SPX Stockholm 2009

Cartoonist and editor Mikael Sol, showcasing the new luxury merchandise for the web-based magazine babian.

On request I'll start writing some of my reports, reviews etc. in English, and I'll start with a short report from Small Press Expo Stockholm 2009.

Kristina Kolehmainen, head of the festival.

This was the 11th version of this annual festival, which is always held at Kulturhuset (the Culture House) in the middle of Stockholm, and always organized by the ever-present, ever-vigilant, never-tiring Kristiina Kolehmainen, the head of Serieteket (the Swedish Comics Library), located in the same building.

The main floor, with all the publishers, fanzine-makers etc.

American publisher Chris Staros (Top Shelf) inaugurates the festival.

SPX Stockholm has grown rapidly over the last few years, along with the comics culture of Sweden, and is today an important meeting place for everyone in the business, as well as a showcase for the general public. Both big publishers and fanzine makers has SPX as the date for which to release a major part of their yearly production, and the evenings before and during the festival are jam-packed with release parties all over Stockholm.

Cartoonists Ainur and Tinet Elmgren showcase their new fanzines.

The feminist cartoonist group Dotterbolaget (affiliated company/company of daughters - sorry untranslatable Swedish word play there).

Walking around in the rooms on the third floor of Kulturhuset showed just how vibrant, expansive and innovative Swedish comics culture is right now. There were so many tables showing all kinds of comics, from the strange and bizarre, through the autobiographical and more sedate to the commercially oriented. All styles were present, and the buzz from both the creators and the general public was noticeable.

Publisher Chris Staros and cartoonist Jeffrey Brown.

What has also become noticeable is the interest shown from outside of Sweden. Several other countries were present, most prominent the Americans from Top Shelf, Chris Staros and Brett Warnock, who at the moment are in the process of publishing the work of several Swedish artists (including Niklas Asker's Second Thoughts which was just recently released in English), and artist Jeffrey Brown, whose book Clumsy was just out in Swedish from the publisher Galago.

All in all, this was probably the best SPX Stockholm ever, and the "repercussions" of all the contacts that were made during these few hectic days will show in many more publishing endeavours back and forth across borders during years to come. Stay tuned.