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| Illustration by Jon Chad |
MICE 2015 Preview
The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE) is coming up soon (October 17-18) and if you're anywhere near the Boston area, you should make your way there. It'll be held at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I spoke last year with the MICE organizers and am similarly enthusiastic for this year's event.
You know Panel Patter is a fan of the small press books, and if you enjoy reading those books, MICE is the place to go. Like SPX, only smaller, and free.
The organizers at MICE do a great job making MICE feel like a "homey" event even as it's grown in size and popularity. There's a great selection of comics creators, that will be in attendance, who work in all genres and styles of comics, terrific creators like Alison Wilgus, Carey Pietsch, Joel Christian Gill, Pat Aulisio and many others, along with publishers such as Nobrow Press. I'm personally looking forward to seeing folks I know such as Jennie Wood (whom I interviewed last year), Ansis Purins (with whom I and a number of others had a comics zine in Middle School called Salamander Shack, it was awesome) and Andrew MacLean (who I wrote about recently prior to SPX).
In addition to lesser-known local artists and creators, there will be some pretty great special guests at MICE this year: Gene Luen Yang, Ryan North, Lucy Knisley, Dustin Harbin and Jennifer Hayden. There will also be a full slate of panels on both days, with a number of kid-friendly panels each day*. Sunday, in particular, is Kids Comics Day, which should be a great event for kids that love reading or drawing their own comics.
Also, did I mention it's free? Saving money on admission will leave you with more to spend on comics. I hope to see you there!
* Panel Patter will be represented on panels, too as Whit Taylor will be on the Black Independent Comics and Cartoonists Panel, and I will be on the Writing About Comics Panel.
