Lansing Independent Comics & Zine Fest

(Whoops! Looks like Insta ate our original pinned post?! Here it is again!) LICZ! is BACK! 💥 The Lansing Independent Comics and Zine Fest is a FREE-TO-ATTEND one-day celebration of all kinds of printed matter--hosting over 50+ self-published creators with paper, staplers, and moxie! Drop by Grewal Hall on Saturday, April 18th from 11:00am – 5:00pm to browse a variety of works ranging from poetry to photography, how-to’s to cartoons, auto-bio to horror, and more! Then grab a drink and read your new zines on the Grewal mezzanine, or hang out and meet other fans of comics and zines! We’re so excited to host this event again, especially in a venue as cool as Grewal. It’s gonna be a blast! Looking forward to seeing you there. :) Poster art designed and Risograph printed by @chris.mattei_ ❗

SCHEDULE CHANGE: LICZ! will now end 30 minutes earlier at 4:30pm! Unfortunately, our venue has accidentally double-booked the space toward the end of our fest. Sometimes things like this happen. In an effort to try to keep things running smoothly, we've agreed to close our doors to the public just a little bit early. Don't forget! We've still got some additional programming at @a.novel.concept and @dearollieandco that will remain as scheduled! So pick up your comic and zines a little earlier, then hang out with a couple of our favorite Lansing friends right after.

Wow! Could we have made a graphic any busier?! Guess what. We're not ONLY going to have 50+ exhibitors in @grewalhall this Saturday... We're also going to have some events at @a.novel.concept and @dearollieandco too! 📚DROP-IN ZINEMAKING (3:00pm - 5:00pm): Make a community zine or a zine of your own with Birdbrain Workshops! No experience or supplies required. Drop in at any time to get making! 📚CLEF OPEN MIC NIGHT (6:30pm - 8:00pm): Join Capital Letters Eclectic Fiction (CLEF) for an open mic night celebrating their second annual publication! Sign up in advance at the link in @a.novel.concept 's bio, or show up and cross your fingers that there's still space! Open to all genres, styles, and levels of experience! Time slots are 5 minutes long. Both events take place at 222 S Washington Square, right next to our main venue! It's basically a block party! Hope to see you there! ✨

@liczfest at Grewal!🩷 Had the best time at this event, thank you to LICZ for having us play a part in it!⭐️

LICZ! IS TODAY! ✨ Come by @grewalhall from 11:00am - 4:30pm for the coolest comics and zine fest in town! Later in the day, enjoy some zine-making and an open mic night over at @a.novel.concept and @dearollieandco ! We've got a whole lot going on. Use this map to navigate around the fest! Meet some creators, grab a drink, enjoy yourself! Thanks for being a part of LICZ! :)

LICZ! is tomorrow! 🙀 We're getting all the last-minute details squared away. It's so exciting!! Keep an eye out tomorrow morning for our table map!

Here's the rest of 'em--our final slate of exhibitors‼️ 📚 @hopelesscomix 📚 Tony DiPasquale is a cartoonist from central Illinois. He's been drawing wordless comics about a little yellow guy named Nugget for five years now, and hopes to for another five hundred. 📚 @soliloquey_poetry 📚 I'm Soliloquey, a writer passionate about spreading love and joy on Beyoncé’s internet. I create Zines that explore the history of International Black and African Revolutionaries, focusing on the often-overlooked contributions of women. 📚 @smallsmallwitch 📚 Smallsmallwitch is a nonbinary artist from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their work ranges from fantasy romance to instructional, and they are really into goblins and tomatoes. 📚 @moptheory 📚 "THE MOP THEORY HQ is an imprint operated by Mop Theory Books, an independent publisher in Lansing, MI. THE MOP THEORY HQ is focused on publishing fiction comics and zines with a common byline of conspiracy fiction, new weird and horror." 📚 @secretcinemamag 📚 Secret Cinema is an independent, self-published magazine celebrating overlooked, underappreciated, and unforgettable films. Each issue pairs thoughtful writing with striking visuals and a deep love for cinema. 📚 @TheJoustingJester 📚 The Jousting Jester is an independent writer and illustrator who companies these two mediums in their zines to bring their short stories to life.

Sometimes you get to be your own client (▰˘◡˘▰) Made ~40 or so shirts for volunteers and attendees who wanna snag one. $20 each at the LICZ! welcome table this Saturday! Snag one fast if you want one! I probably should have printed more 😅 If you've done work with me, you know I'm always pushing tie-dye options. Sooo glad to finally get the chance to print on some again! Maybe this one convinces a few of you to hop on the train with me 👀 For the fellow printers: this one's a three color water-based print with hand-mixed Green Galaxy inks on a tie-dyed Gildan tee. 👾👾👾 #screenprinting #lansing #michigan #tshirts

LICZ! '26 is sponsored in part by @cartoonstudies , sending us support all the way from Vermont! It feels really special to have a name like CCS attached to this fest. Thank you so much for helping to keep this fest running, and let's get more comics made!

Even more indie creators on their way to Lansing! 😎 📚 @coinopcarnival 📚 Ryan Claytor is the Coordinator of the Comic Art and Graphic Novel Minor and Associate Professor at Michigan State University, as well as an award-winning comics creator. 📚 @rebel_pynk 📚 Rebel PYNK is an independently ran zine publisher and distro residing in Detroit, MI. Operating under the Fluff Punk brand, Rebel PYNK is owned and ran by Chyna Jones. Rebel PYNK specializes typically in art zines. 📚 @oneeyedsuperkid 📚 Nadia, 25, lover if nature and cats, creator of The Shadow Banshee, the Dreamwalker, Bunny girl and more comics and zines! She hand draws her comics and prints them at a local print shop in NW Indiana then self publishes and sells them in the Chicago area. 📚 @pat.appaul 📚 Pat ApPaul make phots and zines about the world around him, from Palestine ocupation to drag shows in Michigan. ApPauls zines range from the traditional libary printed and hand stapled, to larger news print print productions. 📚 @phnxprodscomics 📚 Phoenix Productions is a one-man publishing house combining anthology comics, hero comics, zines and reissues from some of the best cartoonists of the 1980s small press revolution. 📚 @ransommccarthyart 📚 Ransom McCarthy is a cartoonist, painter, and educator based in Flint, Michigan. When he's not in the studio working on comics or painting, he's probably doodling in a cafe or buying WAY too many comics. 📚 @ruby.comix 📚 Ruby Carter is a Chicago-based cartoonist. She is the author of self-published series “BOGUE,” as well as her debut book “bird comic.”

Our SECOND flyer design from local artist and LICZ! exhibitor @chris.mattei_ ! Listen, I'm gonna break out of the semi-professional voice for a second. I'm in love with these things. Oh my god. I asked Chris to draw some thumbnail designs for a poster, and his sketches blew me away. We went with three designs, because I couldn't choose. And the final prints are just nuts! I am a big fan of comics artists in general. Getting to work with an artist like Chris for a project like LICZ! feels like, I don't know, something that is totally unreal! He's going to think I'm exaggerating, but I am not. It is dreamlike for me. I tear up if I look at them for too long. And I think that they lend a lot of legitimacy to LICZ!, which I am grateful for. If you're a fan as well.. good news! Chris will be featured front and center at LICZ! this year, and will have a number of copies for sale! These are Risograph printed locally at Ultra Mega, from the same run that you may have seen hung up around town. Stay tuned for the alt color variant of this design, our third flyer for this year's LICZ! Okay, back to being semi-professional. Jimmy "Soup" Coyer LICZ! Organizer

Thank you to @msulibraries for partnering with us once again! MSU Libraries' Murray & Hong Special Collections holds one the largest collections of zines in the Big 10, and one of the largest collections in comics in the world! It also served as a big inspiration for this fest--one of the main reasons we decided to create LICZ! They'll have their own table at the fest, so make sure to drop by to learn more!