Kirk Walters' Frogtown @ Toledo Blade

“It’s a strip about dealing with perseverance, dealing with adversity. Yes, you do hit bottom at some point, but you do recover... I’m perpetually optimistic, which is a bad thing to be if you’re an editorial cartoonist. They’re usually dour and crotchety... I tend to look forward to the opportunities that present themselves.”

Kirk Walters

Have A Blast on March 6th

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

EXHIBITION: Atomic Indie Art Comix Show

DATES: March 6 – March 29, 2009

OPENING RECEPTION: March 6, 2009, 6:00pm -9:00pm

LOCATION: Crimson Cup Coffee Shop, 4541 N. High Street

CONTACT: Max Ink, Executive Director, Sunday Comix, (614) 275-4764, mail.max.ink@gmail.com

Atomic Indie Art Comix Show

COLUMBUS, OH —“The Atomic Indie Comix Show,” an exhibition of comic book pages and comic strips by six members of local cartoonists' group Sunday Comix, will be on display throughout the month of March at Clintonville's Crimson Cup Coffee Shop, located at 4541 N. High Street. The show kicks off on Friday, March 6 with a reception with the artists that begins at the Laughing Ogre comic book store at 4258 N. High Street at 4 PM, and then moves to Crimson Cup at 6 PM, continuing until 9 PM. In addition to viewing the artwork on display, those who attend the reception will have the opportunity to contribute panels to an ongoing “jam comic strip”.

“There's an independent-minded, artistic vibe in Columbus and our group has tapped into that,” says Max Ink, Sunday Comix Executive Director. “The writers and artists of our group each have something unique to say and choose to express it through the art of comics. We encourage individuality and artistic discovery over conforming to the standards and norms of American commercial comics.”

The participating Sunday Comix artists express their individuality through a wide range of styles and genres in comics and cartoon art. All have had their work featured in various local publications, including the Short North Gazette and Columbus Alive! Matt Wyatt's editorial cartoons have appeared in area weeklies since 2003. Sue Olcott's “Onion City” is featured every month in the e-magazine Naked Sunfish, and Ray Tomczak's “Wasted Potential” has been appearing weekly on-line for over two years. Columbus College of Art and Design graduate Jonathon Riddle is currently collaborating with Columbus State teacher Terry Eisel on a graphic novel set in World War II era Czechoslovakia. Rich Watson, whose webcomic “City Mouse Goes West” chronicles his move from New York City to Columbus, was recently profiled by the Columbus Dispatch, and Max Ink's comic, “Blink,” has been declared both “charming” and “worth its weight in gold” by Rick Allen of The Other Paper.

Sunday Comix was founded by Max Ink in 2003 in order to create a sense of community among local comics artist and to promote the artform to the general public. The group meets the third Sunday of each month at the Upper Arlington Public Library. In addition, a spin-off group, Wednesday Comix, gathers on Wednesday evenings at Crimson Cup. All are welcome to attend the meetings of the group. Previously, the group has shown its work at Kafé Kerouac, near the OSU campus, and at the Gallery Upstairs, above the Short North's Surly Girl Saloon.

The local opening of “The Atomic Indie Comix Show” coincides with the nationwide release of the movie “Watchmen”, based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons named by Time magazine as one of the Top 100 Novels of All Time. “Watchmen” is the latest in a spate of comics inspired films that, along with the increasing visibility of graphic novels in bookstores, have helped to bring comics back into the cultural mainstream.

black Ohio war hero's story whitewashed in old comic

"Folks in Steubenville, Ohio, were excited to learn that their own hometown hero Frank McGee won not only the Silver Star for his bravery during the Korean War, but that he would be immortalized in a comic book dedicated to war heroes.

"The excitement soured when 'Heroic Comics' #81 came out early in 1953, containing the story about how a wounded Cpl. McGee saved his platoon from machine-gun wielding North Korean soldiers on Hill 528.

"The story was mostly accurate except for one thing – it portrayed McGee as white."

CRL's Lucy Shelton Caswell

"I know that, in the ‘70s, the Library of Congress had approached [Milton] Caniff for his papers. I don’t know if he came to Novice Fawcett [OSU President, 1956-72] or if Novice Fawcett got wind of that and talked to Caniff. I don’t know which way it went... Somebody had to be responsible to make sure it was all there and all the boxes had my name on it. When funding was made available to work on Caniff, I was offered a six month appointment. I’ve been here ever since."

Lucy Shelton Caswell

Jeff Smith talks Little Mouse

"Little Mouse is actually a character I created when I was a kid... It's one of the many characters I made up when I was young. It was just a little gray mouse with a little red vest. So I thought, ‘Well, maybe he would be a good character to use in a comic for kids,’ since I used to make up stories with this character when I was a kid."

Little Mouse Gets Ready

Neil Gaiman Discusses "The Graveyard Book"

At the web-site of the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, acclaimed comics writer and novelist Neil Gaiman discussed his Newbery Medal winning children's novel, The Graveyard Book, with arts correspondant Jeffrey Brown. Follow this link to listen.