Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC) is an annual, free, four-day celebration of cartooning and graphic novels held in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. Venues for the festival include

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum is a research library of American cartoons and comic art affiliated with the Ohio State University library system in Columbus, Ohio. Formerly known as the Cartoon Research Library and the Cartoon Libra ...

, Hale Hall, and the

Wexner Center for the Arts The Wexner Center for the Arts is the Ohio State University's "multidisciplinary, international laboratory for the exploration and advancement of contemporary art." The Wexner Center is a lab and public gallery, but not an art museum, as it doe ...

; and downtown Columbus'

Columbus Metropolitan Library The Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) is a public library system in Franklin County, Ohio, in the Columbus metropolitan area. The library serves an area of 872,000 residents, has a collection of 1,483,433 volumes, and circulates 17,262,267 it ...

, the

Columbus Museum of Art The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (its name until 1978), it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio. The museum collec ...

, and the

Columbus College of Art and Design Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) is a Private college, private art school in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded in 1879 as the Columbus Art School and is one of the oldest private art and design colleges in the United States. Located in dow ...

. CXC is held in the spirit of European conventions like the

Angoulême International Comics Festival The Angoulême International Comics Festival (AICF; ) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after Lucca Comics & Games and the Comiket of Japan. It has occur ...

. 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 Alternative comics or independent comics cover a range of American comic book, American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alterna ...

" genre, as opposed to the work of "mainstream" publishers like

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

and

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

Cosplaying Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, and ...

is rarely if ever a feature of CXC. In addition to the "CXC Expo and Marketplace" (held in the Columbus Metropolitan Library),McIntosh, Justin
"The List: Five events worth scoping out at CXC,"
''Columbus Alive'' (Sep 24, 2019). 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.Arrant, Chris
"JEFF SMITH Hopes To Make Columbus, Ohio a Comic Book ‘Destination’ With New Convention,"
''Newsarama'' (June 18, 2015). Smith serves as the festival's president and artistic director.Cavna, Michael
"‘Bone’ cartoonist aims to help create the South by Southwest of comics,"
''Washington Post'' (Oct. 14, 2016).

Tom Spurgeon Thomas Martin Spurgeon (December 16, 1968 – November 13, 2019) was an American writer, historian, critic, and editor in the field of comics, notable for his five-year run as editor of ''The Comics Journal'' and his blog ''The Comics Reporter'' ...

served as executive director until his death in November 2019. The current executive director is Jay Kalagayan. 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.

History

The CXC website details the origins of the convention: Katie Skelly was awarded the inaugural Emerging Artist Prize at the 2015 Cartoon Crossroads Columbus. Carol Tyler was declared a Master Cartoonist at the 2016 CXC; that same year the festival expanded to four days. In 2017, Kat Fajardo was the recipient of the Emerging Talent Award, and Laura Park was the recipient of Columbus Museum of Art Columbus Comics Residency.Fischer, Jim
"Fall Arts Guide: 25 can’t-miss events,"
''Columbus Alive'' (Aug 30, 2017). The 2019 show featured a keynote event conversation between

Mike Mignola Michael Mignola (; born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer best known for creating ''Hellboy'' for Dark Horse Comics, part of a Hellboy Universe, shared universe of titles including ''B.P.R.D.'', ''Abe Sapien'', ''Lobster Johns ...

and Jeff Smith. It also featured a history of British animation (selected by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

) and a panel discussion on the impact of the

presidency of Donald Trump Presidency of Donald Trump may refer to: * First presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration from 2017 to 2021 * Second presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration since 2025 See also * ...

on political cartooning. The 2020 show was held entirely online due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic.Press release
"Cartoon Crossroads Columbus Announces Move to Online Show for 2020,"
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus website (May 26, 2020). The 2021 show was a mixture of live and virtual events; that year also saw the introduction of the Tom Spurgeon Award, "to honor an individual who has made substantial contributions to the field but is not primarily a cartoonist."

Dates and locations

Awards

Emerging Artist Prize

* 2015 Katie Skelly * 2016 Kevin Czapiewski * 2017 Kat Fajardo * 2018 Keren Katz * 2019 Carta Monir * 2020 Gabby Metzler * 2021

Robyn Smith Robyn Smith Astaire (born August 14, 1944) is an American retired jockey. Active from 1969 to 1980, Smith accumulated 247 wins in California and New York race tracks, and became the first female jockey to win a stakes race in 1973. Early life ...

* 2022 Victoria Douglas * 2023 Evan Salazar

Master Cartoonist

* 2016 Carol Tyler * 2019 P. Craig RussellPress release
"CARTOON CROSSROADS COLUMBUS GIVES OUT TWO OF THREE MAJOR AWARDS TO P. CRAIG RUSELL AND NIB FOUNDER MATT BORS,"
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus website. Accessed Dec. 26, 2019. * 2021 Shary Flenniken * 2022 Keith Knight * 2023

Daniel Clowes Daniel Gillespie Clowes (; born April 14, 1961) is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter. Most of Clowes's work first appeared in ''Eightball (comic book), Eightball'', a solo anthology comic book series. An ''E ...

Transformative Work Award

* 2015 '' Raw'', edited by

Art Spiegelman Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman ( ; born February 15, 1948), professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazin ...

Françoise Mouly Françoise Mouly (; born 24 October 1955) is a French-born American designer, editor and publisher. She is best known as co-founder, co-editor, and publisher of the comics and graphics magazine ''Raw (comics magazine), Raw'' (1980–1991), as t ...

* 2016 ''

Doonesbury ''Doonesbury'' is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, ...

'', by

Garry Trudeau Garretson Beekman Trudeau (born July 21, 1948) is an American cartoonist best known for creating the ''Doonesbury'' comic strip. Trudeau won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1975, making him the first comic strip artist to win a ...

* 2017 '' Stuck Rubber Baby'', by

Howard Cruse Howard Cruse (May 2, 1944 – November 26, 2019) was an American alternative cartoonist known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics. First coming to attention in the 1970s, during the underground comix movement with ''Barefootz'', he ...

* 2018 '' King-Cat Comics'', by

John Porcellino John Porcellino (born September 18, 1968) is an American cartoonist and creator of minicomics. Porcellino's self-published, photocopied, mostly autobiographical series '' King-Cat Comics'' is among the best-known and longest-running minicomics pr ...

* 2019 ''

The Nib ''The Nib'' was an American online daily comics publication focused on political cartoons, Comics journalism, graphic journalism, essays and memoir about current affairs. Founded by cartoonist Matt Bors in September 2013, ''The Nib'' was an ind ...

'', edited by

Matt Bors Matt Bors (born 1983) is a nationally syndicated American editorial cartoonist and editor of online comics publication The Nib. Formerly the comics journalism editor for Cartoon Movement, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Ca ...

* 2020 ''

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

'' by

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

, Andrew Aydin, and

Nate Powell Nathan Lee Powell (born 1978) is an American graphic novelist and musician. His 2008 graphic novel ''Swallow Me Whole'' won an Ignatz Award and Eisner Award for Best Original Graphic Novel. He illustrated the ''March'' trilogy, an autobiographical ...

* 2021 ''

Fun Home ''Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic'' is a 2006 graphic memoir by the American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, author of the comic strip '' Dykes to Watch Out For''. It chronicles the author's childhood and youth in rural Pennsylvania, United States, ...

'', by

Alison Bechdel Alison Bechdel ( ; born September 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist. Originally known for the long-running comic strip ''Dykes to Watch Out For'', she came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her Graphic novel, graphic memoir ''Fun ...

* 2022 '' Wimmen's Comix'', edited by

Lee Marrs Lee Marrs (born September 5, 1945) is an American cartoonist and animator, and one of the first female underground comix creators. She is best known for her comic book series ''The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp'', which lasted ...

and

Trina Robbins Trina Robbins ( Perlson; August 17, 1938 – April 10, 2024) was an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first women in the movement. She co-produced the 1970 underground comic '' I ...

* 2023 ''

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses d ...

'', by

Raina Telgemeier Raina Telgemeier (; born May 26, 1977) is an American cartoonist. Her works include the autobiographical webcomic ''Smile (comic book), Smile'', which was published as a full-color middle grade graphic novel in February 2010, and the follow-up S ...

Tom Spurgeon Award

* 2021Parkin, JK
"CXC recognizes first recipients of the Tom Spurgeon Award,"
SmashPages.net (October 2, 2021). **

Mollie Slott Mollie Slott (April 19, 1893 – January 24, 1967) was an American journalist, who became one of the nation's best known figures in the newspaper syndicate industry. In 1946, Slott was chosen as Chicago-Tribune New York Daily news syndicate ma ...

** Orrin C. Evans **

Kim Thompson Kim Thompson (September 25, 1956 – June 19, 2013) was an American comic book editor, translator, and publisher, best known as vice president and co-publisher of Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books. Along with co-publisher Gary Groth, Thompso ...

* 2022 Frederik L. Schodt * 2023 Calvin Reid

References

External links

* {{Comic festivals and alternative comics conventions Comics conventions in the United States Recurring events established in 2015 Conventions in Ohio Comics awards in the United States