APE is over and done, and we all had fun. I'll have pictures up soon. Meanwhile, go read Little Scrowlie writer and co-creator Todd Meister's observations about APE 2006 here. He says pretty much everything I noticed about the convention. APE has become a very crafts-oriented event, though there are still plenty of comics to be found. And luckily for me, people are pretty good at finding me and giving me beautiful mini-comics. I received this year (in the order I pull them out of the box):

By the Wayside by Leigh Dragoon
Published at Girl-a-Matic.com, it's the story of a young woman who is an exorcist--very pretty art and an urban fantasy setting.

Foxymoron by Travis Fox
Jamie S. Rich introduced me to Travis at last year's Comic-Con. Foxymoron is full of energetic stories about Travis's encounters with Pop Culture. A biographical mini-comic that's fun and not full of uninsightful introspection? RAWK!

Between the Dark and the Dawn by Lisa Jonte and C. "Spike" Trotman
Lisa was a good sport about a mishap that ocurred with her art a few years ago. Between is a wordless wintery story about a witch and her sweetheart.

Entanglement by Brandon Hanvey
Brandon's The Stereos was a cute a story about friendship and music, and Entanglement is about love and art.

A Late Freeze by Danica Novgorodoff
This one won the Isotope Excellence in Mini-Comics award. It's an odd, almost-wordless love story about a robot and a bear (and a frog) with full-color, expressive art.

Sunday by Evan Waldinger
A tiny mini-comic from an artist whose minicomic "A Sunlit Scratch" I had enjoyed. The dialogue and situations in this one remind me of the second section of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land--people speaking across each other, fragments of conversation, meanings never quite matching up.

Crimson Clover by Johnny Siu
A pretty, dreamy storybook about a lost little girl. The artist was too shy to give it to me, so he gave a copy to Serena for her to give to me.

Capacity #6 by Theo Ellsworth
I'm very impressed with Theo's surreal stories and his bold artwork. He's one to watch, I tell ya.

A big "Thank you!" to all these talented artists. Hurrah for supporting the medium and keeping the artform alive!