Monkey Shines: APE 2002
On the weekend of February 9, Comic-Con International welcomed a record attendance of 3,000 people to APE. Held at Fort Mason on the San Francisco Bay, APE hosted over 200 of comics' finest alternative and literary cartoonists beneath the first sunny skies in the event's history.
The CBLDF was represented at the show by new Executive Director Charles Brownstein, former Fund staffer Jeff Macey, and CBLDF road warrior Kyle Cunningham. The trio met a steady stream of current and new members over the weekend as they arrived. "Our placement was fantastic this year," Brownstein said. "CCI really went out of their way to put us in the best position to meet and greet the folks who support us." Over the weekend, the Fund shook hands with hundreds of comics fans whose purchases and donations raised $1,684 for free speech.
On Saturday night of the show, the Cartoon Art Museum opened their doors for a joint fundraiser in their stunning new galleries. Attendees were able to view the Museum's exquisite collection of artwork, which spans the over 100 years of comics and animation art history. Jeff Smith was in attendance to celebrate the close of his Bone Fragments exhibit, which included several original pages and concept drawings from the award winning series. Other exhibits included You Say Pirarro, I Say Bizarro, a selection of strips, drawings, and paintings by syndicated cartoonist Dan Pirarro, and Gorey at Bay, which included a selection of work from the master cartoonist. Other masters on view were Will Eisner, R. Crumb, Hayao Miyazaki, and Winsor McCay.
Later that night the hot ticket was the Belazo Gallery's Inkpushers show curated by Mats!? and sponsored by Last Gasp. The event flowed out onto Mission Street where nearly 100 cartoonists and readers waited for their chance to get inside. James Kochalka, Batton Lash, Ben Catmull, Gabrielle Bell, Laurenn McCubbin, Tristan Farnon, and Jason Turner were among the cartoonists the Fund spoke to before the crowd thinned enough to go inside.
Upstairs, visitors were greeted by a display of comics involving birds and buildings in flight by Andrew J. Schoultz and a selection of pages from Hi-Horse's Andrice Arp. Animation by Kristine Kryttre was displayed alongside a memorial hanging of work by Jim Osbourne. Mats!? contributed several one-of-a-kind comics, including a magnetic comic and the floor sized board game Skid Row A Go Go, which was played by tossing a fuzzy die and walking around the board until someone achieved the game's object of killing themself. Punk zinester Myq assembled a wall of underground comics, beside a selection of strips and drawings about children by Steve Weissman. Marc Bell, Sam Henderson, Jordan Crane, and Ron Rege Jr. contributed stunning comics murals, and Jeff Roysden contributed a room of blacklight paintings.
Apart from the stunning array of art parties and fine comics, APE visitors also were treated to a selection of thoughtful programs, including panels with Jeff Smith and Judd Winick, as well as three panels moderated by Fund director Brownstein: Webcomics, with Scott McCloud, Tristan Farnon, Patrick Farley, Justine Shaw, and Derek Kirk; The Long Run: Comics with Ongoing Characters featuring Jeff Smith, Batton Lash, and Carla Speed McNeil; and Minicomics with Trevor Alixopulos, Kevin Huizenga, Rachel Hartman, and Ben Catmull.
