Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo Returns

Press Release:

Boston Comics Roundtable (BCR) and the Art Institute of Boston (AIB) are proud to announce the third annual Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE). MICE is Boston’s only show dedicated to alternative comics, ‘zines, and web comics. The 2012 expo features talented regional cartoonists, including Ignatz Award-winning Box Brown (Everything Dies), veteran comics parodist Robert Sikoryak (Masterpiece Comics), and 100 more indie artists on the rise.

With free admission, MICE 2012 is a great opportunity for anyone interested in the local independent comics scene to get a first-hand look at thousands of unusual, entertaining and interesting comics, as well as meet the creators. Over 100 comics artists and small publishers will be exhibiting.  The show will include demonstrations with professional artists and panel discussions on topics central to comics and an exhibit of original art.

“There’s so much exciting work being done in independent comics these days, but it’s a rare opportunity to be able to see such a great sampling of it one place,” said Dan Mazur, a MICE organizer. “The great thing about a show like MICE is that so many local creators get to gather together and connect with their fans, and with potential readers.”

The popularity of last year’s show was reflected in the fact that exhibitor tables for MICE 2012 sold out within three hours of going on sale online.

MICE will present a day-long slate of panel discussions and creative workshops, on topics including Comics and Medicine, Comics and the Art World, Comics and Religion, Injury-avoiding Exercises for Artists, and others.

Another new wrinkle for MICE this year is the addition of the NECAC (New England Comic Arts in the Classroom) Symposium, as an associated event.  NECAC is an organization that promotes the use of comics as an educational tool in K-16 classrooms. The symposium will be a three-hour event, offering workshops and discussions specifically aimed toward educators. It will be held on the same morning as MICE, and in the same building, creating a unique synergy between a creator-focused and educator-focused approaches to the art of comics.

MICE occurs on September 29 at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. For more information, please visit www.masscomics.com.

ABOUT BOSTON COMICS ROUNDTABLE
Boston Comics Roundtable draws local cartoonists and writers to collaborate, workshop and socialize since 2006. BCR publishes Inbound, an anthology of Boston-area independent comics, Outbound, a science-fiction comics anthology, and the horror anthology, Hellbound. Visit bostoncomicsroundtable.com for more information.

ABOUT THE ART INSTITUTE BOSTON / LESLEY UNIVERSITY
The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University is a college of visual arts offering the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, the two-year Advanced Professional Certificate, and the low residency Master of Fine Arts degree. In addition, continuing and professional education, intensive workshops, and pre-college courses are all available.

ABOUT R. SIKORYAK
MICE 2012 Guest of Honor R. Sikoryak’s cartoons and illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, Nickelodeon Magazine, Drawn & Quarterly, Raw, Fortune, Esquire, GQ, among many other publications, and on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He is the author of the graphic novel Masterpiece Comics (Drawn & Quarterly), and the co-author, with Michael Smith, of The Seduction of Mike (Fantagraphics), a comic book funded by the NEA. He was awarded an Artist’s Fellowship from The New York Foundation for the Arts for his comics adaptations of classic literature. He is in the Speakers Program of the New York Council of the Humanities. In his spare time, he creates performances, slide shows, and animation for downtown theater and independent films.

MA – Dinotopia Lecture

James Gurney, author and illustrator of the New York Times bestselling Dinotopia book series, speaks at Art Institute of Boston on Nov. 15th from 6:30-8:30pm. Following his lecture, Mr. Gurney will be signing copies of his books titled Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara, and Realism: How to paint what doesn’t exist. Cash and checks will be accepted for book purchases.

A short lecture and demonstration will be held on Tuesday, November 16 from 12:30 to 2pm at 601 Newbury Street, room N340/360. All are welcome!

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Art Institute of Boston – Room 215
700 Beacon Street, Boston, MA

MA – Hand Held Screening

Don Hahn and Mike Carroll screen their film in conjunction with AIB on November 9th.

Join AIB as we welcome producer and owner of Stone Circle Productions, Don Hahn on Tuesday, November 9th. Besides producing award winning films such as Disney classics Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, Hahn is also a painter, author, and director.

3:15pm, Room 215 at 700 Beacon Street: “Why We Create” presentation with Don Hahn

7pm, Marran Theater at 34 Mellen Street: Screening of Hand Held, a documentary film produced by Hahn about the Romanian children’s AIDS crisis in the early 1990s and chronicled by photographer Mike Carroll. Following the overthrow of the Communist regime in that country, Carroll photographed the crisis and the lives of these children over the next 20 years. Carroll will be in attendance as well.

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MICE Showcases Boston’s Independent Comics Scene

Press release:

First-ever Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo will be held at Art Institute of Boston on September 25, 2010

The Boston area’s independent and alternative comics scene has grown by leaps and bounds during the past few years, and it takes another step with MICE, the first-ever Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo. Presented by the Boston Comics Roundtable and the Art Institute of Boston (who also teamed up for the 2008 Boston ‘Zine Fair), MICE will be held at AIB’s 700 Beacon Street campus on Saturday, September 25th, from 10 am – 6 pm.

With over 50 comics artists and writers offering their work, as well as comics-themed panels and workshops, MICE will be a treat for local comics readers or anyone interested in the unusual, the creative, the entertaining and the outrageous. While most of the exhibitors will be from the Boston area, comics creators from all over New England and New York will be represented, including a contingent from the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont.

Visitors to MICE will find comics of all subjects and for all ages: serious graphic novels, exquisite hand-made artists’ books and photo-copied mini-comics and ‘zines, as well as traditionally-formatted comic books of all genres from outside the mainstream publishing world.

“The subject matter and art styles of these comics are as varied as the packaging,” says Dan Mazur, a member of the Boston Comics Roundtable and one of the show’s organizers. “The only limit to what indy cartoonists can create is their own imagination.”

Susan LeVan, Illustration Department Chair at the Art Institute of Boston, says that hosting an indy comics show complements the school’s comics-friendly curriculum. “MICE is the perfect event for AIB ,” says LeVan. “Many of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff are involved in the production or study of independent comics, graphic novels, webcomics, ‘zines, artists’ books, and related genres – all of which are part of the AIB curriculum. A number will participate as exhibitors, and the whole AIB community is eager to see what’s new on the Boston scene.”

MICE will also feature the debut of the latest anthology from the Boston Comics Roundtable: “Inbound 5: Comics About Food.” Featuring over 40 stories by Boston and New England cartoonists centered around the wide-ranging theme of “food,” this is the follow-up to 2009’s successful “Inbound #4: A Comic Book History of Boston,” which will also be available at the show.

MICE will also interactive workshops to learn techniques from comics artists, and panel discussions on the world of independent comics.

Besides the new “Inbound 5: Comics About Food,” several notable local comics creators will be presenting new books at MICE:

KARL STEVENS, (whose weekly strip “Whatever” ran for three years in the Boston Phoenix), will debut his autobiographical graphic novel, “The Lodger.”

Dorchester cartoonist PATT KELLEY (whose work graced the Weekly Dig’s cover earlier this year) will unveil the 2nd issue of his comic, “Parasitic Twins,” about the lives of circus freaks and the many hilarious tragedies that befall them, as well as a short-story collection, “All of Them Witches.”

LIZ PRINCE (whose “Will You Still Love Me if I Wet the Bed?” went from locally printed mini-comics to being published by indy heavyweight Top Shelf Productions), will be presenting the 2nd issue of her ongoing series, “I Swallowed the Key to My Heart.”

Brooklyn-based artist/writer PAT BARRETT will unveil issue #3 of his anthology comic, “Oak & Linden,” featuring the on-going story, “Petrified Girlfriend.”

Other Boston-area comics artist exhibiting at MICE will include:

Maris Wicks (“Romantic,” “Project Superior”)
Joe Quinones (“Wednesday Comics,” “Teen Titans Go!”)
Jesse Lonergan (“Joe and Azat,” “Flower & Fade”)
Cathy Leamy (“Geraniums and Bacon,” “Greenblooded”)
Dirk Tiede (“Paradigm Shift”)
Tim Fish (“Cavalcade of Boys,” “Trust/Truth”)
Zack Giallongo (“The Tenth Life of Pishio the Cat”)
Shelli Paroline (“Muppet Snow White,” “Harvest is When I Need You Most”)
Craig Bostick (“Go-Go Girl,” “Boy Trouble”)
Adam Miller (“ZombieBomb!”)

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About the Boston Comics Roundtable
Formed in 2006, the Boston Comics Roundtable brings local cartoonists and writers together to collaborate, workshop and socialize. Among BCR’s publications are “Inbound,” an anthology of Boston-area independent comics, “Outbound,” a science-fiction comics anthology, and the up-coming collection of New England-based horror comics, “Hellbound.” If you’re in the Boston metro area, join us for our next meeting. Visit www.bostoncomicsroundtable.com for more information.

About AIB
The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University is a college of visual arts, located in the student-friendly Kenmore/Fenway area of Boston. We offer the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, the two-year Advanced Professional Certificate, the low residency Master of Fine Arts degree, as well as continuing and professional education, intensive workshops, and pre-college courses.

MA – AIB Senior Illustration Show

Glovebox and the Fort Point Artist Community are sponsoring this year’s AIB illustration exhibition, featuring alumni and student work!

Artists include:

AIB Graduating Seniors:
Valerie Arruda, John Blanchette, Mary Curtin, Shane Depina, Ashley Henry, Marco Jimenez, Larissa Kimball, Robert Knowles, Roseanna Lane, Laura Mauriello, Rima Rahal, Alec Strickland, Andrea York, James Zink.

AIB Alumni:
Amanda Atkins, Kate Castelli, Ellen Crenshaw, Russ Gossett, Kevin Hebb, Keith MacLelland. 

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 ~ 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Midway Studios, 15 Channel Center Street, Boston, MA