Chicago Alternative Comics Expo

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Chicago Alternative Comics Expo - Wikipedia

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Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE)
Status	Active
Genre	Alternative comics convention
Frequency	Annual
Venue	Center on Halsted (2013–2019) Broadway Armory (2023)
Location(s)	Chicago, Illinois
Country	United States
Inaugurated	16 June 2012; 12 years ago (2012-06-16)
Founder	Edie Fake and Neil Brideau
Most recent	June 3–4, 2023
Next event	2024
Attendance	2,200 (2014)^[1]
Organized by	Tyrell Cannon, Sage Coffey, Chris Lopez, Tony Recktenwald, Ed Witt^[2]
Filing status	Nonprofit
Website	www.cakechicago.com

The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (widely known as CAKE) is a comic book festival usually held each June in Chicago.

Inaugurated in 2012, the curated^[3] festival showcases graphic novels, comic books, minicomics, and zines created by independent artists and publishers. CAKE focuses on the art of comics, and unlike traditional comic book conventions, does not feature much in the way of cosplaying, collectibles, back-issue dealers, or mainstream superhero publishers. Instead, the show centers around an artist alley-style exhibition space that features roughly 200 vendors,^[4] as well as industry-related panel discussions. The festival gives out the CupCake Awards, geared toward minicomic self-publishers.

History

The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo was co-founded by Edie Fake and Neil Brideau, both then employees at the Chicago independent bookstore Quimby's.^[5] The show was designed to honor Chicago's legacy as a home for small-press and self-publishing cartoonists.^[5]

CAKE was inaugurated as a two-day event on June 16–17, 2012, at 1104 S. Wabash (The Ludington Building), part of the campus of Columbia College Chicago.^[6] Sponsors included Quimby's Bookstore, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Columbia College Chicago, some of whose venues hosted concurrent events related to the show.^[7]

The event moved to the Center on Halsted, an LGBT community center, in 2013.

The convention achieved nonprofit organization status in 2015.^[5]

In 2020, CAKE announced it was leaving its long-time location at Center on Halsted, and relocating to the Broadway Armory,^[8]^[9] located in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood. However, the 2020,^[10]^[11] 2021, and 2022^[12] events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The in-person show returned in 2023, held at the Broadway Armory.^[2]

Event history

Dates	Primary Venue	Featured Guest(s)
June 16–17, 2012	The Ludington Building (Columbia College Chicago) 1104 S. Wabash, Chicago	Jeffrey Brown, Lilli Carré, Anders Nilsen,^[13] Closed Caption Comics, Paul Hornschemeier, Lucy Knisley, Anne Elizabeth Moore, Corinne Mucha, Laura Park, Pizza Island, John Porcellino, Nate Powell, Trubble Club^[7]
June 15–16, 2013	Center on Halsted Chicago	Chris Ware, Kim Deitch, Phoebe Gloeckner, Jason Shiga, Aaron Renier, Michael DeForge^[14]
May 31–June 1, 2014	Center on Halsted Chicago	Tony Millionaire, Edie Fake, Anya Davidson, Inés Estrada, Lizz Hickey, Hellen Jo^[15]
June 6–7, 2015	Center on Halsted Chicago	Eleanor Davis, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Keiler Roberts, Zak Sally, Dash Shaw, Jillian Tamaki, Lale Westvind^[5]
June 11–12, 2016	Center on Halsted Chicago	Chester Brown, Tyrell Cannon, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Sammy Harkham, Cathy G. Johnson, Patrick Kyle, Laura Park, Trina Robbins, Leslie Stein^[16]
June 10–11, 2017	Center on Halsted Chicago	Gabrielle Bell, Gary Panter, Ron Regé Jr., Kevin Budnik, Emil Ferris, Jesse Jacobs, Ben Passmore, C. Spike Trotman, Jessi Zabarsky^[17]^[18]
June 2–3, 2018	Center on Halsted Chicago	Tony Breed, Eddie Campbell, Nick Drnaso, Nicole Hollander, Audrey Niffenegger, Mimi Pond, Fiona Smyth, Carol Tyler, Georgia Webber, Jim Woodring, Gina Wynbrandt, Bianca Xunise^[19]
June 1–2, 2019	Center on Halsted Chicago	Ezra Claytan Daniels, Nicholas Gurewitch, Corinne Halbert, Michael Kupperman, Anders Nilsen, Ben Passmore, Aaron Renier, Isabella Rotman, Whit Taylor, Rosemary Valero-O'Connell^[20]
~~June 13–14, 2020~~ ^[a]	~~Center on Halsted~~ ~~Chicago~~
~~June 2021~~ ^[b]	~~Broadway Armory~~ ~~Chicago~~
~~2022~~^[c]	~~Chicago~~
June 3–4, 2023	Broadway Armory Chicago	MS Harkness, Derf Backderf, MariNaomi, Molly Mendoza, Joy San, Leigh Luna, Johnny Sampson, Matt Allison

CupCake Award

The CupCake Award is a juried prize that is presented annually at CAKE to a local minicomic creator. It comes with $250 to use toward printing a new minicomic, half a table at that year's show, and the "support" of a local mentor.^[21]

Year	Winner	Mentor
2015	Sara Drake	Annie Koyama
2016	Goda Trakumaite	John Porcellino
2017	Kelly Fernandez	Caitlin McGuirk
2018	Adam Griffiths	Edie Fake
2019	Diana Chu	Marnie Galloway
2020	Joi Yao	Tyrell Cannon
2021	AnneMarie Rogers	Isabella Rotman
2022	Bread Tarleton	Jim Terry
2023	Natalie Mark	Zachary Clemente, Kat Fajardo

Notes

^ Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
^ Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
^ Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

References

^ Rogers, Benjamin (June 4, 2014). "CAKE Report: Indie comics go to Chicago". The Beat.
^ ^a ^b MacDonald, Heidi (Feb 8, 2023). "CAKE is coming back to Chicago in June: And it's got a cool new venue, too!". The Beat.
^ MacDonald, Heidi (Nov 13, 2012). "CAKE is taking applications". The Beat.
^ Kirby, Megan (Jun 11, 2015). "Finding five pieces of CAKE". Chicago Tribune.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Danzer, Amy (June 2, 2015). "Making CAKE: Chicago Alternative Comics Expo Features Two Illustrious Days and Dozens of Illustrators". New City Lit.
^ MacDonald, Heidi (Aug 18, 2011). "Have your CAKE in Chicago next June". The Beat.
^ ^a ^b Berlatsky, Noah. "Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE), June 16-17, 2012," The Hooded Utilitarian (May 18, 2012).
^ "CAKE (CHICAGO ALTERNATIVE COMICS EXPO) 2020". Do312. Jun 13, 2020.
^ "CAKE announces venue change, cites Center controversy". Windy City Times. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
^ Gelman, Samuel (Mar 26, 2020). "Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE) Postponed Due to Coronavirus". CBR.
^ "Chicago Alternative Comics Expo CAKE 2020 postponed". Windy City Times. 2020-03-26.
^ MacDonald, Heidi (Feb 11, 2022). "CAKE postponed until 2023, but other indie comics festivals go on". The Beat.
^ Christoph, Ella."Let Them Eat C.A.K.E. Chicago Alternative Comics Expo puts the independents up front," New City Lit (JUNE 13, 2012).
^ Kleefeld, Sean. "THE CAKE IS NOT A LIE AT CHICAGO'S ALTERNATIVE COMICS EXPO," MTV (06/17/2013).
^ Berlatsky, Noah. "Chicago Alternative Comics Expo preview: CAKE 2014 features Edie Fake, Tony Millionaire, Liz Prince, Hellen Jo, and more," Chicago Reader (May 25, 2014).
^ "Guest and Exhibitor List," CAKE 2016 Archive. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
^ MacDonald, Heidi. "Tonight and this weekend to do: CAKE," The Beat (06/09/2017).
^ "CAKE 2017," CAKE Archives. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
^ "2018 Guests And Exhibitors," CAKE 2018 Archive. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
^ "CAKE 2019," CAKE Archives. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
^ "CupCake Award," CAKE website. Retrieved May 21, 2022.

External links

Official website

Comic festivals and alternative comics conventions

Asia

Comifuro (Indonesia)
Comiket (Japan)
COMITIA (Japan)
Niigata Comic Market (Japan)

Europe

Amadora BD (Portugal)
Angoulême International Comics Festival (France)
Comic Con Ukraine (Ukraine)
Etna Comics (Italy)
Fumetto International Comics Festival (Switzerland)
Helsinki Comics Festival (Finland)
International Comics Festival (Serbia)
Lakes International Comic Art Festival (United Kingdom)
Lille Comics Festival (France)
Lucca Comics & Games (Italy)
Napoli Comicon (Italy)
Thought Bubble Festival (United Kingdom)

North America

Canada	Expozine (Quebec) Toronto Comic Arts Festival (Ontario)
USA	Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (Ohio) Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE) (Illinois) Comic Arts Los Angeles (California) East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (Pennsylvania) FLUKE (Georgia) MoCCA Festival (New York) Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (Ohio) Small Press Expo (Maryland) STAPLE! (Texas)

South America

Bienal de Quadrinhos de Curitiba (Brazil)
Fantabaires (Argentina)
Festival Internacional de Quadrinhos (Brazil)
PerifaCon (Brazil)

Defunct

Alternative Press Expo (United States)
CAPTION (United Kingdom)
Comic Arts Brooklyn (United States)
Comica (United Kingdom)
Komikazen (Italy)
Stumptown Comics Fest (United States)
UK Web & Mini Comix Thing (United Kingdom)

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