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Calling all fans of comics, zines, posters and other printed materials. The Autoptic Festival returns in-person Saturday, Aug. 13, and Sunday, Aug. 14, for a celebration of the best of DIY print culture.

This premier comic and independent print festival, the first since 2018, will include panels, workshops, interviews, book signings and a floor exhibition where more than 120 artists will display their art, sell their work and meet the public. This juried, biannual event, presented by Autoptic Foundation, is free and open to the public.

Exhibitors  will be at Coffman Memorial Union at the University of Minnesota, 300 Washington Ave. S.E., Minneapolis, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. On Sunday there will be panel discussions and workshops  from 1 to 6 p.m. at Minneapolis College of Arts & Design, 2501 Stevens Ave., Minneapolis.

Here are confirmed special guests, considered leaders in their arts:

Anders Nilsen: Author of graphic novels and books of comics, he lives in Los  Angeles but grew up in South Minneapolis.

Ari S. Mulch: Cartoonist, painter, printmaker who studied comic art and printmaking at MCAD. They specialize in lesbianism and comics.

Caroline Cash: Cartoonist living in Chicago.

Entropy Editions: Minneapolis-based comics micro-publisher founded in 2018, focusing on a mixture of narrative and experimental comics produced with a unifying design theme.

Hyena Hell: Kentucky-based cartoonist, illustrator and sometimes-printmaker. Her comics have been in a variety of publications and her own imprint, Horror Vacui Press.

Jim Keefe: Current artist of the Sally Forth comic strip and former writer and artist of the Flash Gordon comic strip, most recently comic art teacher at Minneapolis College of Arts & Design.

John Vaquez-Mejias: Bronx-based printmaker and public school art teacher, creator of the woodcut novelette “The Puerto Rican War.”

Kameron White: Trans artist working in fantasy, superhero, and slice-of-life comics while also illustrating stylized depictions of diverse groups. His writing is in the award-winning “We Are Here: All-Trans Anthology” and “Proud,” stories and poetry by LGBTQ+ authors.

Sean Knickerbocker: Minneapolis-based cartoonist and editor for Rust Belt Review whose work has appeared in a variety of publications.

Tom K.: Tom K(aczynski) is an immigrant, cartoonist, writer, teacher and founder of Uncivilized Books, author of the Event Horizon column on The Comics Journal. He teaches comics at Minneapolis College of Arts & Design and the University of Minnesota.

Zak Sally: Cartoonist, printmaker, publisher, musician and educator who self-published his first comic zine when he was 13. Owner and operator of award-winning micro-press La Mano. He has been U.S. liaison to the PFC (international experimental comics residency/think tank based in France), and is one of eight organizers, board members and founders of Autoptic.

For information about next weekend’s events go to autoptic.org.

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