SPACE 2025 Exhibitor Bios Part 3

Norah Clous:
Norah Clous is a cartoonist and editor and book designer native to and residing in Columbus Ohio. She was an ignatz nominated intern at Fieldmouse Press and received her BFA in comics at CCAD in 2025. Norah makes character-driven, fiction comics with angsty protagonists.

Leo Covault:
Leo Covault is a printmaker and illustrator from Cleveland, Ohio. His work includes the zines “Transition Hacks for Ye Old Mascs,”  and “Old Timey Transfagonies.” He also created the fairy tale paper doll comic The Harpist in 2024. He explores gender through the lens of historical fashion and folklore, and emphasizes hand made shapes and texturesHe has been a Hudson Valley Seed Pack Artist and a Cleveland Scene Magazine Comics Edition artist. In 2024, he created the Genghis Con Indie Comics Convention poster. He graduated with a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2022, and he has been vending at fairs and festivals since 2021.

 

Joel Cramer:
Joel Cramer is the creator/artist/writer of the comic book series "Adventures of Honzy and Joel". Being a huge fan of all things geeky, his all-ages friendly books feature aliens, dragons, superheroes and supervillains, talking animal people, mutants, ancient mysteries, sci-fi and so much more! Please feel free to check out his work at www.joelcramercomics.com!

Creatures by Tim:
A Columbus local artist who uses creatures to tell stories.

Kel M. Crum:
Kel Crum has been active as a radio deejay at Oldies 97.3 in Huber Heights, a comedy writer for Cincinnati legend Gary Burbank, a stand-up comic, a nine-to-five laborer, a caffeine addict and - oh yes, a small press artist. He created Cornelia Dodson in 1990, followed by Helen Boomer, Ed Thud, Reba Moonves, Thighbone Jones and The Dangerous Bird Improv Troupe. Enter his name on the Youtube search engine and you'll be directed to two short live-action Cornelia films, "Smart Phony" and "Free Con Day". 

Arthur Dauphinais:
Arthur haunts several states in the midwest and is an eclectic artist, but a comics one first and foremost. They enjoy physical media, dogs, and writing about the queer experience.

Caitlin (Cait) Davis:
Caitlin (Cait) Davis is an aspiring comics creator and illustrator from small-town Ohio. She loves her family and her cat. One of her strengths is her vivid imagination that fuels her creations from beginning to end.

Makayla Davis:
Makayla is a comic artist from rural Kentucky. Her work is inspired by nature, magic, and everyday occurrences.

Josh Dillon:
Josh Dillon is a cartoonist from Columbus, Ohio. He is earning a Bachelor's degree in Comics & Narrative Practice at Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD). Balancing Act is his first comic.

SPACE 2025 Exhibitor Bios Part 2

 

David G. Caldwell:

David is a cartoonist whose work spans several genres including horror, science fiction, and autobiography. Best known (so far) for his comics Yankee Doodle Strangler and Heat Death Love. He lives and works in the mountains of Tennessee.

Marcus V. Calvert:
Marcus V. Calvert is a native of Detroit who grew up with an addiction to sci-fi that just wouldn't go away.
His goal’s to tell unique, twisted stories that people will be reading long after he’s gone. For him, the name and the fame aren’t important. Only the stories matter.
You can find his novels, short story collections, and writing guides at: https://www.ivillain.net/projects/current-titles. Or, you can follow him on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TalesUnlimited

Brian Canini:
Brian Canini is a cartoonist that lives with his significantly better half, Amy, and his three amazing kiddos in Sunbury, Ohio. Through his efforts in self-publishing, he has created the award-winning autobio graphic novels Fear of Flying and The Big Year, the critically acclaimed sci-fi comic Plastic People, the award-winning solo anthology Airbag, and is part of the team that produces the Eisner-nominated comics newspaper The Columbus Scribbler.

Gillian Claire:
Gillian Claire is an artist and cartoonist from Frisco Texas. Gillian discovered comics at a very young age and now makes kid comics of her own. Her comics are mostly contemporary, dealing with real life conflict that kids experience everyday, and she loves to put snippets of her own childhood into her work. In addition to her personal work, Gillian has worked with Archie Comics Publications in a multitude of ways and is currently a colorist for their digest stories.

 

Alex Clark:

Alex Clark is an Illustrator and Creative Director living outside of Columbus, Ohio. He has been creating illustrations and graphics for the retail and marketing industry over the past 20 years and illustrating picture books and comic books on the side. 

For more information, visit www.alexmclarkart.com.
Comic Book Work:
- The 27 Club: Rock Anthology (Red Stylo Media)
- Ophelia's Revenge (Red Stylo Media)
- The Strip Anthology (Red Stylo Media)
- Soul Divided/Caged in Flesh Anthology (Red Stylo Media)

- Lost in the Shuffle - Self published comic series

Columbus Cartoon Coalition (C3):
The goal of the Columbus Cartoon Coalition is to establish consistent programming for cartoonists and comic artists in, and around, Columbus, OH. Developing a space to commune and create, we host critique sessions, gallery hops, and other activities to bring local artists together. Gathering creatives from various scenes within the city, our events provide ample opportunities for networking, collaboration, and community building within the medium of cartoon arts.

 

Blumiere Connor:
Blumiere Connor is a writer, artist and sophomore in high school. They created and co-wrote the comic book series The Electric Team, as well as co-writing and illustrating Swann Castle: A Multiversal RPG Setting. They enjoy collecting dolls, surreal art, and the history of animation.

Leighton Connor:
Leighton Connor is a writer, artist, cartoonist, and public school teacher. He lives in Cincinnati with his wife, two children, and a dog. He is the writer and artist of the series Lightning Man and other comics such as Fuzzball & Scuzzball, as well as the co-creator (with his child Blumiere) of the comic book series The Electric Team.

 

Sarah Cooke:
Sarah Cooke is a comics writer and journalist living in Columbus, Ohio. She won Mad Cave’s 2023 Talent Search and the 2023 Negative Space Women’s Comic Book Writing Competition. She is the co-creator of the award-winning sci-fi web series My Human Experience. Her published works include No Spell Lasts Forever, Olive and the Ogre, and an essay in How to Analyze & Review Comics: A Handbook on Comics Criticism. As a comics reporter, Sarah has written for Marvel, DC Comics, Women Write About Comics, CBR, Voice of Youth Advocates, WTAP Television, and more. Read her comics on Substack: sarahlindseycooke.substack.com

SPACE 2025 Exhibitor Bios Part 1

 

80 Proof Comix:
Mini comics since the mid 1980's crossing a variety of topics. Lately been focusing on love of low budget movie making with producer character. Completed a run of comics based on working as a house manager/QIDP for a group home. Also do one panel toons(generally at work).

Nick Arganbright:
Nick is a writer, occasionally writing for radio plays (It's All Been Done Radio Hour), local theater (MadLab Theatre), and acting/directing too.  When he isn’t being creative, you can find him relaxing by playing board games, listening to music, and watching movies and television shows. He currently lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife Sarah.

Ba Ba Buttons:
Started in 2021 we make high quality, eye-catching buttons and fridge magnets with inspiration drawn from pop culture, music, movies, and political satire. We also sell enamel pins, patches, and several of our designs on block printed T-shirts. The two of us design and press our own buttons and magnets in our home studio space using US union-made parts.

Lief Bennett:
Lief is a cartoonist and illustrator from southern New York (not the city) currently living in Columbus, OH. He has been a writer and an artist his whole life, but only recently thought to combine the two crafts as a cartoonist. His comics focus on exploring his experiences as a trans man who grew up in the church through both autobiographical and fictional stories. His primary project right now is his webcomic, Slice of Lief, a lighthearted diary comic documenting his life in Columbus.

Ethan Best:
Ethan Best is a Columbus, OH cartoonist, illustrator and writer. His comics have been published in the Columbus Scribbler, Horde Magazine, and Hot CoCo. He has also self published three issues of his anthology series Dirt as well as other one-shots and minicomics.

Skye Berggren:
Skye Berggren is an independent author, comic artist, and illustrator from Santa Cruz, California. When not busy selling books or making coffee, they can be found reading books and drinking coffee. Their self published comic, THE FISH WIZARD, is on its third printing.

Blind Alley Comics:
Blind Alley Comics is the premier micropress comic book partnership in Lansing, MI. Rick Schlaack (The Human Cannonball series) and Joe Haines (The Strange Adventures of Bone Boy series) produce only the most ostentatious original art and stories for their own whimsy, and hope others will enable this strange addiction with adoration and money.

Pam Bliss:
Pam Bliss has been making minicomics since 1989 and she hasn't stopped yet.  She is the creator of the imaginary town of Kekionga Indiana and all its inhabitants, and is also one of the team behind the webcomic "The Extras".

Duncan Bryk:
Duncan will be exhibiting with his second major comics project, click. Outside of comics, he's a university student and enjoys running.

SPACE Exhibitors T to W

 

SPACE Exhibitors T to W

Magnus Tatum:
Magnus Tatum was born in Columbus, Ohio, raised on stories and fairytales from all over the world in his sleepy childhood condo. An imaginative graduate from Columbus College of Art & Design, Magnus dedicates himself to character creation and development and considers characters as the backbone of any good story. As a fantasy fanatic, Magnus dwells in the land of folklore, fables, and legends and has no desire to move out anytime soon.

Tessa:
An indie artist and self-published creator, Tessa's comics focus on anything from the horrific to the humorous, spanning the gap between more mature works like her gruesome horror Apology Dinner to goofing off with A Skeleton's Guide to a Ghoul's Night Out. Tessa strives to create a space for everyone with her art and entertain her audience along the way.

Ben Towle:

Ben Towle is a five-time Eisner-nominated cartoonist whose most recent book is Four-Fisted Tales: Animals in Combat (Dead Reckoning, 2021) a collection of real-life stories about the animals that have fought alongside their human counterparts in wars throughout history. His previous work, the rollicking nautical fantasy comic, Oyster War, was published by Oni Press in 2015. His other comics work includes Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean (with Sarah Stewart Taylor), a graphic novel for young adults (Disney/Hyperion Books 2010) which received accolades from such publications as The New York Times and Publishers Weekly and was a Junior Library Guild selection, as well as the historical fiction graphic novel Midnight Sun. He lives in Columbus, OH and is a professor of illustration at The Columbus College of Art and Design.

Anna "Junior" Vigorito:
Junior is a connoisseur of the cute and an expert at their craft.

Peter Walker:
I make mixed-media handmade zines, so each one is unique. Each zine tells a story. Additionally, I'll be selling some of the comics I've made while at CCAD, which fall into the realm of sci-fi and fantasy (and some diary comics)

Em Warren:
I'm Em, I'm a nonbinary artist from southeast Michigan who loves drawing animals and comics. I enjoy creating stories that focus on experiences with depression and finding comfort in others and the world around you.

Blake William:
I go by the name Blake William, I'm a CCAD senior and soon to be graduate with a passion for comics and film! I'm an upcoming comic artist and creator of the comic "Blind", my own take on the subgenre of acid westerns.

Yarrow:
Yarrow F is a trans queer artist living in Akron Ohio who spends their time making zines and macabre art.

SPACE Exhibitors N to S

 

SPACE Exhibitors N to S

Michael R. Neno:
Publisher of comics and zines since 1987 and freelance penciler, inker, letterer and colorist. I also design concert posters, record covers and illustrate books and magazines

Keith Newsome:

Keith Newsome has been doing various kinds of art since he was in 5th grade. He got into comics in the early 80s, met some of his artic heroes. Decided to get into self publishing. Worked with Hunter Productions and Broken Glass Studios. He started doing dragon illustrations early on and it has become one of his favorite things to do. He is currently writing, drawing and creating his own creation GODSENT under the umbrella of a new comic company October Harvest owned by Eugene Layne Jr.. He is also creating a 60 page book of all his short stories. He has been published in various other small press comics and Zines.

Matthew Northrup:
I learned to read via comics, and fell in love with counter-culture works at an early age. I've studied and practiced the language of sequential storytelling for as long as I could hold a pencil, and have been seen by some greats in the field, but all deals fell through. Now, I've just decided to do it on my own, self publishing my first book in 2022 and going back to college to strengthen my writing and illustrative senses.

Candy Ober:
My traveling tool kit holds my dreams of wonder, play, & fun! ..watercolor & brushes to paint; needles, thread, fabric & binding to quilt; paper, pens, ink, nibs, & pencils to draw; cut outs & glue to collage: carving tools to stamp; iPad, Apple Pencil, & Procreate app to digitally imagine.

Maryanne Rose Papke:

Maryanne Rose Papke has been self-publishing short comics since 2010. Her comics are usually weird, often silly, typically cute, sometimes sad, and occasionally epic. She has currently more than 12 minicomics in print.

Koda Peterson:
Koda Peterson is an artist from Wichita Falls, Texas. They are a comic book artist and illustrator. You can often find them getting coffee in Columbus, Ohio where they currently live.

Nate Powell:

Nate Powell is a National Book Award-winning cartoonist who began self-publishing as an Arkansas teenager in 1992. His work includes the new graphic novel Fall Through, a comics adaptation of James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me, memoir/essay hybrid Save It For Later, civil rights icon John Lewis’s March trilogy, Come Again, Two Dead, Any Empire, and Swallow Me Whole. Powell’s work has received four Eisner Awards, two Ignatz Awards, the Comic-Con International Inkpot Award, multiple ALA and YALSA distinctions, and is a two-time finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana.

Warren Reed:

Born in England, raised in Europe, college and more adventure in the US, then lived in France and Tanzania, visited a few countries in North, East and West Africa. Comics in college papers, then got into animation, several films in festivals in three continents, moved to Columbus for work, also adjunct teaching at CCAD. Identity and alterity are main themes, with liberal doses of humour, action and romance! Intend to do some HORROR!

Refugee Youth Project:
The Refugee Youth Project (RYP) helps school-aged youth develop the knowledge and skills required for academic success and positive integration. Programs include after-school support, summer school, college access, and community arts. After-school programs focus on homework help, social skills, and building and improving English language skills.  Funding for RYP is provided through the generous support of the Maryland Office for Refugees and Asylees (MORA), as well as supplemental grant and fundraising dollars. All RYP program services are FREE for eligible students. RYP partners with local colleges, universities, and high schools to recruit more than 250 volunteers each year.

Max Schaller:

Max Schaller is a cartoonist in Columbus OH who writes and draws some wild shit.

Anna Sellheim:
Anna Sellheim is originally from Washington DC. She earned her MFA in comics from the Center For Cartoon Studies in 2016. She has been published by the Nib, Oni Press and Seven Days (Vermont’s Alternative Weekly Newspaper). She also has contributed to a number of anthologies, most notably Dirty Diamonds and Comics For Choice, an anthology of nonfiction comics about abortion that raised over $30,000 for the National Network Abortion Fund. Her work primarily deals with health, trauma, and the healing power of art. She now works at the Refugee Youth Program, where she teaches art and comics to refugee youth ages 5-21 throughout Baltimore City. She helps guide her students into creating their own healing art practices, while also using comics as an opportunity to solidify their English skills. One project of note, the RYP Zine, is an anthology created by her students at Patterson High School. The sales of the initial print run has raised over $1000 for the student snack fund.

Nick Stellanova:

Nick Stellanova is a comic artist and illustrator from Ohio. He loves to play with making comics and creating stories. His work focuses on personal identity, nature, and the queer community.

Laura Shaw:
Laura Shaw is a psychological horror writer and comics artist based in Columbus, OH. Shaw started her career in comics at the Columbus College of Art and Design and achieved her BFA in 2024. She has worked beside many industry writers and editors, such as Shelly Bond, and has participated in multiple comics events such as CXC. Shaw, ever the animal lover, uses her skills to draw attention to the plights surrounding animal conservation and protection which you can read about in her new comic, HYBRID.

So Pro Comics:
So Pro Comics is an independent publisher striving to blend modern storytelling, production and distribution with a retro, anything-goes sense of fun, founded in Marietta, Ohio by long-time indie comic do-it-yourselfers Michael K. Easton and Jordan Lowe.

Joshua Ray Stephens:
VENOMYTHS is Joshua Ray Stephens’ ongoing anthology of cartoon future fantasy. Equal parts sci-fi, fantasy, philosophy, poetry, religious revelation and silly ass comics. Set in a far off future in a psychiatric asylum that everyone calls Magic Moon VENOMYTHS is a mind bending romp through the ravings of an over-active imagination and over-saturated mind.

SPACE Exhibitor Bios K to M

SPACE Exhibitor Bios K to M

Canada Keck:

Ruminera Comics, created by Canada Keck, is an on-going series of comics that look at both the darkness and the light in her experiences. Canada is a sociologist by training who started writing comics more than a decade ago, when she stayed up all night and wrote a 24-page comic in 24 hours. Since then she has self-published several autobio comics as well as having several short comics appear in anthologies. She has edited five anthologies, as well as curating exhibits of comic art for Wild Goose Creative. In 2016, she discovered a love for oral story and has been an active participant in SpeakEasy ever since. In her spare time, she makes the best cat toys in the universe, as well as a host of other tentacled creatures.

Matt Kish:

I'm an artist and librarian in Ohio, where I live with my partner and far too many books.

Jeff Lilly:

Comics writer and editor, part of the Detroit comics scene for over three decades (so far.) Created The Extras with Pam Bliss and Katie Hodges

Lone Crow Studio:
Printing, Promotion and fulfillment for comics and zines.

Caroline Manley:
I'm an illustrator and comic artist who makes work about queer identity and religious trauma-- along with many other, more light-hearted things.

Kenn Minter:

In the colorful world of art, Kenn Minter has worn many hats. Initiating his career as a daily comic strip creator for the Kentucky Kernel newspaper, he soon became a graphic designer, dabbled as a mural painter and magazine illustrator, and served as an Art Director for the University of Kentucky. Using knowledge culled from the world of print and publishing, Kenn began creating comic books and graphic novels under the imprint, Near Mint Press. He is most proud of the books he has co-created with artist, Clarence Pruitt, “the Experts,” “SuperWorld,” and “Tales of the Emerald Yeti.”

T. Perran Mitchell:
T. Perran Mitchell (he/him) is a crafter of stories and a maker of things. Comics are his favorite medium and have been for as long as he can remember. Growing up with ADHD, Dyslexia and several other learning disabilities, comics not only fostered a love of reading, they were the key to learning to read. T. took a circuitous path to writing comics by first graduating from Drexel University with a degree in information science and technology. Every term he took at least one class for himself that had nothing to do with his major; 16 credits cost the same as 20. This led to him accidentally minoring in Philosophy and nearly attaining a minor in literature. He uses these various interests to inform his writing. In addition to comics T. also writes short fiction, paints miniatures and when the mood strikes, knits. T. lives in Phoenixville, PA with his wife and their two wonderful conures, Murphy, and Wallis.

Joseph Morris:

Joseph Morris is the owner and operator of TORC Press, a Small Press Publisher based out of Central Illinois. He is currently publishing a monthly anthology called Spitballz which is devoted to exhibiting the best of the Small Press while also capturing the joy and fun of old Mad Magazine and Harvey Comics. He also does a daily comic strip called Quixote Coyote, and is tinkering away at a bizarre cosmic epic called Cozmic Taco. His work is at torcpress.com.

Wally Maurer:
Artist, robot and coffee enthusiast. I make dark urban fantasy, noir, and high fantasy comics among other things. Feel free to stop by to talk about robots!

Steven Myers:

Steven Myers is by trade an Art Teacher in northern Ohio. He applies his artistic side by making polymer clay statues, painting, and drawing in both pastel and ink. His normal subjects are comics and pop culture subjects. He also writes and draws his own mini and web-comics including the F.E.Ds and a new science fiction series. Plus he regularly contributes to several anthologies.

SPACE Exhibitor Bios G to J

 SPACE Exhibitor Bios G to H

Jandro Gamboa:
Jandro Gamboa is a teacher and comic writer from Santa Maria, CA. His Monty Gomez comics were recently optioned for production as a streaming series.

Gloria Ann Shows:
Gloria Ann Shows is an artist working in printmaking and folded book forms to adapt personal narrative and shared histories. Through her work, she reflects on Eastern and Western approaches in rendering landscapes and shapes them into emotive spaces that hold memories.

Han Hampy:

Han Hampy is a cartoonist from Columbus OH who loves funky little goblins.

Sarah Harris:
Just a comic artist who loves fictional men.

A. E. Hepler:
A. E. Hepler is from Northeast Ohio and adores drawing creatures, beasts, and entities and making money so they can legally eat food. They’ve been drawing since childhood, and writing ever since their mother started taking their sketchbooks as punishment for the numerous Geneva Convention violations one commits as a child. Nowadays, they can be found weeping over Google Docs or Clip Studio Paint with an iced coffee in one hand and an energy drink in the other. Their illustrative work is featured in Pouya Sattari’s Tsel the Shadow of Death and Raav the Endless Famine.

James Herth:
James Herth is an artist making high-energy comics with a raw edge to them. James makes works for every human with a little freak living inside them.

Stephen Hines:

Stephen Hines was spawned and currently lives in Ohio. When he’s not infiltrating the system by teaching high school English he’s writing. So far he’s published one young adult novel (Hocus Focus), a one-shot surrealist horror comic (Icon-O-Plastic), a graphic novel called Zombie Fabulous, another trilogy entitled The Soccer Mom Killer, a book of short stories called An Exile’s Epistle and Other Stories, and a new comic: Snails With Lasers. He has also released a prose memoir (Rebirth Defect: My Journey From Catholic Altar Boy to Teen Atheist to Adult Christian Metal Evangelist and Back to Atheism).

Ellie Hufbauer:
Ellie Hufbauer is an artist and author graduating with a BFA in Comics and Narrative Practice from Columbus College of Art and Design in 2024. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, they ended up in Columbus, Ohio to pursue their artistic education. Their comics and illustrations have been published in CCAD’s COCO #8 anthology and in several editions of Botticelli magazine. Hufbauer’s work is a melting pot of horror, science fiction, and autobio. Most recently, they have been working on In Sickness, a bittersweet memoir comic about their experiences being disabled.

Travis Horseman:

Travis was born in Springfield, Ohio, and discovered comic books at the age of six. Since then, the course of his life has been shaped by his love of comics, theater and classical history. In addition to being a writer, he has been an actor, a director, a produced playwright, and occasionally, all three at once. After writing the first draft of his ancient Roman epic Amiculus: A Secret History as a ten-page play in college, he began adapting it as a comic. Initially intending for it to be a short 32-page project, it took on a life of its own, expanding to a 200-page graphic novel. Since Amiculus, Travis has continued to write, crowdfund and publish comics under his label Amiculus Books, venturing into modern-day horror with Sugar Creek in 2019 and combining horror with ancient history in the vampire story In Noctem in 2021. The first issue of his new mythology-fantasy miniseries Pythia: The Last Oracle debuted in 2023, with new installments coming this year and in 2025.

Felix Hustead:

Felix Hustead is a cartoonist based in Westerville, Ohio. When they’re not chained to their drawing table, they’re probably spending way too much time (and money) on toy collector websites.

Joyous Phantom:
Joyous Phantom is a Cleveland based artist who loves telling stories through imagery. JP's current project is an upcoming Webtoon about a mysterious entity named Misery searching for his lost half. Misery, as well as his unlikely new allies, must decide for themselves what's truly worth believing in as they find answers to questions that humanity has been seeking for centuries.