"PANELS IN PINK"--New Comic Art Exhibit At Wild Goose Creative

"Panels In Pink: A Celebration of Female Comics Creators" is a new exhibition  spotlighting the work of several female comics artists and writers, mostly from in and around the Central Ohio area.  The exhibit, produced in co-operation with Sunday Comix and curated by SC member Canada Keck, will be adorning the walls of local arts space Wild Goose Creative, located at 2491 Summit Street, from now until the end of the month.  

Among the creators represented are:

• Lora Innes
• Mari Naomi
• Katherine Wirick
• Suzanne Bauman
• Bianca Alu-Marr
• Katie Valeska
• Alex Heberling
• Maryanne Rose Papke
• Molly Durst
• Crystal Ash
• Brandy Foster
• Sue Olcott
• Caitlin McGurk
• Meg Syverud
• Erin Ash
• KT Swartz
• Lis Huey
• JL Smither
• Kira Keck
• Canada Keck

 An artists' reception, sure to be attended by many of the talented women listed above, is scheduled for April 29 from 6 until 9 p.m.

Petition to make Superman the Official Superhero of Ohio

America's 50 states have all sorts of State symbols that represent our cultural heritage and natural treasures. The official State Tree of Ohio is the Aesculus Glabra (or, as it's more commonly known, the Ohio Buckeye). Our official state bird is the Cardinal and our official flower is the Scarlet Carnation. We also have an official animal (White-Tailed Deer), Insect (Ladybug), Gemstone (Ohio Flint) and reptile (Black Racer). Last week, Mark Butler of the Ohio Historical Society created a petition to get an official State Superhero  on that list of Official State symbols. For any comic book lover, there should be no surprise which one it is-- Cleveland's most famous (adopted) son, Superman.

"Superman was created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio," states Butler in the petition. "Superman is a cultural icon that transcends comic books. We want the State of Ohio to recognize Superman and his creators and celebrate Superman's roots in the Buckeye state."

Mr. Butler is a Project Coordinator in the Educational Partnerships and Outreach Department of the Ohio Historical Society. According to his personal website, Mark "provides fun and engaging teacher training to demonstrate how primary resources can make history come alive. He fell in love with history while visiting the Ohio History Center as a youth. He is happy to share this enthusiasm with educators and students. He also is passionate about comic books, which he, much to the chagrin of his colleagues, also enjoys sharing."

Superman is heralded as the first superhero. Hopefully, with enough signatures, the "Man of Tomorrow" will become the first official state superhero. Those interested in signing the petition can do so at http://www.change.org.

Music in the Park ...NOW WITH COMICS!

Since its founding in 2009, the Goodale Park Music Series has been a showcase for local musicians to share their talents with hundreds of people over the course of six Sunday afternoons in July and August along with local artists, kids activities, and food carts. After attending the Indie Comix Fair in March and the SPACExpo in April, Alexandra Kelley Fox - event organizer and Columbus blogger/PR extraordinaire, was made aware of the vibrant comics creating community in Columbus. 


As a result, she decided it was time for Columbus become more aware, too, and invited a few local comics creators to set up alongside all the many other creative types. Kids art activities will be provided by a variety of local artists & organizations over the course of the series, including Hayley Meyers with Terra Gallery, Short North artist Josey Joseph and youth artists from TRANSIT Arts and Columbus Artmobile. A number of local food carts will sell refreshments, as organized by Food Fort Columbus. 


Below is a handy list of which comics/creators will be attending and when, along with the bands that will be performing. You can RSVP to each of the events on the GPMS' Facebook Event page. All concerts begin at 12:30p and last until 2p.

July 8-  Music: Tony Monaco | Comics: Ken Eppstein, Nix Comics and Victor Dandrige, Vantage:Inhouse Productions
July 15-  Music: The Fabulous Johnson Brothers | Comics: Canada Keck, Sunday Comix and Todd Beistel, Yuri: Gypsy Hunter
July 29- Music: Maza Blaska | Comics: James Moore, 2 Headed Monster Comics and Canada Keck, Sunday Comix
August 5- Music: The Spikedrivers | Comics: Todd Beistel, Yuri: Gypsy Hunter and Ken Eppstein, Nix Comics
August 12- Music: Mary Adam 12 | Comics:  Victor Dandrige, Vantage:Inhouse Productions and Max Ink, Blink
August 19- Music: Nick Tolford & Company | Comics: Max Ink, Blink and James Moore, 2 Headed Monster Comics

Hope you can make it out to the park this summer to enjoy some art, food, music and, of course, comics!



The Goodale Park Music Series is funded by the Short North Foundation, Short North Civic Association, Friends of Goodale Park, Harrison West Society, and ComFest. It was founded in 2009 by Alexandra Kelley Fox.

Matt Madden at the WEX

Matt Madden will be at the Wexner Center on Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12.

The event on Friday, May 11, is ominously titled Obstacle Course: Oulipo and the Creative Potential of Constraints, but don't let that scare you away!  Similar to our jam comics, which originate from a French literary exercise called cadavre exquis, oulipo is a type of literary exercise originating in France where, theoretically at least, a series of constraints imposed in an exercise allows the writer to be freer and more creative.  It's also a sort of acronym, standing for ouvroir de littérature potentielle. 

Matt's talk on Friday starts at 4:30 pm in the Film/Video Theater and is FREE.  Matt will be talk about his work as well as about how oulipo has been used to create art in a variety of media. 

For those of you who'd like a little more instruction in oulipo and don't mind shelling out money, Matt will also be conducting an Oulipo Workshop on Saturday, May 12 from 1 to 4 pm.  The workshop costs $12 for members or students or $15 for the rest of us.

Nix Comics Quarterly #4 on Kickstarter

Nix Comics Quarterly, the rock music inspired horror comic created by Ken Eppstein, is getting ready for its fourth issue to go to press, and we all have a chance to help this effort by contributing to Ken's Kickstarter campaign.

Nix Comics Quarterly is well worth supporting, not only because the stories, mostly written by Ken, are great fun to read but because Ken pays the artists who illustrate his stories.

Issue 4 features cover art by Michael Neno as well as a story illustrated by Matt Wyatt. Michael Neno's work has appeared in the first three issues, and Matt Wyatt and Max Ink contributed to Issue 3.

If you haven't yet explored any of the Nix Comics Quarterly issues, for a mere $20 you can get all four issues and support a fantastic venue for independent comic creators. If you can contribute more, you can get ad space or even original art work from the issue.

Coffee + Comic Book Art = Awesome

Attention Comic book fans! Boys and girls!  Ladies and gents!  Now presenting... an adventure in geekdom at Kafe Kerouac! Check out what the local comic book talent has to offer at the Kafe Kerouac's Comic Book Fans and Artists Night Out on Friday, November 11 from 8p-11p. There will be plenty of comic book art & goodies to be had.

So you think you know all there is to know about comics? From Alan Moore to Warren Ellis? From Archie to Xenia? Prove it! There's going to be a trivia game where you can get to use that nerdy knowledge to win prizes provided by the ever popular comic book store on High Street: Laughing Ogre.  There's also going to be a "comics caption" game. Show off that rapier wit in head to head competition! 

Also! A huge community poster jam will be going on so that anyone can add in their own little drawings and jam with the indie artists who are at the show.

So, come out, have a cup of coffee or some brewskies (or wine!) and mingle with local creators and see their artwork featured on the walls and on the shelves.

Local Comic Book Writers Roundtable

On October 5, local comics writers Ken Eppstein,  Dara Naraghi and Max Ink were interviewed by Doug Dangler for the WRITERS TALK program.  The interview is available in audio as well as video.  It will also be broadcast this week:  Monday, November 7, 7 pm., on WCRS radio (98.3 & 102.1 FM) and Wednesday, November 9, 8:00 p.m., on WCBE radio (central Ohio's NPR station, 90.5 FM)

Enjoying the SIMPLEXITY of it all

Much fun was had by many on Thursday night to celebrate Michael Neno’s SIMPLEXITY gallery show at the Wild Goose Creative.  Here are some pictures to prove it!

Mid Ohio Kick Off Party at Packrat Comics

Mid-Ohio Con is landing in Columbus this Saturday and Sunday, but the fun begins on FRIDAY at Packrat Comics in Hilliard! 


Beginning at 1pm, comic artist Steve Scott will be at Packrat signing comics. His most recent work includes Batman prior to the DC relaunch, X-Men Forever, Wolverine and JLA! He'll be here all afternoon to sign your copy of Batman 713...the issue that shows the second location of Packrat in Gotham City next to the Wayne Foundation!

Then, at 7pm the annual turkey dinner will be served to get the Mid Ohio Kick Off Party in full swing! There's free transportation to and from the convention center, plenty of free food and drinks, and an exclusive showing of our Mid Ohio Comic Con Publishing Contest comic book winners in their brand new art gallery. There's also the charity comic book Texas hold `em poker tournament, live music with disco lights & a fog machine.  So come to Packrat Comics and join the fun!


Shuttle Service provided by Packrat Comics:  Starting at 6:30pm and every 30 minutes thereafter there will be a shuttle to pick up party goers at 400 High Street in front of the Columbus Convention Center on the corner of Goodale and High.   RSVP on the Facebook Event to reserve space on the Packrat Comics Kick Off Party Shuttle.

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WANTED: NIX #4 Cover Art

Ken Eppstein, the head honcho over at our friendly neighborhood NIX Comics, is looking for a few good artists.  Well, actually, he's looking for ONE good artist, but never mind that right now. Ken is prepping for the fourth issue of NIX Comics Quarterly and is in search of a cover artist.  As he writes on the NIX website, "it will require someone with a decent feel for the rock music/horror comic crossover material that is the bread 'n' butter of Nix Comics Quarterly."    The artist that gets the gig will receive $300 for the cover art upon completion, plus 12 contributor copies of the book after printing is complete.  The initial print run will be 2500 books.  "If we are lucky enough to go into a second print, we'll negotiate a second deal for use of your art."

All the details and such can be found at the NIX Comics website.