Author: Admin

On the heels of Sergio Aragones’ recent cancellation, we are thankful and excited that Tom Hart was interested in accepting our invitation to fill Sergio’s very large shoes as this year’s 2015 MSU Comics Forum Keynote Speaker on very short notice.

Tom Hart is a cartoonist and the Executive Director of The Sequential Artists Workshop, a school and arts organization in Gainesville, Florida. He is the creator of the Hutch Owen series of graphic novels and books, and has been nominated for all the major industry awards. His The Collected Hutch Owen was nominated for best graphic novel in 2000. He was an early recipient of a Xeric Grant for self-publishing cartoonists, and has been on many best-of lists in the Comics Journal and other comix publications. He has been called “One of the great underrated cartoonists of our time” by Eddie Campbell and “One of my favorite cartoonists of the decade” by Scott McCloud. His daily Hutch Owen comic strip ran for 2 years in newspapers in New York and Boston, and his “Ali’s House”, co-created with Margo Dabaie was picked up by King Features Syndicate.

He was a core instructor at New York City’s School of Visual Arts for 10 years, teaching cartooning to undergraduates, working adults and teens alike. Among his students were Dash Shaw, Sarah Glidden Box Brown and other published cartoonists.  He has taught comix and sequential art at schools and institutions all around New York City for more than 10 years, and has conducted week-long workshops from Maine to Hawaii. His Daddy Lightning, was published in March 2012 from Retrofit, and Let’s Get Furious, a 380-page new Hutch Owen digital collection for tablets, is available from Top Shelf. He also teaches sequential art in the School of Art and Art History at UF.

It is with a heavy heart that I make the following announcement.  Sergio Aragones, our 2015 MSU Comics Forum Keynote Speaker, has cancelled his visit due to health concerns.  In an email, Sergio writes,

Thank you for all your efforts on my behalf, but after serious consideration (including a talk to my doctor) I realize I can not take that long a trip plus the driving and the change of planes, so, sadly I will have to decline your invitation.

I was already counting with the pleasure of meeting my young fans and making new ones. 

I hope that your request for my appearance at MSU can be extended for another year, I hope that by then I would be completely recuperated and able to take the long trip. 

Please let my apologies be known to all, 

Respectfully, 
Sergio Aragones 

Please join the me and the MSU Comics Forum committee in wishing Sergio a speedy recovery.  You’ll be missed in Michigan, Mr. Aragones.  Thanks for all your work in comics and we hope to see you next year.

Sincerely,
Ryan Claytor
MSU Comics Forum – Director

The 2015 MSU Comics Forum will take place on Feb. 20th and 21st. The keynote address will occur on the first evening, Friday, Feb. 20th, 2015, while the panel discussions and artist alley will take place the following day, Saturday, Feb 21st, 2015. The location will be in Snyder/Phillips Hall on the campus of Michigan State University.

This year, the Forum is proud to announce that Sergio Aragones will be our Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker on Friday, Feb 20th, 2015.  Aragones is the most honored cartoonist, having won every major award in the field including the National Cartoonists Society?s Reuben Award and the Will Eisner Hall of Fame Award.  He is widely known for his contributions to Mad Magazine and his long-running comic book series, Groo the Wanderer.  Recently, Aragones completed a Groo vs. Conan crossover with artist, Tom Yeates, and continues his more than 50 years of contributions to Mad Magazine.

The MSU Comics Forum will be accepting submissions for individual presentations, panel sessions, and roundtables as part of the event’s academic panel discussions on Saturday, Feb 21st, 2015. Submissions will be accepted from a variety of disciplines and must be received by Dec. 20th, 2014 at 11:59pm EST.  Download PDF file for details.

This year’s MSU Comics Forum Artists Alley will be taking place on Saturday, Feb. 21st, 2015. It will be in the Lookout! Gallery and surrounding classrooms located on the 2nd floor of the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities in Michigan State University’s Snyder/Phillips Hall in East Lansing, MI. There is no cost to request table space for the MSU Comics Forum.

To request table space complete the requested information at the following form by Sunday, December 20th, 2014:

http://tinyurl.com/2015msucfArtistAlley

Due to limited space the Artist Alley is juried and not all requests will be met. Once the application is received it will be reviewed and you will be notified via e-mail by January 1st, 2015 as to whether or not we are able to meet your request.

I’d like to thank all the artists, scholars, and fans who made the 2014 Michigan State University Comics Forum such a success.  It wouldn’t happen without you.

In case you weren’t able to attend Stan Sakai’s keynote address, it is now archived online:

http://new.livestream.com/msualumni/MSUComicsForum2014/images/41365695

Thanks again and we’ll see you in 2015,
Ryan Claytor
MSU Comics Forum – Director