Genghis Con this weekend!

Hey Friends, Fans, Freaks, and Followers, Genghis Con 2011 is just a scan few minutes away. Been meaning to update, but the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of madness. Awesome, awesome madness. SO, here's the news and links to some stuff we think is important, so let's get to the hype.

Firstly: big CONGRATS to Joyce Brabner and Justin Coulter, the organizer and artist of the Harvey Pekar Memorial Statue for achieving their Kickstarter goal. Which means that the statue will be built, but just because they met their goal, doesn't mean you can't still be a part of this awesome thing, get in on those awesome incentives, by donating even more money to the cause! It's an awesome awesome thing for the city and Harvey Pekar's legacy, and comics in general, but independent comics specifically.

Secondly, big thanks to the boys at the Comics Are GO! podcast, for having John G and Kevin Czap on to rap about Genghis Con, check out the Genghis Con special edition (posted on 11/11/11). Everybody had a great time, and I think we even said some halfway intelligent things about comics and the show! Though, engineer extraordinaire Matt Hess may not have said anything... he can be mysterious. At any rate, it's a fun podcast to listen to while you're drawing into the wee hours of the night.

I also want to add a note, especially for the out-of-towners coming in from parts unknown to attend Genghis Con at The Beachland, there are a plethora of shops on Waterloo to consider while you're here in the neighborhood. After you've had your mind blown by all the awesome exhibitors at Genghis Con, starting way down by East 156th is Arts Collinwood, The Head Shop and Cloud 9 (which I think is new-ish) ... right next door to the Beachland is the record store run by a cat named Vinyl (that's not slang, it's an actual cat!), Music Saves, and Native Cleveland, a store that sells little pieces of the actual city you can buy, then down a ways at E, 160th is the nostalgic nerdtopia Star Pop, packed to the gills with toys and stuff of yesteryear, then just little further is Blue Arrow Recordst and their boutique. If you've never been to Blue Arrow it's worth it just to check out the floor alone (it's made of record sleeves), but ON that floor they have an awesome selection of weird old underground comix and magazines and tons of the most oddball paperbacks and pulps, oh... and records! Waterloo is definitely a perfect place to spend the afternoon knocking out all your X-Mas shopping and walking off that T-Giving Feast.

Lastly, we wanted to link to the updated info about Carol & John's Comics big Black Friday Midnight Madness Sale/Party. If you're in town Friday night before the con, it's definitely a great thing to get into. They have a ton of independent comics they've got marked down to a buck, just thousands of comics. It's a pretty good time to get together and nerd out on some comics too. It's a pretty fun time! Kung Fu Bob will probably be playing cartoon music!

Okay, everybody, have a good holiday! Be thankful, eat food, and gear up in anticipation for the best Saturday of November! I'll probably be posting again before the show, so stay tuned!

Genghis Con 2011 Hypemobile

Another awesome poster for this year's show, this time by Kevin Fagan! A lot of Kevin's work looks like he's a complete and total acid casualty, but he's really not. In real life he's the most square and normal, average, everyday Cleveland Schmoe. That's why he's one of our heroes here at G.C. HQ.

Hey, but shout out to Frank Santoro over at The Comics Journal and Kevin Czap for writing that great Cleveland Comics Scene Report.

Big thanks to Mike SanGiacomo for the mention in this past Friday's Plain Dealer, you can check out the piece HERE. Check out some of Mike's comics, Tales of The Starlight Drive-In!

More updates coming in the next week or so. Stay tuned!

Genghis Con 2011 News!

GENGHIS CON RAPIDLY APPROACHES! Saturday, November 26th, 2011 is just a few short weeks away!

Here's the poster drawn by John G, this year referencing the current climate of Protests and Occupations that are happening all over the country (and the world). Occupy Wallstreet in New York, since it's inception, has been a constant source of activity and inspiration, while Occupy Oakland has ramped up really hard over the last few weeks culminating with a General Strike as of TODAY. Occupy Cleveland itself appears to be working with The City, and Cleveland's Police.

At any rate, this poster is in the tradition of referencing current events in the same way John G's Genghis Con 2009 poster was a reaction to the police brutality in Pittsburgh during a G20 summit. Last year John G's poster was a shout out about Chilean Miners stuck in that mine.

With that, this year, our THIRD Genghis Con, is looking to be the biggest and best yet. We'll get a bunch of updates up shortly, but for now we have one announcement and a couple links to include in this blog post.

• Firstly, the announcement. On the one hand: the show this year will be moving up an hour to 11AM to 5PM, so it will be opening and closing earlier. On the other hand: THE BAR WILL BE OPEN! Huzzah!

• Genghis Con itself now has a facebook fan page, here: Genghis Con Cleveland and there's also a facebook event page, here: Genghis Con 2011 and we also have a twitter feed here: @thegenghiscon

• One of our co-conspirators and the artist responsible for this GC2011 Flyer, Kevin Czapiewski currently has an awesome comix art exhibit (titled Czap!) hanging at Blackbird Baking Company in Lakewood. The show hangs until December 4th (which will give our out of town visitors the opportunity to stop by the Blackbird and check it out while experiencing some of their amazing breads or pastries (feel free to email us if you would like recommendations))- if you're IN town haven't seen it or had any Blackbird in your life, you're assuredly missing out.

• No link to the event just yet, but we'd like to mention that Carol & John's Comic Book Shop will be having their annual Black Friday Midnight Madness Sale from 7pm to Midnight on Friday, November 25th, which is really just a huge party at the store. If you're in from out of town a night early, this party is bananas!

• The popular comics podcast COMICS ARE GO! will be having a Genghis Con Roundtable show in the coming weeks, but we assure you, with nearly 100 past episodes in the bank, at least some of them are worth listening to: CHECK THEM OUT HERE! We highly recommend the Gary Dumm special edition and the Hellboy special edition, but also any update with Mike Sangiacomo and if you figure out which one is a DERF interview, let us know because that one was awesome.

Thanks for checking us out, we look forward to seeing you all on the 26th at The Beachland Ballroom! Keep checking back for updates until then!

Genghis Con 2011, November 26th at The Beachland Ballroom

The Small Press Comic Convention, Genghis Con, returns to Cleveland on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 26th, 2011, from noon to 6 pm at the Beachland Ballroom at 15711 Waterloo Road Cleveland, OH 44110. This is the third year for the convention, which will draw artists, writers, cartoonists, and many other independent comics champions from all over the Mid-West and beyond.

In November of 2009, the founders of Genghis Con set out to establish a Small Press and Alternative Print Media Convention in Cleveland that served as a showcase and converging point for the talent and craftspeople of the region that exists between Michigan, Western Pennsylvania, and all over Ohio. Focusing on the art and language of comics and visual storytelling was the priority. What happened at The Beachland Ballroom that Thanksgiving weekend was a raging success, and everyone that came, exhibitors and attendees alike, had a great time.

In 2010, Genghis Con proved that the success of the debut event wasn't a fluke. Again, people came from all over the map to meet at The Beachland and engage each other with an open exchange of artwork, narratives, and ideas, as well as to sell, buy, and trade the mostly self-published, independent comics and zines, as well as other forms of print media and artwork, that were the focus of the afternoon.

This November, in 2011, for the third year the Genghis Con organizers are excited and committed to repeating all the things that made the first two conventions so successful, but there are some plans in motion for making this year the best Genghis Con yet. At this point, the objective of the organizers is to continue this convention as an annual tradition for the city of Cleveland so that everyone knows that every Thanksgiving weekend, every year, Genghis Con will be happening. Keep an eye on thegenghiscon.com for further announcements as they start to roll out leading up to November 26th.

Further information, and a growing list of guests and exhibitors will be posted as we start to fill this year's roster, and book the guests.

Anyone interested in exhibiting, please email genghisconcleveland@gmail.com, space is limited, but it's still early (as of this posting). We're mostly focused on independent, DIY, alternative comics and cartoonists that do graphic narratives and sequential art, but we're also open to writers, printmakers, zinesters, small press publishers, and practitioners of other forms of independent print media. The show is All Ages and family friendly, so please keep that in mind.

Kevin Czap!

Flier for Genghis Con 2011 by Cleveland small press overlord Kevin Czapiewski!

Kevin is the Iron Fist behind the comics anthology PUPPYTEETH (which is on sale right now, so do your shelves a favor and order them up, immediately), and the creator of scrolling webcomic, Spoilers. He also teaches The Art of Comics, rights about comics on The Comics Cube. Overall, this kid is dominating!

Getting stoked for Genghis Con 2011, Saturday November 26th, at The Beachland Ballroom!

Genghis Con 2011, Only 6 Months Away!

Genghis Con 2011, Saturday November 26th, 2011, Noon to 6pm.
Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo, Cleveland, Ohio.