This fall, Cartoon Crossroads Columbus hosts its first fully in-person comics, art and animation festival since 2019.
The event features more than 100 accomplished cartoonists, hailing from across the country with distinguished works in many different forms of media. In addition to the artists with standard convention booths, there is a long list of featured guests, all of whom are well-established in the field.
This year’s guests include Maia Kobabe, award-winning author and illustrator of Gender Queer: A Memoir; Keith Knight, co-creator of the Hulu series Woke and cartoonist of The Knight Life and The K Chronicles; and Barbara Brandon-Croft, award-winning cartoonist of Where I’m Coming From.
Cartoon Crossroads isn’t the only place to find award-winning cartoons in central Ohio. On The Ohio State University’s campus is The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. Founded in 1977, the library now houses the largest collection of items related to comics and cartoons.
The festival was established in 2015 thanks to the collaborative efforts of Jeff Smith, best known as the creator of the graphic novel series Bone; Vijaya Ayer, Smith’s wife and business manager;
and Lucy Shelton Caswell, founding curator of The Ohio State University’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. A casual conversation among the three recognizing the need to connect cartoon creators with fans to share in the beauty of the art prompted them to put together an annual event for that explicit purpose.
Another prominent figure in central Ohio’s cartoon scene is Milton Caniff. Born in Hillsboro and a graduate of OSU, Caniff’s adventurous cartoons were immensely popular throughout the country beginning in the 30s. His final strip, Steve Canyon, ran up until his death in 1988. Today, his works can be viewed in the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library.
Jay Kalagayan, executive director of Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, is excited about cartoons’ involvement in central Ohio’s future.
“We really want Columbus to kind of be a capital for cartoonists, illustrators and creators,” he says. “Many of Columbus’ cartoonists and creators came to the city as professionals or graduated from OSU or (the Columbus College of Art & Design). To have a treasure like CCAD, and to have so many great students coming out and teachers as well, and to also have a treasure like the Billy Ireland makes Columbus ideal for artists.”
The event runs Oct. 6-7 on OSU’s campus, and Oct. 8-9 at the main branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library. On the first two days of the festival, guests can enjoy basic conversations with the artists and creators.
“(Guests can expect) different artists sharing best practices, talking about the creative process, talking about different issues,” Kalagayan says. “It’s almost like an insider deep dive into the life of different creators.”
On the second two days, guests will be able to visit more than 100 tables of art, purchase work, receive autographs and even commission artists to make sketches.
For more information about this year’s festival, visit www.cartooncrossroadscolumbus.org.
Claire McLean is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
