Small Press Expo has announced Carol Tyler as a Special Guest, along with International Special Guest ILYA, and for the first time, International Special Guests from Taiwan for SPX 2026.
SPX 2026 is the first stop for the Taiwan Comics Showcase. A ee mi, Ding Pao Yen, Monday Recover, Crystal Kung, and Rio are part of a special D.C. area showcase organized by Fantom Comics and sponsored by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office.
The show takes place on Saturday, September 12, and Sunday, September 13, with programming and workshops about the amazing world of independent comics as well as an exhibitor floor featuring over 450 creators.
Carol Tyler
We are thrilled to announce that Carol Tyler is a Special Guest at SPX! Carol Tyler is a cartoonist who bridged underground and alternative comics with her debut in Weirdo magazine in 1987. She is a CXC Master Cartoonist and a Slate Studio Prize winner and was just inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame. Her latest book, THE EPHEMERATA: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief has been nominated for an Eisner Award, a Harvey Award, and a Ringo Award.
The show takes place on Saturday, September 12, and Sunday, September 13, with programming and workshops about the amazing world of independent comics as well as an exhibitor floor featuring over 450 creators.
Additional Special Guests will be announced over the next few weeks.
ILYA
British writer and artist ILYA is an award-winning graphic novelist, author of ROMO THE WOLFBOY (SelfMadeHero, 2026), ‘How to Draw Comics’ (in comic strip format!) and the ‘The End of the Century Club’ book series. ROMO’s globetrotting adventures and diverse, eccentric casting make it a Tintin or Asterix for the new age… and All Ages! In an unmissable workshop, lifelong comics practitioner ILYA takes you on an eye-popping journey through both time and space, using his latest graphic novel series ‘ROMO the WolfBoy’ as the prism. Don’t miss ‘Romo the WolfBoy: A Walk on the Wild Side’ at SPX.
A ee mi
A ee mi debuts two new titles making their North American premiere after releases in Taiwan in 2025 and 2026: MEOWNIVERSE and MEOWMEOWBAKERY. Originally serialized online in both Chinese and English, these comics explore the full range of human emotion & experience through the lives of A ee mi’s idiosyncratic characters meowmeowbug and lazylazydog. A surrealist mix of humor and melancholy.
Ding Pao Yen
NOT READY FOR REAL LIFE is Ding Pao Yen’s English debut, a collection of 4 short stories clustered around the idea of young adulthood in a futuristic yet nostalgic world. Vampires, kaiju, ancient fish eggs, and silent underwater cities, all overlapping with the vicissitudes and precarity of starting to find your way in the world.
Monday Recover
SEE YOU THERE, BEYOND THE OCEAN is her first U.S. release. Drawn by Monday Recover and written by Chiao Meow, See You There Beyond the Ocean is about a third grade girl, class outcast Wu Hsiao-jung—an introverted girl who hates going to school. So of course she’d have nothing in common with her cheerful, outgoing classmate Tung Ko-wei…right? As it turns out, both girls have a passion for drawing comics, and their shared love of creating brings the unlikely pair closer together. Thus begins the story of a beautiful, bittersweet friendship, the ups and downs of childhood, and a project left forever unfinished…
Crystal Kung
Crystal Kung‘s new full-color collection FOUR IN LOVE is her first U.S. graphic novel release–four short stories seeking to answer the question, “What is ‘love’ to you?” Is it the determination to find your soulmate, guided by the red thread of fate? Is it an ideal dream quashed by the pains of reality? Is it a quest to seek companionship in a virtual world? Or is it the bravery to hold hands when facing adversity?
Rio
UNEMPLOYED KILLERS SUPPORT GROUP is Rio’s debut English release: a razor-sharp, darkly hilarious noir-esque manhua–not your average self-help group. Selected by Taiwan Pavilion as a featured work to be showcased at the 2023 Angoulême International Comics Festival.
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Source: Graphic Policy
