San Francisco Zine Fest From François Vigneault, SFZF 2007 organizing committee:

"The San Francisco Zine Fest is returning October 5th and 6th. The Bay Area’s most beloved conference for zines, comics, and crafts, the Zine Fest is celebrating its sixth anniversary with a move to a beautiful new location, the Women’s Building. As always, the Zine Fest is free and open to the public! Over 50 small-press and DIY creators will be selling, trading, and otherwise sharing their work with over a thousand attendees. The exhibitors, from elder statesmen of the DIY movement such as RE/Search Publications to first time self-publishers, showcase the diversity, vitality, and ongoing exuberance of the small press movement. While the majority of the exhibitors hail from the Bay Area, creators from across the West Coast and country will be present.

Special guests this year are John Marr, writer of the seminal zine Murder Can Be Fun, a cavalcade of bizarre and often very funny tales of untimely death; and Joe Sayers, the cartoonist behind the weekly strip Thingpart and the recently released Teen Power!, a collection of hilarious comics all drawn in five minutes or less. Q&A sessions will be held with both special guests on Saturday. Several panel discussions and hands-on workshops will be held throughout the day on Saturday, including a class on the basics of silk screening taught by John Isaacson, whose book Do It Yourself Screenprinting was recently released by Microcosm Publishing. Other events include ongoing raffle drawings throughout the Fest and a special awards ceremony.

The San Francisco Zine Fest was begun in 2001 by Jenn Starfiend, and is currently run by a hard-working group of volunteers, including members of Family Style, Just Visiting and 327 Market, along with many others.

The San Francisco Zine Fest will be held from 2:00pm-8:00pm on Friday, October 5th, and from 11:00am-7:00pm on Saturday, October 6th. Admission is free on both days.

The Women’s Building is located at 3543 18th St. #8 San Francisco, CA 94110 (between Valencia and Guerrero in the Mission).

For more information, including a full list of exhibitors and workshop schedule, visit the website."

Elfworld Almost Upon Us
Hey folks, got a message from François Vigneault and Family Style headquarters that Elfword ships next month. It will premier at the
Alternative Press Expo April 21st & 22nd and also as a part of the
"We're Rollin', They're Hatin" art show in Chicago, opening that same weekend.

Details:

The long-awaited indie-comics fantasy anthology is here! Compiled by
Jeffrey Brown, edited by François Vigneault, designed by Jonas Madden-
Connor.

Begun years ago by the venerable Jeffrey Brown, Elfworld brings
together an amazing mix of alternative comics stars and up-and-coming
creators to tackle the fantasy comic. At turns hilarious, mysterious,
surprising, and action-packed, these 16 stories breathe new artistic
life into one of comics' most popular genres.

Elfworld Volume One features 128 pages of work from Jeffrey Brown
(Unlikely), Martin Cendreda (MOME), Liz Prince (Will You Still Love
Me if I Wet the Bed?), Kazimir Strzepek (Mourning Star), and many
more. Full-color, wrap-around painted cover by Jesse Reklaw
(Slowwave, 2006 Best American Comics).

Contributors:
Jeffrey Brown
Martin Cendera
K. Thor Jensen
Dave McKenna
Erik Nebel & Jesse Reklaw
Jason Overby
Liz Prince
Ansis Purins
Ron Regè, Jr. & Souther Salazar
Grant Reynolds
Dalton Sharp
Kazimir Strzepek
Jason Turner & Jody Turner
François Vigneault
Matt Wiegle & Sean Collins

Available now for pre-order.

For mature readers.
Trade paperback. 6" x 9", 128pp, b&w. $12.95
ISBN 978-0-9794178-0-1

Press Release from Family Style for Elfworld

Received the following from Family Style mini-comics stylist François Vigneault over the weekend:

Family Style is proud to be publishing the long-awaited "Elfworld" Vol. 1 in Fall of 2006!

"Elfworld" was the brainchild of indy-comics superstar Jeffrey Brown; an anthology of fantasy-themed comics by a wide range of alternative, independent, and self-published cartoonists. Although there was a lot of interest in the comics community and tons of submissions poured in, Brown found himself deluged by his more pressing assignments, and unfortunately "Elfworld" was put on the back burner for what promised to be an indefinite time.

At this year's Alternative Press Expo, young cartoonist (and member of the Family Style artistic collective) François Vigneault bought a copy of "The Basilisk" by Kazimir Strzepek. "He told me that he had originally drawn it for Jeffrey Brown's anthology, which was actually the first time I had heard of it," says Vigneault. "My first thought was that I wanted to contribute to it, but then Kaz told me that Jeffrey wasn't ever going to do it, so I had the audacious thought of editing and publishing it myself. I approached Jeffrey and asked him if he was planning to finish "Elfworld", and if not, if I could have it. 'What's your address?' was his response!"

The first volume of "Elfworld" will consist almost entirely of submissions created for Jeffrey Brown's original anthology and selected by François Vigneault. The 96 page, black & white book will feature fantasy-themed stories from over a dozen artists from across the indie-comics spectrum: Jeferey Brown, Martin Cendera, Erik Nebel & Jesse Reklaw, Matt Weigle & Sean Collins, Ron Regé Jr. & Souther Salazar, Grant Reynolds, Liz Prince, K. Thor Jensen, Jason Overby, Ansis, Dalton Sharp, Jason & Jody Turner, and Dave McKenna. There will also be a new, fully-painted cover by Jesse Reklaw. The book will be designed by Jonas Madden-Connor (another member of the Family Style collective).

The stories range from lyrically beautiful to absurdly funny, and the each author approaches the fantasy-inspired subject matter in a unique and often unusual manner; the overall result is a book that sure to please those who love the fantasy genre outright, those for whom it's a guilty pleasure (old D&D manuals hidden away in their closets?), and anyone with an appreciation for independent comics. "It seems like the perfect time for this kind of project," says Vigneault. "Jonas [Madden-Connor] and I have been working on our own fantasy collaboration for almost a year now, and I feel like I keep seeing new work that has a sort of fantastic bent, everything from "Basewood" by Alec Longstreth to "Crickets" by Sammy Harkham. It's like everyone's on the same wavelength." The first volume of "Elfworld" is currently scheduled to come out in October/November of this year.

François Vigneault is currently soliciting submissions for "Elfworld" Vol. 2 (currently planned for 2007), and Family Style intends to publish another book annually thereafter.

Family Style is a small group of cartoonists and other artists working out of the San Francisco Bay Area. They collectively publish several small-press comics and zines, their flagship title Family Style Jamboree has recently hit issue no. 7. "Elfworld" will be their most ambitious project to date.

For more information, links to "Elfworld" contributors, and submission guidelines for future volumes of "Elfworld" please visit: www.family-style.com/elfworld.html

Friends Issues 1 and 2 by Francois Vigneault
Issue one of Friends has a wonderful, organic feel to it when you hold it in your hands. The thick, brown cover has a thin layer of wood pasted to the front, and it’s on this wood that the title, “Speak Now or Forever,” is stamped in the style of an old wanted poster. This is one of the most interesting mini-comic covers I’ve seen in some time. Inside, the pages are a light butter color usually split into four equal sized panels. Vigneault’s art is warm and I enjoy the way he draws his faces. Sometimes your initial reaction to a comic can color the way you judge it, and this may be one of those times.

Whether he purposefully left earlier faint pencil lines in some panels or not, they are often quite noticeable. This is especially noticeable when you look at the lettering; the ruled lines are often visible as though they weren’t fully erased. I wasn’t bothered by this at all, which is strange because I’ve probably complained about that on another mini-comic before. In this first issue of Friends, the faint pencil lines are almost like seeing through the skin of the story. It’s like you can see the bones, muscles and ligaments, and it adds to the organic nature of the book. The art feels rich and fully realized, but strangely the level of detail isn’t high. The panels feel textured rather than inked, if that makes any sense.

The story is a simple one, Chris is traveling on a bus and he spies an attractive blonde girl. She’s the one thing on the bus that stands out (Vigneault does a nice scene where hers is the only night light on in the bus as it hurtles across the darkened interstate). During one food stop, they share a table together and chat. Their conversation captures that easy-going feeling that you get when you find someone with your own sensibilities in a busload of strangers. There are three parts to this mini-comic and the middle section is six pages of prose with small illustrations. It’s a pleasant touch that I wouldn’t mind seeing more of in comics sometimes. Yes, it’s a short cut or you could say it’s taking the easy way out, but it really helps flesh out what a character may be thinking or doing at a particular time.

Issue two of Friends is a different beast. It’s taller dimensions wise and the cover is a bright white with a silk-screened image in three colors. Inside the pages are a bright white with nine panels per page. The art is sharper than issue one, but the backgrounds are less fully realized. The art in the main story, about two friends both named Jack taking off to Vegas to join a band of card counters, just doesn’t feel as warm as the art in issue one. Often several panels in a row are just talking heads against a white background. Vigneault does a nice job mixing up the panels, but this one feels a bit flat next to the first comic. By itself, it works. Compared to the first issue, it falls a bit short visually.

The backup story, actually more of a sketchbook story, is about girls that he has developed crushes on. This section feels a bit warmer, although it’s rougher art wise than the main story. As a sketchbook, it feels more human. Or in other words, you can see a human hand at work.

Issue one of Friends is 32 pages for $4. Issue two is 24 pages, but almost twice as tall as issue one. This one will run you $3.

You can visit Family Style.com for a peek at Vigneault’s comics, including 13 pages of his sketchbook crush comics. You can purchase mini-comics using PayPal in the Family Style store.