The crowd, estimated at 400, is different from the usual Comicon attendees. "We get a lot more art students, a lot more women, and a lot more people interested in comics more as art than a graphic narrative," says organizer Leonard Wong, reached by phone in Vancouver. Dealers stock their tables with Love & Rockets graphic novels, R. Crumb memorabilia, and the latest from Daniel Clowes and Julie Doucet.

In the '90s, Wong began bringing in Seattle artists like Jason Lutes and Ed Brubaker. But "it honestly confused a lot of the people who were coming to the shows for Batman comic books and whatnot," Wong says. It was spun into "a once-a-year thing, with the focus on independent creators".

This year's Comix & Stories, at Heritage Hall, features Farel Dalrymple. The Portland-based artist writes and draws his own title, Pop Gun War , and is illustrating the upcoming Omega: The Unknown , from an obscure 1970s Marvel comic. Novelist Jonathan Lethem ( The Fortress of Solitude ) is writing the series. Local guests include Robin Bougie, publisher of cult-film 'zine C inema Sewer ; Camilla d'Errico, creator of the manga series Avril Lavigne's Make 5 Wishes and Nightmares and Fairytales ; and the Straight 's own Josue Menjivar ( Everyday Things ).

This will be Libicki's third year at Comix & Stories. "It's a pretty neat community," she says. "They're all great people. And we're all doing completely different things."

Labels: British Columbia, events, Vancouver