Sigh. Why is it that, at least according to Google News, there’s been no local coverage of this weekend’s Alternative Press Expo? I usually don’t have to look for it and this year I can’t find the usual mention in local papers. Is it the rain? Did I get my dates mixed up? Has my Google-fu suddenly dried up (not that it was ever that good before)?

Whatever. I’ll be there. I should be excited but yesterday was our first sunny day in weeks and the clouds are rolling back in and I keep thinking of what a pain it’s going to be to get there. The thing I hate about APE is that The Concourse (where the event has been held for a few years, now) is in an area where the blocks are long and the bus stops far apart (with infrequent bus service, since it’s the kind of area most people won’t enter without a car). I know I’ll have a great time, but for the moment I can only think about taking a long walk in the rain. Bleah.

APE has become a big part of how I get comics. I used to make an effort to find those indie titles I like, but now I’m willing to wait and pick up what I’ve missed at either APE or San Diego. It feels so much nicer to be buying them directly from the creator and I’m no longer lacking for good comics to read in the meantime.

So there’s a few comics I’m hoping to find on this trip. I have no idea what I’ll end up actually purchasing — every year there are more comics I want to buy than my budget would allow, forcing me to walk around the floor taking note of titles and prices, eventually sitting down and trying to figure out what I’ll have to put off until next time.

At the top of my want list is the Banana Sunday trade from Oni. I’ve been eagerly anticipating this title and the good buzz has only increased that yen. (Has Little Star by Andi Watson come out yet? No need to answer, I’ll find out tomorrow.)

My friend Sean Seamus McWhinny will be there, selling a longer version of Head Trip and a new minicomic, Diary of a Catering Whore. Having enjoyed Brandon Hanvey’s The Stereos, his new graphic novel, entanglement also sounds cool.

At last year’s APE, I picked up a sample issue of Bill Roundy’s comics as well as the first two volumes of Tim Fish’s Calvacade of Boys. I’d like to get more of those, this year. I’ll also want to grab whatever new issues of Teen Boat and Take Out I find… as well as the first collection for Dorothy.

Top Shelf’s booth will be tempt me with the new Owly volume and I’ve been eyeing Fantagraphics’ Romance without Tears since last year, a title that I’ve wanted more since reading Johanna’s review a few months back.

Okay, I think I’ve managed to talk myself up, despite the rain.

Additional tags: Banana Sunday, Little Star, Andi Watson, Teen Boat, Bill Roundy, Tim Fish, Calvacade of Boys, Sean Seamus McWhinny, Owly