New event celebrates comics and their artists

If you’ve ever noodled around with the idea of drawing your own comics, there’s an event coming your way that could help you get pen to paper.

The first ever BranZine Fest launches on July 5, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba in collaboration with the Prairie Comics Festival. It’s an opportunity to connect with regional comic artists, see and buy their work and participate in workshops.

Merissa Mayhew is a Brandon illustrator, writer and comics artist with a flair for the whimsical. Her artwork is front and centre on the poster advertising BranZine Fest.

“What really got me started into comics as a creator was in my first year at university, I was really appreciating the way writing and art work together to tell a story,” Mayhew said (www.merissa.art).

It was at Prairie Comics Festival (PCF) in Winnipeg that the seed of an idea of bringing an event to Brandon was first planted. That was where Mayhew first met PCF’s artistic director Sam Beiko.

“I said to her it would be really cool to see something like this in Brandon, and I’d been thinking: How can I do this?” Mayhew said.

Beiko handed over her business card and said they’d make it work.

“When she approached me a while ago and said: ‘Hey, we’re finally bringing this event to Brandon. Can you create a poster for it?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, definitely!’” recalled Mayhew.

Taking on the assignment to do a poster for an inaugural arts-driven event is a little daunting.

“I was really struggling with this, so I was going back and looking at what others had created for other events. In the end, I went with the idea of an alien girl who fell in love with reading and comics,” Mayhew said.

“I felt like it kind of pertained to the idea that anyone is welcome. Anyone can read comics. Anyone can create comics, even if they’re just dipping their toes in for the first time.”

Mayhew will be at BranZine Fest selling some of her indie comics work and more, as well as promoting her Kickstarter for some upcoming projects.

“It’s going to be a great opportunity for comics and zine creators in Brandon and Westman to come together.

“So much goes on in Winnipeg, so it’s really nice to see something in our community.”

That sentiment is shared by Beiko.

Samantha Mary (S.M.) Beiko is a Winnipeg-based artist, author and editor, and the Artistic Director of Prairie Comics Festival (prairiecomics.com ). She’s the published author of young adult fantasy series fiction, a novelist since 2013, and works in the book publishing industry.

“I am also a comic creator. I make this comic called ‘Krampus is My Boyfriend,’ which is an ongoing web comic, sort of an action-adventure Monster of the Week, romantic comedy for teens,” said Beiko (smbeiko.com ).

“I have just branched out into organizing on behalf of Prairie Comics Festival.”

Prairie Comics Festival is an artist-run nonprofit putting on their own annual festival, workshops, seminars, panels, and events centred around people making independent comics.

“We pay all of our artists to facilitate workshops and programming through our own funding. We create income opportunities for artists and opportunities for them to connect with communities,” Beiko said.

BranZine Fest is one of those opportunities. So what exactly is a “zine?”

“Zine is short for magazine. A zine is handmade,” explained Beiko.

“It’s very small, something that you fold up and staple, and it looks like a little booklet. They are made for distribution on a very small scale.”

Zines can be informative and creative.

“They can be a way of sharing an experience or your thoughts around any subject matter and then distributed with other folks. And they’re very like a punk underground movement, ” says Beiko.

It’s that spirit of independent, artistic communication that will be celebrated at BranZine Fest. Visitors can expect the unexpected. There won’t be any mainstream comic books or superheroes-turned-movie icons.

“It is essentially like a craft market that is just focused on comics, graphic novels, zines and prints,” says Beiko.

Programming is for everyone and scheduled events will include panels on how to make comics, how to write them, resources you can access to create them, and comics as a literary tool. The fest also offers hands-on workshops for kids. The exhibitor marketplace will feature over 23 prairie-based cartoonists, comic makers, graphic novelists, zine creators, publishers and print artists.

“We’re celebrating the independent artists who create comics themselves,” says Beiko.

“We want to create a space where folks can interact with the community and know that comics are for everyone.”

And the AGSM will be just such a place.

“The entire gallery is going to be transformed into a space to really appreciate indie comics,” said Aly Wowchuk, gallery services co-ordinator at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba ( agsm.ca).

Response to a previous comics event at the AGSM suggested indie comics are something the Westman region is ready to try.

“Last year, we observed Free Comic Book Day on May 4. We set up a little draw-your-own-comic station, and there just seemed to be a lot of interest,” says Wowchuk.

“When Prairie Comics Festival reached out, we started brainstorming and BranZine Fest came together very quickly. There’s a lot of interest and we’re excited for this new partnership.”

Admission is $2 and a handstamp will let you go in and out throughout the day. Details on the day’s schedule will be on both AGSM’s and Prairie Comics Festival’s websites and social media.

“It’s new and exciting for Brandon,” says Wowchuk.

“We hope people attend and learn something new, make new connections and maybe get inspired to create their own comics!”

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