PIX, the Pittsburgh Indy Comics Expo, takes place this weekend. The event is a way to nurture and encourage the city’s independent comic scene.
Jim Rugg, a local indy cartoonist, and Bill Boichel, owner of The Copacetic Comics Company in Polish Hill, expect this weekend will be a bigger success than ever.
Boichel says Pix is different Comicon for one simple reason.
"The key thing that we're focusing on at Pix, the one phrase that would define it most of all is creator-owned."
He continues to say, "The artwork, the ideas, the concepts, everything is owned by the creator and not by a giant corporation like Marvel or DC, which are owned respectively by Disney and Time Warner, the two largest media conglomerates."
Rugg says he thinks Pittsburgh is a good place for an Indy Comic Expo because of the strong population of artists and cartoonists.
"I wouldn't say it's a large population of cartoonists, but a very strong population of cartoonists. And part of that, is the community itself, both in comics and in the wider arts community, offer a lot of support to cartoonists and to people making art and there's overlap between art and Indy comics. The low cost of living, the art resources, I think Pittsburgh's just a good place for cartoonists to live and the result is you have a strong population of cartoonists now living here."
PIX will be held in the city's South Side neighborhood this weekend beginning at 10am Saturday.
