//If you’re unable to attend the 2018 MSU Comics Forum, each of our keynote speakers’ presentations will be liveStreamed at:
And here are the times that you’ll be able to watch (remember, times are in Eastern Standard Timezone):
Lucy Knisley
Fri., Feb 23rd, 2018
7pm EST
Diana Schutz
Sat., Feb 24th, 2018
12:15pm EST
//The 2018 MSU Comics Forum schedule featuring our Keynote Speakers, Artist Alley participants, Panel Discusions, and more are completely up-to-date for this year’s event, all of which take place at various times, days and locations surrounding the final weekend of February. We’ve tried to top ourselves in terms of programming yet again, so I hope you’ll take a moment to familiarize yourself with our keynote speakers and event line-up.
Finally, I’d like to make a brief mention that our venue has changed to the MSU Library and as usual all events are free and open to the public.
Looking forward to seeing you next month,
Ryan Claytor
MSU Comics Forum – Director
//Our posters list the location for the Penelope Bagieu signing as:
Schuler Books – Eastwood
2820 Towne Centre Blvd.
Lansing, MI 48912
Unfortunately Schuler Books – Eastwood recently announced that they will be closing. However, Schuler Books – Okemos will remain in operation and will be the new host for the signing. Here is their address:
Schuler Books – Okemos (inside Meridian Mall)
1982 W Grand River Ave
Okemos, MI 48864
Despite a location change, the signing will still take place on March 9th, 2018 at 7pm. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. We look forward to seeing you in Okemos.
//Inspiring Young Minds: Comics, Cartoons, and Other Graphic Forms of the 60s and 70s
Join our own Comics Forum Panel Coordinator, Zack Kruse, to uncover some of the comics that influenced Michigan Stories artists Mike Kelley and Jim Shaw throughout their lives, from their early adolescence to their most recent projects.
Zack Kruse is a PhD candidate in MSU’s English Department pursuing Comics Studies.
Thursday, February 1, 7pm
MSU Broad Art Museum
547 E Circle Dr
East Lansing, MI 48824
Cost: Free
//The MSU Comics Forum is excited to announce that the rosters for our Artist Alley and Panel Discussions are now posted on their respective pages.
Many thanks to the increasing number of applicants to this year’s event. Each of you have continued to allow the MSU Comics Forum to grow and hone our mission of inclusivity and professionalism. We look forward to presenting our eleventh year of high caliber programming at the end of February 2018 in our new location, the Michigan State University Main Library.
//
Click image for high resolution version
The 2018 Comics Forum poster and schedule of events were proudly unveiled via the Michigan State University Comic Art and Graphic Novel Podcast earlier this morning. Our Creator Keynote Speaker, Lucy Knisley, illustrated the image you see above, which will be printed as 18″x24″ posters in advance of the event. If you are a business or school who is interested in helping us promote the MSU Comics Forum by hanging these in a public location, please contact MSU Comics Forum Director, Ryan Claytor, via the CONTACT page of this website and we will send several free of charge.
//The Michigan State University Comics Forum is proud to announce another set of dual keynote speakers for our 11th Anniversary event to be held on the final weekend of February 2018.
Our Creator Keynote Speaker, Lucy Knisley, is a critically acclaimed, award-winning comic creator who specializes in personal, confessional comics and travelogues. She attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Merit Scholar, BFA 2007), followed by The Center for Cartoon Studies (Diamond in the Rough Scholar, MFA 2009). To date her work has been published by several major publishers, including French Milk (2008, Touchstone/Simon & Schuster), Relish (2013, First Second [MacMillan Comics Imprint]), An Age of License (2014, Fantagraphics), Displacement (2015, Fantagraphics), and Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride (2016, First Second [MacMillan Comics Imprint]).
2018’s Scholar Keynote Speaker, Diana Schutz, is an award-winning editor who has been working in comics for almost forty years. She was senior executive editor at Dark Horse Comics, where she was on staff from 1990 to 2015. She was Frank Miller’s editor on Sin City and 300, Matt Wagner’s editor on Grendel, Stan Sakai’s editor on Usagi Yojimbo, Paul Chadwick’s editor on Concrete, and Larry Marder’s editor on Beanworld. She applied her knowledge of romance languages to edit international material in translation such as Blacksad and The Manara Library. She has worked with authors Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman, Harvey Pekar, and Harlan Ellison, among others. She was fortunate to have been Will Eisner’s Dark Horse editor until his death in 2005. She is also an adjunct instructor of Comics Studies at Portland State University, a published author of both comics and prose, and the first woman to be inducted into the Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame. Semi-retired, she now works as a literary translator of European comics, including work by Moebius, Manara, Muñoz & Sampayo, and more.
Our Creator Keynote Address will take place on the evening of Friday, February 23rd. Our Scholar Keynote Address will be delivered midday on Saturday, February 24th. Check back for an updated schedule.
//The Michigan State University Comics Forum seeks proposals for presentations, which may include but are not limited to:
Individual submissions
– Each presenter will have 15 minutes to discuss his/her topic along with 5 minutes for questions
– Presenters will be grouped with other participants into a panel
Panel Sessions
– Will run for 1 hour and 15 minutes
– Must include at least 3 presenters
– Presenters must discuss similar or connected topics
– Those proposing a panel are responsible for finding their own panel session members
Roundtables
– Will run for 1 hour
– Must include at least 3 participants
– Presenters must discuss one specific topic
– Those proposing a roundtable are responsible for finding their own session members
Submissions from a broad range of disciplines are encouraged; however, presentations must be focused on the medium of comics. The MSU Comics Forum is seeking a multitude of perspectives that represent the diversity of comics and the medium’s social, literary, artistic, and theoretical contexts.
Individual submissions require a 250-word (maximum) abstract of the topic as well as name and affiliation. Panel sessions require one 250-word abstract for the overarching topic and a unique abstract for each presenter’s specific topic, including name and affiliation, e-mailed together. Roundtable proposals should include a 250-word abstract that includes an explanation of the topic and the names and affiliations of the participants.
Due to the visual nature of the comics medium and diverse community engagement in the Forum, we ask that all presentations integrate visual content. Panel presentations should be .ppt, slides, .pdf, or .presi, and on USB or accessible online
Proposals are due December 10, 2017 by 11:59 PM EST
Please submit proposals to the 2018 MSU Comics Forum Panel Coordinator, Zack Kruse, at: msucfpanels@gmail.com
Presenters will be notified of acceptance by December 22, 2017.
For more information visit comicsforum.msu.edu
//This year’s MSU Comics Forum Artists Alley will be taking place on Saturday, Feb. 24th, 2018. 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 10, 2017 11:59 PM EST:
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 Friday, Dec. 22nd, 2017 as to whether or not we are able to meet your request. Accepted Artists will receive table space free of charge.
//For those unable to attend this year’s event, the 2017 MSU Comics Forum Keynote speeches have been archived:
2017 MSU Comics Forum Creator Keynote Speech – James Sturm:
2017 MSU Comics Forum Scholar Keynote Speech – Charles Hatfield:
Thanks, again, to our keynote speakers, James Sturm and Charles Hatfield!