If you grew up with Marvel and DC comics, no matter how heroic the characters were or how interesting were their flaws as anti-heroes, they were still the creations of large publishers seeking the mass audiences ten cents, or 25 cents or a buck. Then came Robert Crumb and his infinitely layered worlds and such visionaries as Art Spiegelman and Harvey Pekar , who reached the international and national stage, and who helped make comics ( or graphic novels ) a way to release pent-up angst and deal with complex social issues. At Pix 2017, the Pittsburgh Indy Comic Expo, one could see how comics take on an intensely personal twist while artists still tried to reach a visually sophisticated audience with their art, an increasingly shocking pantheon of twisted humans and creatures trying to fit into a society that maybe is just not quite ready for them. But for the crowds who searched the tables for art and words which pulled them into the artist’s or writer’s worlds, the event was worth every moment spent looking and seeing and talking and buying. View The Gallery >