Yesterday I trekked past the "Cheddar Curtain" to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the Milwaukee Zine Fest. It was so much fun! I went up there with Matt, Leslie and Ramsey (see previous post for links to their blogs and awesome zines). The fest was at Falcon Bowl, a local nest for the Polish Falcons, which features a bar, bowling alley in the basement and a community ballroom space. The space housed about 30 tables, full of folks from Milwaukee, Chicago, and Madison. They all had really interesting zines, and I think I left with more printed matter than I showed up with.
My travel companions/table mates were lots of fun, and I had a great time with them all day. We ate food from the Riverwest Co-Op and then ate dinner at the Palomino, and had nice conversations. Everyone at the table had a good day selling trading and giving their publications away. I moved 85 different books off my table, 20 of which I got money for, the rest were trades or free comics. I feel bad saying this (as I don't want to talk down any of the comics shows at which I exhibited this year), but it was probably the most enjoyable tabling I've done this year.
As we were leaving, Nicolle, one of the show's organizers asked our table when we would be organizing a Chicago Zine fest. The rest of our trip was peppered with planning for a zine fest here in Chicago. So, I'll keep you informed about those plans.
NEW TOPIC:
This Tuesday I'll be participating in the release party for Pinstriped Bloodbath, the Chicago gangster comics anthology I'm in. It's at good ol' Quimby's Bookstore at 7pm. I'll be there, before hand working and setting up for the show, but my shift ends at 7, then I'll be able to hang out, draw in your copy of the comic, and talk like a gangster, see? Yeah, see? On hand should be the following other creators:
It should be ton of funs.
