The team behind the Small Press Expo, returning Rockville, Maryland in September, have revealed this year’s poster, created by the recipient of the 2025 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Series, Sanika Phawde.
Sanika Phawde (She/They) is an illustrator, educator, cartoonist and reportage artist, born and raised in India, and based in Boston.
Through autobiographical comics, drawings on location, and illustrated interviews their work strives to capture and communicate instances of emotional connection, queer immigrant culture, familial tension and the deeper sentiments hiding in the heart of it.
Her comic series, Wedding Juice and Other Melodramas, won the 2025 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Series. A collection is available here via Sketcher Press.
“To say that we are proud to have this as our poster is an understatement,” says the team. “Sanika went above and beyond to make this happen.
“Look closely and you’ll see literal dozens of characters across the spectrum of comics. She contacted the creators and owners of these characters individually to make this happen. Again, above and beyond!
“With hearts full of gratitude, we say, ‘Thank you, Sanika’ and a big thank you to the creators and owners for making this happen.”
As we previously reported, the annual Small Press Expo is a comics and graphic arts festival taking place in Rockville, Maryland, that presents the best and brightest established creators in independent comics.
A number of British creators will be in attendance this year, including Paul Rainey and Rachael Smith. They have just announced the award-winning graphic novelist, ILYA, author of the recently published Romo the Wolfboy, published by SelfMadeHero, How to Draw Comics (in comic strip format!) and the The End of the Century Club book series will also be in attendance.
In addition to the opportunity for public exposure and potential revenue the festival provides to attending artists, the event also allows less established to network with publishers and prominent creators, providing unique opportunities for the comic artist/writer that is just starting out.
SPX prides itself on maintaining an open, rather than curated, registration policy and open access between attendees, exhibitors and volunteers. SPX is unique amongst the various comic book exhibitions, as it does not allow retailers to have a formal presence at the festival. Only creators and publishers are allowed to exhibit.
• Check out their program here at smallpressexpo.com
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comic Art, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events
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