Audio By Carbonatix
The growth of the Denver Comics and Art Festival (DeCAF) became evident to co-founder (and occasional Westword illustrator) Karl Christian Krumpholz when he attended a show in the United Kingdom, and at one of the afterparties, he met J. Marshall Smith, a cartoonist, artist and writer based out of Maryland. “When I mentioned I was from Colorado, he asked me what I knew about DeCAF,” Krumpholz recalls. “I told him I knew quite a bit about DeCAF! So I’m glad word is getting out to the larger community.”
This third year of DeCAF will take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, December 6, at Town Hall Collaborative. The event is free and open to the public, and the list of guests, vendors and exhibitors is extensive. While a full list is available on the Colorado Comics Collective (CoCoCo) website, highlights include the Denver Zine Library, Denverse Magazine, Tinto Press, Mutiny Comics and a plethora of independent artists, including R. Alan Brooks, Blake Chamness, Evan Hicks, Justin “El Justo” Renteria and too many more to list.
It’s a good problem to have, boasting more independent talent than can be easily listed. That’s a credit not only to the level of creative ability in Colorado these days, but also to the DeCAF organizers who also founded CoCoCo: Jeff Alford of Wig Shop, Krumpholz and Eddie Raymond of Strangers Publishing, all who will also be vendor/exhibitors at the event.
DeCAF has in the past been held in the spring; the event moved to December this year because it’s very close to outgrowing the space where it began. “Town Hall Collaborative has been great,” says Alford, “but in 2024 we were really pushing the boundaries of the space and how many tables we could provide to creators while still having room for fans.” Alford and Krumpholz tease that they’ve already found a new venue for DeCAF 4, which will take place in mid-May 2026, and offer not only more space, but some great dining and drinking options that will add to the experience.
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After spending much of the early part of the year looking for new venues — and finding some, only to see them fall through for one reason or another — they focused on getting a 2025 DeCAF in under the wire in December.
“This year is going to be great,” promises Alford, who says there is a very Colorado-centric lineup of vendors and exhibitors for the December 6 show. “I was doing my last counts last night, and we have about forty vendors this time around. Each one is really a unique and different angle into the comics and arts underground scene. We’re really proud of the group we’re pulling together.”
“And we want all the DeCAFs to be free,” adds Krumpholz. “That’s important to our vision of the event, to allow for people just to be able to wander in.” He also says that fans can plan to expect a DeCAF every spring from here forward. “The autumn gets so crowded, and once the weather turns in the spring, people want to get out again. We want to be there to provide that.”
It’s important for an event like DeCAF to grow — especially for Colorado creatives, but also for the increasing reputation of its influence and opportunity nationwide, even worldwide — because it fills a hole left by DiNK, the Denver Independent Comic and Art Expo that COVID more or less killed. “DiNK’s not coming back,” says Krumpholz. “We wanted these first years to be able to organically build and build and build. We didn’t want to start at eleven.”
Underground comics and art have been around in Denver for some time in different forms, but Alford and Krumpholz agree that interest in it has grown in recent years. “The scene is getting bigger,” Alford says. “Broader. There are huge underground comics communities online, and DeCAF has the chance to present those in the real world. There’s this sense of belonging that’s realized in person.”
“We’ve been pleasantly shocked at the number of people who showed up to the first two shows,” Krumpholz says. “I think a lot of people are looking at the art form and appreciating it, wanting to see something different from what they might find at a normal comic book shop.”
DeCAF might only be in its third year, and it might seem like a small event at first glance. “But it’s moving in the direction of something really big,” Alford says. “Something special.”
DECAF 3 is free to attend and will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, December 6, at Town Hall Collaborative, 525 Santa Fe Drive. For more information, see the Colorado Comics Collective website.
