Small Press Expo

Small Press Expo, usually called SPX, is a not-for-profit festival for independent and alternative comics, graphic novels and cartooning. It was founded in 1994 by Washington–Baltimore area retailers and is held each September at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in North Bethesda, Maryland. The latest edition ran September 12–13, 2026.

The show floor is built around hundreds of individual creators, small publishers and schools, with workshops and program panels alongside. SPX also presents the Ignatz Awards for outstanding work in small-press comics.

The venue is a five-minute walk from the North Bethesda station on Metro's Red Line, and station parking is free on weekends. SPX publishes a conduct policy with an incident reporting form, and a separate policy on AI-generated material.