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This article was published 09/09/2022 (1360 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KAPOW!

Now that you’re paying attention: the Prairie Comics Festival is returning to Winnipeg this weekend at the West End Cultural Centre.

But Spider-Man won’t be there, nor will the Batman. Wonder Woman sent her regrets.

Fear not, says festival co-founder Sam Beiko: the comic heroes we need — nay, the comic heroes we deserve — live right here in Peg City.

“There’s quite a robust indie comic community in Winnipeg,” says Beiko, who under the name S.M. Beiko publishes youth fantasy novels and a webcomic called Krumpus is My Boyfriend!. “A lot of folks might think things like that don’t happen here, but that isn’t true. There are artists here, there is a community here, and there are opportunities to tell your own story and meet others telling theirs.”

This Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of comics enthusiasts are expected to pour into the West End Cultural Centre (586 Ellice Ave.) for the free festival, which Beiko reiterates is not at all like the large comic conventions where people wait in line for six hours to take a selfie with Captain Canuck.

Instead, the festival puts local creators first, and tries to put an emphasis on education, publishing tips and community building. On Saturday, the festival will host six panel discussions — no pun intended — on topics ranging from queer comics, to finding your own style, to self-publishing, to actually pitching to publishers, including guests from At Bay Press and Highwater Press.

“You can just come in, sit down and learn,” Beiko says.

On Sunday, a different type of learning is on the schedule, with hands-on workshops including Comics 101 and Zine Making with festival co-runner Jay Cormack.

All throughout, 20 Manitoban artist vendors, including festival special guests Silvana Moran, a.k.a. Radish Doodles, and Scott Henderson, fresh off a Marvel illustrating gig, will be set up at tables hawking their work. A full list of exhibitors is available online at prairiecomics.com.

“All the work being exhibited is owned by the creators who will be there,” says Beiko. “You can buy comics made by the person standing right there behind the table. All new, and all original.”

MEANWHILE… ON PORTAGE AVENUE…

The comics festival isn’t the only free artsy book event in town over the weekend.

Everything from zines, posters, limited-edition catalogues, monographs, prints and other merch will be available for purchase and perusal at the Prairie Art Book Fair taking place from today through Sunday at Plug In Institute for Contemporary Art (460 Portage Ave.).

Aside from the sale, the fair is a way to “display and share art practices that extend tangentially into various published artifacts.”

While the sale is a steady draw, events abound. Friday night, the fair begins with a kickoff reception on the building’s rooftop, followed by karaoke with artists Peter Morin and Jimmie Kilpatrick. On Saturday, Edmonton-based Hungry zine will co-host a panel discussion on storytelling and food.

And on Sunday, Apophony Press and artist and writer Rebecca La Marre are hosting a workshop on “writing without recording,” using special ceramic tablets that allow for quickly made, and quickly erased, work.

Plug In’s Erin Josephson-Laidlaw says the biennial festival, which is in its third iteration, is all about celebrating local artists, collectives and the publishing industry, giving exhibitors — including Carnation Zine, Gallery 1C03, Martha Street Studio and the University of Manitoba’s School of Art Gallery — a chance to show off their work.

Sound familiar? Well, thankfully, there was nothing but support between the two arts events; far from being rivals, they consider one another teammates in a worthy battle to expand and enrich the local arts community.

“We talked about it when we realized (we picked the same weekend),” Josephson-Laidlaw says with a laugh. “And we all thought it was a good opportunity to promote the other event.”

“One Weekend, Two Literary Arts Events!” an ad shared by both festivals exclaimed.

The only issue, Josephson-Laidlaw and Beiko agree, is that people can’t be in two places at once.

But, if they could pick one super-power…

More information on both events can be found online at plugin.org or prairiecomics.com.

ben.waldman@winnipegfreepress.com