Cartoon Crossroads Columbus "Launch Event" in 2015

Happy 2015! There's not a lot of information out there yet about Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC), but here's what I've been able to glean from CBR and their own Tumblr:

CXC will be a four-day festival of comic strips, comic books, editorial cartoons and animation -- pretty much everything you can describe with the word "cartoons."  The organizers are Tom Spurgeon, Jeff Smith, Lucy Caswell and Vijaya Iyer. Smith is the president and artistic director, and Spurgeon is the festival director. Spurgeon is moving to Columbus to help organize the event.

Although the festival starts in 2016, they're having a two-day "launch event" this fall, on October 2nd and 3rd. The first day will be hosted at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, and the second day will be at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center. The second day is a comics expo, with up to 35 exhibitors. Sounds pretty small to me! (Comics creators, I can only imagine that those 35 slots will go pretty fast.)

When Smith spoke about the festival at ICAF, he talked about how most comics conventions happen in a windowless room in a hotel, which the attendees and exhibitors never leave, and how it could be in pretty much any city in the world. He contrasted that with the Angoulême Comics Festival, where the city gets involved and kind of makes it a civic event. He said he'd like Columbus to have something like what Angoulême has. That's a high bar, but the four people behind this know how to get stuff done.

In the initial CXC press release, Smith says he wants to "bring a first-class comics festival to Columbus." There's certainly that the city has to offer, including the Billy, the film theater at the Wexner Center, the Cultural Arts Center, CCAD, and all the comics creators we know and love.

John Porcellino Documentary

ROOT HOG OR DIE : A JOHN PORCELLINO & KING-CAT COMICS DOCUMENTARY 

Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Jean and Charles Schulz Lecture Hall (room 220)Friday, September 26 at 7pm

The "king" of small press comics, (and frequent S.P.A.C.E. exhibitor), John Porcellino will be coming to Columbus in support of the new documentary about his life and work in comics, Root Hog Or Die. The film, directed by Dan Stafford, features intimate and candid conversations with John as well as over twenty interviews with his friends, fellow cartoonists, bandmates, admirers, and confidantes.

Root Hog Or Die will be showing in the Jean and Charles Schulz Lecture Hall (room 220) on Friday, September 26, 2014 at 7:00 PM. Don't miss out on experiencing this rare and wonderful opportunity!

For twenty-five years, John Porcellino has been self publishing King-Cat Comics & Stories, a black & white (generally) 32 page comic/zine. His collected stories have been published by Drawn and Quarterly, and his work has appeared in McSweeney's, The Best American Comics, Kramer's Ergot, the Anthologies of Graphic Fiction, and in countless other anthologies and collections.

Say "HI!" to our new monthly meeting home: The Billy

Yesterday, February 16th was a special day for Sunday Comix-- it was our first meeting held at The Billy Ireland Library & Museum! The turn-out for our inaugural get-together in our new digs was nothing short of spectacular. Over 30 Columbus comics creators and enthusiasts gathered in the Will Eisner Seminar Room of The Billy and got to know each other, talked about comics and some shared works-in-progress or completed comics.

Below are some pics from the meeting and there are lots more on the Sunday Comix Facebook site.

If you make comics in Columbus and want to connect with others who do the same, Sunday Comix at The Billy is the place to be! We're open to all!

Special thanks to Ken Eppstein for helping to guide the meeting in a forward direction and to Canada Keck and Evette Langford for the tasty treats & drinks!