Very excited to be headed out to another installation of the Cartoonist Crossroads Columbus festival in lovely Columbus, Ohio! This should be a good one folks; we’ve got amazing special guests, fresh fall debuts, and excellent programming. Read on for all the deets.
Hope to see you there!
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September 28th-29th | Columbus Metropolitan Library
96 S. Grant Ave. Columbus, OH 43215
Fantagraphics Tables #76-77
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Special Guests:
Jaime Hernandez:
Jaime Hernandez needs no introduction.. but here goes anyways: co-creator of the internationally-lauded comics series Love and Rockets, Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Famer, and (let’s face it) real life genius, his latest collactions are Is This How you See Me? and Tonta.
Mary Fleener:
Mary Fleener is an alternative cartoonist whose stories have appeared in anthologies like Weirdo and Twisted Sisters, and Wimmen’s Comix. She lives in Encinitas, CA, with her husband, and her latest book is Billie the Bee.
Ezra Claytan Daniels:
Ezra Claytan Daniels is a shared guest of the Expo and of the animation programming at the Wexner Center For The Arts, the latter in partnership with Buki Bodunrin. Daniels has the feel of a comics lifer, even as his opportunities expand into multiple art forms. His most recent book is BTTM FDRS, created with cartoonist Ben Passmore.
Ho Che Anderson:
Ho Che Anderson Anderson is perhaps best known for his 1990s work at Fantagraphics Books, including the groundbreaking, three-volume biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., KING. Anderson’s latest comic is Godhead.
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Other Attending Fanta Cartoonists:
Georgia Webber (Featured Guest), Dumb
Katie Skelly, My Pretty Vampire
Carol Tyler, Soldier’s Heart, Fab4 Mania
Kate Lacour, Vivisectionary
Mr. Fish, And Then the World Blew Up
Ann Telnaes, Trump’s ABC
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Show Floor Map:
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Programming:
Here’s a selection of Fanta-specific content to look for at this year’s show! Full program and panel schedule can be found here on their website.
Thursday, September 26th
7:30 PM
Double Vision: Adebukola Bodunrin and Ezra Claytan Daniels in Person
Wexner Center for the Arts (Film/Video Theater)
Double Vision showcases the experimental animation work of Adebukola Bodunrin and Bodunrin’s collaborations with graphic novelist Ezra Claytan Daniels, creator of Upgrade Soul (2018) and Bttm Fdrs (2019). In the collection of work presented here, Bodunrin uses an unorthodox juxtaposition of manual and digital techniques to produce unexpected cinematic experiences while exploring the dual natures of language, culture, and race. Also screening is Bodunrin and Claytan Daniels’s Afrofuturist short The Golden Chain (2014) and several augmented reality animations. (program approx. 90 mins., digital video)
Friday, September 27th
10:00 AM
Front Line: Editorial Cartoonists And The First Amendment
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Exhibit Space)
What do current debates about social media, trigger warnings, fake news, and libel have to do with the First Amendment and editorial cartoonists?Editorial cartoonists both benefit from and defend First Amendment speech and press protections. This exhibition examines free speech through historical works from the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum’s collections as well as contemporary works by members of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Ann Telnaes, Pulitzer-Prize winning political cartoonist, and Lucy Shelton Caswell, Professor Emerita and Founding Curator of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, co-curated this exhibition.
1:30 PM
Mr. Fish: Cartooning From The Deep End
Wexner Center for the Arts (Film/Video Theater)
Mr. Fish — the pen name of editorial cartoonist Dwayne Booth — has published his work in Harper’s Magazine, The Nation, the Los Angeles Times, and the Village Voice, among other publications. The documentary Mr. Fish follows the radical figure as he tries to provide for his family while navigating the contemporary political landscape and a profession that’s slowly dying off around him. (70 mins., digital video)
10:00 PM
Mary Fleener Hosts Friday Night CXC Afterparty
Brewcadia (Designated Upstairs (Elevator Accessible) Space)
Our most popular party, the great Mary Fleener steps in to host our Friday Night extravaganza. Join the underground-alt legend at Brewcadia for high energy laughter as we set our sight on the CXC Expo weekend ahead!
Saturday, September 28th
11:00 AM -5:00 PM
CXC Expo And Marketplace: Saturday Edition
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Main Library (2nd Floor Reading Room)
The backbone of the Cartoon Crossroads Columbus experience, the Expo and Marketplace brings together 135 comics-makers, all with new and exciting comics to sell, on the beautiful second floor reading room of the CML Main Library. Looking for comic books? Mini-comics? Graphic novels? Orignal art? T-shirts? Posters and prints? High-end deluxe slipcased premium volumes. They’re all here. Anchoring the floor are talents like Nate Powell and publishers like Fantagraphics and Silver Sprocket. It’s the best shopping experience of the year — and social besides. And in multiple rooms around the library, concurrent panel programs (individually described on this site). You can’t miss.
11:00 AM
Bodies And BTTM FDRS: A Spotlight On Ezra Claytan Daniels Columbus Metropolitan Library, Main Library (Room 3-B) No creator has had a more exciting last 18 months as Ezra Claytan Daniels, with his press tour on behalf of Upgrade Soul moving smoothly into coverage of his current book in collaboraton with Ben Passmore at Fantagraphics, BTTM FDRS. Moderator Tom Spurgeon will talk to Daniels about this roar to prominence as a comics creator, and his exciting new works.
Sunday, September 29th
1:00 AM -5:00 PM
CXC Expo And Marketplace: Sunday Edition
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Main Library (2nd Floor Reading Room)
The backbone of the Cartoon Crossroads Columbus experience, the Expo and Marketplace brings together 135 comics-makers, all with new and exciting comics to sell, on the beautiful second floor reading room of the CML Main Library. Looking for comic books? Mini-comics? Graphic novels? Orignal art? T-shirts? Posters and prints? High-end deluxe slipcased premium volumes. They’re all here. Anchoring the floor are talents like Nate Powell and publishers like Fantagraphics and Silver Sprocket. It’s the best shopping experience of the year — and social besides. And in multiple rooms around the library, concurrent panel programs (individually described on this site). You can’t miss.
2:30 PM
California Comics: Jaime Hernandez, Mary Fleener, Hellen Jo
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Main Library (Room 3-A)
Three of the great artists in the entire field attending this weekend’s CXC have one definite thing in common: California residency, or a long period living in that great state. Is there a set of regional values that inform their amazing comics? Legendary artist Jaime Hernandez, Alt-Underground icon Mary Fleener and the enormously talented Hellen Jo talk about what they’ve and how they’ve made things in reaction. Moderated by Tom Spurgeon.
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Ok, that’s all for now, check back for updates and follow us @fantagraphics for play-by-plays!