Hundreds came through San Francisco's Concourse Exhibition Center last weekend to check out the new faces in the comic art scene. The Alternative Press Expo, "APE" for short, is an annual convention that rounds off the trifecta of events hosted by Comic Con-International, the other two being Comic-Con International (San Diego) and Wondercon (San Francisco).
Artists came in from the Bay Area and beyond to share their work in the forms of pocket-sized comic books, illustrated recipes, handknit octopi, and anything else that could be used as a medium. Skateboards still seem to be the street style lover's wall hanging of choice, even though there were less decks on display than their resounding presence in previous years. Animator and concept artist Fabian Molina's octopus-enwrapped board is too beautiful to kick and push off of, but the work is fine and does the independent art world's love for cephalopods proud.
Plenty of wearable art awaited APE visitors. T-shirts referenced pop culture with graphics related to Twitter and being a foodie. Andrew E. Yang of Stitchmind Design offered - you guessed it - octopus-embossed dog tags in every color chemically possible. To top it off, he debuted an embellished vinyl cutout design printed onto a mirror that belongs on the walls of the next trendy restaurant with a dark interior. Artists are working hard to push the limits of where they can visualize their imaginings, and the exhibitor lineup at APE showed no limits to the diversity of ideas.
Veterans of Comic-Con's more widely known events, Wondercon (San Francisco) and Comic-Con International (San Diego) would easily recognize APE as the obviously less commercial (and possibly less intimidating) Small Press section. Though present at both of the other "cons," Small Press isn't necessarily the main draw to Comic-Con's larger events of Comic-Con and Wondercon. True admirers of industry artists know the names, though. The women and men behind the tables that line APE and Small Press are the very names behind the storyboarding, character design, and other creative processes of the likes of Pixar, Disney, and LucasFilm. If anything, it's a fantastic schmoozefest for these artists to catch up with one another and pick up some new ideas along the way.
If you're headed to APE next year, be ready to head home with a new reason to find a blank wall.
