Fantagraphics is going to CXC! We’ll be there at Table 2 and we’ve got some fantastic guests: Kayla E. (Precious Rubbish), Carol Tyler (The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief), Charles Burns (Kommix, Final Cut), and Don Simpson (The Complete Megaton Man Universe Volume 1: The 1980s). Keep scrolling for the full schedule:
Table 2 Signing Schedule:
Saturday, September 20th:
12:00-1:00 pm: Don Simpson (The Complete Megaton Man Universe Volume 1: The 1980s)
1:00-2:00 pm: Carol Tyler (The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief)
2:00-3:00 pm: Charles Burns (Kommix, Final Cut)
Sunday, September 21st:
2:00-3:00 pm: Charles Burns (Kommix, Final Cut)
3:00-4:00 pm: Carol Tyler (The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief)
Programming:
Friday, September 19th at 11:00 am in the Eisner Room at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum: The Eyes of My Eyes Are Opened: How Precious Rubbish Makes Use of Comics to Tell the Story of a Childhood Shaped by Trauma: There isn’t enough language in the world to wrap all the way around atrocity. Sometimes the truth is too intimate or hideous to tell with text or images alone. Kayla E., author of Precious Rubbish, expands on why only comics can tell the story of a childhood shaped by trauma.
Friday, September 19th at 2:00 pm in the Robinson Gallery (upstairs/second floor) at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum: Guided Gallery Tour with Carol Tyler – Write It Down, Draw It Out: The Comics Art of Carol Tyler: Join cartoonist Carol Tyler for a personalized guided tour through the exhibit, Write It Down, Draw It Out: The Comics Art of Carol Tyler. The exhibit explores Tyler’s artistic origins and working process, extensive examples of diaries, sketches, notes, rare artifacts, and other personal materials that fueled the inspiration and led to the development of her story making style.
Friday, September 19th at 3:00 pm in the Wexner Lobby at the Wexner Center for the Arts: Charles Burns Signing: Cartoonist Charles Burns will participate in a limited signing in the Wexner lobby from 3-3:45 pm. Limit one signed item per customer. Books available for purchase at the Wexner book store.
Friday, September 19th at 4:00 pm in the Wexner Center for the Arts: CXC Keynote: Charles Burns: Hear from one of the most influential cartoonists of his generation whose work ranges from Criterion Collection covers to the landmark graphic novel Black Hole.
Internationally renowned cartoonist Charles Burns is best known for early work in Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly’s avant-garde comics magazine RAW and such influential comics as Black Hole (1995–2005), X’d Out (2010), The Hive (2012), and many more. For this keynote address as part of Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, Burns reflects on his distinguished career and recent work, such as Final Cut (2023), Kommix (2024), and Unwholesome Love (2024). Burns will be interviewed by comics writer and film & comics scholar (Appalachian State University), Craig Fischer.
A reception at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum follows the presentation.
Free with ticket:
https://wexarts.org/talks-more/cxc-visiting-cartoonist-charles-burns
Saturday, September 20th at 2:00 pm at the CXC Signing Table – Second floor, end of the “L” in the CML Main Branch: Signing with Caitlin McGurk (Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund)
Sunday, September 21st at 11:45 am at the Columbus Museum of Art: Queer Brunch: Join master-of-ceremonies Justin Hall and 2025 CXC special guest Kayla E. for brunch at the Columbus Museum of Art where LGBTQIA+ comic artists and enthusiasts will have a space to meet, eat and enjoy each other’s company.
Kayla E. (she/her) is an award-winning Texas-born artist of Mexican American descent whose graphic novel debut, Precious Rubbish, is a work of trauma recollection told in the style of post-war children’s comics.
Queer Brunch M.C. Justin Hall is a San Francisco-based cartoonist and the editor of the Anthology No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics and producer of the subsequent documentary No Straight Lines: Rise of Queer Comics.
Whether you’re curious about the history, future, or present state of queer comics or just want to discuss comics-craft and personal experiences about being a queer artist, this event was made for you.
Free with ticket: https://13351p.blackbaudhosting.com/13351p/tickets?tab=2&txobjid=c8f277e7-9bd7-400e-aa8a-9c70ee2f2c29
Ground floor: Schottenstein Property Group Pavilion
Sunday, September 21st at 1:00 pm in the Auditorium of the CML Main Branch: My Old Therapist Was Worried About Me Publishing This Book: Spotlight on Kayla E.: Kayla E.’s harrowing memoir Precious Rubbish is a stunning achievement and is not for the faint of heart. It is a masterfully designed graphic novel about pain, trauma, child abuse and incest told in a style that perfectly evokes the lighthearted children’s comics of the 1950s and ‘60s. She will be interviewed by comics historian John Kelly (DUMMY, The Comics Journal) who had the experience of watching Precious Rubbish evolve from its earliest initial manuscript into the masterpiece it is today.
Sunday, September 21st at 2:00 pm at the CXC Signing Table – Second floor, end of the “L” in the CML Main Branch: Signing with Kayla E. (Precious Rubbish)
Sunday, September 21st at 2:00 pm in the Auditorium of the CML Main Branch: Spotlight on Carol Tyler: Join renowned cartoonist Carol Tyler for an exploration of her new graphic novel, The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief(Fantagraphics 2025) which is debuting at CXC. The Ephemerata draws upon Tyler’s own bereavement to bring forth a masterful exploration of uncharted emotional territory for herself and others, in a work that is both painfully intimate and philosophically rich. Tyler’s other graphic novels include Late Bloomer, You’ll Never Know, and Fab 4 Mania. Her wide-ranging autobiographical work is currently featured at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum exhibit, Write It Down, Draw It Out: The Comics Art of Carol Tyler.