I had the wonderful opportunity to represent the amazing creators associated with Phoenix Productions (and, well, me) at the 2026 edition of the Lansing Independent Comics & Zine Fest (LICZ) at Grewal Hall in downtown Lansing, Michigan, on Saturday, April 18, 2026. And while past reports have involved all sorts of video of me doing witty and/or dumb things (Yes, I didn’t hit the record button for a whole section of SPACE and had to run through the room a second time…), this report is going to have to limit itself to a text piece.
You see, this time I was flying truly solo. I had a table to manage, books and zines to introduce to a great crowd of attendees…and literally no time to do more than take these pictures of the impressive venue that Jimmy “Soup” Coyer bestowed upon us:
Yeah, that’s me in the corner [(c) Berry Buck Mills Stipe] — but I was there because I asked to be close to an outlet so I could run FANzine Live (on mute) during the show. The streaming largely worked well except when my hotspot dropped out…and a period when YouTube decided to show Jon Stewart interviewing Heather Cox Richardson. (That was odd.)
But let’s get a close-up on The Table:
See that brown stack with the Phoenix logo on top at the back of the table? That’s a very small handful of my swag bags. Each paper bag had a minicomic-sized Phoenix catalog, a FANzine.Live bookmark (Get it? Bookmark the URL!) and an A6 sketchbook with a Phoenix logo sticker on the front and a FANzine Live URL reminder on the back. I had 100 of them ready to go. The show opened at 11AM, and my supply was totally exhausted by 2PM. Yup, it was hopping!
But back to that flying solo thing. With as busy a crowd as we had, and with nobody to lean upon, I was more or less chained to the table. No video, no roaming around and chatting up the other exhibitors. And, much to my eternal chagrin, next to no zine haul. Here are three of my four zines that people traded with me or kindly gave me:
There was a fourth one, but I haven’t emptied the car out yet. I’m sure it’s in there. It, like Nib Rot, came from Scott Witmer. I looked at his UP minicomic on FANzine Live, and he apparently liked it enough that he wanted to make sure I saw the new material. We even took a quick selfie!
There was one more item that I picked up. A young lady was carrying around a goodie bag of small made, found, and otherwise acquired items. She wasn’t big on capitalism, so she was offering a trinket for a zine. I had to oblige and got this tiny plastic recreation of Jack in the Box tacos:
In which Tom buries the lede: Perhaps the high point of the day was meeting one of the Phoenix Masters in person for the first time. Joe Hutchinson and his loving wife drove the roughly 45 minutes or so up to the show to say hi! This is a rather big thing as Joe has a “day job” on the night shift and had to pull a day off to make the trip. Here I am, standing in the presence of small press comics greatness:
What a cool, down-to-earth guy! I’m been a fan of Joe’s for…40 years?…and only now got to shake his hand and talk comics for a minute or two. Such a joy. (NOTE TO SELF: Find a zine fest where Joe and I can table together. That would be so much fun!)
I also had the pleasure of being stationed right next to Hannah Jill Johnston, whose Swan Song got a FANzine Live look a while back:
Hannah was kind enough to monitor my table later in the afternoon so I could run and FINALLY introduce myself to the Field Mouse Press representative. Field Mouse appears to be a sharp publisher, and their weekly SOLRAD emails are a joy to read. (Go sign up for free delivery if you haven’t already!)
The show had to shut down a half-hour early due to the hall double-booking a band right after the LICZ, but that was OK by me. Traffic was lightening in the last hour or so, and the band was setting up right behind me. I really wanted to get out of their way, so I beat a hasty retreat at 4:30PM.
And then I learned that I was a bit TOO hasty, leaving my packed-up Phoenix banner and a box of zines behind. Thanks to Soup for grabbing them and arranging for me to pick them up!
So that was the show. Interesting crowd, with unconventional tastes. Thanks to the Point of Sale system that my awesome daughter installed in 90 minutes at SPACE last month, I can even tell you what my top sellers were! (With links in case you want to check them out…)
- FANzine Three: Street Art (FANzine Live, Amazon listing)
- Noble Head Funnies (FANzine Live, Amazon listing, Ko-Fi listing with original Bolman art included)
- Strange Times 2: Who Are You (FANzine Live, Amazon listing)
- Meet the Hutchinsons (FANzine Live, Ko-Fi listing)
- The Noble Head Funnies Sampler (FANzine Live, Ko-Fi listing)
Why no hero books in the top five? Because I didn’t have room to put nearly any out. Just too much in the library to show on a single table. Nice problem to have.
Why no Steve Willis books? Because – stupid me – I left the box of Willis books and zines at home. Not my finest hour. Apologies, Steve. (But it gave me plenty of time to practice my talk about the Hutchinsons and Bolman…)
And that was LICZ 2026. A good show, filled with plenty of areas for improvement on my part, but successful in spite of my best efforts.
Things to work on for next time:
- Bring a friend! I have to be able to get out from behind the table to meet other creators, pick up new zines, and shoot video for FANzine Live. Who wants to be my Plus One when my daughter is off camping with the Troop?
- Bring everything that I want to sell. No Willis books left behind! Sigh.
- Keep track of my phone, especially when the phone is the conduit to showing FANzine Live and processing transactions. Don’t ask, just don’t ask.
- Continue to keep costs down. Cheap hotel + grocery store deli counter food = Pulling a (tiny) profit! That might be a first for me. Again, the Point of Service system made all the difference in knowing whether (and by how much) I was in the black.
A very fast-moving day led to a quiet night in, watching the Columbus Crew find yet another way to lose this season and turning in early. My drive home was punctuated by a stop to visit with the Detroit Drink & Draw crew at the Boxfort digital design co-working space in the Motor City at the invitation of James Easterly, who is hip-deep in the creation of his meticulously researched Miyazaki and Moebius graphic novel. Here we are, with James showing off a couple of my favorite pages:
Quite a well-organized group, complete with quick-draw cards and “Random Word Prompt Generator” sheets. I…drew…something, and perhaps the giant felt-tip marker covered up some of my many artistic faults.
A couple of hours hanging with artists who forgot more about art and drawing than I’ve ever learned, and it was time to head home. There won’t be a ton of downtime as I have family stuff rolling for the next month or so as the school year winds down.
My next show will be a return to what is now the 10th Annual Comic Fest at the Pickerington Public Library. It’s a cool event, not too big and very laid back. I’m looking forward to that on May 30!
After that, I think my next scheduled show is the big Small Press Expo (SPX) show in Bethesda, Maryland, on September 12-13 at the Bethesda North Marriott. This is one of the Big Shows on the zine fest circuit, and I’m so lucky to have won a table in their lottery!
[UPDATE: Looks like I’m headed back to the Street Cat Zine Fest in Chillicothe, Ohio on July 11!]
Lastly, I DID make a video for the SPACE 2026 show in Hilliard, Ohio. You can watch it right here:
Phoenix Productions 