Cartoon Crossroads Columbus | |
---|---|
Status | Active |
Genre | Comics |
Frequency | annual |
Venue | Multiple Ohio State University and downtown Columbus venues |
Location(s) | Columbus, Ohio |
Country | United States |
Inaugurated | 2015 |
Founders | Jeff Smith, Lucy Shelton Caswell, Vijaya Iyer |
Most recent | Sept. 27–Oct. 1, 2023 |
Next event | Sept. 26–29, 2024 |
Executive Director | Jay Kalagayan |
Website | cartooncrossroadscolumbus |
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC) is an annual, free, four-day celebration of cartooning and graphic novels held in Columbus, Ohio.[1] Venues for the festival include Ohio State University's Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, Hale Hall, and the Wexner Center for the Arts; and downtown Columbus' Columbus Metropolitan Library, the Columbus Museum of Art, and the Columbus College of Art and Design.
CXC is held in the spirit of European conventions like the Angoulême International Comics Festival.[2] As such, it is focused on the art and literature of the comics form, and only minimally on related pop-culture expression and merchandising. The show tends to highlight the "alternative comics" genre, as opposed to the work of "mainstream" publishers like DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Cosplaying is rarely if ever a feature of CXC. In addition to the "CXC Expo and Marketplace" (held in the Columbus Metropolitan Library),[3] CXC features art exhibits, animation screenings, panel discussions, and workshops.
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus gives out an annual Emerging Artist Prize; the CXC has also distributed Master Cartoonist awards and a Transformative Work Award, and since 2021 the Tom Spurgeon Award.
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus was founded in 2015 by, among others, Columbus-based cartoonist Jeff Smith.[4][5] Smith serves as the festival's president and artistic director.[2] Tom Spurgeon served as executive director until his death in November 2019.[5] The current executive director is Jay Kalagayan.[6]
CXC is held in conjunction each year with SÕL-CON: The Brown And Black Comics Expo, also held in Columbus, founded in 2015 by comics scholars Frederick Aldama, John Jennings, and Ricardo Padilla.
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