Columbus Cartoons Crossroads Days 3-4

I was tabling today, so I didn't get to see any panels. But I did get to talk to some people.

The exhibitors hall began today at the Main Library in Downtown Columbus, and that’s where I was all day, except for a few times that I left to purchase books and get them signed by people. But let me start off by telling you what I was NOT able to do:

Get Hark, a Vagrant signed by Kate Beaton.

She didn’t have a terribly long line, but I didn’t want to leave my table for ten minutes. I figured if I waited until the last minute, the line would be nonexistent. This was not the case, and the line was cut off before I could get to her. I was also not successful in becoming best friends with here because I love her work. Hopefully she’ll still be around today.

Get Scott Pilgrim signed by Bryan Lee O’Malley

I have never read Scott Pilgrim, but I figured since he was here I was grab a copy of the first book and get it signed. Alas, the line for O’Malley was even longer than for Beaton, and they likely closed it off soon after it ended. I’m hoping he will be there today and I can get him to sign it.

An unusual thing occurred during the signing, though. There were a ton of kids taking homecoming pictures in the library atrium at the same time. It was a weird convergence of kids that were dressed up for a night on the town and the kids they likely excluded.

See Spiegelman again

Technically, I saw him. I just didn’t get a chance to talk to him. He was meandering around the exhibitor’s hall, but never stopped by my table. I know he’s around again today, so I might run into him.

Go to the afterparty

I could have gone, but I was pretty zapped after three days of activity and needed to go home, order Hot Chicken Takeover in, have a couple of beers, and watch football. Actually, I’m reading Playground by Richard Powers, so I was immersed in that world for a bit.

Here’s what I DID accomplish.

Get some signed books.

I am super excited to read Infinite Wheatpaste by Pidge, who did a panel on Friday and sold me on her work.

I was also able to get Leonie Bischoff’s beautiful Anais Nin book. We’ve been hanging out a bunch over the past few days, and since she’s from Belgium I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again. But her book is wild. She uses that rainbow colored pencils for her work and creates this shimmering glow that is super cool.

I also got my copy of Forces of Nature by Ed Steed. He’s another guy I’ve been talking to a lot, in part because he came with someone that works with my publisher. He’s a great guy and while watching the Buckeyes I read it during commercials, laughing out loud the whole time.

However, Bryan Lee O’Malley and Kate Beaton were not there today, so I did not get my books signed.

Get to one panel.

At the end of the day Rafael Rosado and I left our tables a bit early to go down to see Ed’s panel. It was nice to get one in. And he was interviewed by Chelsea Carr, another New Yorker cartoonist.

Meet a fan

There’s a 7 year old girl named Elka who loves Pizza, Pickles, and Apple Pie and can’t wait for Checkups, Shots, and Robots. She stopped by to visit my table and we had a nice chat.

Sunday!!

Last day of the festival, and I didn’t have to be there until noon, so I was able to have a nice morning filled with reading and yoga.

First stop - the kids’ area

I had a delightful time with some kids drawing pizzas, ice cream sundaes, and cake. Kids are just the best. They have terrific senses of humor and are very imaginative. I would do this every year at the festival.

Next stop - my table

I was back at the table afterwards filled with the usual great people who stopped by to say hi. I gave Jeff Smith a copy of Checkups, Shots, and Robots because he and the other Cartoon Books people loved my first book. I also had a good conversation with Jerry Craft’s wife Denise and decided to give them the other copy of CUSAR that I had on hand. Jerry was kind enough to stop by my table later on so I could get my copy of New Kid signed. Truly a good dude. This is a pic of him with a copy he signed for my school’s media center.

I also traded Chelsea Carr a copy of Pizza, Pickles and Apple Pie for her book. Chelsea’s a New Yorker cartoonist as well, so know I know two of them pretty well! This is NOT a great picture of Chelsea and me.

I had a copy of Any Empire by Nate Powell, and now that I have that signed I think I have four or five autographed copies of his books, more than any one else.

Late in the day I was in the bathrooms in the urinal between Art Spiegleman and John Kelly (sort of comics journalism royalty). Two great titans of the industry. John told me he once met Donald Trump in the bathroom in the ‘90s and Trump tried to shake his hand without washing it. John refused. But I did get to talk to Spiegleman once more under slightly unusual circumstances.

Eventually, someone announced that CXC was over for 2024, and there were cheers from the floor. The last half hour of the festival was truly special. All the creators, wandered around with very few customers about, admiring each other’s work and buying a few last purchases. I picked up Sara Bean’s book on mental health and a few business cards and headed home.

Final thoughts

What a fun five days this has been. One of the strengths of CXC is that it doesn’t focus on superhero creators, so there’s a wide variety of talent. There’s no comic shops or comic collectors there, so it doesn’t feel like a con. And it’s very family friendly. And it’s free!

It will take me a little while to process everything that I did over the past five days. I’ve been living in a bubble for that long, and I expect once I start talking to other people I’ll get a better sense of how I feel about all of it.

But this is an event that, if you’re a comics fan, you should try to get to. Try to find me in 2025 — I’ll be there somewhere.