Past Events

 

JUNE 12, 2014
The  final Comics Underground ever. All good things….

• Paul Tobin & Ben Dewey brought about feline world domination with I Was the Cat.
• Cat Farris captivated the crowd with the adventures of Flaccid Badger.
• Jeff Parker performed a miracle and transformed every single person in attendance into a massive Aquaman fan.
• Joëlle Jones told stories about her mother. And drank. A lot.
• Matt Fraction closed us out in style with Sex Criminals.

MARCH 13, 2014
Oh, March, you treated us well.

• Jeannette Langmead forced us to learn how to embed YouTubes in Keynote presentations just so she could play a clip from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ “Coming Out of Their Shells” tour. And it was good.
• Zack Soto blew us away with his ability to do a spot-on troll voice as he presented his comic The Secret Voice.
• Douglas Wolk summoned the entire creative team behind Judge Dredd: Mega-City Two present their mind-drokking take on the classic character.
• Erik got drunk again.

NOVEMBER 14, 2013
This time around, Comics Underground had a theme. Why? Because we wanted to! The theme was “Western,” and it was good.

• Kelly Sue DeConnick shared the first issue of her creepy, beautiful new book Pretty Deadly. 
• Frank Beaton provided a brief—yet informative!—history of dick jokes on the internet, as well as an excerpt from Outlaw Territory.
• Dark Horse Editor-in-Chief Scott Allie made some Firefly nerds very happy by teasing the new Zack Whedon-penned story Serenity: Leaves on the Wind.

AUGUST 8, 2013
From a post-apocalyptic super-woman to angry bugbears, this edition had it all. Go ahead, think of something. Anything. Guess what: It was had.

• Greg Rucka showed off the process behind designing the tough-as-nails heroine of Lazarus.
• Terry Blas took everybody on a field trip to Briar Hollow.
• Kory Bing brought mythical creatures to (super immature) life with Skin Deep.
• … and surprise guest Benjamin Dewey made everyone very, very sad with The Woeful Tale of Lil’ Meowskers.

MARCH 7, 2013
We teamed up with Dark Horse Comics—and legendary editor Diana Schutz—for a Will Eisner-themed installment of Comics Underground, in conjunction with Will Eisner Week celebrations happening across the country. Each guest put their own spin on a story from Eisner’s Last Day in Vietnam. Highlights included:

• Kelly Sue DeConnick showing off her killer Southern drawl.
• Kabuki-style audience participation with Matt Fraction.
• Brian Michael Bendis frantically googling “bomb sound effects” on his iPhone.
• A live score from violinist Erik Nebel.
• Dylan Meconis channeling her inner meathead.
• A snapshot of reporters at the Hanoi Hotel with Michael Avon Oeming.

JANUARY 10, 2013
A friendly medusa came out of a toilet! And some other stuff happened.

• Colleen Coover scared the bejesus out of everybody with a horrific, Hammer Horror-inspired horror tale.
• Jen Vaughn introduced the world to Avery Fatbottom, a renaissance faire detective.
• Jake Richmond and Modest Medusa reminded us all how goddamn delicious Chocodiles are.

OCTOBER 18, 2012
And then there were monkey masks.

• Up-and-coming cartoonist Lucy Bellwood shared a charming installment of her sea-faring adventure comic Baggywrinkles.
• Comics Underground favorites Jeff Parker and Benjamin Dewey donned monkey masks to present their Planet of the Apes comic.
• Nationally syndicated political cartoonist Matt Bors introduced his new animated character the Avenging Uterus—with a little voiceover help from Back Fence PDX’s Frayn Masters.
• Leia Weathington and Erika Moen got hilariously “adults only” with their  pornographic collaboration “Easy.”

AUGUST 2, 2012
Shit got real.

• Writer and artist Benjamin Dewey presented tragedies from his tragically hilarious Tragedy Series.
• Writer and artist Suzette Smith took attendees on a sex-filled intergalactic adventure with The Man Who Dies.
• Writer Sara Ryan delved into Portland’s sordid karaoke scene with Flytrap.
• Writer Matt Fraction took the audience on a behind-the-scenes tour through his first issue of Hawkeye.

APRIL 26, 2012
For the Stumptown Comics Fest edition of Comics Underground, we mixed things up a bit with live music and crash course in comic book history—plus an Iambic pentameter-spouting sea creature and a sneak preview of a beloved series.

• Writer and artist Jonathan Case presented material from his charming Shakespearean creature-feature Dear Creature.
• Writer Joe Keatinge delved into comic book history, with a presentation about Captain Marvel.
• Writer Jen Van Meter creator of the much-loved series Hopeless Savages, presented brand-new, never-been-seen-before Hopeless Savages material.
• Writer and artist Michael Allred and his lovely wife Laura closed out the night with a set of live music from their band the Gear.

NOVEMBER 17, 2011
Comics Underground #3 featured comics by kids, filthy web comics, a gorgeous/sad story involving a fox, and a saber-toothed vampire.

• Artist and writer Dylan Meconis presented her story Outfoxed.
• Artists and pals Ron Chan and Sean Kelley showed off their webcomic Roy’s Boys.
• Artist and writer Mike Russell did a bunch of great things, but brought the house down with some Sabertooth Vampire.
• Ryan Alexander-Tanner teaches kids how to make comics! He brought in some of his students’ best work to show off, including Jurassic Park vs. Star Wars vs. Indiana Jones vs. Captain Picard vs. Superman. Yes.

Want more details? As he did for the first Comics Underground, Christian Lipski wrote up the event for the Portland Examiner.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011
Comics Underground #2 featured an homage to Joss Whedon, teen witchery, plenty of music, and a peek behind the scenes of an Eisner-winning story. We had fun.

• Writer Jamie S. Rich and artists Joëlle Jones and Nicolas Hitori De collaborate on the Oni Press-released mean-teen-witch comic Spellcheckers.
• Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick has worked on a number of Marvel Comics titles, including the well-received Osborn miniseries. She presented a comic from a recent anthology about New York venue CBGB, published by Boom! Studios.
• Artist Natalie Nourigat is a member of Periscope Studio and creator of Between Gears and Over the Surface. She read some original autobiographical comics.
• Greg Rucka has written Stumptown, Whiteout, Queen & Country, The Punisher, and much more. Rucka presented the script for his Eisner-winning story “Post Mortem.”

JUNE 23, 2011
The first Comics Underground took place at the Jack London on Thursday, June 23, 2011, and a goddamn delightful time was had by all, except maybe the organizers, who might’ve had a few panic attacks related to technical difficulties that are now all ironed out, promise. Guests included:

• Jeff Parker and Erika Moen (Bucko)
• Jim Hill (Dead Don’t Die)
• Lisa Rosalie Eisenberg (I Cut My Hair)
• Sarah Oleksyk (Ivy)

You can read the Portland Examiner‘s preview of that first event here.