Outside Looking In: Alternative Political Cartooning in 2008 To Be Held This Weekend Oct 4-Oct 5

Bethesda, Maryland; September 29, 2008 - Come see the best Bush bashing, Republican ripping, McCain mangling and best of all, Obama backing cartoonists in America!!!!!

Outside Looking In: Alternative Political Cartooning in 2008 will be held this weekend, Saturday, October 4 from 11AM to 7PM and Sunday, October 5 noon-6PM at The North Bethesda Marriott Convention Center in Bethesda, Maryland.


Admission is $8 for a single day and $15 for both days and is good for both Outside Looking In and the Small Press Expo the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comic books, graphic novels and alternative political cartoons,

In celebration of this most historical election, Outside Looking In has gathered the best alternative political cartoonist from across the United States for a special two days of panel discussions, interviews and autograph sessions.

Information on the panels, interviews, directions and exhibitors can be found at http://www.spxpo.com.

Here is a partial list of the political cartoon guests at this special event:

Tom Tomorrow is making a very rare comic convention appearance in conjunction with Outside Looking In and SPX is the award winning cartoonist, Tom Tomorrow, one of the pioneers in the alternative political cartooning field. The creator of the strip "This Modern World " and its protagonist, Sparky The Wonder Penguin, will promote his newly released book, "The Future Is So Bright I Can’t Bare To Look!". Visit Mr. Tomorrow’s web site at http://www.thismodernworld.com.

Lloyd Dangle, who is attending SPX as a guest for the first time in many years, is the creator of the long running social and political cartoon series "Troubletown". Mr. Dangle also has a new book out, "Troubletown, I Told You So!". See his cartoons at http://www.troubletown.com. Be sure to catch Lloyd interviewing Tom Tomorrow on Saturday afternoon.

Ted Rall is the President-elect of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists (A.A.E.C.) and has traveled extensively to Central Asia. Author, ATTITUDE editor, cartoonist, columnist and sometime TV personality, Ted’s most recent book is “Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?” and his latest cartoon collection is, “America Gone Wild”. For more information on Ted Rall, visit his website at http://www.tedrall.com.Ruben Bolling is the creator of the multi-faceted, multi-paneled social and political weekly strip, Tom The Dancing Bug. His most recent book is “Thrilling Tom The Dancing Bug Stories”. SPX is grateful that Ruben is making his first appearance at SPX in a number of years. Visit his web site at http://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug/.Matt Wuerker is the cartoonist and illustrator at Politico.Com and the weekly Politico newspaper. His cartoons and illustrations have been published by Smithsonian Magazine, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and The Nation. You can see his cartoons at http://www.politico.com. Jen Sorensen Jen is the creator of the political/social commentary strip "Slowpoke" and is now the political cartoonist for The Village Voice. She is also syndicated nationally and is (unfortunately) one of the few women political cartoonists. She will be at SPX to sign her latest book, "One Nation, Oh My God". Visit her website at http://www.slowpokecomics.com.

Keith Knight is the creator of the syndicated daily and Sunday strip
"The Knight Life", as well as his long running strips "The K Chronicles" and "(th)ink". His latest books are "The Complete K Chronicles" from Dark
Horse books and his self published "I Left My Arse In San Francisco". He draws
regularly for Mad Magazine and ESPN the Magazine. Visit his web site at http://www.kchronicles.com/

Nate Beeler Nate is the syndicated political cartoonist from The Washington Examiner. He won the John Locher Memorial Award as The Best College Political Cartoonist and will be making his first appearance at SPX.Visit his web site at http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/NateBeelerToons.

For further information on the artists or to request an interview, please contact Warren Bernard at mailto:webernard@spxpo.com.

SPX, a non-profit organization, brings together more than 300 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers and distributors each year. Graphic novels, political cartoon books and alternative comics will all be on display and for sale by their authors and illustrators. A series of panel discussions will also be held of interest to readers, academicians and creators of graphic novels and political cartoons.

SPX culminates with the presentation of the 12th Annual Ignatz Awards for outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning that will occur Saturday night, October 4. The Ignatz is the first Festival Prize in the US comic book industry, with winners chosen by balloting during the SPX.

As in previous years, all profits from the SPX will go to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), protecting the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals. For more information on the CBLDF, go to their website at http://www.cbldf.org/.

Founded in 1994, SPX is North America's premier alternative comic-book and graphic novel festival. This annual event brings together comic creators, publishers and fans together to celebrate the art of visual storytelling.