What a difference a year makes. Canceled in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, SPX, also known as the Small Press Expo, returned to find a comics market revitalized for both small press publishers and graphic novels. This year's SPX, held September 6—8, attracted about 1,600 people and about 400 exhibitor/creators, and was declared a smashing success by nearly everyone involved.

The SPX takes place annually in Bethesda, Md., and can be seen as a kind of Sundance Film Festival to the San Diego Comic-con's Cannes. At SPX, small, eccentric publishers like Fantagraphics or Drawn & Quarterly are the big stars. It's a place to find books that comics specialty shops don't carry, as well as a chance to schmooze with their creators.

And there were plenty of truly excellent comics. Most of the companies that come to SPX publish graphic novels and have already been relying on bookstore sales. The buzz on selling more graphic novels in bookstores was deafening. And unlike the last time graphic novels seemed poised to enter the general bookstore market, in the late 1980s, there is now enough good work to support consumer interest. "In 1987, you had Maus, Dark Knight and Watchmen," said Top Shelf publisher Chris Staros. "After that, the list ended. For the first time, we have the product and the interest from bookstores, Hollywood and the media."

New Works and Backlist Sellers

This time out, in addition to the perennial hits—Love and Rockets, From Hell, Ghost World and Palookaville—publishers offered new works by authors with devoted followings and great reviews to back them up. Among them were Leela Corman's Subway Series, a teenaged Sex and the City; and Brian Ralph's deceptively simple Climbing Out, which chronicles the rise of civilization through the adventures of a monkey. And Drawn & Quarterly's The Golem's Mighty Swing by James Sturm, about a barnstorming Jewish baseball team in the 1920s, won the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Album at the show.

Believe it or not, the alternative comics crowd is far less radical than might be expected. Although there's a strong DIY esthetic, self-publishing has been more a matter of necessity than rebellion. As the comics specialty shop system closes itself off from any material that isn't superheroes, artists, writers and small publishers with other kinds of stories to offer have been forced to find alternative means of distribution, either by self-publishing or selling their books at a trade show like SPX.

Nearly every publisher in attendance reported record sales, and by the end of the day Saturday, most of the buzz books were completely sold out. Alternative Press saved many of its releases just for SPX, and that paid off in big sales for new releases such as Subway Series and A Fine Mess.

Diamond Comics v-p of purchasing Bill Schanes delivered his annual "state of the industry" address and painted a very sanguine picture. Traditionally, relations between the small press and Diamond, which is the primary distributor to the comics specialty market (called the direct market in the comics industry) have been rocky, since Diamond focuses on superhero material. This year it was a love fest.

"You create the spark," Schanes told the attending publishers and creators. "The opportunity to grow is incredible." Graphic novel sales to Diamond's direct market accounts are up 55% this year. But Schanes also reported that Waldenbooks graphic novel buyer Kurt Hassler met with a number of small publishers at the San Diego Con this year. While issues of packaging and content are still a concern, both Diamond and Hassler feel that more small-press material than ever is ready for general bookstores. "We've got to be more open-minded," Schanes said. "There's something happening here."

Celebrity Cartoonists

Two of the creators involved in the 1980s breakthrough made very rare convention appearances at this year's SPX. Art Spiegelman, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Maus, was a guest, along with his wife and comics collaborator, Francoise Mouly, who is also art director at the New Yorker; and Frank Miller, author of the Dark Knight.

The best-attended event was Spiegelman's discussion of his career. His newest work, a comic strip called "In the Shadow of No Towers," will run in a German newspaper and in the Forward, a New York City—based Jewish weekly. After September 11, Spiegelman, who retreated from cartooning after the success of Maus, realized that he needed to return to it. "I work on it full time now," he said, "even if it takes four months to draw one page." He also talked about the third volume of Little Lit, his children's anthology published by HarperCollins. The next volume will include such contributors as Neil Gaiman, Gahan Wilson and Kaz.

Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, creators of the acclaimed Love and Rockets series, attended SPX for the first time. "It reminds me of the early '80s," remarked Gilbert Hernandez. "It's a real community with a lot of excitement."

Even Spiegelman, who is often highly critical of the current comics scene, was won over. "I'm very impressed," he said, and mentioned that the level of acceptance for comics is at an all-time high. "Instead of having to have things explained, people want to know more," he added

In fact, the biggest question mark was whether the show can manage to hang onto the excitement next year, when it moves to Baltimore to be held in conjunction with the Baltimore Comic-Con. The new venue will definitely have a new vibe.

Denis Kitchen, former publisher of Kitchen Sink Press and a veteran observer of the industry's ups and downs, put it best: "I haven't been this excited in 30 years."