Apr 28 2010
Stumptown Wrap-Up.
Stephenny, Storm, and their Trophies.
Boy, Portland, you sure know how to make creators feel welcome.
Ever since I was welcomed into the fold here at Writers Old Fashioned, I’ve heard about how much fun the Stumptown Comics Fest is. Its been nothing but “Well, the Portland fest is sooo cool!” and “Just wait until we get to Stumptown and you’ll see.” And after spending three days mingling with the people of Portland, I’ve got to admit that it may be the most comic-friendly city I’ve ever been to.
The convention floor was absolutely packed for most of Saturday, and even a good portion of Sunday. But for as busy as it was, creators were still easily accessible and ready to visit. In stark contrast to WonderCon earlier this month, one could look out across the room and see what was happening across the hall. I’ve heard that there were a lot more vertical displays this year than at past cons, but from our table I could see the Drawn & Quarterly table all the way at the far end of the room. The airy setup combined with windows galore made for a more pleasant, open experience than WonderCon or San Francisco’s own indie-fest, APE.
And for the second year in a row, Writers Old Fashioned has come back to San Francisco with a Trophy Award! Stephenny’s mini Panorama won the Trophy Award for Outstanding Publication Design! Her handcrafted books beat out some pretty impressive competitors, like Dark Horse’s Mesmo Delivery. If that wasn’t enough, Storm accepted this year’s Mystery Award for Portland’s Mayor Sam Adams. So the Writer’s table had an impressive amount of Trophy’s on Sunday. Next year we’ll sweep ‘em.
It was a treat to get to hang out with such amazing fellow exhibitors and bask in the creative energy of everyone in attendance. Getting back into the groove of every day life has been especially hard after this convention. All I’ve wanted to do is draw comics. Or read comics. Or write about comics. Frankly, I think my girlfriend is gettin’ a little tired of it at this point…
Jason, STORM, Greg, and Stephenny
Thank you so much Portland, and all those folks behind the scenes keeping this how running as smooth as it did. Without the coordinators and the tireless efforts of the scores of volunteers the show could’ve been a real mess. Instead the Stumptown Comics Fest remains one of the most anticipated shows for Writers Old Fashioned!
(I’ve written a little more about my own personal experiences at the fest over at my blog.)
And yes, I do know that the plural form of ‘trophy’ is spelled ‘trophies’. But in this case, its a plural title. Or something. Either way, I did it on purpose.