On a day when the sun finally came back to San Francisco, we thought it best to hide from those destructive rays in pursuit of a hobby often associated with living in one's parents' basement--the collecting and reading of comics. These aren't your typical funnybooks, though-- this was the yearly Alternative Press Expo (or APE), wherein the exhibits center on the self-published, the smaller markets, the oft-ignored subjects and (we must admit, though we love our men in capes and tights as well) probably the most creative stuff going on in the world of sequential art today.

APE took place this past weekend at the Concourse Exhibition Center. As with last year, we knew it would be nigh impossible to cover every aspect of the show and do every creator justice. Accordingly, we talked to a handful of folks to give you what will hopefully be a decent snapshot of the event. And, hey, if you like what you see, we've provided follow-up info on the creators we talked to, and we encourage you to please make a point of visiting the event next year. Below the jump are an introduction to Bob Lipsky and Uptown Girl (pictured above); a small conversation with lauded indie creator (and our favorite creator, period) Alex Robinson (Box Office Poison, Tricked); Randall Christopher and his esoteric creation Kleeman and Mike; comics more of the "strip" variety from the Honolulu Advertiser's Deb Aoki (Bento Box); we checked in again with Real Gone Girl Studio's Miriam Libicki (Jobnik!; Towards A Hot Jew); Shannon O'Leary and her locally produced Pet Noir; another local, Alexis E. Fajardo (Kid Beowulf); and an in-the-flesh encounter with Julia Wertz of Fartparty, who SFist Jackson recently interviewed.

For three years, Bob Lipski has been working on the outrageously cute and amusing Uptown Girl, which he self-publishes monthly. A Minneapolis resident, Bob mostly sells at local shops and conventions, though some comic shops out of state do carry his wares. Uptown Girl tells the story of, well, Uptown Girl, a reporter in the big city, and her friends Ruby Tuesday and Rocketman. Indeed, most of the characters seem to be named after rock songs (watch out for that pompous jerk Sk8ter Boi). Lipsky doesn't do it justice with his description of "Archie meets Seinfeld," but that's a good start. It's much sillier than that -- in a good way. Individual issues are $2; 12 issues' worth of stories can be purchased for $20 in the form of trade paperbacks (there are three so far). We've read volume two and found it fun and well worth the cost. Lipsky's work even spawned a live-action film, which he was also carrying at his booth. Amusingly, he created a comic adaptation of the movie based on his comics. Did you follow that? In any case, Lipsky came to APE as it was an opportunity to do a convention that was strictly "alternative and indy."

Nothing has ever touched us like Alex Robinson's Box Office Poison has. Yeah, a comic -- imagine that. The compiled version clocking in at more than 600 pages, this was the work that put Robinson on the map. Tricked, his subsequent project, is pretty damned enjoyable as well, and practically light reading at closer to 350 pages. We did our best not to let our fanboyishness surrounding Robinson sneak through; this was the primary reason we kept the conversation so short. We asked what he was working on; he explained that he didn't want to promise something and not deliver/jinx it, as he says he did a few years ago, the last time he attended APE (2001). He did reveal, however, that it was a story that would be similarly character-driven as his past works, but with "a certain sci-fi/fantasy" element, or one particularly strange characteristic. Robinson is based in New York; more info on his works can be found here.

San Diego native Randall Christopher makes a great point: "What happens when alternative becomes popular?" While he's exhibiting at the Alternative Press Expo, even here he feels that his creation, Kleeman and Mike doesn't fit in -- it's certainly not easily categorized. It's funny like a strip comic, but with page-long or longer gags/stories that have decidedly dark and goofy elements. Christopher makes a habit of playing with form and function; Kleeman and Mike definitely exceeded our expectations. While Christopher joked that APE could be his "going out of business sale," we'd submit that his creation represents the best of alternative press: clever, different, often cerebral, and still highly enjoyable. Check out his Web site for more information.

With all the love for animals here on SFist (animal cops, find a friend, whines and dines, etc etc) Shannon O'Leary's Pet Noir should appeal to many of our readers (and writers!). Pet Noir is locally done, and the title pretty much says it all; these are noirish stories ("strange but true pet crimes!") surrounding animals. O'Leary is the driving force behind the publication, though there are other contributors (artists, other writers). A hardbound book collecting Pet Noir stories is due later this year; proceeds from Pet Noir help provide funding for animal welfare, specifically the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Shannon was also showing her book Fortune's Bitch; Eric Koepfle (also pictured above) contributed the art to this tale of a woman in the sex trade.

This year, Miriam Libicki encouraged us to take a look at Towards A Hot Jew: The Israeli Soldier As Fetish Object, a pictorial essay. Um, alternative? Certainly. This was Miriam's second APE, and the convention circuit seems to be treating her well.

"Cons are cool," she told us. "They're an opportunity to hand-sell, something you wouldn't get just by having a book on a shelf." Miriam continues to offer comics, shirts, and continues to create.

Alexis E. Fajardo is a local guy -- he lives in the East Bay and even teaches a cartooning class at Artsake in Noe Valley. His creation, Kid Beowulf is a somewhat whimsical and very entertaining revisionist look at the story of Beowulf and Grendel. Much less bloody and more heads actually remain attached to their respective necks, in any case. The first volume of Kid Beowulf is available in trade paperback and can actually be purchased through your local comic shop, as Alexis is one of the rare folks here at APE whose work is distributed through Diamond, a national distributor.

Okay, so SFist readers may already be familiar with Julia Wertz and her way-too-goddamned-funny comic-strip Web site Fartparty, due to an interview she gave to (and illustrated for) SFist Jackson West as part of the Bay Blogger Thursday a few months back. We mentioned that we hadn't been aware that she had hard copies of her work; she told us that she'd been at Kinkos making the little pamphlets she was displaying until the wee hours the night before APE. She also mentioned that she "f-d up and left out a whole panel," in one of the books, which lead her to beg some friends to draw some fill-ins. Accidental guest artists, as it were. In any case, Julia's comics are as "alternative" as anything out there, and we were delighted to meet her in the flesh -- we hope APE provided this local creator a chance to get her work in some new hands!

Another visitor to our fair city, Deb Aoki's "Bento Box" strip has appeared in the Honolulu Advertiser for years, and is as funny as anything you'd see on the comics page of any newspaper, though with a decidedly Hawaiian flavor. She's living in L.A. now, so her trip wasn't quite as far as we'd have initially thought. Aoki was selling a compilation of selected strips that appeared in the Advertiser from 2002-2005 for $6. Our wife, who is from Hawaii, read it and became a fan, though we believe the humor is universal.

SO, folks -- another year, another APE, which is possibly the greatest, most San Francisco-appropriate comics-oriented event around. If you are inclined to purchase sequential art that pushes the limits of creativity and redefines the genre, these are the folks you should give your hard earned green to -- unlike the big publishers, these folks really need your support to keep going. We hope you enjoyed our coverage, and please -- come out for it next year! It happens every April!