Welcome to another entry in the 2014 SPX Spotlight series! For the next month, Panel Patter will be highlighting creators and publishers who will be at one of the best conventions, the Small Press Expo. You can check out all of Panel Patter's spotlights for SPX from both this year and prior years here.
There's nothing like getting to do something for the first time as a creator, and when you can debut it at SPX, that's all the better!
Dre Grigoropol is no stranger to the mini-comic world, as both a creator and a member of the comics press. But now she's done something new--a self-published full color comic!
Called Lupa Cachula's Life: Showing Stamna, it's 16 pages and looks absolutely gorgeous. Dre's style really pops against color backgrounds, which are vivid and eye-catching.
In addition to her new book, Dre will also have Dee's Dream: Novice Songwriter, which collects stories from her ongoing webcomic. It's the story of an alternative band and their experiences (Dee also plays music, as is common in alt comics), and was published earlier this year.
In addition, Dre will have some of her older work, Don't Mayo Hate, which is 64 pages(!) and takes the reader back into high school, a 24 hour comic She Magazine about a budding photographer, and Blueberry Boy of Ashbury Park, which Dre worked on with Bryan G. Brown, who will also be at SPX.
Dre's also in my favorite tabloid anthology, Magic Bullet, which should be available around the show and at the DC Conspiracy booth as well as the 5th issue of Dirty Diamonds, who will have a table at SPX as well (and are really awesome people you should check out, too).
This year, Dre will be tabling with Maggie Lynn and Lizzie Solomon, two comics creators Dre met at the Pittsburgh Zine Fair. I don't know them personally, but if they're from the Pittsburgh area, they're probably cool, too!
Can't make SPX? You can find Dre on the web here.