Originally published at INKKC.COM on April 24th, 2009
Within the Aladdin’s Shrine’s appropriately titled “multipurpose” room was a hundred or so cartoonists with an array of eclectic tales for trade and sale. Slightly more organized than a garage sale, SPACE was a vast and seemingly aimless arrangement of comic book underground culture. Discombobulating at first, SPACE contained a nearly infinite range of genres: old-school sci-fi, adult-themed vamp action, historical romance, autobiography, anthologies, and more anthologies. It was apparent that no list could contain the event’s smorgasbord of stories. Entering SPACE early Saturday morning I found myself drawn to the event’s amateurish charm. There was Cybor (the story of a cybernetic pig), and Straw-man (a super-powered bendable straw) and Big Breasted Vampire Death (its voluptuous vampires killing people, duh). Much of this kind of genre-rehashing imitates poorly (in many cases imitates artists who are not worth imitating) but there is an obsessions in their eccentric visions that is fascinating. The art was crass and sometimes manic, likened to a bathroom wall covered with doodles of an unknown pulp hero. These cartoonists produced tales so brazen and unabashedly raw (under-cooked, not vulnerable) that were much like an enthusiastic garage band filled with so much passion, it was difficult not to stare in awe.