Denver was understandably hungry for an independent comics and arts festival, what with the apparent demise of the widely loved DiNK, a fan gathering that earned both loyalty and acclaim in its short run. That event had taken a break in the early months of 2020, planning on coming back big in 2021 — but then COVID made that impossible, and by the time events of its size and scope were possible again, the organizers had largely moved on.
DeCAF isn't the second coming of DiNK — it's got its own jaunty indie-comic panache. But Raymond says it's fair to say that the current event does follow in the footsteps of the former. "When Jeff first called Karl [Christian Krumpholz, occasional Westword artist] and I together," Raymond recalls, "it was to discuss the idea of filling that void that DiNK left. Denver, and Colorado as a whole, has such a rich art scene, and we really wanted to honor that tradition."
In DeCAF's first year, the trio of organizers — a publisher, a vendor and an artist — put together an event that honored the medium and the Mile High City in which it thrives, not to mention the creative forces that bring the medium to life and to the hands of fans. DeCAF also came from Alford, Krumpholz and Raymond coming together to form the Colorado Comics Collective (CoCoCo), which seeks, among other goals, to push comics beyond the limits of superheroes and their stories. To that end, DeCAF's roster of creatives showing off their talents and wares has increased dramatically, to more than fifty names. "We’re really excited to have just grown the event in general," says Raymond. "We’ve added more exhibitors and opened up table space to creators from all over, so there will be a more national presence this year. AT Pratt — a small-press legend and professor at the School of Visual Arts — is coming in from Brooklyn. And that's only one among a bunch of others."
And the guests go beyond national borders for the first time in DeCAF's history. "We opened up applications to everyone," Raymond says, "so there are a handful of folks traveling in for the event." One of those is London cartoonist Adam Falp, and in true scrappy and bootstrappy indie-comic tradition, Raymond is letting Falp crash with him while he's here.
That's not to suggest that DeCAF is dismissing local talent. On the contrary, Raymond says that the event was conceived to bring attention to the amazing work of local comics creatives. "There are a lot of returning locals that we’re excited to have back," he says, listing just some of the "creators that have been working hard to bring light to the Colorado comics scene" He mentions R. Alan Brooks, Zoë LeDonne, the Denver Zine Library, Jack Jensen, Dustin Holland and, of course, stalwart indie supporter and local institution Mutiny Information Cafe.
The second iteration of DeCAF will also benefit from some lessons that were learned while putting on the first. "The main thing was honestly about all of our own personal bandwidths," admits Raymond. "We had this idea that we were going to do multiple events throughout the year — and then life finds a way of reminding you of your own schedule. We all work full-time, Jeff has a daughter, I run Strangers alongside a full-time job — so trying to coordinate multiple events in addition just felt like we were spreading ourselves too thin. If we wanted to make DeCAF the best it could be, we needed to narrow our focus."
The event is being hosted by Town Hall Collaborative again this year, but Raymond and CoCoCo are already eyeing an increase to the scope of the event in the coming years. "The two main things we’ve been discussing are growing this into a two-day event and also looking for a larger space," he says. "The Town Hall Collaborative has been a great partner, but we’d like to be able to keep adding more and more artists to the circuit. I was just at TCAF [the Toronto Comic Arts Festival] this past weekend and had some exciting conversations with some other publishers who expressed interest in exhibiting next year, along with some artists, as well."
So it sounds like there will be a third annual DeCAF to look forward to, both for fans and creatives alike, another event to celebrate the indie-comics culture. "Definitely the plan!" says Raymond. "We're going to de-brief post-show, see what we can refine. We’ve got a few grandiose ideas."
