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Mini-Comics Day 2012 in Minneapolis

Mini-Comics Day in Minneapolis was a whole lot of fun… of the numerous cartoonists who showed up, at least 15 comics were completed (pictured below… apologies if I didn’t get a photo of yours for some reason). Afterwards we went to Grumpy’s to drink, eat tater tots, and give out the 2012 Stapler Award for the Best Minnesota Mini-Comics Day Mini-Comic. Eric Lorberer (Editor of Rain Taxi Review of Books), Courtney Algeo (Editorial Director of Paper Darts and Marketing Coordinator at The Loft Literary Center) and Miles Johnson (of the Read My List blog and Altered Esthetics gallery) deliberated for quite a while to determine which mini was the best one by their subjective standards… and a winner was picked! The award went to Athena Currier for her very deserving entry “My Little Sister Phoebe Just Graduated from College,” which made me laugh out loud when I read it… I wish I had remembered to take a picture of her with the award. Additionally, last year’s winner of the Stapler, Dan Murphy, was given an honorable mention for his entry “The Spider Lady,” which was good, because if he had won we would have had to change the name of the award to the Dan Murphy award.

Here are some (bad) pictures from the event, and pictures of the completed minis.

The Stapler-Award-winning comic by Athena Currier

The runner up, by Dan Murphy

Dan’s comic with the cover opened:

A.Z. McGinty‘s untitled comic:

“The Bridge” by Carlos Merino:

“Darkly Swoops” by Chris Beck (unforutnately mangled by my bag):

“Danno and the Giant Apple” by Danno Klonowski

“The Fledgling” by Erika Finne

“Hazards” by Joe Combs

Untitled mini by Lars Kommienezuspadt

“Finger Football” by Matt Reints

“Stinky & Inky” by Michelle Silva

“The First-Ever Mini-Comic About Making a Mini-Comic” by Mike Toft

“Abra-Ka Deborah” by Thomas Boguszewski

“Shift” by Vivian Meger and her Dad

“Plotz #2” by Stwalley

#minicomicsday2012 is Today! (May 26th)


Pictured above: The 2012 Stapler Award for the Best Minnesota Mini-Comics Day Mini-Comic

You’re encouraged to use the hash tag #minicomicsday2012 for whatever you may want to use a hashtag for.

Cartoonists around the world will be drawing and printing a mini-comic in a day. Any cartoonist anywhere can participate.

There are event sites this year in:
Sacramento, CA
San Francisco, CA
Baltimore, MD
Minneapolis, MN
Keene, NH
Albuquerque, NM
Norfolk, VA
and McCleary, WA
(and we had a site in Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK participate last month)

If you live near one of those locations, go here for the details of your local event.

Mini-Comics Day Minneapolis 2012 (This Saturday, May 26th) Info… You Could Win the Stapler Award! Judges Announced.


Pictured above: 2011 Stapler Award Winner Dan Murphy holds his prize.

The self-descriptive “2012 Stapler Award for the Best Minnesota Mini-Comics Day Mini-Comic” will be given out around 8PM or so in the side room at Grumpy’s downtown after the event at Book Arts. You will need to submit three copies of your completed-that-day comic to enter.

This year’s judges for the “2012 Stapler Award for the Best Minnesota Mini-Comics Day Mini-Comic”

Eric Lorberer, Editor of Rain Taxi Review of Books
Courtney Algeo, Editorial Director of Paper Darts and Marketing Coordinator at The Loft Literary Center
Miles Johnson of the Read My List blog and Altered Esthetics gallery (hosts for the upcoming Lutefisk Sushi Volume E project)

UPDATE: Besides the award, there will be cool prizes for the winner… a $25 gift certificate to Big Brain Comics courtesy of Big Brain Comics, and a free pass to the Northeast Ride ($25 value), courtesy of the Northeast CDC.

Here is the previously posted event info:

Mini-Comics Day is this Saturday! On Mini-Comics Day, participating cartoonists draw and print a mini-comic in a day. Any cartoonist in the world can participate in the event… if you would like to host an event in your community, contact us and we’ll get you set up.

Here is the information for those of you participating in the Twin Cities:

The Minnesota Center For Book Arts
1011 Washington Ave S
Minneapolis, MN
May 26th, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
A copier will be available on site. Copies will cost $.02 each, but Big Brain Comics and Big Time Attic will generously be helping defray some of the expense.
Table space will be provided on a first come, first served basis.
Bring your own drawing materials.
Afterwards, we will move a block over to Grumpy’s to give out “The Stapler Award for the Best Minnesota Mini-Comics Day Mini-Comic 2012.” To enter we will need three copies of your mini-comic before 7:30PM.
Grumpy’s
1111 Washington Ave S
Minneapolis, MN
Contact: Steven Stwalley
webmaster(at)cartoonistconspiracy.com

This may be a good opportunity for you to get a mini-comic ready for the upcoming Lutefisk Sushi Volume E project happening at Altered Esthetics in November.

Help promote the event! Here are assets for the Minneapolis event by 2011 Stapler Award Winner Dan Murphy.

Here is a poster you can print and hang.

Here are flyers to leave around town.

Here are graphics for your website, social-networking site, etc.:

If you use facebook, you may want to sign up here.