Photo of Alex’s studio.

This was on the heels of finishing my spring class, Writing for Graphic Novels, with the reigning Queen of Horror at SAIC, Beth Hetland - which was AMAZING. I used this residency to continue that work (without directly working on that story…) My graphic novel script is about a girl who turns into a deer, but I haven’t decided on the final visual form I want it to take. During this pseudo-residency, I worked on a DIFFERENT story with magical realism and deers to start sorting that out lol.

Photo of inked pages on Alex’s studio wall.

Cue: Doe, a 12-page, hand-drawn horror comic (that eventually will be watercolored). The final comic wouldn’t have been possible without mentorship from each co-instructor: Beth, Jeremy Tinder, and Madeleine Aguilar. All three are INCREDIBLE artists, but more importantly they are incredibly kind people ✨ Go follow them immediately!! Each instructor gave me a new perspective or something to chew on as I developed this comic, and it truly wouldn’t be what it is without each of them.

Photo of Alex’s studio wall.

But the other great part about this residency was a reunion of students from my Writing for Graphic Novels Class. Our “Long-form Divas cohort” provided support, camaraderie, and creative energy I sorely needed. Everyone should follow Gren and Kristen’s comic shenanigans!! Both of their works are funny, reflective, and sincere - but with completely different vibes. I LOVE IT ALL. I also felt so honored to see the development of other students’ works in the class. I didn’t know most of them before, but saw VERY cool work that reminded me why I love working with SAIC students so dang much.

Photo of Doe comics.

TLDR: This class was the best vacation ever with the best humans I could have hoped for!

Dana behind the table, and Dana speaking with one of the event volunteers

The event had some great artists present, here are some of the artists that I got to talk to, or whose work I particularly enjoyed:

• Tessa
• Ty Williams
• Frankie Downs
• Kelci D Crawford

After the show, Brent and I went to the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park and walked around the Hopewell mounds. It was nice to get outside and walk after sitting in the fest hall all day.

I had a wonderful time! Thanks to Stephanie for organizing, and to all of the volunteers, guests, and vendors for making it a great show!

It was great to meet up with Alex in person again; our lives have both kept us busy and and we haven’t had the opportunity to connect in person in over a year. Highlights of the trip include meeding her pet rabbit Ivy, Colectivo coffee, and watching K-Pop Demon Hunters.

Now, to talk about the Expo itself!

We tested out a slightly different display set up which seemed to work well. We keep fine tuning our table display but honestly I’m not sure how much of a difference the tweaks have made. I think having a simple set up and good quality zines and comics is the key to success at these events. And engaging with the visitors and talking to them about your work. Alex and I both have solid pitches that we repeat to visitors that show interest in any of our work on the table.

I was lucky enough to be tabling next to Eve of birding fame! We got to chat a little bit at Halftone earlier this year, and my boyfriend has a small collection of her work so I’d say we’re fans. It was nice to get to spend some more time talking and support each other during the event.

The show was packed with incredible artists and publishers. I picked up things from Iron Circus Comics, a beautiful print from Kyle Fewell, and a cute sticker from Erin Roseberry, just to name a few. Alex took some time to run around the vendor floor and make some purchases as well.

Along with tabling, I was able to participate in the figure drawing session that they held in one of the programming rooms! I love figure drawing and don’t have many opportunities to do it these days, so this was really a treat for me.

That’s all I have to say about CAKE for now! We were unable to attend any of the after-hours events, unfortunately. It was a busy weekend and Alex and I were both pretty exhausted after the weekend.

Looking forward to the next one!

Photo of Dana behind the DnA table.

This year, Halftone was in the same location but they had slightly more tables. I’m grateful to Cheyenne for continuing to host this event, and all of the volunteers that helped out. There were artists from across the midwest tabling, including Cincinnati based Robert Zant, and I was lucky enough to table next to Melon Press, a risograph press based in St. Louis.

I made a mistake and didn’t bring any of my cat zines to this fest, which I was super bummed about. However, I think it left some room on the table for some of our other things to shine. Alex’s new bun sticker sheets sold out pretty quickly along with our most recent sketchbook zines, which are typically slower to sell. I’m not sure if it’s because we had less at the table so there was more breathing room, or if it was because poeple are getting to know us and are more interested in following our work.

Next up is CAKE in Chicago! Get the details on our event page, and see you there!

Photo of Alex behind the DnA table.

Read on to see how it went!

I didn’t have a lot of time to walk around, but that didn’t stop me from meeting new folks and connecting with those I’ve met at other shows! My tablemate, Margarita Dikova, was an awesome artist and companion. On my short break, I made sure to grab official Detroit Zine Fest swag, and art from a few folks whose Instagram profiles I’ve creeped on for years waiting to join the show. But even though I didn’t make the rounds, the trading was ON FIRE at this show – in a way only zine shows do. It was so fun seeing folks work that way!

Photo of Alex’s DZF Haul in a pile including purchases and trades.

But the best part for me (besides meeting so many lovely visitors who were too kind about our work), was the exhibitor after party. It was so refreshing to sit in community with other exhibtiors after a show and share a meal. The DZF organizers did an amazing job cultivating that vibe with tasty food and fun party games to break the ice scattered throughout the venue.

I can’t WAIT for next year, and on the extremely unlikely chance they’re reading this: THANK YOU to the organizers and volunteers who make this show a smashing success every year :)

Alex standing next to the DnA table at CAKE

Read on to discover awesome artists!

I didn’t have much time to walk around, but I had the great privilege of seeing Trung Le Nguyen’s panel, Comics & Fairy Tales + get my copy of Magic Fish signed. Magic Fish is my all time favorite comic – so it was SO EXCITING to chat with Trung and hear more about his process. We also traded for some of his beautiful prints, and I picked up some of his mini comics (all amazing).

A photo of Alex’s CAKE haul with the items listed below.

In the time I did have to take a stroll, I got…

• A Cactus Kid comic and matching sticker from my kind and fun tablemate, Emmanuel Guerrero
• A Bobby Hill slut sticker (obsessed) + minizine from fellow CAKE volunteer and awesome human, Andrea Pearson of Aquatic Panda Distro
• The newest Cool Teen Mothman zine + a cool crow skull sticker from Emily Kardamis
• A fun ‘weapon of choice’ sticker from Tess Eneli Reid
• The lovely Song for Medusa from Grace Desmarais
• A cute sticker from Alex Willan (who was nice enough to drop it off after we bonded about Louisville, haha)

So my haul might be small but it’s MIGHTY GOOD!

Alex holding up her fingers for the number two on the second morning before CAKE

It was a hot, whirlwind of a weekend - but I’m so honored I shared space with amazing artists and cool humans for a few days in my home city :) Here’s to another good show in 2025!

A photo of Dana doing her reading, and the cover art for her comic.

I was rushing the weeks before the fests to finish my newest comic project, Devoted, a victorian fantasy romance. When I saw the post asking for volunteers to do live readings at the Comics Club, I was initially hesitant to do it. Alex encouraged me, like any good friend, and I decided to go for it. I’m really glad I did! First of all, the event itself was great. I laughed at some readings and got properly freaked out by others (I’m looking at you Beth!). Mine was simple, and I was honestly surprised that people went out of their way after my reading to tell me that they enjoyed it. I have a pretty intense case of imposter syndrome and have a hard time looking at my work objectively so it always feels special when someone says they enjoy my work.

Keep reading to hear about the fest the next day!

Two photos of the table display, one on it’s own and one with Dana standing proudly behind it!

The fest itself was also great. Tom and Ren do a wonderful job organizing and hosting the event. As soon as I came in, a volunteer pointed me toward my table and Tom checked on me multiple times throughout the day to make sure everything was going well. These kinds of things make a huge difference in the vendor experience, which I think also feeds into the experience of the attendees.

During the fest I was excited to see familar faces. Some people had seen our display at CAKE the week prior, some people remembered us from other fests or the previous year. Alex and I are still relatively new to the zine scene so it’s cool that we’re starting to feel like a part of it. I’m happy to announce that I sold over 10 copies of Devoted, which I credit to Alex’s awesome outreach work on our instagram and newsletter, and also to the reading (which Alex also encourage me to do, basically she’s amazing and I wouldn’t be here without her help). Some family and friends stopped by to support the team as well.

There were also plenty of new people at the fest. I had some great conversations with people who had recently moved to the area and were looking to get more involved in the local zine or art scene more broadly. I grew up in the area, and I’m proud of where I’m from, so I was happy to talk up some of the great local stuff we have going on in Cincinnati. I also had some wonderful conversations with people about open source technology, public domain, and making digital art.

By the end of the day I was tired but very satisfied. We celebrated with pizza and beer, as you do after a long day of work.

I want to take a moment to throw out some thank you’s here. Thanks to Tom and Ren for organizing the event, thank you to Abby for running the Comics Club, thank you to Brent for helping run the table and generally being a great support for me and DnA, and thank you to everyone who attended the event! Looking forward to next year!

A photo of the poster for the event followed by a photo of the vendor hall.

We made the smaller space work and fit our display onto a half table for the event. Dana got to chat with some old Pals who remembered DnA from last years Halftone event, and also meet some new Pals!

A photo of the table display, and a photo of Dana talking to a guest at the table.

We were happy to be able to attend this event for the second year in a row and look forward to seeing the event continue to grow, and to meet more people in the Kentucky zine community!

Photo of the table display, followed by a photo of the inside of the venue full of artists and attendees

Over the winter, Dana has been working on some new acrylic display pieces to show off all of DnA’s wares. Alex created removeable stickers to decorate the acrylic and display pricing. After each fest, we evaluate what worked and what didn’t and try to come up with solutions to make it easier for attendees to see and reconize our brand and items. Washi tapes are hard to display, for example, and while we have gotten some solutions for them I think we are still trying to figure out the best way to show them at fests.

The fest was heavily attended, with a diverse crowd of people who came out to support the artists and search for cool, unique zines and printed matter. Dana was busy all day and hardly had time to socialize with the other vendors or do any shopping herself! Usually, she has a large pile of stuff at the end of the event, but this time she only made one purchase of a riso print from radriso, along with a healthy pile of zines she got through trades.

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Of all the fests Dana attended last year, Detroit Zine Fest was far and away her favorite. The organizers provide so much support for the vendors. There is a quiet room to rest, a food truck outside the venue for lunch, and the volunteers and venue staff are always available to help you out if you need it. If you are nearby, Dana definitely recommends making the trip to go to this fest! Thank you to the organizers, Yvie and Yahsmin, the volunteers, venue staff, all of the vendors, and all of the attendees for making this fest feel so welcoming!

We will be doing a livestream over on instagram before each fest to announce the details and feature any new items that will be releasing at each fest, and you can always check our events page to keep up to date with all of our upcoming events.