CAFs

Comica is going on in the UK right now, a month long celebration of comics and graphic novels with a ton of event and art exhibits which you can see in the link. and here's another one; S.M.A.S.H. a series of three panels discussing various aspects of the art form. It sounds great—if we were in London on November 15th this is where we'd be. Info:

A group has formed in San Francisco to discuss bringing a comics festival to SF, currently bereft of comcis event with the move of WonderCon to Anaheim and soon APE to San Jose. The group has called for a town hall meeting on Monday, October 20th:

As we noted a few days ago, Comic Arts Brooklyn, the final comics related event on the NYC calendar, will expand to two days this year, with exhibits on Saturday, November 8, and programming on Sunday November 9th, at a new venue, the Wythe Hotel. Programming director Paul Karasik has just released the lineup, and the news that, just like at NYCC, the panel room will be cleared between panels! Line up now for your Raymond Pettibon wristband!

There's been a bunch of scuttlebutt going on around APE, the Alternative Press Expo now unfolding in San Francisco, and it is being announced today that CCI, which runs APE, the San Diego Comic-Con and WonderCon is returning ownership of the show to founder Dan Vado starting next year. Vado founded the show in his home base of San Jose in 1994 as part of the then-burgeoning scene of indie comics events that included the Small Press Expo in Bethesda and SPACE in Columbus. CCI took it over in 1995, eventually moving it to San Francisco. Vado has been mostly uninvolved with the show in recent years, while expanding SLG, his comics company, to a storefront and event space. And of course, CAFs have blown up everywhere, with TCAF, SPX, MoCCA, CAB, MeCAF, Thought Bubble, Short Run and many more showcasing the indie comics side of today's comics world. ape2013_guest_vadoThe Beat had a chance to speak briefly with Vado about taking the show back.

SF's sole remaining comics show, the Alternative Press Expo, aka APE, kicks off tomorrow at Fort Mason. Guests include Bob Fingerman, Spike, Robert Williams and Paul Pope.Programming is here.  APE is a fun show, or was when...

Gabe Fowler, the main man behind Comic Arts Brooklyn, the late fall comics arts fest that traditionally caps off New Yorks comics year, has announced the festival will expand to days in 2014. Taking place November 8-9, the show will see exhibits at the usual place at the Mt Carmel Church on Saturday and on Sunday a complete track of programming at the Wythe Hotel, which is also located in Williamsburg. Announced guests this year include Roz Chast, Richard McGuire, Raymond Pettibon and Art Spiegelman, but as you can see from the above poster,more guests have been added including Michael DeForge, Lisa Hanawalt, Julie Doucet (!!!!), Josh Bayer, Charles Burns, Aisha Franz, Al Jaffee, Tim Lane, Benjamin Marra, Jim Rugg and Olivier Schwauwen.

The CAF (comic arts festival0 circuit continues to expand and here's a new show in New Orleans, called the NOCaZ Festival for "comics and zines." The event will be held November 14-15th at the New Orlenas Public Library. According to their mission statement: