You Should Go To The Artist's Alley Comics Fest in Portland, OR on August 2nd

Portland is home to an amazing number of comics creators. And while the biggest names are also some of the most awesome names, it also contains a huge variety of indie creators. Some of those talented folks will be happy to meet with you and sell you their comics this Sunday, August 2nd, from 11am to 5pm at the Spritely Bean on SE Powell.

The first in what the organizers plan to be an annual event, this comics fest fills a definite need in Portland. We have two great indie-friendly shows (Linework NW in April and the Portland Zine Symposium, which mixes DIY prose with DIY comics, in July), and another to the north (Short Run, in Seattle, held sometime towards the end of the year). However, all three only have so much space available, and no matter how they try, there's going to be a need for more show space.

Enter Artist's Alley. From the Fest's website:

Like a great many unique and innovative comic creators, AACF finds its home in Portland, Oregon. Our debut event will be a single day festival, taking place on Sunday, August 2nd, 2015, on the corner of SE 59th & Powell Blvd, behind The Spritely Bean. 

Our goal is to showcase the talents of independently creative voices in comics by giving the public a place to interact with comic creators.

The first show has some really amazing talent, many of whom I've gotten to know over the years. You can see the complete list of exhibitors here. Here's a few of the creators I highly suggest you see on Sunday:

• Blue Delliquanti's excellent webcomic Oh Human Star has a paperback edition, so go grab one of my favorite comics of 2014.
• Colleen Frakes is from Seattle, and is one of the long-term friends of Panel Patter. She'll be making her second Portland appearance in a month. Go grab some great, quirky comics, ranging from stories to auto-bio work!
• Kel McDonald has never failed a Kickstarter, and that's due in large part to the quality of her comics. Whether it's urban fantasy or editing fairy tale retellings, Kel is a great creator and worth your time!
• Taneka Stotts is one of the editors of the Beyond Anthology, and is working on a new one, Elements. Plus, she writes a great webcomic, Full Circle. Come meet her!

Artist's Alley Comics Fest reminds me of a bigger, less frequent version of Monica Gallagher's excellent B-More into Comics, which I thought was a great idea. Here's hoping this new festival is also successful and continues to build and grow Portland's indie comics scene for those who do amazing work but aren't getting featured in USA Today. It's exactly the type of show I think most Panel Patter readers would enjoy, and I hope to see you there!