Books With Pictures, an award-winning local comic book store, hosts its second annual Comics Arts Festival of Eugene Oct. 18. Andréa Gilroy, Books With Pictures owner, says the fest brings together more than 60 local independent creators and publishers of comics and graphic novels. “There is something I think really special and important about being able to actually interface with people. Not just behind a screen, but face to face,” Gilroy says. The festival includes artist tables, workshops and special guests Jaime Hernández and Katie Skelly. Hernández is the co-creator of Love and Rockets, a graphic novel series that started in 1982 and follows a group of punk kids in their daily lives. Skelly is known for her dark, horror-edged art style that Gilroy describes as “kind of David Lynchian.” In addition to the two guest speakers, the festival will include a signing and talk from Joe Sacco, who is best known for his 1996 comics-journalism book Palestine, which tells the story of his two-month stay in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1991 and 1992. There, he details eyewitness accounts of oppression under Israeli occupation. Gilroy says no matter what style of comics you enjoy, “You have that chance to find something outside the box that you weren’t expecting.”

 Comics Arts Festival of Eugene is 11 am to 6 pm Sunday, Oct. 18, at the Lane Events Center, 796 West 13th Avenue. Free. The event is all ages. For more information visit BooksWithPicturesEug.com.