Happy Day After National Donut Day!

I hope the Timberland Regional Library realizes what a gem of a librarian they have with Kelsey Smith. She has become a regular figure at the Olympia Comics Festival, promoting reading and creativity through comic art. In 2012 she passed around a moveable feast of a jam comic. I got in it early but never saw the final results until recently.

The roster of artists is quite diverse: Jason Shiga, Steve Willis, Carter Welliver, Dominic Moreschi, Rhett Nelson, Harper, T.A. Nelson, Tom Dillon, Alex Paul, Lily, Brittany Dalberg, Anna Boyle, Phung Lu, Greg, Fiona Avacado, Aaron Brassea, Shannon Wheeler, Tim Basaraba, Greg Hatcher, Corin See, and Forrest Johnson.

Kelsey gave me permission to scan and post this. She told me there are still copies available if you ask at the Olympia Timberland Branch.

A Frank Talk on the Olympia Comics Festival

Frank Hussey of the Danger Room was the subject of an interview about the origins and purpose of the Olympia Comics Festival broadcast online on Discover Thurston!

Some nice shots of the expo in this very brief piece, including a few seconds where Shannon Wheeler endures my questions.

Olympia Comics Festival 2012, pt. 11

Triple book signings at the Danger Room with Mike Allred, Jason Shiga, and Shannon Wheeler. Casey Bruce is the retail moderator.
 
I hope the City of Olympia appreciates what a treasure it has in the Danger Room.

Olympia Comics Festival 2012, pt. 2

Two SWs, Shannon Wheeler and Steve Willis

I like this gig where the Danger Room guys assign me the task of interviewing great cartoonists at the Olympia Comics Festival. I used to interview and document cartoonists a lot during my City Limits Gazette days and didn't realize how much I missed that aspect of mixing librarianship with comix until the last couple years when I got roped into helping out in Oly.

This was probably one of the most seamless interviews in my experience-- mostly due to Shannon's impressive self-awareness as an artist and his willingness to speak frankly. I didn't feel like I had to pull nails out of this guy. He is a very modest, likeable, thoughtful and talented artist with a good stage presence. We really clipped along and covered a lot of ground in short time. Shannon is a cartoonist who has gone through a fascinating evolution in the last couple decades and is well worth following.

[Photo taken by Casey Bruce]

Olympia Comics Festival is Coming!

Whiteboard by (I hope have this right) Avery in the Danger Room advertising the Olympia Comics Festival! I have been given the assignment and honor of being the MC at the Shannon Wheeler discussion at 2 pm.

Olympia Comics Festival 2012

The Oly Comics Fest is around the corner! This year I'll have the honor of conducting a discussion with the amazing Shannon Wheeler at 2 pm.

I met Shannon at a past Oly Comics Fest, and am looking forward to hearing his story in much more detail. Hope some of you Morty the Blog readers can make it.