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I did portraits of people coming to ELCAF today.
Here are some cool cats who turned up:

Whew the comics arts festival circuit news is flowing thick and fast; we’re in the middle of application season and hearts and minds are turning to tabling. And the CAFs are answering back with news.

§ First off, the revamped APE (Alternative Press Expo) has revealed its dates and location: October 3-4 2015 at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose. This is by all accounts a fine spot for a show, and the new San Jose-based APE sounds like its off to a good start. There is a one day overlap with CXC in Columbus, but what are ya gonna do—even the CAF circuit is busting out these days.

§ Short Run, the indie themed event held in Seattle, has announced its dates: Saturday, October 31st at the Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center.

WHAT?! That’s right: get ready for a “scary” good time with Short Run as we take over Halloween afternoon with comix, zines, art books, mask-making, experimental animation, and much more. There will be both tricks and treats with 250 exhibitors under the Space Needle.

WHERE??!! Yes, it’s true: our beloved Washington Hall will be under construction this entire year as they make much needed renovations. In 2015, we’ll be returning to Seattle Center (site of the very first Short Run festival), and this time, we’ll be in the grand, expansive Fisher Pavilion. We are excited to offer both exhibitors and attendees wider aisle space in this new venue!
WHO?… Well, stay tuned! We’ll be announcing our 2015 special guests soon, as well as opening applications for this year’s exhibitors. We had such an incredible experience with our international guests last year, that we will continue to bring comix artists from around the world to Seattle.

Sounds like a good time.

§ ELCAF (The East London Comics Festival) has announced it’s expanding to two days this year, June 20-21, at a venue to be named later. This show has been getting a strong reputation for indies and it’s doubling in size. Applications are also open. (h/t Zainab)

§ Finally, April’s Lineworks NW, the Portland, OR based indie fest has announced its first four guests: Daniel Clowes, Lisa Hanawalt, Lisa Congdon and Jay Howell. Clowes and Hanawalt are best known for their comics; Congdon is afire artist and Howell does animation designs for such things as Bob’s Burgers. All four have heavy multi-media portfolio, and mixing up a CAF with guests from allied arts and animation is a very smart move and probably something we’ll see a lot more of.

More CAF news coming! If you have info on a show you would like to pass long, please email The Beat at comicsbeat at gmail dot com.

The East London Comics and Art Festival was awesome this year. Alexis and I had a table, I sold a whole load of zines and prints - if you missed it, you can still pick them up in my shop. 

Photo by Sarah McIntyre - check her big writeup on her blog!

Responsible for some of last year’s most visually arresting comics in the form of Winter’s Knight: Year One, Robert Ball’s next project is going to be launched at ELCAF: ‘Dark Times’.

With an immediately distinctive style, his polygon…y artwork stands out – but here he seems to be working on a less angular, more realistic artistic style. Interestingly, this also seems to have more scale than his past comics, as well, focusing on what looks to be a dystopic future in which human bodies pile up in scrapheaps, too many to get rid of.

And the style keeps changing, from what the previews suggest. One section even reminds of Frank Miller’s ‘Sin City’, in fact. This is an interesting project from an artist who keeps on experimenting and pushing his work. Look out for it at ELCAF!

If you’re not at ELCAF? Keep up to date with Robert’s work right here!

Astounding designer and comic-maker Kristyna Baczynski will be at ELCAF, debuting what look to be a number of new pieces. One will be her zine ‘Intrepid’ which she says mixes a short existential story with “jungle girl drawings”. Which, now there’s a combination nobody could refuse, right?

She’ll also be launching a new comic called ‘A Measure of Space’, which she announced a few days ago on Twitter. Here’s a look at the cover, as well as one of the risograph spreads within the book. Want to see more? See her at ELCAF!

Not heading to ELCAF? Then you can keep up with her work here instead!

Launching early for ELCAF (the full release isn’t slated until September), Jörg Tittel and John Aggs’ book ‘Ricky Rouse Has A Gun’ will be on offer at the SelfMadeHero booth. Possibly the most likely comic ever to get sued by Disney, the book takes aim at a certain familiar rodent, and the rest of his crew.

Billed as being a satirical action-comedy, the book is a manic take on US-China relations, as US army deserter Rick Rouse finds himself in China, where the only job he can get is on a knockoff Disney theme park. But when terrorists land in the grounds, he’s the only one who can save the day – only, he’s probably not allowed to take off that costume, because that’d break canon.

John Aggs will be on hand himself to sign copies of the book – and like I say, this is an early chance to get your hands on a book that nobody else will get to touch until September!

If you’re not at ELCAF? You can keep an eye on the book right here!

Isabel Greenberg, who can’t walk five minutes down the road without another well-deserved award being lobbed at her head, will be debuting a new zine at ELCAF. Spinning off from her Encyclopaedia of Early Earth, this one is called “Rites, Customs and Histories of the Great Empire of Migdal Bave”.

Featuring sketches, short stories, and more, this’ll be a collection of all sorts of things – it isn’t strictly speaking a comic, because there’s all kinds of other material in there as well. She’ll also be selling badges, her other comics, and maybe even a plate or two? I cannot confirm that as of yet. There may or may not be plates.

If you’re not at ELCAF? You can keep up with her work right here!

ELCAF is tomorrow, and all sorts of wonderous and startling comics and arts are going to be going on all day. Remember the Kokiri Forest from Ocarina of Time? It’s essentially going to be like that, only with more pixies floating through the sky at any given moment. It’s a magical sort of festival, and there’s more things going on than you could justifiably shake a deku stick at.

So to help you keep track of all the books you’ll be pining for across the rest of 2014, tonight I’ll be looking at some of the many projects that are launching or will be available to you. Previews Night!

Dan Berry will be launching a new book at the festival, called ‘The End’. With just 100 copies available tomorrow, each issue is embossed with a gold numbering, and should sell fairly quick, I’d imagine. The premise of the book is that one morning, people wake up to find that the number ’14′ has been daubed across walls all around the UK. Assuming it’s a viral marketing gimmick or something, they don’t pay too much attention – until the next day, when the number has been replaced with a ’13′. And so as the days go by, the numbers start ticking down.

Something supernatural is going on! Zounds, alors! Berry; best known for books like ‘The Suitcase’, ‘Carry Me’, and ‘Cat Island’; will be on hand to explain more.

If you’re not at ELCAF? You can keep up with Dan Berry’s comics here!