Short Run Comix & Arts festival is back. Now in its 7th year, it's bigger than ever before. I want to pause for a moment to celebrate and stand in awe of this fact. Seven years ago Short Run was a tiny small press festival slinging 'zines and confections for a day out of the Vera Project. Now it's a nationally renowned exhibition of indie comics with four days of impressive programming that features over 270 artists from all over the world.
A partnership with the International Comic Arts Forum this year means you'll see people like manga pioneer Moto Hagio, genius graphic novelist Emil Ferris, and local legend Jim Woodring. Another partnership with the Vera Project means you can also learn how to draw animals with Gemma Correll and/or create comics journalism with Jesús Cossio, Joe Sacco, and Sarah Glidden.
The first 50 people to show up to the book expo at the Fisher Pavilion on Saturday, November 4th, will get a sweet swag bag. As always, there's a massive bake sale. But wait, there's more.
There's a cool book arts exhibit at SOIL on Thursday! There's an excellent pre-party at Fantagraphics on Friday! There's a boozy after-party at the Vera Project Saturday night! There's going to be a fascinating reading and conversation with Nicole Georges (Fetch: How a Bad Dog Brought Me Home) and Julia Wertz (Tenements, Towers & Trash: An Unconventional Illustrated History of New York City) at the Seattle Public Library on Sunday! This is gonna to be your whole fucking weekend, and it's going to be full of the most beautiful and wonderfully ugly and dastardly and holy books and 'zines and comics you've ever seen!
It's also going to be completely overwhelming. But here I am to help you find your seat.
Navigate the festival confidently using this handy guide I made a couple years ago. (Short version: bring about $50 cash, give yourself permission to a couple loops to get a feel for the room, and don't be afraid to pick something up and put it right back down again.)
You know your own tastes, but if you're working with limited time, I highly recommend taking a second look at these exhibitors from last year, plus the following:
Alexandria Vickery: Local, intricate, beautiful pencil work.
Anders Nilsen: Nilsen is one of the big deal artists this year. Pick up Big Questions if you haven't. If you have, buy his new long-form comic, Tongues Chapter 1, which promises "Adventure. Revenge. Human evolution. A talking chicken."
Andrice Arp: Smudgy-shady awesomeness, often includes giant animals and feminist overtones.
Andrea Lukic: Punk as fuck drawings and collage.
Cold Cube Press: The little local risograph-press-that-could is out with several new offerings for Short Run this year. First and foremost is Cold Cube 003, the press' third anthology. It's flat out the best thing they've published to date. Half of the contributors are PNW comics and poets, half of them are from everywhere else, and all of them are good. Also pick up Twilight of the Bat by Josh Simmons and Pat Keck and Mundane Magic by Andrew Lamb.
Debbie Fong: Portland-based artist with premium food zines and good comics about life as a freelancer. If she has any of her Things I Ate 'zines lying around, buy them.
All of "Lit Alley": Local indie presses Gramma, Wave Books, and Mount Analogue will huddle on the same corner this year. Buy Anastacia-Reneé's (v.) from Gramma, Tyehimba Jess's Olio from Wave, and Jeff Parker + Brendan Barry's CLEAN ROOMS. LOW RATES. from Mount Analogue. Oh, and be sure to snag the latest issue of Moss.
Levi Hastings: Homeboy!
jon strongbow: Check out his Secret City Series, which sets indigenous figures from all over the world in modern Seattle cityscapes.
Make Space Zine: The coolest, new-ish 'zine on Seattle streets. Jazzlyn Stone and Caitlyn Edson tell you who you should be listening to, reading, and buying candles from. Pick up issue seven while you still can.
Marie Hausauer: Hilarious Seattle comic who often closes her strips with a poignant twist. She's releasing a new comic with Ben Horak called Heads Will Casserole. He wrote it, she illustrated it. Be one of the first twenty people at their table and Horak will treat you to a soundtrack he made especially for the comic. Also check out Hausauer's other comics: Raccoon, Orgy, and The Choke.
Paper Press Punch: Local risograph press run by Jessica Hoffman and Justin Quinlan. Pick up Hoffman's "You Are Here," a few of Quinlan's prints, and that queer food zine pictured above.
Thick as Thieves: Intruder died and made room for this all-comics quarterly, which features comics from Seattle and the PNW in general. Pick up the latest issue for free.
Taylor Dow: The best. Abruption will blow your mind. Apocalypse Dad is great. But they have a new collab out with Alexandria Vickery called How 2 B King that looks good.
