Three great cartoonists with three career-spanning works either completely or mostly finished: join Jason Lutes, Lynn Johnston and Jim Woodring as they discuss an almost-forgotten model in this graphic novel era — one cartoonist/one title/one work — and how the rest of their career has been shaped by the demands of these major comics.

Poochytownby Jim Woodring, 2018. Courtesy of Fantagraphics Books.

Join us as visionary cartoonist Jim Woodring provides an in-depth look at his latest book, Poochytown (Fantagraphics), a wordless, surreal, and emotionally powerful story featuring his beloved anthropomorphic everyman, Frank! 

Image courtesy of the artist.

Cartoonist Lynn Johnston discusses her nearly 30-year run with For Better or For Worse (1979–2008)—one of the most beloved comic strips in North America—at this talk that also features live drawing by Johnston as well as an interview by special guest Jessica Campbell. Johnston made history in 1993 by creating one of the first openly gay characters in a strip, and her unique approach to aging her characters in “real time” made the comic deeply relatable to its readers. A Canadian-born artist and humorist, Campbell works in comics, fiber, painting, drawing, and performance and teaches comics and comics history at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and DePaul University.

CXC 2018 Special Guest Charles Vess is equally skilled as a comics-maker and as an illustrator, with a special emphasis on fantasy. He has won four World Fantasy, three Chesley, a Mythopoeic, and two Will Eisner awards. He has just completed 54 illustrations for the first ever collected edition of Ursula K. Le Guin’s multi-award winning Earthsea novels. “The Books of Earthsea,” which will be published in October 2018 by Saga Press (an imprint of Simon & Schuster). The powerful artist has agree to sit down and allow us to record him drawing and talking about his art and approach for posterity. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for fans of beautiful visual art, and Vess himself could not be more cherished by his peers and readers.

Join CXC 2018 special guest Annie Koyama, CXC 2018 special guest Jessica Campbell, and CXC 2018 featured guests Keiler Roberts and Dustin Harbin as the anchors of a rollicking panel placing the spotlight on Koyama Press at its tenth anniversary, and comic arts patron Koyama herself as a support of comics-makers and their wonderful creations as with the gift of art to the Billy that makes up the basis of this exhibit.

Annie Koyama is a former film producer who accidentally got into small press publishing. Her mandate is to promote and support a wide range of emerging and established artists via comics, graphic novels, art books, zines and through various art projects. Known for her alternative edge and diverse range of titles, Koyama’s roster ranges from autobiography to photography, horror to humor, and more.