Melissa Mendes (Lou) will be womanning the Oily table with me and handing out a little sampler of her new comic she is launching on Tumblr. It is called The Weight and from what I’ve seen so far, it is next-level stuff from Melissa.



Let’s see, Let’s see. Oh, yes. Panels! On Saturday from 3-4pm I’ll be on the Micro-Press and Beyond panel with Keenan Marshall Keller (Drippy Bone Books), Justin Skarhus and Raighne Hogan (2D Cloud), and Anne Koyama (Koyama Press). It will be moderated by my dear friend, the irreplaceable Robyn Chapman. And then on Sunday, Melissa Mendes will be discussing Stories of Girlhood with Ellen Lindner (The Black Feather Falls), Jillian Tamaki (Skim, This One Summer), and Aisha Franz (Earthling).



Please come around to the Oily table (J1) and get some books or just say hi and meet some cartoonists. We are setting up a real signing schedule this year:



Saturday

12-1 Daryl Seitchik (Missy)

3-4 Benjamin Urkowitz (Real Rap)

5-6 James Romberger (Daddy)



Sunday

12-1 James Romberger (Daddy)

3-4 Daryl Seitchik (Missy)

5-6 Benjamin Urkowitz (Real Rap)

For you Comixology readers, you might be interested to know that they are running an SPX sale this weekend in honor of SPX. You get something like 80 digital comics for $10! Included are a bunch of Oily titles like Joey, Luv Sucker, Nu, Bastards, Missy 2, and more!

Oh, boy. One more thing. The folks at SPX asked Oily to draw their web banners this year. So I want to thank Billy Burkert, Ben Urkowitz, Melissa Mendes, Daryl Seitchik for helping out with that. If you go to the SPX website you can see them as you click through the site.



Okay. That’s all. See you in Maryland.



-Chuck Forsman



P.S. Guess who’s birthday is tomorrow?