2007 - Graphic Storytelling
Highlights of the festival have been added.
The ninth triennial Festival of Cartoon Art was focused on the art of graphic storytelling. The year 2007 marks the centennial of the birth of master storyteller Milton Caniff, whose papers and art formed the founding collection of the Cartoon Research Library. The conference began with a celebration of Caniff's life and legacy. Leading contemporary cartoonists then explored the craft of storytelling in newspapers, comic books, and graphic novels throughout the two-day festival.
Caniff is especially noted for his accurate background research and excellent writing; for his innovative use of graphic techniques in his comic strips; for his unusual public service, especially to the United States Air Force; and for his professional leadership in founding the National Cartoonists Society and the Newspaper Comics Council (later named the Newspaper Features Council).
Milton Caniff, known as the “Rembrandt of the Comic Strip” for his work on Terry and the Pirates, Male Call, and Steve Canyon, is one of the most honored cartoonists in history, with awards ranging from two Cartoonist of the Year “Reuben” awards from his peers in the National Cartoonists Society, to the Exceptional Service Award of the United States Air Force. A May 19, 1947 Newsweek cover story about Caniff estimated that the daily readership of Steve Canyon was thirty million people worldwide.
Terry and the Pirates provided the vehicle for Caniff’s maturation both as an artist and as a storyteller. Caniff set the strip in exotic China where historic events then occurring in the region during the 1930s provided the raw material from which he blended fantasy and reality to create an extraordinary graphic narrative. His stories gripped millions of readers worldwide, as evidenced by the fact that he received more than 10,000 letters from readers between 1934 and 1945. Caniff’s sense of design and composition are legendary. Few, if any, cartoonists have so heavily influenced their successors as Milton Caniff. Terry and the Pirates had more imitators than any other comic strip in history.
The 2007 Festival of Cartoon Art was held at The Columbus Renaissance Hotel located in downtown Columbus. Accommodations for the conference registrants were available at the hotel at a special group rate.
