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.

"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.

Neno Curates Album Cover Exhibit At Wild Goose Creative

Michael Neno, creator of the just released The Signifiers, will be curating a new exhibit of classic album covers from the 60's and 70's at the Summit Street headquarters of local arts community Wild Goose Creative.
I just wrote about this on my blog Gutter Talk, so you can read more about it there.

The Ohio State University’s archives of comics-related material is one of the most respected (and undoubtedly largest) collections of comics history and art on the planet. But you wouldn't know it. It's tucked away across from the Wexner Center for the Arts and behind the Mershon Auditorium. But as of last week, it will be renamed the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum and relocated to Sullivant Hall (which is currently under renovations) thanks to a gift of $7 million from the Elizabeth Ireland Graves Foundation.

According to the press release:

The project is estimated to cost $20.6 million and will be completed in 2013, at which time Sullivant Hall will house both the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum and The Ohio State University Department of Dance. 
 
“The Graves Foundation has made a critical investment to enhance the learning environment for students, faculty, and visitors from around the world,” said President E. Gordon Gee. “The revitalized Sullivant Hall will be a fitting home to two university treasures – the top-ranked Department of Dance and the world-renowned Cartoon Library and Museum. Naming the latter in Billy Ireland’s honor is a fitting tribute to a remarkable Ohioan.”

The Elizabeth Ireland Graves Foundation is managed by Billy Ireland’s granddaughter, Sayre Graves, and is based out of Bremo Bluff, Va.. 
 
The Columbus Dispatch hired Ireland, a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, shortly after his high school graduation in 1898. A self-taught cartoonist, he worked for the Dispatch until his death in 1935 (the above cartoon was illustrated in 1934) and was known both for his editorial cartoons and for his Sunday feature The Passing Show. 
 
An exhibition of Ireland’s work will be held at Ohio State in the fall 2010. 
 
“Billy Ireland was a Columbus celebrity during his lifetime,” according to Lucy Shelton Caswell, the cartoon library and museum’s founding curator. “He enjoyed a national reputation and his work is still delightful to read. This is a fitting honor for a great cartoonist. We look forward to sharing his work with a new generation of readers.” 
 
Established in 1977 with a founding gift of the Milton Caniff Collection, the Cartoon Library and Museum was housed in two converted classrooms in the Ohio State’s Journalism Building. Since then, Caswell has built it into a widely renowned collection that is a destination for both cartoon researchers and fans from around the world.

Thousands of donors have contributed to the collection, with gifts ranging from one item to tens of thousands. With the recent addition of the IMCA’s extensive permanent collection, the Cartoon Library and Museum now houses more than 400,000 works of original cartoon art, 35,000 books, 51,000 serial titles, 2,800 linear feet of manuscript materials, and 2.5 million comic strip clippings and newspaper pages.

Now the world’s largest collection of cartoon art and comics, the Cartoon Library and Museum is currently located in the basement of the Wexner Center for the Arts http://cartoons.osu.edu/. Its new, permanent home in Sullivant Hall will expand its space from its current 6,808 square feet to more than 40,000 gross square feet of space storage and exhibit space allowing more of the collection to be displayed and accessible to the public.

Upcoming OSU Library and Museum Events

Two new exhibitions at The Ohio State University celebrate the International Museum of Cartoon Art Collection, which was recently transferred to OSU’s Cartoon Library and Museum (formerly the Cartoon Research Library). The union of these two institutions created the largest collection of original cartoon art in the world. The exhibitions showcase the treasures of the collection including original art from editorial cartoons, comic strips, animation and comic books. Fan favorites Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, Blondie, Dick Tracy, Mickey Mouse, For Better or For Worse, Doonesbury, Spider-Man, Beetle Bailey and Family Circus will all be on display. The characters and images depicted may be familiar, but taken out of their traditional context in print and on screen, cartoons can be examined and appreciated as works of art; triumphs of design and craftsmanship. The originals reveal the method behind the magic, offering visitors an opportunity to look at the popular culture icons and images so prevalent in their everyday lives in new and different ways. These exhibitions will engage and delight audiences of all ages.

Exhibitions:
From Yellow Kid to Conan: American Cartoons from the International Museum of Cartoon Art Collection will be held at the Hopkins Hall Gallery + Corridor from June 28 – August 7, 2009.

Hogarth and Beyond: Global Cartoons from the International Museum of Cartoon Art Collection will be held at the Cartoon Library and Museum’s Reading Room gallery from June 10-August 31, 2009.


Exhibition Opening Reception and Special Events:

Saturday, June 27, 2009, 7:00 pm, Wexner Center for the Arts Film/Video Theater

101 Dalmations(1961) proceeded by animated shorts, the Brave Little Tailor (1938) and Leprechaun's Gold (1949). Introduction by animation historian Jerry Beck. Visit wexarts.org or call 614-292-3535 for tickets. $7 ($5 for members, students, and senior citizens).

Sunday, June 28, 2009, Grand Lounge, The Ohio State University Faculty Club, 181 South Oval Dr.

1:00 pm Milestones of the International Museum of Cartoon Art. Panel discussion with former trustees Brian Walker, Jerry Robinson, and Arnold Roth moderated by Dr. Jared Gardner, Dept. of English.

2:15 pm Keynote Speaker - Jim Borgman, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and co-creator of the comic strip Zits

3:30-5:00pm Exhibition opening reception at the Hopkins Hall Gallery + Corridor. Refreshments will be served.

All June 28 events are free and open to the public.

For more information:
http://cartoons.osu.edu/?q=events http://www.wexarts.org/fv/index.php?eventid=3887 http://cartoons.osu.edu/?q=press/international-museum-cartoon-art

Happy Birthday James Thurber!

I read this article in yesterday's Dispatch and thought about how wonderful it is to have a such a talented cartoonist (and yes, a very funny author) from Columbus be so celebrated here in the States and internationally.

There are quite a few things going on at the Thurber House over the next year, but this Wednesday (from 6-9p) you can join in the celebration of Mr. Thurber's 114th birthday at the Westin Columbus (310 S. High St.) "featuring the author of My Lucky Star, the 2007 Thurber Prize for American Humor winner, Joe Keenan. He is a five time Emmy Award winner and two time winner of the Writers Guild of America Award for his writing on the hit TV series, Frasier, where he also rose from executive story editor to executive producer. In 2007, he shared an Annie Award for best writing of an animated feature for Flushed Away. He has also written and produced several episodes of Desperate Housewives." 

Should be a great evening!

Also, I came across this YouTube vid; once upon a time... it was James Thurber's world and we were all welcome to it.

Scarlet Veronica signings this week

I just came from the Ogre and there was a signing there today by the creators of a book called Scarlet Veronica, a horror comedy from Ape Entertainment. I haven't read it yet, but it looks like it'll appeal to Buffy fans.

Tomorrow, they'll appear at Hobby Central in Delaware and back at the Ogre on Saturday. Unfortunately, their website doesn't list times, so you'll have to call ahead.

Laughing Ogre: (614) A-MR-OGRE
Hobby Central: (740) 363-0381‎

Cartooning the Campaign

NPR conducted an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution cartoonist Mike Luckovich and Mike Peters of The Dayton Daily News about the presidential campaign so far. Of note: Mike celebrates his 40th anniversary at The Dayton Daily News this year!

The above cartoon is discussed in the interview.

Want more political cartoons all year long? Check out The Cagle Post for hundreds of comics from all around the world (and you can sign up to get delivery every day)!

Akron Ohio in the Comics News again

Ohio native Derf (John Backderf), author of My Friend Dahmer (yes, that Dahmer) and the alt comic strip The City, has recently been getting a fair amount of attention from both the comics press and mainstream news for his latest book, Punk Rock and Trailer Parks. If you're up in the Akron area visit Square Records (824 W. Market St.) on Friday from 6-8p and maybe you can get Derf to sign your Winnebago.

Related Recap Round-Up

Chuck Moore over at Comic Related has put together a phenomenal amount of coverage on last weekend's Mid Ohio Con, both in print (so to speak) and audio. A couple of the Related Recap Podcasts feature Sunday Comix members (Sean Forney, Bob Corby and Max Ink) and many other episodes feature various Ohio comic book creators (Thom Zahler, Sean McKeever, Jay Fife, Wes Molebash, Eric Adams, Johanna Estep to name a few). There are seven RR MOC podcasts in all with over seven hours worth of interviews! You can listen to them online or download them via iTunes.

Jeff Stahler at PM Gallery

Friday night, I was on my way to the pre-Mid-Ohio Con party at Barley's. (No offense meant to Panel, the party's sponsor, but it wasn't quite as good as the GOGs of old. GOG being the Great Ogre Gathering, the pre-con parties put on at the Laughing Ogre comic book shop by its former owners. At least one year, I skipped the con, but made sure to make the party.) Before I left home, I discovered an ad in Columbus Alive! touting an opportunity to meet Jeff Stahler. Jeff is the editorial cartoonist for the Columbus Dispatch and was at the PM Gallery that night signing copies of 21st Century Confusion: A Moderately Confused Collection, the latest collection of his syndicated panel daily comic Moderately Confused and kicking off an exhibition of several MC originals, which, if you've got $200 burning a hole in your pocket, you can purchase.

The exhibit consists mostly of cartoons that were part of a caption contest sponsored by the Dispatch and include the winning reader submitted punchline. A few panels with Stahler's punchlines are included as well, and those ones also appear in the book.

I picked up a copy of the book, complete with Stahler's autograph, and handed him in return a copy of my own Wasted Paper, collecting the first year of my web-comic Wasted Potential.

The Stahler exhibit at PM Gallery is slated to run through October 30.

Mid Ohio Con (Part One)

Just a quick few links to share with you what's gone on so far at this year's MOC. Comics Related has a load of coverage at their site with a podcast and page of photos and Max Ink wrote up a brief post about his own personal experiences on Saturday.

What A Month It's Been...

Can you believe it's been a month since this blog has been last updated? Cripes.

The last item posted was in regards to the upcoming workshop, Drawing Words and Writing Pictures, facilitated by Matt Madden being held at the Wexner Center (in association with the Bone & Beyond exhibit). Well, I just listened to a nice little story on NPR's All Things Considered about the text book (with lots of pictures) Drawing Words and Writing Pictures: A Definitive Course from Concept to Comic in 15 Lessons written & illustrated by Matt and his wife, Jessica Abel. Go check it out the story, buy the book, and then sign up for the workshop.

Last week, the Mid-Ohio-Con launched The Mighty Mighty MOC-Blog. This is a great resource to stay up-to-date on what's going down on the upcoming premiere Ohio Comic Book Convention (now in its 27th year!) and it's also a opportunity to get involved! They are currently

seeking writers and guest bloggers to contribute original content such as articles, features, reviews, interviews, and even regular columns. (They) are also looking for illustrators and cartoonists to contribute one-off or serialized cartoons for a weekend comics feature.

Recent posts include Joe Kubert being the guest of Honor this year and Ohio's own P. Craig Russel making his only convention appearance this year.

I promise to be more diligent on posting on this blog in the future.

Weekend Hangover

This post is very late...

I don't drink, but boy oh boy, did I get drunk last weekend! Not on alcohol but on comics. On Friday night, I hung out with a hundred or so people at the Wexner Center to celebrate Jeff Smith's Bone and Beyond show there. I got the chance to chat with the likes of Scott McCloud and Harvey Pekar (who was in town for the Ohioana Book Festival). I was telling my friends Chuck & Sam, who were with me, that it was the first time (in a long time) that I've been giddy about loving comic books. The party continued on Saturday afternoon with a "public conversation" between Scott McCloud (who acted more like an interviewer) and Jeff Smith at the Mershon Auditorium. The conversation was great and the Q&A session was fantastic. There was a book signing afterwards. and I ended up being close to the end of the line and had some great conversations with the other McCloud & Smith readers.


I scoured the internets to find some well-written and informative articles about the event(s) and came up with the following:

• From the horse's mouth-- Boneville's photo journal of Smith & Co. setting up the gallery at the Wex (part one & two).
• Local newspaper The Columbus Dispatch published a nice article in their Arts section.
• Local writer J. Caleb Mozzocco wrote two far superior, more in depth articles about the exhibitSmith/McCloud conversation on his blog, Every Day Is Like Wednesday.
• A great Comic Related Recap of the weekend. There's loads of pictures on the Comic Related website: here, here, here, here and here.
• Yours truly took a few snapshots, too.
  

I'm sure there's more to be found, but I'm still recovering.

A Bone To Pick

Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond
Sat, May 10 - Sun, Aug 3, 2008
Wexner Center Galleries
(Admission is free & open from 11 AM until 8 PM)

Jeff Smith is one of the great success stories of independent comics. In July of 1991, he launched Cartoon Books in Columbus, Ohio, to publish his black-and-white comic strip Bone. A tale of three marshmallowy creatures named Bone, adrift in a world of humans, monsters and fantasy creatures, Bone has since been translated into 15 languages and won Smith countless awards.

In 2005, Time magazine called Bone one of the 10 greatest graphic novels of all-time. This exhibition—a partnership between the Wexner Center and Ohio State University's Cartoon Research Library—encompasses approximately 80 original drawings: primarily original black-and-white pages from Bone, with a smaller selection of full-color Bone covers and post-Bone work, including original drawings from Smith's recent Shazam series for DC Comics and from Rasl, his current project about a time-traveling thief.

The exhibition also includes a selection of original comics whose artists Smith cites as direct influences, among them examples from Walt Kelly's Pogo, Will Eisner's The Spirit, George Herriman's Krazy Kat, Charles Schulz's Peanuts, Carl Barks's Uncle Scrooge, Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury, and E. C. Segar's Thimble Theatre. The exhibition is organized by Lucy Shelton Caswell, professor and curator of Ohio State's Cartoon Research Library, and David Filipi, the Wexner Center's curator of film and video.

Here is the calendar of events being held in conjunction with the gallery show:

Artists Talk: Jeff Smith and Scott McCloud in Conversation
Sat, May 10, 2008 | 2:00PM
Mershon Auditorium

Join Bone-creator Jeff Smith and comic book artist and theorist Scott McCloud for a lively conversation about Smith’s career and each artist’s view of the practice and future of comic book art. McCloud is the author of Understanding Comics, Making Comics, and Reinventing Comics and the creator of the comic Zot!

Gallery Talks: Lucy Shelton Caswell and Dave Filipi on Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond
Wed, May 14, 2008 | 12:30PM
Wexner Center Galleries

In these hour-long gallery conversations, you'll discuss the current exhibitions with artists, curators, and members of the Ohio State community.

Artist's Talk: Terry Moore
Thu, May 15, 2008 | 7:00PM
Film/Video Theater

Best known for his epic and unpredictable comic Strangers in Paradise and a key figure in the self-publishing of comics, Terry Moore is one of the most influential artist/writers working today.

Artist's Talk: Paul Pope
Tue, May 20, 2008 | 7:00PM
Film/Video Theater

One of the most eclectic talents in comics, Ohio State alumnus Paul Pope works in such diverse genres and styles as superheros, erotica, and manga.

He’ll offer insightful comments about his own practice and an overview of his remarkable career, which includes the sci-fi book THB, Heavy Liquid, and Batman: Year 100. The collection Pulphope: The Art of Paul Pope was published in 2007.

A Looney Tunes Evening with Jeff Smith
Thu, Jun 5, 2008 | 7:00PM
Film/Video Theater

Jeff Smith has described Bone as “a Bugs Bunny cartoon meets Lord of the Rings.” Join him this evening as he introduces some of his favorite Warner Bros.’ cartoons and discusses the influence their characteristic zaniness had on his own work.

The program features Chuck Jones’s celebrated “hunting trilogy”—Rabbit Fire (1951), Rabbit Seasoning (1952), and Duck! Rabbit, Duck! (1953)—all three starring Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, and Daffy Duck. (app. 90 mins., 35mm).

Bring your family and young friends. This program is designed for all ages.

A related show, titled Jeff Smith: Before Bone, is on view nearby in Ohio State's Cartoon Research Library from May 1 until September 5. (The library entrance is just north of the Wexner Center's main entrance, along the sidewalk under the "grid.") That exhibition is open 9 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday, and on Saturday, May 10, from 1 to 5 PM. Admission is free.

A BONE Film In The Works?

The Hollywood Reporter announced that Warner Bros. has picked up rights to "Bone," the acclaimed independent comic book series from artist Jeff Smith. The series ran irregularly from 1991-2004 through Smith's publishing company Cartoon Books as a black & white comic. Scholastic has been publishing the collected stories in full color graphic novel format since 2005, selling more than 1 million copies so far.

Smith, who will executive produce, was influenced by classic cartoonists Walt Kelly, Charles Schultz and Will Eisner on the series, which won several comic industry awards. Smith went on to become a noted artist whose work will be exhibited in the spring at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Ohio.

A decision on what kind of format "Bone" should take -- live-action or animated or both -- will be based on filmmaker meetings.

An animated version was in development at Nickelodeon Films back in the `90s but fell through, partly because Smith was displeased that the studio was aiming it for kids and wanted the film to include pop songs.

Over at James Kolchalka's American Elf Supersite, he posted this drawing his four-year-old son Eli did of Jeff Smith's Fone Bone.

James shares a cute behind-the-scenes story starring Mr. Smith and Bone colorist Steve Hamaker (who will be at SPACE this weekend):

The other night I was reading the second volume of Jeff Smith’s BONE series as a bedtime story to my son Eli (age 4). Eli decided that he wanted to do a drawing of Bone and send it to Jeff. It was pretty late at this point, maybe 9:00 at night so he was deliriously sleepy, and he was trying really hard to copy one of the drawings from the book exactly. He worked really hard on it and kept messing up until he was practically in tears. Finally, he did a version which he decided was successful.

So I emailed the drawing to Jeff and also to Steve Hamaker who colors the Bone series for Jeff. Steve very graciously colored Eli’s Bone drawing in his signature style and emailed it back. It’s pretty incredible to see Eli’s little drawing with colors beautifully rendered by a true professional.

Steve has got to be the nicest colorist in comics. What a champ to do this for my little boy!

Also, Jeff Smith was interviewed by New York Magazine, talking about Bone, RASL and Drew Barrymore.

Another Ohio Comics Creator's Group is Born

I received this letter from Thacher Cleveland (who lives in Yellow Springs, which is near Dayton...);

Here are pictures from our second meeting of the Dayton Area Comic Creators Group (we're thinking of getting a snappier name at some point). We had a better turnout this time around, although all who were at first meeting were either sick, lost in Columbus or plumb forgot. They did email us after the fact regretting their absences, so they haven't just written us off. We had eight people, one of whom was Wakka Ciccone, who has self-published three issues of her comic Sihm and attended SPACE a couple of times. It was a fun meeting, and we're looking to get more of a web presence established so we can all keep in touch with each other better.

Thanks,
Thacher E Cleveland
Super-Fly Comics & Games

Bravo to you and everyone! Looking forward to seeing some of those pictured above at SPACE
in just two days!

Who Is Harvey Pekar?

Walrus Comix posted a lengthy interview with the celebrated (and legendary) Ohio comics writer, Harvey Pekar. I love the fact that the Walrus Comix main page (currently) plays a sample of Harvey's voice from the phone interview.

As an added bonus, here's a (much sorter) You Tube video interview:

Jeff Smith Interview X2

Today's Indie Spinner Rack Podcast (Episode #110) features the first of a two-part interview with Jeff Smith, "discussing the years prior to his mega-selling series, Bone and the upcoming Rasl, his adventures in indie comics publishing, and much, much more!"

Indie Spinner Rack hosts Charlito and Mr. Phil approach small and independent comics each week with a humor and a knowledge that welcomes both the established indie reader and those who might be new to the creators discussed.

Also, Jeff was recently interviewed by the Wall Street Journal.