#cxc2018

[itswalky]

Cartoon Crossroads Columbus is this weekend at the Columbus Metropolitan Library in (surprise) Columbus, Ohio!  Columbus Columbus Columbus!

Admission is FREE.

‘cuz it’s in a library, y’see

Anyway, I’ll be at Table 6 both Saturday and Sunday.  There’s a map up there!  I’ve highlighted Table Six!

[screentonetv]

I had a great time at Cartoon Crossroads Columbus. It’s a festival built around the the Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum at Ohio State University, and a two-day expo/convention at the Columbus Main Library. There were also screenings at the Wexner Art Center and the Columbus College of Art and Design. And more???

This year the Billy Ireland is showing an exhibition of Annie Koyama’s collection of original artwork by artists she’s published. It was really big! And good! There was a MAD Magazine exhibit, too. The coolest part of the Museum is the Reading Room. You can just walk in and request to see work from their collection, and they’ll bring it out of storage and give you little white gloves. I saw some Will Eisner and Garrett Price and a lot of Barbara Shermund, a New Yorker cartoonist who I think will have an exhibit of her own later in the year.

I loved the screening of Sally Cruikshank’s animated films. She made psychadelic animated films in the 1970′s through the 1980′s and eventually worked on Sesame Street. She did the animation for a few songs you might remember. My favorite of those was “From Your Head.” 

The Expo was good. It’s not as big as SPX, but the sales were not too bad. I want to do it again next year! A lot of great cartoonists attended. I was so happy to meet a bunch of internet friends for the first time, and also make new ones. All the Billy Ireland staff and the show volunteers were great. This show did a great job of training pro-active volunteers who made an effort to be available and help exhibitor. They were cool.

Thank you to everyone at the show who was cool and friendly. I hope I was! I had a good time but also I tried to enjoy these days as a vacation and not hit every part of the programming. The show is nicely spread around Columbus so I enjoyed spending time downtown, around the library, German Village, the Short North, and the university area. Seems like there are a thousand good bars and breweries, and the drinking is way cheaper than LA. I really loved the community involvement in the show.

CXC is put together by an amazing group of local cartoonists and institutions working overtime to make it great. They have an emerging cartoonist award with a BIG CASH PRIZE that’s handed to the winner on the show floor (Congratulations Keren Katz!!!). The staff reaches out and goes out of their way to find accommodations for guests and exhibitors. If you’re worried about the cost of a hotel, they will make it work. For real! The Museum is amazing and everyone from the curators to the part-time student staff is friendly and cool. Someone on the museum board threw a huge party for us in his high-rise law firm’s office downtown. The festival organizer Tom Spurgeon works crazy overtime on everything, and yet his generosity and gregariousness never let up.

They already have the dates up on their website: September 26th through the 29th. Let’s go next year!

[blacknerdproblems]

Repost from @roc.bottom @TopRankRepost #TopRankRepost #cxc2018 #CXC #cartoonscrossroadscolumbus #BNPVisits #blacknerdproblems https://www.instagram.com/p/BoXUq4ylb-Y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ijz798o25cu1

[teachmoments]

My wife Ellen and I spent the weekend at Cartoon Crossroads Columbus and it’s a great convention experience that I just can’t recommend highly enough for those out there who love the medium and its many talented creators. Definitely put it on your list to visit in 2019.

[blacknerdproblems]

MOAR awesome folks at CXC! @breenache & @lawrencelindellstudios !👏🏾 #CXC #cartoonscrossroadscolumbus #BNPVisits #blacknerdproblems #cxc2018 https://www.instagram.com/p/BoXT-okF6Pz/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=144wj139zdbsy

[keilerroberts]

CXC 2018, top photo by Whit Spurgeon, photobombing by Dustin Harbin

Dustin did an excellent job moderating a panel about Koyama Press. Every time I hear Annie answer questions about her trajectory I learn something astonishing about her. 

[blacknerdproblems]

View this post on Instagram

Art is important. So are captions. Getting to hear the awesome @richiepope at #CXC #cartoonscrossroadscolumbus #BNPVisits #blacknerdproblems #cxc2018 https://www.instagram.com/p/BoXUzPXlagF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=rtwgsami9hx6

[blacknerdproblems]

Repost from @uncannydazzler @TopRankRepost #TopRankRepost Sure, it was fun to share my research and spend time with brilliant people at #CXC2018. But this is the *real* sign of success after a comics-related conference. https://www.instagram.com/p/BoXVGUGltTK/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=qua6kvlqlkxd