Create New Worlds @ Lake Erie Ink’s 11th Annual Kids’ Comic Con!

Saturday, March 4: Comic Con Workshops, Speakers & Artist Alley 10am-4:15pm

For kids 8-18, doors open @ 9:30am, $15 for all day, scholarships available

Registration opens February 8th!

Saturday, March 4, 2023: All Day @Lake Erie Ink: 

Workshops, Speakers & Artist Alley for Kids Ages 8-18. Stay tuned for full schedule.

Saturday Virtual Workshops: (can be attended in person at LEI- just bring your laptop, and then check out other great in person workshops from other comic creators! Join from home if you can’t make it in person.)

-10:30 am Marc Sumerak

Words and Pictures: The Craft of Creating Comics An in-depth, step-by-step look at the process of creating a comic book page — from concept to completion!

Marc Sumerak has spent over two decades crafting story content for some of the most celebrated brands in entertainment, including Marvel, Star Wars, and more. His work has appeared in countless books, comics, and video games. His most recent works include MARVEL ANATOMY: A SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF THE SUPERHUMAN and STAR WARS: THE SECRETS OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS.

-11:35 am Jay Kalagayan and Friends

Finding your Monster Story with the Cincinnati Cabinet of Curiosities–Talk with the creators behind the Cincinnati Cabinet of Curiosities comics anthology and find out how they put together their collection of Ohio regional myths, legends, and creepy creatures. Learn about ways to research local inspiration for your stories and how they can be incorporated into a comic book format.  Join creators Kat Klockow (Redcat Comics, Corpse Flower Press), Tim Fuller (Sham Comics), Jay B. Kalagayan (MeSseD Comics) in finding your monster story.

Jay B. Kalagayan is the creator, writer and publisher of MeSseD Comics. MeSseD, the nickname for the Metropolitan Sewer District, brings sewer management to science fiction. Tough sewer worker Lilliput is our guide to the wet, weird and wild world under our feet.

-1:30 pm Joe Biel of Microcosm Publishing

Live Your Ambitions, Not Your Fears: How Publishing is Informed by Punk and Upbringing– A publisher of 27 years, Joe Biel has continually found that the underground is much bigger than the mainstream. This talk offers actionable lessons about how to incorporate your seeming deficits as strengths in your publishing. A certifiable history of the trajectory of self-publishing, zines, DIY culture, and punk rock, this talk followed by Q&A will explore the success in creating the world we need to see in our work by tracing the trajectory of Biel’s career.

A Cleveland native, Joe Biel is a self-made autistic publisher and filmmaker who draws origins, inspiration, and methods from punk rock. Biel is the founder and CEO of Microcosm Publishing, Publishers Weekly’s #1 fastest growing publisher of 2022. Biel is the author of dozens of books, including Make a Zine and A People’s Guide to Publishing and has been featured in Time Magazine, NPR, Art of Autism, Reading Glasses, PBS, Bulletproof Radio, Spectator (Japan), G33K (Korea), and Maximum Rocknroll.

Friday, March 3, 5:30-7:30pm @ the B-Side Lounge on Coventry:  Teen Cosplay and Trivia Party (Games, Sketching and Cosplay!!!)

Featuring a cosplay fashion show, comic trivia, and more!

Friday Afternoon March 3:  Virtual Drawing Workshop with a Nickelodeon Artist

Friday, February 24th, 7-8pm @ Visible Voice Bookstore: Artist Panel for Adults and Teens. Comics and Community: Building New Worlds. Featuring Juan Jose Fernandez, Dawn Arrington, Jeremy Stoll, and moderated by Valentino Zullo

Scholarships available for all Comic Con events.

Who’s coming to Comic Con?

Dawn Arrington

Kate Atherton

Sequoia Bostick of Vagabond Comics

John Boucher

Juan Fernandez

Sam Green

Matt Haberbusch

Lynnesha “Nesha Mars” Hamilton

Miguel C Hernandez

Jay B. Kalagayan

Terri Libenson

Michelle Littlejohn

Sevita Lochan

Angela Oster

Brad Ricca

Od Perry Richardson

Gilberto Rivera

Joe Schorgl

Joseph Sieracki

Marc Sumerak

David Wilson & Misty Wilson

More details and registration opens February 8th at lakeerieink.org/kids-comic-con

Questions? Email staff@lakeerieink.org or call (216) 320-4757

A special thanks for the support from these fine folks:

The Tabor Family, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, The Cyrus Eaton Foundation, Mac’s Backs, Ohio Art Council, and Fabre Castel