An Interview with Savannah-Pooler Indie Comics Expo’s Roman Fruehan

Written and Interviewed by Maddox Pipkin

On Wednesday I had the pleasure of sitting down with one of the co-creators of
Savannah-Pooler Indie Comics Expo (SPICE), Roman Fruehan. Roman is a Film and Television
SCAD alum, though most people know him from one of the local comic/toy stores in Savannah,
Planet Fun. Recently though, he and his coworker Avry have become more well known for
putting on one of the biggest local art shows in the city.

“Me and my buddy Avry, we met working at Planet Fun.” He recounts, “[Avry] moved to
Savannah to do Savannah Comic Con, and eventually Avry broke off and wanted to do his
own thing. And he met me and I have a lot of friends and I like making friends and getting a
bunch of people together. I like throwing parties and being around people, and so I guess Avry
started coming to my movie nights and I would pack, you know, my tiny apartment with like 15 to
30 people every Monday and he was just like, ‘Wow, if you can do this for a movie night on
Mondays, I want to see what you could do with the convention.’ So we just kind of got together
and we wanted to make, I don’t know, the perfect convention for artists.”

According to Roman, Avry is truly the brains behind the operation and Roman is the face.
Together, they managed to pack over 1000 people in the Legion Ballroom last year for the first
run of Spice. “We didn’t know if it was gonna take off or how well it would do. I mean, we
projected maybe like 400 people to show up. We had about 70 something tables last year and a
lot of artists and 1200 people showed up to our show, which felt good. It was- we made it free
just to prove it would work, you know? We wanted to see that it would happen and it did. It was
wildly successful.”

But, as Roman later says, even a free show has a cost. “And now so the biggest challenge now
is finding funds to put on the next show and the next show and the next show.” They are careful
to balance the financial aspect with keeping costs as low as they can for the artists who table at
SPICE. Their table fee is $75, almost unheard of in a time where tables can cost you at least
$150 depending on the con. “I’ve heard of conventions charging $175 for tables, $250 for
tables. I had someone table at a convention in Charleston. They said they had to pay $350 for a
six foot table and it’s like, I don’t know, I get sick thinking about that.”

“We charge as much for the tables as it will pay for the venue.” He explained, “We’re looking to
make our profits off of ticket sales, so it’s $5 a ticket, and then of course we have t-shirts this
year and tote bags, which are all done by local artists.” It was very clear to me talking to him,
that he really cared about the artists, so much so that he was willing to lose money on the first
SPICE just to give local artists a platform and prove people were interested.

At the beginning of our time together when Roman told me he liked making new friends, I didn’t
think much of it. As our conversation continued on, just sitting outside the White Whale, no less
than 4 people walked by and stopped to say hi or fist bump him. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say
he is well liked by most of the residents, and it’s not hard to see why. Even after I finished with
all of my questions, I stayed over 30 minutes more just talking with him. He’s incredibly kind and
engaging, and even pushed me to go to other local events put on by his friends.

When he talks about SPICE, what he’s really talking about is the community. “I feel like the arts
bring people together.” He told me. And it doesn’t feel like some hollow, corporate line, he truly
believes that the art and the community are the soul of his show.

With the unexpected turnout last year, some changes had to be made for the upcoming show.
One of those was cutting down on the amount of tables available. Statistically speaking, either
you or someone you know applied to the spring SPICE show. With over 200 applications and
only 60 tables, many artists were not able to get in. When I asked him what goes into deciding
who gets a table and who doesn’t, Roman said, “Well, it’s tough. I mean, I hate being the bad
guy. I hate having to say no, because I want every artist to get a chance, you know? […] We
want to make sure there’s a bit of a draw […] but at the same time, we wanted to make it so that
new artists are able to put themselves out there. So, I like to have variety.”

That all being said, if you were denied a table at this show, hope is not lost. “If I do multiple
shows, I don’t wanna have the same people tabling every year. Sure, I’ll have a couple of my
staples and stuff like that, but I mean, if you come to SPICE and you come to SPICE 5 and it’s
the same 60 tables that you’ve seen at every show, what’s the point of coming back?” And then
he teased a fall SPICE happening on October 24th, if you’re looking to get your foot in the door
when it comes to tabling.

“I’m gonna botch this quote, but one of my favorite filmmakers, Akira Kurasawa, he said it’s our
job as human beings to look, watch, and observe whatever that may be and take from our life
experiences. And I think, what is life without art? And so I hope that some of the art that’s being
put out there […] I hope it breaks people’s comfort zones.” Roman said when I asked him what
he wanted attendees to take away from SPICE.

“The soul of SPICE is- are the artists.” He told me when I asked, though truthfully I don’t know
what other answer I could have gotten. It’s so intensely clear from how he talks about the artists
and how he does their best to ensure they have an amazing time at SPICE that there is nothing
else that could describe the heart of the show.

As I’m writing this, SPICE is tomorrow so when you’re seeing this it’s already over, but my goal
of this article is to encourage you to support this event. If anything, it’s only going to get bigger
and better and I’m proud to be able to support the event – and the artists – so that it can get that
way.

“Jeez, if I – oh man – if I put a convention on at the convention center across the river and people
actually go to it, it’s gonna be legendary.” The future of SPICE is an exciting thing to witness
unfold, and I hope if you did not get a chance to go to this one that you’ll consider turning up in
the future and see firsthand the passion that Avry and Roman have for the community.