I really only have a couple of things for this week (I won’t collect every single link about Small Press Expo, after all) but I thought I’d take this space to talk a little bit about Small Press Expo 2013.

It was, as always, exhausting and amazing. I really didn’t get to spend as much time walking the floor as I would’ve liked nor did I get to see so many people I wanted to see. But I’m kind of resigned to the fact that this is how the show goes for me now. I was already pretty wiped out on Saturday (but astonishingly, actually managed to eat three meals, mostly because Greg Bennett made sure of that. I am incredibly grateful for that).

The entire process of the Ignatz was pretty intense this year. I don’t think a lot of people submitted until after table registrations happened. But then the books just kept coming. And coming. And coming. I know none of us expected to get so many books. I know I didn’t.

But I think the strength of the nominees really showed the depth of the titles we got. There were many a few usual suspects but I know the jurors were extremely thoughtful in their choices. So many of the categories were tough choices for me.

And yes, I was clearly delighted when all the Outstanding Graphic Novel nominees were women. That just happened organically and all of those books absolutely deserved to be there.

And speaking of that, I was so thrilled Liza Donnelly agreed to host this year. She’s spoken at the United Nations! When she said she was thinking about having all the presenters be women, I basically said “I would love that.” While we both worked to pick a good list of presenters, she definitely gets all the credit.

The whole ceremony and experience meant a lot to me. In my earliest days of reading and writing about comics, I never thought I’d get to do something like this. I’ve had a rough couple of years and so it felt satisfyingly wonderful to be able to be a part of something so amazing.

(I was so happy Ulli Lust won! Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life is amazing and I loved it so much. And I am so jealous of my friend who got to hang out with her quite a bit. When he said “You two are on the same page about so many things,” that really didn’t help.)

Onto your regularly scheduled and short D.C. Area Scene.

News/reviews/interviews: 

• Author Of American Born Chinese Talks To Fans In Bethesda, Jenny Chen, Asian Fortune
• SPX 2013: Liza Donnelly’s Ignatz Awards make some history ‘to celebrate’ women cartoonists, Michael Cavna, Comic Riffs/Washington Post (the only SPX-related link I’ll post, probably)

Kickstarter:

• Mechanaflux #2 – All-Ages Fantasy Comic Book by Shawn Padraic Murphy

Events:

• Now through Nov. 3: Comics Making Studio with Members of the DC Conspiracy, Artisphere, Arlington, Va. Residencies every Thursday. Meet and greet on Sept. 21.
• Now through Nov. 10: Awake in the Dream World: The Art of Audrey Niffenegger, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
• Sept. 17: Gene Luen Yang signing, 7 p.m., Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library. Sponsored by Politics & Prose. (You could still make it!)
• Sept. 21-22: National Book Festival, Washington, D.C. With Lynda Barry, Jaime Hernandez, Gilbert Hernandez, Fred Chao and Jonathan Hennessey (Book Festival is two days, but graphic novel/comics programming is on Sept. 22.)
• Oct. 10: Paul Pope, 7:30 p.m., Takoma Park Library, Takoma Park, Md. Sponsored by Politics & Prose.

Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me by 4 p.m. Tuesday. More information is here.

• John Lewis: Freedom Rider, congressman … cartoon?, Ruth Tam, Post Politics/Washington Post
• Rep. John Lewis makes Comic-Con debut to promote graphic novel ‘March’, The Reliable Source, Washington Post
• John Lewis Receives a Hero’s Welcome at Comic-Con, Warren Rojas, Heard on the Hill/Roll Call
• Corto Maltese, Jared Smith and Greg Bennett, .cent Magazine
• Baltimore Comic Shop Collectors Corner Nominated for Prestigious Comic Con Award, Joshua Axelrod, NBC4
• Children learn to draw comics at Westminster library, Timothy Sandoval, Carroll County Times

Event reports:

• Recap: cARToons Exhibit – Opening Reception, Curls Studio

Publications:

• Magic Bullet #7 is looking for contributors and advertisers. Deadline is Aug. 1.
• Corgi Zine is accepting submissions. Deadline is Aug. 18. Pays $5 per page.

Kickstarter:

• The System: Comics Will Be Published Until Morale Improves

Events:

• Now through Aug. 18: ZAP! POW! BAM! The Superhero: The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1938-1950, Jewish Museum of Maryland, Baltimore, Md.
• Now through Nov. 10: Awake in the Dream World: The Art of Audrey Niffenegger, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
• Aug. 8: Dash Shaw signing and presentation, 7 p.m., Velocity Comics, Richmond, Va.
• Aug. 17: Darick Robertson signing, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md.
• Aug. 24: Bmore Into Comics, with Rafer Roberts, Danielle Corsetto, Melody Often, Howie Noeldechen, and Carolyn Belefski, noon to 5 p.m., Bad Decisions, Baltimore, Md.

Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me by 4 p.m. Tuesday. More information is here.

• ‘Hit By Pitch’: A Look Into MLB’s Only Deadly Injury, Molly Lawless on WBUR Boston. Lawless actually left us for Boston, but I like her and I like book and I thought this was cool enough to include.
• What Are You Reading? with Rafer Roberts, Robot 6
• Cartoonist Volunteers Time At Campagna Center, AlexandriaNews

Audio/video:

• Ross Nover – A Dose of Design Inspiration from Comic Strips (and slideshow)
• LIVE from the Annapolis Comic Con, Its THE CAROLYN AND JOE SHOW!
• The Appeal Of Comic Book Culture, The Kojo Nnamdi Show, WAMU, with Greg Bennett (I can’t, in good conscience, include that full headline)

Kickstarter:

• PLASTIC FARM: Seasons of Growth in the Fields of Despair from Rafer Roberts.
  

Upcoming releases:

• Remake: 3Xtra, Lamar Abrams, AdHouse Books, December 2012.

Events:

• Through Dec. 23: Fall Solos 2012, featuring Warren Craghead, Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, Va. One-on-one with the artists Nov. 10 from 4 to 6 p.m.
• Nov. 10: Ben Hatke signing, Big Planet Comics, Vienna, Va., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Big Planet Comics, College Park, Md., from 3 to 5 p.m. (Rescheduled from Nov. 3.)
  
• Nov. 10: Cullen Bunn signing for Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Nov. 11 through Nov. 30: The Joe Bonham Project exhibition, Pepco Edison Place Gallery, Washington, D.C. (exhibition features some comics art)
• Nov. 12: SHATTERED – The Asian American Comics Anthology Book Signing and Launch, featuring editors Jeff Yang and Keith Chow with illustrator Jamie Noguchi. Busboys & Poets, 14th and V streets, Washington, D.C., 6:30 to 8 p.m.
• Nov. 17: Deadpool NOW signing with writer Gerry Duggan, Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Dec. 1: Justin Jordan and Tradd Moore signing, Third Eye Comics, Annapolis, Md., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Housekeeping:

This feature will be taking a break for the month of December — if you have events during that month, get them to me as soon as you can. And I do plan on getting back to writing reviews and other things. It’s been a hectic few months.

Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me! Submit no later than Monday at 9 p.m. for inclusion each Tuesday, but the earlier, the better! More information is here.