Robots, Hellboy, and Monsters -- Support Your Local Artists

Small Press Expo. Participants draw, Lulu prints, and non-profits profit. -- SPX Sketchbook, Fortune Edition (www.lulu.com/content/100050).

Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) March 16, 2005 -- Small Press Expo, in Bethesda, MD, is a large gathering of independent comic writers and creators on the East Coast. Last year, a small comics team from Lulu attended, sketchbook in tow, intent on building a collaborated product that could give back to the comics community with little-to-no effort on the part of the contributors.

Contributors for this sketchbook include Mike Mignola (Hellboy), R Stevens (dieselsweeties.com), and Jennie Breeden (The Devil's Panties). All proceeds of the book will go to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (they can also be purchased at the CBLDF booth at conventions) and ACTOR (A Commitment To Our Roots).

A fortune cookie fortune was used to set the theme for each page. Contributors were then asked to browse the various themes and illustrate their choice. There is a small separate section of the sketchbook with four panels, each already lettered, and artists could browse and create a story around the phrases. It's amazing what someone can do illustrating the phrase "Egads! Evil!"

The Lulu Comic Subversives have published a DragonCon Sketchbook from 2004 that also benefits the CBLDF. Both books are available through Lulu (www.lulu.com/sketchbooks).

For more information about Lulu Comics check www.lulu.com/static/comix1.php, or to schedule an interview, contact Leah Riley at comics@lulu.com.

(Trade paperback, 34 pp, 6.625 x 10.25, $15)

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