SF Comics Fest is Here!

February 28, 2019UncategorizedNina Kester

SF Comics Fest Returns

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to Celebrate Cartoons Across the Bay

Various locations across the San Francisco Bay Area

March 1-10, 2019

More than a week of events celebrating the Bay Area’s thriving comics scene and its rich comics history during the third SF Comics Fest that runs Friday, March 1st through Sunday, March 10th. The Cartoon Art Museum has coordinated with institutions all over the Bay Area for the celebration including comic shops like Cape and Cowl, Crush Comics, and The Escapist, organizations like the Mission Art and Comics Expo and cultural institutions like the museum and the Will & Ann Eisner Foundation, events include setting goals to read graphic novels, the opportunity to meet famous comics creators, getting an in-depth look at San Francisco’s comic scene from past to present, seeing innovations that will guide the future of comics, making your own comics under the direction of professional cartoonists and more!

Each year events take place at independent locations that coordinate events in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area. Scheduled events can be found on the calendar tab.

Events are added continuously as they are approved. Visit our Host an Event tab for details.
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About SF Comics Fest

SF Comics Fest is a celebration of San Francisco comics culture: past, present, and future.
Festival events seek to highlight four aspects of our vibrant Bay Area comics community.

– Our rich history of artistic rebellion and comics innovation
– Our unique intersection of cultural influences shared among today’s Bay Area cartoonists
– Our commitment to comics in education
– Our responsibility to shape the future of comics through technology in a positive and equitable way

All SF Comics Fest Events are expected to abide by the event-wide anti-harassment policy.
We are accepting applications for events planned 3/1-3/10.

About the Cartoon Art Museum

The Cartoon Art Museum’s mission is to ignite imaginations and foster the next generation of visual storytellers by celebrating the history of cartoon art, its role in society, and its universal appeal. The museum’s vision is to be the premier destination to experience cartoon art in all its many forms from around the world, and a leader in providing insight into the process of creating it. Learn more at cartoonart.org!

Coming March 1-10, 2019…

February 16, 2019UncategorizedNina Kester

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October 24, 2016UncategorizedLeef Smith

San Francisco Comic-Con^SM presents, in association with San Francisco Comics Fest, SAM, Storytelling Across Media, a one-day symposium for aspiring writers and artists, as well as professionals, interested in the art of storytelling. This event will be held on Saturday, November 5, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, 780 Mission Street in downtown San Francisco, from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Admission is FREE, but online registration is encouraged. Seating in all symposium events is limited.

SAM is not your traditional comics convention. There is no Exhibit Hall or Autograph Area. SAM is all about storytelling, through a series of talks and workshops about how to tell a story in various media, including comics, gaming, animation, movies, and more. It explores the similarities and differences in telling stories through different media and focuses on the craft of telling a story through creator lectures and workshops. Special guests for this event are writer Rick Remender (Captain America, Black Science, Low) and comics creator/animation artist Stephan Franck (Silver).

SAM’s preliminary slate of programs (subject to change) include:

Cartooning 101
Bay Area Comics & Illustration History with Last Gasp
Cartooning 102
Diversity and Representation in Storytelling
Parent and Child Class (Cartoon Art Museum)
Interactive Design with Telltale Games
Spotlight on Stephan Franck
Storytelling For Game Development
Spotlight on Rick Remender
Comics and VR Storytelling
Storytelling in Editorial Cartooning
Telling Your Story: Online Privacy

A complete list of programs, along with information on how to register online to attend them, will appear on this website approximately 10 days before the event.

The SAM event is the culmination of San Francisco Comics Fest, a celebration of comics culture past, present, and future, with a commitment to its community’s history, influence, and education. Festival events—including workshops, signings, and talks—start Wednesday, November 2 and will be held in locations across the Bay Area.

San Francisco Comic-Con is part of the San Diego Comic Convention family of events. SDCC is a nonprofit educational corporation dedicated to creating awareness of, and appreciation for, comics and related popular artforms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture.

WHO: SAM: Storytelling Across Media
WHAT: A one-day symposium devoted to talks and workshops about storytelling in various forms of media. Part of San Francisco Comics Fest.
WHEN: Saturday, November 5, 11:00 AM–6:00 PM
WHERE: Marriott Marquis Hotel, 780 Mission St., San Francisco, CA, 94103
ADMISSION: Free; online advance registration is encouraged. Seating is limited.

Announcing: The 2nd annual San Francisco Comics Fest!

June 21, 2016UncategorizedSethR-admin

Ron Turner Last Gasp — Underground comix legend Ron Turner, right, publisher of Last Gasp Books, receives 2015’s Cartoon Art Museum “Sparky” Award in conjunction with the 2015 SF Comics Fest. The award celebrates the significant contributions of cartoon artists who embody the talent, innovation, and humanity of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, for whom the award is named. Photo by Seth Rosenblatt.

San Francisco, CA – Announcing the second annual San Francisco Comics Fest organized by members of the Bay Area comics community in association with Comic-Con, International.

This year’s celebration will kick off Wednesday, November 2nd with satellite events held throughout the city culminating in the Comic-Con sponsored Storytelling Across Media (SAM) event on Saturday, November 5th. As plans are still being developed, more detailed information will be forthcoming.

The origin of San Francisco Comics Fest began in late 2014 at a Town Hall meeting of retailers, artists, writers and other industry professionals and has grown into a region-wide celebration of the comics medium. Last year’s festival included over twenty events held at Bay Area comics shops, the Cartoon Art Museum, and the San Francisco Public Library.

“This year, with the help of Comic-Con, we’re launching an exciting new culminating event,” Committee Organizer Matt Silady, Chair of MFA in Comics Program at California College of the Arts. “Our hope is to bring together future storytellers from comics, video games, and animation, it’s going to be a very special day for Bay Area writers, artists, and anyone looking to stretch their imaginations.”

SAM, Comic-Con’s Storytelling Across Media one-day event will cap off the festival by offering a line-up of in-depth panels and workshops for everyone from aspiring cartoonists to professional storytellers. ”We’re very excited to return to the Bay Area,” said David Glanzer, spokesperson for SAM. “And we are delighted to support San Francisco’s creative community.”

Along with its new relationship with Comic-Con International, San Francisco Comics Fest continues with the support of Independent Arts and Media as they work together to further its mission to bring a long-lasting, fun, diverse comics festival to San Francisco.

SF COMICS FEST MISSION STATEMENT: San Francisco Comics Fest is a celebration of comics culture – past, present and future – with festival events highlighting four core aspects of the vibrant community:

Rich history of artistic rebellion and comics innovation
Unique intersection of cultural influences shared among creators
Commitment to comics education
Responsibility to shape the future of comics through technology in a positive, equitable way

Scheduled events include workshops, signings, and talks at sponsored by the Cartoon Art Museum, SF Public Library, and comics retailers on both sides of the Bay. San Francisco Comics Fest will be accepting applications for official SFCF events from its local community through the month of July. All event participants will be promoted through official SFCF channels and promotional materials.

To get involved, we’re currently accepting applications from volunteers and offers to host an event.

ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO COMICS FEST: San Francisco Comics Fest is a celebration of comics culture past, present and future with a commitment to its community’s history, influence and education.

ABOUT INDEPENDENT ARTS & MEDIA: Independent Arts & Media offers fiscal sponsorship to projects that advance IAM’s charitable purpose: to raise the educational and social levels of the residents of the San Francisco Bay Area and surrounding regional and national communities, through the development of non-commercial, educational and cultural media, news and arts projects for the benefit of the general public.

ABOUT COMIC-CON, INTERNATIONAL: Comic-Con International: San Diego is a nonprofit educational corporation dedicated to creating awareness of, and appreciation for, comics and related popular artforms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture.

To the San Francisco comics community, we say… THANK YOU!!!

May 21, 2015Newscomics, San Francisco, SF Comics Fest, SFCF, sfcf2015, underground comixSethR-admin

Underground comix legend Ron Turner, founder and publisher of Last Gasp Books, shows off the official Proclamation from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors declaring May 5 "Ron Turner Day," along with a Certificate of Honor from SF Mayor Ed Lee, and his Charles M. Shulz Sparky Award for Special Service. — Underground comix legend Ron Turner, right, founder and publisher of Last Gasp Books, shows off the official Proclamation from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors declaring May 5 “Ron Turner Day,” along with a Certificate of Honor from SF Mayor Ed Lee, and his Charles M. Shulz Sparky Award for Special Service given at a surprise celebration during the SF Comics Fest 2015. Turner is pictured with his son, Colin, the associate publisher of Last Gasp. Photo by Seth Rosenblatt.

What an incredible week!

From well attended talks to sold out workshops to retail events and parties, San Francisco celebrated comics at an impressive twenty (yes, TWENTY!) events during this year’s Fest. The humble beginnings of the SF Comics Fest, at a Town Hall discussion of the future of comics celebrations in S.F. last December, blossomed into more than just a diverse events calendar. We saw an wonderfully unexpected outpouring of participation and support from our community. The inaugural San Francisco Comics Fest became exactly what you made it, marked by passion, excitement, knowledge and talent.

To our event organizers who devoted their time, spaces and resources, we say THANK YOU! To anyone who joined a conversation, drew a comic, put on a costume, to anyone who FEST-ed, we say THANK YOU!

We hope you are as inspired as we are as we look to the future of SFCF and continue to build a positive, inclusive celebration of comics and its culture. Your feedback is a very important part of that process, and we want to hear from you. Whether or not you attended an event, please fill out our brief survey to help us better understand what you liked and what you’d like to see more of.

And please continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter as we keep the community updated on goals and plans for next year.