Pupura also speculated that minicomics appeal to more discerning audiences and fill an important niche on the comic stands. “I love Spiderman and Superman,” he said, “but it’s like comparing a shitty sitcom to a Fellini film.”

Keith Mayerson, a teacher in the cartooning program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, explained that minicomics are able to transcend their underground roots because of their powerful storytelling.

“Just like we need really good art, we need good literature,” Mayerson said from behind a table of student work at the comic convention. “These comics fill a gap that corporate commodity culture does not provide.”

Down the aptly named “Artist’s Alley,” a cramped aisle at the back of the convention hall, row after row of minicomic artists busily sketched, stapled and sold their underground lit. Though many hoped to make it out of the Alley and into the mainstream comic world, it was love of the art of the minicomic that brought them there.

“As an artist, you are able to get your work in the hands of readers,” said Leland Purvis, am award-winning minicomic artist whose book “Pubo” was published by Dark Horse in 2003. “In the end, that is what is important.”

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