September 25 Billy Ireland, the cartoonist for the Columbus Dispatch from 1898 until his death in 1935, had a weekly illustrated Sunday commentary page titled “The Passing Show,” which both reflected and influenced public opinion in our community. The event is free, but registration is required. September 27 CXC welcomes this year Symposium academics and deep comics thinkers to campus with a brief hour of chit-chat and much-needed early-morning coffee. Two dozen top-flight academics and scholars descend upon CXC for a symposium on public comics — those works of cartoon art which are defined by their role in the real world of ideas, ideology and activism. A morning and an afternoon session await for the next generation of thinking and study that will define how we look at the comics art form. Come to the beautiful lobby of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum all day Thursday and let us welcome you to the show, get you where you want to go. Professionals and guests please pick up your badges, and everybody shop at the amazing duplicate books sale going on concurrently featuring extra copies of works from the internationally renowned holdings of the Billy Ireland! Three extremely well-reviewed comics art shows will be available for your perusing pleasure during this year’s CXC. The first is the permanent show of key samples and contributors to the overall library holdings, including a special cross-section of comics by Bill Watterson. The second is a MAD exhibit drawing from the Billy’s holdings supplemented by some of the great North American comics collections! The third is an astonishing of newer art as curated and collected by the activist publisher and comic arts patron CXC Special Guest Annie Koyama. Three extremely well-reviewed comics art shows will be available for your perusing pleasure during this year’s CXC. The first is the permanent show of key samples and contributors to the overall library holdings, including a special cross-section of comics by Bill Watterson. The second is a MAD exhibit drawing from the Billy’s holdings supplemented by some of the great North American comics collections! The third is an astonishing of newer art as curated and collected by the activist publisher and comic arts patron CXC Special Guest Annie Koyama. Three extremely well-reviewed comics art shows will be available for your perusing pleasure during this year’s CXC. The first is the permanent show of key samples and contributors to the overall library holdings, including a special cross-section of comics by Bill Watterson. The second is a MAD exhibit drawing from the Billy’s holdings supplemented by some of the great North American comics collections! The third is an astonishing of newer art as curated and collected by the activist publisher and comic arts patron CXC Special Guest Annie Koyama. CXC’s first peer to peer presentation in the Eisner classroom is Noah Van Sciver, who will present different techniques on coloring. Van Sciver is one of the best and most prolific North American cartoonists under 40. CXC’s second peer to peer presentation of the week is Emi Gennis’ renowned lecture on the art of hand-lettering, a highly of the CCAD academic year where Gennis is a valued member of the comics-teaching faculty. CXC sister show SOL-CON, the Brown and Black Diversity Expo, presents a lecture at its home base in Hale Hall to kick their weekend off in style. Here’s a rare treat. The legendary and still very young cartoonist Michael DeForge arrives at for the first time as a special guest for an afternoon of drawing, an interview with CXC Festival Director Tom Spurgeon, a walk-through lecture focused on the Koyama Press exhibit and a signing, all in support of this weekend’s focus on the work of his friend and publisher, Annie Koyama. This is DeForge’s sole weekend appearance and we hope to make it a special one. Ohioan Kelly Gallagher is one of the most talented young animators in the world, and a festival favorite. Here we’ll see a number of her short films and get to see answer questions about her sometimes-stunning, always thoughtful work. Animation legend Sally Cruikshank will be here to show off some of her incredibly memorial cartoon work, including the 1975 short “Quasi at the Quackadero,” a film honored by preservation in the US National Film Registry. Questions and Answers to follow. September 28 Those of you arriving at CXC for Day Two please come to the lobby of the beautiful Billy Ireland space and let us give you a proper welcome to the show. If you’re just arrived or already here, avail yourself of the Billy Ireland’s stupendous duplicate books sale. Three extremely well-reviewed comics art shows will be available for your perusing pleasure during this year’s CXC. The first is the permanent show of key samples and contributors to the overall library holdings, including a special cross-section of comics by Bill Watterson. The second is a MAD exhibit drawing from the Billy’s holdings supplemented by some of the great North American comics collections! The third is an astonishing of newer art as curated and collected by the activist publisher and comic arts patron CXC Special Guest Annie Koyama. Three extremely well-reviewed comics art shows will be available for your perusing pleasure during this year’s CXC. The first is the permanent show of key samples and contributors to the overall library holdings, including a special cross-section of comics by Bill Watterson. The second is a MAD exhibit drawing from the Billy’s holdings supplemented by some of the great North American comics collections! The third is an astonishing of newer art as curated and collected by the activist publisher and comic arts patron CXC Special Guest Annie Koyama. Three extremely well-reviewed comics art shows will be available for your perusing pleasure during this year’s CXC. The first is the permanent show of key samples and contributors to the overall library holdings, including a special cross-section of comics by Bill Watterson. The second is a MAD exhibit drawing from the Billy’s holdings supplemented by some of the great North American comics collections! The third is an astonishing of newer art as curated and collected by the activist publisher and comic arts patron CXC Special Guest Annie Koyama. CXC 2018 Special Guest Charles Vess is equally skilled as a comics-maker and as an illustrator, with a special emphasis on fantasy. The powerful artist has agree to sit down and allow us to record him drawing and talking about his art and approach for posterity. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for fans of beautiful visual art, and Vess himself could not be more cherished by his peers and readers. SOL-CON and its wide range of talented guests spend Friday afternoon hosting a series of teaching workshops held for the benefit of arts-interested students from all around Columbus. It is something to behold. Join CXC 2018 Special Guest Annie Koyama, CXC 2018 special guest Jessica Campbell and CXC 2018 featured guests Keiler Roberts and Dustin Harbin as the anchors of a rollicking panel placing the spotlight on Koyama Press at its tenth anniversary, and comic arts patron Koyama herself as a support of comics-makers and their wonderful creations as with the gift of art to the Billy that makes up the basis of this exhibit. Not a dry eye in the house at the end of this one. CXC 2018 Special Guest Jim Woodring is a giant of 20th and 21st Century comics art, best know for his beautiful, psychologically insightful comic starring his everyman character Frank. He joins Tom Spurgeon in a discussion of his latest, Poochytown, and his remarkable and inspiring story of becoming one of the world’s great cartoonists while remaining self-taught. Signing to follow. This may be the best two hours in North American convention-going, with happy comics-makers and fans at the beautiful Billy Ireland enjoying food, drink, great conversation, wonderful exhibits and even a few awards announcements. The CXC big event for Friday evening is the great Lynn Johnston the first female Reuben Award winner for her charming and groundbreaking “For Better Or For Worse.” She’ll be speaking from heart and with visual aids, all with the help of moderator Jessica Campbell — another special guest of the show this year. Signing to follow. The first 2018 CXC late-night party takes us to downtown Columbus for a party upstairs at Brewcadia. This party feature great energy and great fun, perfect for setting up our Saturday and Sunday events. Wheelchair-accessible. September 29 In this special building-wide pause, CXC names this year’s Emerging Talent prize and presents the winners with a check. CXC’s academic exploration of the world of public comics continues with more presentations from some of the nation’s finest thinkers on the art form. Special highlight guest appearances from comics pros Nate Powell (Come Again, March) and Whit Taylor (The New Yorker, The Nib), speaking on their work in this area. Too many ideas for the show’s traditional six hours! Come early and get a head start on the CXC Expo! Jason Lutes joint CXC having completed and collected his masterwork Berlin, decades in the making. He talks about his powerful sympathetic portrayal of life during the decline of the Weimar Republic, and the 22 years it took for him toe complete it. Keiler Roberts is one of cartooning’s most powerful authors on the details of everyday life and the intensity of parenting. The Koyama Press author is here with a brand-new collection following the lauded Sunburning. CXC’s Board President and Artistic Director celebrates a major year of making comics with his debut at Scholastic of the picture book Smiley’s Dream Book and recolored volumes of his thrilling RASL! Come see what’s been done and what’s yet to come! Three of comics’ most prolific, most devoted and most articulate comics-makers talk about how to build career momentum and keep making the work they love. Pittsburgh’s Comics Workbook collective joins us for a third year offering courses in comics creation through attention to structure. These classes are offered all over the world and can be taken here for free. The first of three hours offered. The New Yorker’s funniest young cartoon-maker joins CXC as a Special Guest to talk about working for that hallowed venue and debuting her own comics memoir this Fall! Personal signing sessions by your favorite comic artists Everybody’s best friend in comics, CXC 2018 Featured Guest Dustin Harbin talks about his most recent work and how publisher and benefactor Annie Koyama has helped shape his career. The great Amulet creator, internationally well-regarded illustrator and CXC 2018 Special Guest Kazu Kibuishi is a wonderful live drawer — come enjoy the show and listen to Kibuishi’s insights on making art. CXC is honored to welcome as a Special Guest with SOL-CON the great Roberta Gregory, a legend of both late-period undergrounds and primetime alternative comics, to this career retrospective. The first of four panels this weekend programmed and run by CXC’s sister show, SOL-CON. CXC Featured Guest Kriota Willberg has helped dozens of cartoonist and artist work their way past the aches and sores and disabilities of thousands of hours spent drawing. She describes some of those techniques here in support of Draw Stronger, her sensation new book. Personal signing sessions by your favorite comic artists One of our biggest panels of the year! Join Eric Garcia, Darrin Bell, Kevin Siers and Ann Telnaes in an expansive discussion about the role of editorial cartooning in confronting the special nature of the current presidency. This one might go a little bit long! Three great cartoonists with three career-spanning works either completely or mostly finished: they discuss an almost-forgotten model in this graphic novel era of one cartoonist/one title/one work and how the rest of their career has been shaped by the demands of these major comics. As Ethan Rilly, Hartley Lin authored one of the smartest and deeply pleasurable graphic novels of the 21st Century: Young Frances. As Hartley Lin, the Canadian-based cartoonist talks about this long-simmering, impactful debut. Friends Ron Wimberly and CXC Special Guest Richie Pope have a discussion about comics, design and individual image-making, where they build upon one another and where they might collide. Personal signing sessions by your favorite comic artists The great Charles Vess is in the library, and will grace with his presence to talk art and comics. On the tip of his tongue: the imminent publication of The Books Of Earths: The Complete Illustrated Edition and the dozens upon dozens of beautiful pieces of art made by the artist. King Features Syndicate debuts the great Liniers’ comic strip Macanudo in a form for American newspapers. We have the artist — one of the great, articulate presenters on the form — here as a Special Guest and in this hour talk about that US debut and his beautiful work more generally. Pittsburgh’s Comics Workbook collective joins us for a third year offering courses in comics creation through attention to structure. These classes are offered all over the world and can be taken here for free. The first of three hours offered. This is the second workshop, free to CXC attendees and the basis of many a cartoonist’s leap forward in drawing and technique. The second of four panels this weekend programmed and run by CXC’s sister show, SOL-CON. Columbus bids farewell to one of the strongest cartoonists of his emerging generation after CXC weekend. Today, however, he’s a special guest here to talk about his hilarious and trenchant biography of growing up poor and Mormon, One Dirty Tree. Personal signing sessions by your favorite comic artists Comics mega-star Brian Michael Bendis joins CXC as a special guest and will be signing with his friend Matt Fraction before their interview at CCAD. Don’t miss it. Matt Fraction returns to CXC as a feature guest with one assignment: get the best possible interview out of his friend, our Special Guest and the biggest star in the world of American comic book right this second: the era-defining writer Brian Michael Bendis! Bend elbows with your CXC friends and our venue partner CCAD in a post-interview reception celebrating the school’s comics major! September 30 Columbus Museum Of Art is open on a donations-only basis on Sundays, and they hope that on CXC Sunday you’ll take the opportunity to see the comics positive space and the special hallway exhibit featuring Columbus Comics Residency Winner and CXC Special Guest Richie Pope. Poet and Editor-In-Chief of Black Nerd Problems William Evans will talk to Columbus Comics Resident and CXC Special Guest in a freewheeling conversation about Pope’s art and career-to-date. To help celebrate the first Kids Day at CXC 2018, a pop-up store of classic kids comics and how-to works will run all day near the front of the Main Library facility. CXC 2018 Special Guest Kazu Kibuishi talks with his friend and also CXC Special Guest Jeff Smith about Kibuishi’s art and mega-beloved kid series Amulet at the show’s debut of volume nine! CXC 2018 Featured Guest Rafael Rosado talks about drawing and his Beware! Series in a CXC-special versions of his much lauded kids-focused presentation! CXC 2018 Special Guest and natural-born performer Liniers reads from his kids work for Toon Books in the library reading room. One of North America’s most promising and funniest young cartoonists, CXC 2018 Special Guest Jessica Campbell discusses her first full-length work of humor, XTC69, and the various places her art and comics interests take her! Sponsored by Laughing Ogre, Brian Bendis sits down in the amazing Carnegie room for a discussion with area retailer and their patrons about what’s coming up in his amazing career. Seating for outside patrons will be severely limited. The third of four panels this weekend programmed and run by CXC’s sister show, SOL-CON. The great Liniers, a CXC 2018 special guest, sits down with the equally great and equally special guest Jeff Smith to talk about their kids work and their amazingly organic art styles in this featured conversation. Two great artists of the fantastic and two CXC 2018 sit down to talk about the specific of fantasy art and working from some of the most spectacular worlds one might imagine! CXC 2018 Featured Guest Rafael Rosado reads work from the Beware! series. Hear these adventure in the voice of their creator! Pittsburgh’s Comics Workbook collective joins us for a third year offering courses in comics creation through attention to structure. These classes are offered all over the world and can be taken here for free. The first of three hours offered. This is the third workshop, free to CXC attendees and the basis of many a cartoonist’s leap forward in drawing and technique. Spotlight on featured artist Darrin Bell One of the great places and times for comics, the Seattle Scene of the 1990s helps transform comics into a place of cultural legitimacy and literary value. Three great creators from that scene talk about the work that was done — their own and others — and the value of a living amongst other cartoonists. This is the Big One! Every CXC creator with a kids book, spearheaded by our Kids Day special guests, makes their way to the main lobby for one-stop shopping and signing of a kind rarely experienced by fans of comics! Two CXC 2018 Special Guests have a special connection to Ohio and Cleveland and both have worked with Crime elements in their books. What is it about this state and that city and these creators and those approaches to the comic book form? Let’s find out! There is no major release from a print publisher this Fall more hotly anticipated in the Young Adult market than CXC Special Guest Ngozi Ukazu’s first volume of work from her phenomenon of a webcomic series: Check, Please! Come see this special work and special cartoonist discussed. The fourth and final panel this weekend programmed and run by CXC’s sister show, SOL-CON. Sponsored by Feazel! Learn about Columbus Comics and the special legacy of the last 40 years of Ohio comics creators from those that have experienced it and are still involved! Personal signing sessions by your favorite comic artists Wind down with your CXC friends as we tip a hat in the direction of our wonderful volunteers and this laid-back party with a family feel. Family in a good way!
Tuesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Tuesday's Events
"Billy Ireland And World War I" with Lucy Caswell
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Auditorium)
Lucy Shelton Caswell, Ireland's biographer and founding curator of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, will show examples of "The Passing Show" from 1914-18 that document life in Columbus during World War I.
The event, which is being co-sponsored by Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, will be held at the auditorium of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, 96 South Grant Avenue.Thursday's Events
CXC Symposium 2018 Social Gathering And Coffee
Ohio Union (Cartoon Room A)
CXC Symposium 2018 Day One
Ohio Union (Cartoon Room A)
Welcome/Registration And Billy Ireland Duplicates Book Sale
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Museum Lobby)
Treasures From The Collections of The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library And Museum
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Exhibit Space)
Artistically MAD: Seven Decades Of Satire
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Exhibit Space)
Koyama And Friends: Publishing, Patronage And Thew New Alternative Press
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Exhibit Space)
Talk And Teach: Noah Van Sciver On Coloring
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Will Eisner Seminar Room)
Talk And Teach Emi Gennis on Hand Lettering
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Will Eisner Seminar Room)
SOL-CON Featured Lecture: “Uncaged Hero For Hire"
Hale Hall (MLK Jr. Room)
A Day With Michael DeForge
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Will Eisner Seminar Room)
Kelly Gallagher’s Animated Shorts And Q+A
Wexner Center for the Arts (Film/Video Theater)
An Evening With Sally Cruikshank: Presentation Of Short Films And Q+A
Wexner Center for the Arts (Film/Video Theater)
Friday's Events
Welcome/Registration And Billy Ireland Duplicates Book Sale
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Museum Lobby)
Treasures From The Collections Of The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library And Museum
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Exhibit Space)
Artistically MAD: Seven Decades Of Satire
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Exhibit Space)
Koyama And Friends: Publishing, Patronage And The New Alternative Press
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Exhibit Space)
An Artist At Work: Charles Vess
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Will Eisner Seminar Room)
SOL-CON K-12 Workshops
Hale Hall (MLK Jr. Room)
Koyama Press Day: A Celebration Of Comics Benefactor Annie Koyama
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Will Eisner Seminar Room)
CXC 2018 Keynote Speech: Jim Woodring
Wexner Center for the Arts (Film/Video Theater)
CXC Weekend Kickoff Reception
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Museum Lobby)
Lynn Johnston
Wexner Center for the Arts (Film/Video Theater)
CXC Friday Night Afterparty
Brewcadia
Saturday's Events
Emerging Talent Prize Announcement
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Carnegie Room)
CXC Symposium 2018 Day Two
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Carnegie Room)
Spotlight On Jason Lutes And Berlin
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 1-A)
Spotlight On Keiler Roberts And Chlorine Gardens, with Annie Koyama
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 2-A)
Jeff Smith’s Very Very Big Year
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Auditorium)
Devoted To Comics with Katie Skelly, Noah Van Sciver, Nate Powell
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 1-A)
Comics Workbook Workshop #1
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 2-A)
Spotlight On Liana Finck And Passing For Human
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 3-A)
CXC UP-FRONT TABLE SIGNINGS: Jason Lutes and Jim Woodring
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Homework Help Room)
Webcomics Now with Ngozi Ukazu, Gemma Correll, David Willis
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 1-A)
Kazu Kibuishi Live Drawing Demonstration
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Auditorium)
Spotlight On Roberta Gregory
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 2-A)
SOL-CON Panel #1
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 3-A)
Spotlight On Kriota Willberg And Draw Stronger
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 3-B)
CXC UP-FRONT TABLE SIGNINGS: Liana Finck and Dustin Harbin
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Homework Help Room)
Cartooning In The Time Of Trump
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Auditorium)
A Life's Work with Lynn Johnston, Jason Lutes, Jim Woodring
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 1-A)
Spotlight On Hartley Lin And Young Frances
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 2-A)
Visual Splendor: Comics And Illustration with Richie Pope, Ron Wimberly
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 3-A)
CXC UP-FRONT TABLE SIGNINGS: Krista Willberg and Ngozi Ukazu
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Homework Help Room)
Spotlight On Charles Vess And The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Auditorium)
s Presents Macanudo
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 1-A)
Comics Workbook Workshop #2
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 2-A)
SOL-CON Panel #2
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 3-A)
Spotlight On Noah Van Sciver And One Dirty Tree
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 3-B)
CXC UP-FRONT TABLE SIGNINGS: Lynn Johnston and Darrin Bell
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Homework Help Room)
Brian Bendis and Matt Fraction Signing
Columbus College of Art & Design
Superstar: Matt Fraction Interviews Brian Bendis
Columbus College of Art & Design (Canzani Auditorium)
Bendis/Fraction Reception
Columbus College of Art & Design (Canzani Auditorium)
Sunday's Events
CXC AT CMA, Featuring Columbus Comics Residency Winner Richie Pope
Columbus Museum of Art (Exhibition Space)
An Interview With Richie Pope
Columbus Museum of Art (Exhibition Space)
CXC Kids Day 2018 Pop-Up Store
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Across from Room 1-A)
CXC Kids Day 2018 Spotlight On Kazu Kibuishi with Jeff Smith
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Auditorium)
CXC Kids Day 2018 Drawing With Rafael Rosado
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Homework Help Room)
CXC Kids Day 2018 Reading Comics With Liniers
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (2nd Floor Reading Room)
Spotlight On Jessica Campbell and XTC69
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 2-A)
Brian Bendis Retailer Spotlight
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Carnegie Room)
SOL-CON Panel #3
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 3-A)
CXC Kids Day 2018 Spotlight On Liniers with Jeff Smith
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Auditorium)
CXC Kids Day 2018 Spotlight On Fantasy Comics Art with Charles Vess and Kazu Kibuishi
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 1-A)
CXC Kids Day 2018 Reading Comics With Rafael Rosado
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (2nd Floor Reading Room)
Comics Workbook Workshop #3
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 2-A)
Spotlight On Darrin Bell
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 3-A)
A Time, A Place, A Scene: Seattle Cartooning In the 1990s with Jason Lutes, Jim Woodring, Roberta Gregory
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 3-B)
CXC Kids Day 2018 Signapalooza
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Main Lobby)
Crime Comics And Ohio with Brian Bendis and Derf Backderf
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 2-A)
Spotlight On Ngozi Ukazu And Check, Please!
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Carnegie Room)
SOL-CON Panel #4
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Room 3-A)
Hidden Stories Of Ohio And Columbus Cartooning with Bruce Chrislip, Bob Corby, Ken Eppstein, Lisa Sterle
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Homework Help Room)
CXC UP-FRONT TABLE SIGNINGS: Jason Lutes and Jim Woodring
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Downtown Branch (Homework Help Room)
CXC Afterparty and Volunteer Celebration
Pins Mechanical Co