Expo 2001

    (Small Press Expo, 2002)
™ and © Small Press Expo

Although last year’s Small Press Expo was canceled, the show still goes on in the form of the annual compilation that typically accompanies it. Like its predecessors, Expo 2001 is an excellent showcase for the best of today’s newer and independent talent.

Weighing in at a massive 368 pages and containing more than 60 features, this volume is about as eclectic as such a collection can get. Included are works from such small-press “veterans” as Chris Staros, Dean Haspiel, and Matt Madden, as well as many more pieces from lesser–known but promising creators. Pete Sickman–Garner’s “Game Time,” Sebastian Frey’s “Cactus Love,” and Dan Zettwoch’s “Northwestern Parkway” are only a few of the standouts, and there are many, many more.

There are a handful of head–scratching, why–bother stories throughout the volume, but this is to be expected with such a large body of talent; it’s unlikely that even seasoned fans of independent comics will enjoy every single feature. Table of contents pages list in order what appears, but inclusion of page numbers would have been nice; their absence makes it more difficult to find a particular creator’s contribution, especially in a collection this size. But at eight bucks, fans of the small press can’t go wrong. And, as per usual, proceeds go to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, so there’s absolutely no reason not to pick up this book.

— Jim Johnson
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