With a few short weeks to go until SPX 2025 opens its doors, the Beat has compiled a merged panel and workshop schedule so you can plan your visit. This year’s Small Press Expo will take place – as ever – at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center on September 13 and 14.
According to their press release, SPX 2025 will feature a whopping “500 creators, 280 exhibitor tables, 50 publishers, 22 programming panels and 18 hands-on workshops to introduce attendees to the amazing world of independent and small press comics”.
On top of that, SPX 2025 will also feature “over 140 books” debuting at the show with some of their highlighted titles including:
- Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy, by Paul Karasik, Lorenzo Mattotti and David Mazzucchelli (Pantheon Graphic Library)
- Flip, by Ngozi Ukazu (First Second)
- Brownfield Action Family #1, by Ted May (Revival House Press)
- With My Life, by Natalie Norris (self-published)
- Valley Valley, by Audra Stang (Frog Farm)
- Planet of 1000 Moons, by Michael S. Bracco (Automation Press)
- Who Killed Nessie?, by Paul Cornell and Rachael Smith (Avery Hill Publishing)
For more info about the event – including a full list of exhibitors – check out their website – and for our rundown of the panel/workshop schedule, scroll on.
Note: All workshops need to be signed up for in advance. The sign up sheet can also be found here.
SPX 2025 DAY ONE — SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
[Opening Hours: 11am-7pm]
11:00am – 12:30pm | WORKSHOP: Choose Your Own Path – Making Interactive Comics with Multiple Endings
(with Bread Tarleton)
> Location: Forest Glen Room
Choose Your Own Path stories provide a fun way to make zines come to life in the reader’s hands! In this workshop, you’ll learn about what makes these stories work and how to create interactive zines that are funny, scary, or personal. By the end, you’ll have an 8-page zine with branching paths, a story with multiple endings, and the knowledge of how to make them yourself!
11:00am – 12:30pm | WORKSHOP: Silly Goose: Joke Slam! (All Ages)
(with Coco Fox, Alex Driussi)
> Location: Glen Echo Room
Calling all bird nerds! Coco Fox and Alex Driussi are back, and they want your help drawing quack-up comics about BIRDS. This egg-citing workshop is for ALL ages and ALL drawing levels! Coco and Alex will teach you how to brainstorm jokes, sketch them out and leave with a finished gag-cartoon drawn owl by yourself.
12:00pm – 1:00pm | PANEL: Rites Of Passage
(with Štěpánka Jislová, Jonathan Baylis, Jesse Lee Kercheval, Jules Bakes, Tom Hart)
> Location: White Oak Room
Comics are an ideal medium for documenting certain kinds of experiences that mark a rite of passage, like the death of a parent, the end of a relationship, or a meaningful experience as a teen. Tom Hart will explore this idea with Jules Bakes (Sea Legs), Jonathan Baylis (So Buttons), Jesse Lee Kercheval (French Girl), and Štěpánka Jislová (Heartcore).
12:30pm – 1:30pm | PANEL: The Legacy of Highwater Books and Red Ink
(with: Tom Devlin, Jordan Crane, Brian Ralph)
> Location: Brookside C
Come sit around the campfire with Jordan Crane (It Goes Like This, Keeping Two), Brian Ralph (Daybreak, Reggie-12), and Tom Devlin (Drawn & Quarterly) and some surprise guests as they reminisce about the halcyon days of the late 90s when Highwater, Red Ink, and Fort Thunder were at their creative peaks. It’s all about the community and reckless adventures!
12:30pm – 2:00pm | WORKSHOP: Foldy Comics Workshop
(with Matt Madden)
> Location: Forest Glen Room
Learn how to make a dynamic 5-page minicomic using a single sheet of paper! No cutting, no staples. The “foldy comic” is a simple yet challenging format: you will learn to design a comic that uses unfolding and changing size and orientation as part of your storytelling toolkit. Matt Madden will share examples of this rare minicomic format and guide you through the process.
12:30pm – 2:00pm | WORKSHOP: The Intersection Between Abstraction & Representation
(with Josh Bayer)
> Location: Glen Echo Room
Comics lend themselves to occupy the same roles as performed by graffiti, fine art, graphic art, and a myriad of other visual approaches. This workshop, taught by universally beloved and yet inexplicably underrated artist Josh Bayer, invites people to consider some abstract methods for making their own art, a combination of lecture and worship activity. Sources of reference may include an array of visualists such as Jean Dubuffet, George Herriman, Franz Kline, and Ben Shaun. Bring your sketchbooks.
1:00pm – 2:00pm | PANEL: Spotlight On Ngozi Ukazu
(with Ngozi Ukazu; hosted by Johanna Draper Carlson)
> Location: White Oak Room
Celebrated cartoonist Ngozi Ukazu (Check, Please!) debuts her new book, Flip, at SPX 2025, and moderator Johanna Draper Carlson will sit down with her to discuss it. Flip is a thrilling and fantastical tale about self-acceptance, black girlhood, and how walking a mile in someone else’s shoes can teach you how to finally see yourself.
1:30pm – 2:30pm | PANEL: Spotlight On Bubbles
(with Brian Baynes, Ryan Holmberg)
> Location: Brookside C
Brian Baynes revived the comics fanzine with the popular and influential Bubbles, which has turned into a yearly festival and a publishing concern as well. Renowned translator and scholar Ryan Holmberg will discuss their collaboration on books like Bat Kid, The Translator Without Talent, Beautiful Monster, and other projects.
2:00pm – 3:00pm | PANEL: The Only Way Out Is Through
(with Natalie Norris, Kayla E, Briana Loewinsohn, Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell; moderated by Alice Santos)
> Location: White Oak Room
Working through trauma in the form of a graphic memoir is a process that is both difficult and therapeutic. But what happens when it’s done and out in the world? Moderator Alice Santos will discuss this with Kayla E. (Precious Rubbish), Natalie Norris (Dear Mini), Brian Loewinsohn (Raised By Ghosts), and Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell (The Joy Of Snacking).
2:00pm – 3:30pm | WORKSHOP: Creating Your Own Avatar
(with Anna Sellheim)
> Location: Forest Glen Room
Feeling held back from drawing comics because you struggle with realistic figures? This workshop is for you! We’ll explore how to create compelling characters using abstract elements, demonstrating how these designs can often be more expressive and relatable than photorealistic ones. Discover the power of abstraction in character design!
2:00pm – 3:30pm | WORKSHOP: Figure Drawing For Cartoonists (18+)
(with Babs New(d) and Danielle Corsetto)
> Location: Glen Echo Room
Learn how to apply figure drawing to making more confident, believable, and dynamic comics characters! This will be a live figure drawing workshop, so be prepared to draw! 18+ and please be respectful; we will have a live nude model. Hosted by cartoonist/lecturer Danielle Corsetto, and cartoonist/model Babs New(d).
2:30pm – 3:30pm | PANEL: Black Arms To Hold You Up
(with: Ben Passmore, Bill Campbell)
> Location: Brookside C
A discussion between Ben Passmore (Your Black Friend and Other Stangers, Black Arms to Hold You Up) and Bill Campbell (The Day The Klan Came to Town, The Adventures Of Lion Man, Refuge) about the radical potential of obscured history and the graphic novel.
3:00pm – 4:00pm | PANEL: Navigating Family Trauma
(with Lee Lai, Eagle Valiant Brosi, Melissa Mendes, Mara Ramirez; moderated by Sally Madden)
> Location: White Oak Room
Growing up in a dysfunctional family can be difficult to process, but a number of cartoonists have done so in their comics. Moderator Sally Madden will discuss the funny, sad, and sometimes absurd ways that Lee Lai (Stone Fruit), Eagle Valiant Brosi (Black Cohosh), Melissa Mendes (The Weight), and Mara Ramirez (Flea) have done it.
3:30pm – 5:00pm | WORKSHOP: Illustrating Insides: Internal Anatomy For Comics
(with Yue Peng, C.S. Garcia, Chloe Cunningham)
> Location Glen Echo Room
Comic artists love getting their characters hurt, but accurately depicting an injury can be a daunting challenge. How do you find accurate information or useful visual references? In this workshop, we will guide you in interpreting various anatomical references as we illustrate the human heart together. We will teach you cardiac anatomy and transferable skills to researching and illustrating other medical subject matter. This is a chance to have your questions answered by medical and artistic professionals and receive real time advice and critique. The workshop is hosted by three cartoonists who also work in medicine: M.D. student Yue Peng (She Makes Hungry), medical illustrator C.S. García Martínez (Know Not a Man), and cardiac proceduralist Chloe Cunningham (Cargo).
3:30pm – 4:30pm | PANEL: Paul Karasik And The New York Trilogy
(with Paul Karasik; moderated by Rob Clough)
> Location: Brookside C
Legendary editor, educator, and cartoonist Paul Karasik will discuss his newest project: The New York Trilogy, an adaptation of Paul Auster’s short story collection that he did in collaboration with David Mazzucchelli & Lorenzo Mattotti.
3:30pm – 5:00pm | WORKSHOP: Mastering Pictorial Composition: Rewire Your Brain
(with Celine Loup)
> Location: Forest Glen Room
Do you feel like your finished illustrations just aren’t landing the way you want them to, but you’re not sure why or what to do about it? Overwhelmed by the blank page, or intimidated by the complexity of what you are trying to express? What if there was a way to dramatically level up your image-making skills in a simple, 5-10 minute exercise you can do anywhere, any time, with a minimum of tools? In this workshop we’ll explore why some images immediately grab your attention while others leave no lasting impression at all, and how you can unlock this power in your own work with a fun, easy technique anyone can learn.
4:00pm – 5:00pm | PANEL: Fish Out Of Water: The Awkward Hero
(with Marc Torices, Laura Terry, Trishelle Jeffery, Viviana Maria Stanislavska; moderated by Alex Hoffman)
> Location: White Oak Room
Be it a misfit, a loser, or an outcast, there’s a lot of comedy (cringe or otherwise) that can be mined with a protagonist who just doesn’t fit in. Moderator Alex Hoffman discusses this with Marc Torices (Cornelius), Laura Terry (Adorable Empire), Trishelle Jeffery (Best Breasts In The West), and Vivianna Maria Stanislavska (Kuš!)
4:30pm – 5:30pm | PANEL: Other New York Cities
(with Dean Haspiel, Rachel Coad, Peter Kuper, Josh Neufeld; moderated by Faith Cox)
> Location: Brookside C
New York City: The City That Never Sleeps has been the setting for countless stories. Dean Haspiel (The Red Hook), Rachel Coad (New York City Glow), Peter Kuper (The System), and Josh Neufeld (“Supply Chain Superhero”) all have their own interpretations of the city, and moderator Faith Cox will go into detail with them.
5:00pm – 6:30pm | WORKSHOP: Haunted: A Workshop Of Haunted Items
(with Ashley Jablonski)
> Location: Forest Glen Room
Come alive, come dead, or come somewhere in-between. Let’s get haunted. And by haunted, Ashley Jablonski means using prompts of everyday items and mixed media materials (including watercolor) to create a comic about something that haunts each item. Materials included.
5:00pm – 6:30pm | WORKSHOP: Physical Self-Care For Artists And Writers
(with Kriota Wilberg)
09/13/2025 | Glen Echo Room
Living a creative and productive life centered around a sketch book, digital device, desk, or small-scale work area can be liberating for your mind, but hard on your body. Hours of daily writing and drawing can lead to repetitive stress injuries, eye strain, stress, and all sorts of pain. This workshop explores the relationships between your creative environment, tools, hand/wrist alignment, and posture, when working with traditional or digital equipment. Learn some ergonomics hacks and how to prevent eye strain. Explore ways to make drawing and writing postures easier on your body. Practice some self-care techniques that will loosen tight muscles and reduce stress.
5:00pm – 6:00pm | PANEL: Reverberations Of History And Myth
(with Anders Nilsen, Mimi Pond, Ben Wickey, Frances Cordelia Beaver; moderated by Craig Fischer)
> Location: White Oak Room
True historical events and myths passed down through time can both have an identical impact, reverberating through time. Craig Fischer will explore how Mimi Pond, (The Mitford Sisters And Me), Anders Nilsen (Tongues), Ben Wickey (More Weight: A Salem Story), and Frances Cordelia Beaver (Give My Best To Your Kind) delve into the past.
5:30pm – 6:30pm | PANEL: Carousel
(with Gigi Murakami, Keith Knight, Kevin Huizenga, Tom Gauld, Julia Gfrörer, R. Sikoryak)
> Location: Brookside C
Since 1997, R. Sikoryak has hosted Carousel, a series of comics readings and visual performances by cartoonists and theater artists. This special edition of Carousel at SPX features exhibiting artists and guests, performing live. Join us for an audio-visual journey to the place where comics and performance collide! Featuring: Gigi Murakami (Resenter), Keith Knight, (K Chronicles), Kevin Huizenga (Curses), Tom Gauld (Revenge Of The Librarians), Julia Gfrörer (World Within The World), and R. Sikoryak (Constitution Illustrated).
SPX 2025 DAY TWO — SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
[Opening Hours 12pm to 6pm]
12:00pm – 1:30pm | WORKSHOP: Connecting With Your Audience Through Cover Design
(with Briana Loewinsohn, Thien Pham)
> Location: Glen Echo Room
Learn the basics of designing a compelling graphic novel cover with Briana Loewinsohn and Thien Pham! We’ll cover key principles like composition, typography, and visual storytelling to help you create eye-catching designs that reflect your story. Whether you are self-publishing or working with a graphic designer at a publishing house, you’ll gain practical tips for translating your novel’s themes into a visually striking cover. Walk away with a solid foundation in cover design to kickstart your own creative projects.
12:00pm – 1:30pm | WORKSHOP: Silencing Your Inner Critic
(with Tom Hart)
> Location: Forest Glen Room
We all have an inner critic! The Inner Critic asks: WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? But the critic has no idea who you are. The critic only knows who you’re not. In this workshop Tom Hart will show the techniques he has used to train it to see you as you are, to learn new habits to help you use that voice to stay creative and curious.
12:30pm – 1:30pm | PANEL: Vampires And Power Exchange
(with Tinguu, Ana Two, Gigi Murakami, Paige Hender; moderated by Ryan Holmberg)
> Location: White Oak Room
Vampires have served as a metaphor for power for ages, but the cartoonists on this panel focus in on the power exchange relationships between the vampires and their lovers. Manga translator and scholar Ryan Holmberg will moderate a discussion with Tinguu (The Cannibals), Ana Two (Dark Room), Gigi Murakami (Resenter), and Paige Hender (The Confessional).
1:00pm – 2:00pm | PANEL: Censorship And Resistance
(with Ann Telnaes, Denis Kitchen, Gary Hallgren, Maia Kobabe, John Kelly; moderated by Warren Bernard)
> Location: Brookside C
Free expression is under attack in the US in an unprecedented way. Warren Bernard will moderate a discussion with some of the most significant figures related to censorship in comics history, as they discuss how they have found ways to resist it. Panelists include Gary Hallgren (Air Pirates Funnies), Denis Kitchen (Kitchen Sink, CBLDF), John Kelly (Dummy), Ann Telnaes (Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist), and Maia Kobabe (Gender Queer).
1:30pm – 2:30pm | PANEL: Queer Soap Opera: Redefining and Subverting Romance
(with Caroline Cash, Katie Fricas, Al Varela; moderated by Tanya Dorph-Mankey)
> Location: White Oak Room
Caroline Cash (Pee Pee Poo Poo), Katie Fricas (Checked Out), and Al Varela (Young, Dumb & Queer) join moderator Tanya Dorph-Mankey in discussing how their work both emphasizes and subverts familiar tropes in romance and soap-opera comics from a queer perspective.
1:30pm – 3:00pm | WORKSHOP: Drawing Anatomy In Action (18+)
(with Kriota Willberg, Babs New(d) )
> Location: Forest Glen Room
No matter what we are doing, the shapes of our bodies are determined by the positions of our bones, the contraction and stretch of our muscles, and the contours of our tissues and skin covering the anatomy underneath. Understanding anatomy helps us create real or imaginary characters—in any style—that are consistent and physically believable. This workshop explores drawing the body based on the anatomy of movement. Kriota Willberg will—literally—draw on Babs New(d), our live model, tracing muscles and bones for participants to draw in any style they choose. 18+ and please be respectful; we will have a live nude model.
1:30pm – 3:00pm | WORKSHOP: Jokes! Jokes! Jokes! A New Yorker Gag Cartoon Workshop
(with Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell)
> Location: Glen Echo Room
In this workshop, New Yorker Cartoonist Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell will teach you how to find humor and inspiration in your day-to-day life and translate it into relatable, well-crafted gag cartoons. Paper and pens included but make sure to bring your funny bone.
2:00pm – 3:00pm | PANEL: SOLRADIO Presents: Spotlight On Kit Anderson
(with Kit Anderson, Jules Bakes, Rob Clough; moderated by Alex Hoffman)
> Location: Brookside C
SOLRADIO, the podcast of the comics criticism website SOLRAD.CO, proudly presents a deep dive into the graphic novel debut by Kit Anderson, Second Shift. Kit will join moderator Alex Hoffman and critics Jules Bakes and Rob Clough as they explore the themes and imagery of her intriguing sci-fi mystery where reality isn’t quite what it seems.
2:30pm – 3:30pm | PANEL: Ideas: Tom Gauld and Kevin Huizenga In Conversation
(with Tom Gauld, Kevin Huizenga; moderated by Marc Sobel)
> Location: White Oak Room
Moderator Marc Sobel will engage with Tom Gauld (Revenge of the Librarians) and Kevin Huizenga (Curses) in a free-flowing conversation about ideas. How does each cartoonist organize their thoughts on paper? How does doodling enable them to talk through their process to a finished comic? In what ways do the images themselves convey the same meaning as words?
3:00pm – 4:00pm | PANEL: Frog Farm Reading
(with Audra Stang, Grayson Bear, A.T. Pratt; moderated by Alexander Laird)
> Location: Brookside C
Frog Farm is an exciting new risograph publisher that hosts regular gatherings with comic readings, comedy, and videos. Alexander Laird will host a special SPX edition with Grayson Bear (Business Insider), Audra Stang (Valley Valley/Idella Dell), and A. T. Pratt (Dot Comics, Big Apple Matinee).
3:00pm – 4:30pm | WORKSHOP: Drawing The Shapes Of Feelings
(with Mara Ramirez)
> Location: Forest Glen Room
Mara Ramirez will lead you on a drawing exercise that translates a poem or song lyrics into a comic with abstract imagery. They will encourage you to see how far you can push either image, abstraction, or the combination of word and image.
3:00pm – 4:30pm | WORKSHOP: How To Make A Tijuana Bible (Bring Your Own Uncensored Content) 18+
(with Gary Hallgren, John Kelly)
> Location: Glen Echo Room
Legendary cartoonist Gary Hallgren will run a hands-on workshop on how to create your very own Tijuana Bible mini comic. Hallgren was a member of the notorious Air Pirates, a renegade gang of Underground cartoonists who ran afoul of the Walt Disney Company (and the legal system) for their unauthorized Mickey Mouse parody comic books in the early 1970s. He will be joined by comics historian John Kelly, who explores the strange story of the Air Pirates in issue #2 of his publication, Dummy. Dummy #2 also has a look at some X-Rated Mickey Mouse Tijuana Bibles from the 1930s which are a direct link to the Underground Comix of the late 1960s.
3:30pm – 4:30pm | PANEL: Psychological Horror
(with Julia Gfrörer, Beth Hetland, Ashley Robin Franklin; moderated by Francesca Lyn)
> Location: White Oak Room
The most frightening horror stories don’t necessarily involve blood, gore, or jump scares. It’s the stories that unsettle you with atmosphere and terrifying realizations that are often the scariest. Julia Gfrörer (World Within The World), Beth Hetland (Tender), and Ashley Robin Franklin (The Skin You’re In) will explain why with moderator Francesca Lyn.
4:00pm – 5:00pm | PANEL: Depicting The Impossible: Mediating Meaning Through Formal Play
(with Kayla E, Peter Kuper, Joonas Sildre, Paul Karasik; moderated by Faith Cox)
> Location: Brookside C
How do you express sound in comics? How do you depict horrifying trauma without it overwhelming you? How do you adapt a story that doesn’t seem to fit in comics? Faith Cox will discuss how innovative formal solutions and play can help depict the impossible with Kayla E. (Precious Rubbish), Joonas Sildre (Between Two Sounds), Paul Karasik (New York Trilogy), and Peter Kuper (Insectopolis).
4:30pm – 5:30pm | PANEL: World-Building With Color
(with Carlos Sanchez, Ingrīda Pičukāne, Sanika Phawde, Carly Shooster; moderated by John Warren)
> Location: White Oak Room
Color is an underrated aspect of cartooning. It can advance a narrative, fill in blank space, modulate emotion, or add abstract elements to stories. John Warren will inquire how Carlos Sanchez (Rune), Ingrīda Pičukāne, (Three Sisters), Sanika Phawde (Wedding Juice), Carly Shooster (Mamita) employ color in their comics.
4:30pm – 6:00pm | WORKSHOP: Roll The Dice! Comics Storytelling Via D20
(with Miss Lasko-Gross)
> Location: Glen Echo Room
Artist of all ages/skill levels welcome! Join Miss Lasko-Gross (Faculty BFA Comics, SVA) as we will be rolling D20’s to design an original character, and then drawing a one page comic (with provided pencils/template.) Depending on how fast attendees make it though the prompts, we will either have a critique or a quick gallery. Attendees will take home their comic page.
4:30pm – 6:00pm | WORKSHOP: The Power Of Reference
(with Nathan Fox)
> Location: Forest Glen Room
Creating empathetic characters, immersive worlds, and realistic props from either reference or imagination alone can be a daunting task. This workshop explores the importance of harnessing both your creative imagination and good research practices, combined for a liberating and transformational creative process. Learn some quick and efficient reference and research tricks, how to think spatially and draw sculpturally—using reference as inspiration rather than a crutch.
English (US) · 