What is SLICE?Asset 6

St. Louis Independent Comics Expo

The St. Louis Independent Comics Expo (SLICE) is an exposition of zines, chapbooks, literary magazines, poetry, comics, small press authors, indie publishers, and print culture.

We bring together artists, writers, and makers from St. Louis and beyond to share their work, connect with community, and celebrate the power of independent publishing.

SLICE is free and open to the public—inviting everyone to explore, discover, and support print-based creativity.

OUR MISSION

SLICE’s mission is to support local, independent creators and make print arts accessible to St. Louisans. We aim to accomplish this by building community; collaborating with local artists and organizations; and offering free, public events to help artists grow and introduce people of all backgrounds and skill levels to comics, zines, and print arts.

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VIEW OUR PAST EXPOs

SLICE began as the St. Louis Small Press Expo in 2014. Check out some of our past Expos!

EXPO 2026

The St. Louis Independent Comics Expo (SLICE) is back for its fourth year of arts programming. The expo will return on October 31, 2026, with monthly events and workshops leading to the expo beginning in April. 

SUPPORT SLICE

With your help, we can develop a bigger following for independent press, organize more events, invite more special guests, and keep SLICE programming free for all.

Meet the Board & Staff

Meet the humans behind SLICE—our board and staff who help bring it all to life.
Hover over each title to learn more about their work and connection to the community.

STEENZ

Board President

ABOUT:

(they/them) Steenz is a St. Louis–based cartoonist, editor, and professor. They’re the cartoonist on the syndicated comic strip Heart Of The City, the co-creator of Dwayne McDuffie Award–winning Graphic Novel Archival Quality, and the co-creator of the Standard Comic Script. Steenz currently teaches cartooning at Webster University while editing titles from independent publishers and creators. They’re also working on their latest graphic novel, Side Quest: A Graphic Novel History of TTRPGs. They live with their spouse Keya and two cats Marko and Ripley.

KAT

Board Secretary

ABOUT:

(she/they) Kat is an editor in St. Louis, MO, and has been on the SLICE organizing team since 2022. She is also a freelance editor for First Second, proofreader for WEBTOON Unscrolled, and production coordinator for AHOY Comics. They live with their cat, Spider, who is a goblin in disguise. You can learn more about Kat's work at katvendetti.com or on Instagram at @katvendetti.

BRANDON

Board Treasurer

ABOUT:

Brandon Daniels is an author and teaching artist living in St. Louis. He teaches Illustration and Sequential Art at several local universities.

Mikkel

Board Member

ABOUT:

(they/them) Mikkel is a writer based in St. Louis, MO. They volunteered at SLICE 2023; helped with event planning and became the Special & Featured Guest Liaison for SLICE 2024; and became a board member and livestreaming architect on top of all of that for SLICE 2025. They now happily just wear one hat as "Board Member" while also championing Sip & Scribe. You can find them @chimericnotion on most socials and read their Buttondown, Mixed Media with Mikkel.

Racheal

Print Production Manager

ABOUT:

(she/her) Racheal is a St. Louis–based illustrator and Assistant Professor in Illustration at Webster University. She specializes in book and editorial illustration, but her true loves are 19th-century optical animation toys. She's curious how an audience interacts with their own feelings of superstition, and her work imbues the feeling that a fantastical unreality could exist in our physical world, with all of the whimsy and eeriness that comes with it. Racheal has won several awards for her illustration work, including a Cube Award from the 101st Annual Art Directors Club Awards for her cursed film project, Excorio. rachealbruce.com

Orquidea

Social Media Manager

ABOUT:

(she/her) Orquidea is an illustrator and marketer based in St. Louis, MO. She loves color, midcentury culture, and talking about herself. You can find her at @orquideacampes on Instagram.

Renee

Financial Officer

ABOUT:

(she/they) Renee spent four years working in wildlife ecology and is currently a database manager for a philanthropic foundation. She once got scolded for drawing comics in class.

Leah

Financial Officer

ABOUT:

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Raizel

Website Administrator

ABOUT:

Raizel Lieb is the Website Administrator for SLICE. She has a degree in Animation and a minor in Game Design. Her work has appeared in the St. Louis Filmmaker's Festival twice. She has a three-year-old cat named Serena. Check out her portfolio: raizellieb.wixsite.com/home

Alain

Special & Featured Guest Liaison

ABOUT:

(they/them) Alain is a cartoonist and illustrator from St. Louis with a passion for comics, fiber arts, and community. Their work, which tends to feature natural, fantastical, and otherworldly elements, seeks to explore the feelings and identities of its subjects through bold colors. They currently work as a freelance illustrator, educator, and bookseller. When not doodling, they can be found perusing local thrift stores or learning how to fight with swords. amcaart.com | @a.mca.art

Greg "OGTV"

Event Coordinator

ABOUT:

Greg has been a professional artist for over 20 years. They were accepted for a solo gallery in the Foundry Emerging Artist Showcase of 2018. During Greg's residency in San Francisco, they engineered programming for the Cartoon Art Museum and read cartoons for a live audience as a member of the East Bay BIPOC Cartoonists. They currently illustrate with the writer of 2nd Thought Comics and funded two successful Kickstarters for the comic HamletMania.

Grady

Grant Writer

ABOUT:

(they/she) Grady is a third-generation St. Louisan with a love for culture high, low, and all in-between. They enjoy writing, drawing, surfing, riding roller coasters, and being an aunt. Occasionally on Instagram as @gradyrando.

Phoebe

Expo Marketing Lead

ABOUT:

Phoebe Santalla is a St. Louis–based cartoonist and comic crafter who is a little too into cars for her own good. She combines queer history, personal introspection, and chaotic imagined realities to craft tales exploring genderqueer identities. An avid zine maker, she believes there's an urgent need for community survival through publication and sharing printed ephemera.

Imani

Tech Admin

ABOUT:

Imani is a St. Louis artist who just so happens to also work in tech. When they are not in the studio or office, you can find them at various trivia nights, galleries, or wandering downtown St. Louis.

Kay

Design Lead

ABOUT:

(she/they) Kay Watson, known online as "Ann Drew," is an illustrator, graphic designer, comic artist, and creator of Sapphic Scify Comics. Based in St. Louis, MO, they serve as an Assistant Professor at Lindenwood University. Kay's work is inspired by 1960s science fiction pulp magazines, psychedelic colors, and ornamental illustration. They have self-published two titles: Ether Quest (2022) and Venus and the Apis (2024). When not drawing, grading, or reading comics, Kay can be found annoying their two cats, contemplating getting a third cat, and cutting their hair in the bathroom at midnight.

Audrey

Marketing Lead

ABOUT:

(she/her) Audrey Westcott is a graphic designer, illustrator, and comics artist based in St. Louis, MO, where she holds an in-house graphic design job, freelances for nonprofits she loves, and cultivates her personal practice. She loves stories and storytelling of all textual, graphical, and comical forms, and her work is strongly narrative-driven across disciplines. She is also an avid cyclist and advocate for safer streets. In 2025, she illustrated a 33-foot-tall mural for the Missouri History Museum's exhibit Yours Forever: Forest Park at 150.

Jams

Volunteer Coordinator

ABOUT:

(any pronouns) Jams Wilkinson's love of comics grew exponentially when they worked at a local comic shop in 2015. They've been an avid consumer of stories and art ever since, and have begun learning to draw and express themselves through art more often recently. They love talking about animation and meeting new people.