APE: A Love Story

Fall in love with comics...again

 
Over the course of the last four months or so, Comic Vine has managed to be present for some relatively prominent comic book conventions. From the heavy coverage we did at the San Diego Comic Con, to the first ever Long Beach Comic Con; we were able to score a lot of interviews and to chat with many popular creators. This weekend, Comic Vine decided to attend APE, right in our backyard. I quickly realized that there is something unique about APE that makes it stand apart from all conventions, in that it stays the closest to the roots of the creative process. 'APE,' the Alternative Press Expo, has been held every year in San Francisco since 2000, acting as a stage for independent publishers, self publishers, and alternative cartoonists to showcase their hard work. Having at one time consisted of a single day event; the convention has grown over the course of the last three years and now features special guests and panels, and spans the entire weekend (both Saturday and Sunday). Each year it has gotten bigger as more and more independent writers, artists and creators come to showcase their hard work.
 
While the majority of the mainstream comic book industry managed to keep relatively busy at "BACC" (Big Apple Comic Con hosted by Wizard) in New York City this past weekend, I headed into the "city by the bay" to check out the smaller convention. What I came face to face with was the creative process at it's best; a beautiful display of the passion that is so often lacking from mainstream conventions in general. Untouched by the overly commercial video game industry, and media giants that are Marvel and DC, was a venue for dreamers. APE is where independent creators come to show off a lifetime's worth of all of their hard work. It is a place where all the characters are original and the comic books are more often than not published at the local Kinkos, with love.

Roaming the (somewhat confusing and disorganized) isles of the Concourse Exhibition Center, I found myself drifting from one table to the next, leafing through the pages of the many stapled independent books; admiring their often outrageous plot-lines and eclectic interior art. I quickly realized the beauty of the venue that is APE when I opened up 'Brazilianoir,' a gorgeous story where everything from the art, mood and language is completely depicted in a noir style. Holding the rough pages I felt myself succumb to the world of Emily Stackhouse, a lovely and vibrant young woman whose personal style mimics that of the classic era she was channeling. It was then that I fell in love with her story. Sure, the book was rushed, the panels could have been better organized, the dialogue was somewhat brief and needed editing; but it was that raw artistic expression that really struck me. It is an element that is simply missing from main stream comic books, and it was effortlessly pouring out of Emily's pages. The use of light and dark that are such a staple of the 30's and 40's was executed brilliantly onto the panels of 'Brazilianoir.' Somewhere along the way I had forgotten what it was about comic books that made me fall in love with them in the first place. It was among these somewhat sloppy, rushed, stapled books that I realized the 'why' all over again. It was the understanding of all the time, effort and passion that goes into creating an incredible story that made me feel good. At that point I came to understand how important APE is. Had there been no venue for Emily, I may never have had the pleasure of immersing myself in her story and recalling the reasons why I truly love comic books; for the sheer fact that they are a brilliant form of artistic expression.