Adam Talley - idiothead.com
Adam has been in comics for the last 18 years doing self published works such as PLEASANT LIFE and ANNA POCALYPSE, among others. He is also known for doing sketch card work for Marvel, DC, Star Wars, and many others. He lives in Lansing, MI. He will soon launch his own webcomic through his website.
Annette Barbara Walowicz - hamandbutter.com
Detroit area artist and official illustrator for Bellyache Records and DIY Street Fair.
Bill Pulkovski - www.billpulkovski.com
Bill Pulkovski was born in Detroit, MI on Friday the 13th of May, 1977. He was extremely creative at an early age. After taking every art class possible in high school, Bill attended Macomb College and attained his degree in Illustration for Advertising.
His work has been described as being rooted in realism with expressive color, arresting composition with an exciting energy. Bill taps into both the heart and fringes of popular culture to create pieces that attract all walks of life. He describes his style as being like water. That his work flows and will fill any task or project.
Today, Bill is a freelance illustrator, designer and college instructor. You can find his work in comic books, trading cards, prints, magazines and film. He’s worked on many official projects for popular properties such as Star Wars, Marvel, DC and Paramount Pictures just to name a few.
Home is a small suburb of Detroit, Michigan, where he lives with his wife, Sara and two daughters, Annabel and Sophia.
Learn more about Bill at www.billpulkovski.com
Bob Corby - www.backporchcomics.com
Bob Corby has been self publishing since 1986. He has published 22 issues of Oh,Comics!, 6 issues of Bunny Blues (now collected in the TPB, Big Ears & Flat Feet), 5 issues of Bunny Blues/Leaves, 6 issues of Test! (which is also now collected in a TPB), and numerous minicomics. His Fire Fang Series was published in Just Imagine Comics & Stories back in the mid-80’s. He also recently produced the art for an 8 page comic for the Ohio State University Medical Center.
Bob is an advisor with the Art Explorer Post 407 which meets Saturdays at the Columbus College of Art & Design. The students and advisors of the post have produced 6 issues of Lump of Coal. an annual bad attitude holiday minicomic, and 8 issues of Untitled, a comics anthology. Bob has acted as editor and publisher for both books. He has been exhibiting at conventions since 1988 and also runs SPACE (Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo) held in Columbus OH each spring. This years show will be on April 13 &14, 2013.
Bridget Flanagan - kirbygal.deviantart.com
Bridget Flanagan is a biomedica lab diagnostics major pursuing comics as a side career. She is currently working on two webcomics and other art projects.
Bruce Gerlach - www.tattooed-sky.blogspot.com
I was never that artist who as a kid drew cartoons and other stick figure related images on the walls of his home. Nope, I was the kind that drew spacemen on his sheets. In ink.
Since then, I spent the early years absorbing and being influenced by 50’s and 60’s sci-fi/fantasy movies, Hammer Films, Godzilla and ape flicks, comic books and Looney Tunes. And my imagination formed into the finely tuned clunker that it is now.
I now spend my creative pursuits in combing the depths in search of that elusive wreck or some hidden treasure of one kind or another.
I am a freelance illustrator and cartoonist who has worked with many licensed properties such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Vampirella, Mars Attacks, Voltron, Superman and The Warlord of Mars for such clients as Topps, Lucasfilm, Upper Deck, 5Finity and Breygent Marketing among others.
My cartoons have been published in various magazines nationwide, as well as overseas. For examples of my work: www.tattooed-sky.blogspot.com
Chad Sell - chadsellcomics.com
Chad is a freelance illustrator specializing in the fabulous and the fantastic. He’s known for his webcomic MANTA-MAN, his autobiographical work VREELAND, and his portraits of drag queens.
Dave Acosta - www.davedrawsgood.com
Dave is a Michigan based Penciller, Inker and Letterer. His most recent projects include “The Vessel of Terror” published by AAM Markosia and “Drago Bentley” Published by Idiot’s Lantern Productions. His art is on the web at www.davedrawsgood.com.
Dean Stahl - http://headlocksandheadaches.com
Dean is a lifelong fan and student of comics and comic art creation. He’s contributed to several small press publications and has created his own webcomic, Headlocks and Headaches, based on ’80’s era pro-wrestling. He has many other projects in the works.
Diana - www.wan-tsunami.com
I am a recent graduate of Michigan State University with two degrees, one in Studio Art and one in Media Arts and Technology. I live with my boyfriend, Edward, my Boston Terrier, Luca, and my mini Aussie, Finn, in a tree-top fortress in Clinton Township, MI. I’ve been in love with the arts since I was a little girl, and that passion has only grown over the years. Currently, I am running an illustration business called Wan-Tsunami Comics and Illustrations, and I continue to produce my own comic books and prints with glorious results.
Gary Scott Beatty - http://garyscottbeatty.com/
The first alternative comic Xeric Grant Recipient Gary Scott Beatty produced was on his high school’s mimeograph machine, after hours, without permission. Today, through Indie Comics Magazine, Gary introduces promising newcomers and veteran indie creators to a wider audience. His own Aazurn Publishing project Tales of Fear #1, will appear comic shops this month. For info visit http://indiecomicsmagazine.com
Jay Fosgitt - www.jayfosgitt.com
Jay P. Fosgitt is the creator of the graphic novel DEAD DUCK, which was originally published by Ape Entertainment in 2009 and is now an ongoing web comic. Jay’s other creator-owned projects are NECRONOMICOMICS, a single panel comic that lampoons horror films, which is published monthly in Rue Morgue Magazine, and an all-ages comic book called BODIE TROLL that comes out in 2013 from Red 5 Comics.
Jay’s has also produced licensed comic book work, contributing illustrations to DREAMWORKS ANIMATION MAGAZINE, and contributing writing and art for the forthcoming SESAME STREET comic book, both published by Ape Entertainment.
Also for Ape Entertainment, Jay was the writer/artist on the all-ages comics LITTLE GREEN MEN, DINO DUCK, and OLD MCMONSTER’S HAUNTED FARM. He was also the character designer on the comic book SCOUTS.
Jay has contributed artwork for such sketch card series as STAR WARS GALAXY 5 for Topps Entertainment and MARVEL: DANGEROUS DIVAS, MARVEL UNIVERSE 2011, and MARVEL: BRONZE AGE for Rittenhouse Archives, and ARCHIE, SABRINA, and HACK/SLASH for 5finity Productions.
Most recently, Jay’s artwork has been featured in the book TEAM CUL DE SAC: CARTOONISTS DRAW THE LINE AT PARKINSON’S, alongside other professional cartoonists who drew characters from Richard Thompson’s comic strip “Cul De Sac”, with proceeds going towards a cure for Parkinson’s Disease.
Jay will also be the letterer on comic creator Guy Davis’ upcoming comic, The Marquis and the Midwife, to be published by Dark Horse Comics.
Jay is a member of The National Cartoonists Society. He lives in Ann Arbor with his wife Laura and cats Goonie and Tika. Visit his website at: www.jayfosgitt.com.
Jay Jacot - j2comics.blogspot.com
James “Jay” is an amalgamation of Graphic Designer, all around Artist, and entrepreneur working on The Tao of Snarky: The Cutting Edge and has been the Artist Alley Coordinator for the MSU omics Forum since it’s creation in 2008. Jay was also the publisher and editor-in-chief for the now defunct Comics Obscura line of comics which was a collection of work from many amazing Michigan based comics creators.
Jeffery J. Manley (and Christopher Meeuwes) - www.twoforonecomics.com | www.punching-the-clock.com
Jeff is the cartoonist most likely to be forgotten the next day. Jeff is also the most likely to be ignored around other cartoonists. Jeff compensates for his lack of self-esteem by being a loud obnoxious Jackass. Chris Meeuwes is, on the other hand, adored by millions.
Jeremy Treece - http://www.jeremytreece.com
Jeremy is part of a two person creative called Crisishour Productions which he created with his talented wife Lisa. While Lisa is the wordsmith and Jeremy the illustrator the duo, with their powers combined, make some pretty awesome comics.
Jeremy Started his comic career in 2002 with a self published title called “Gravity Girl” In 2005 he illustrated “Hero@Large” at Speakeasy Comics which gained him some popularity.
After a short while after his daughter was born in 2005, Jeremy stepped out of the business to focus on being a Father, but came back with another creator owned title penned by his wife Lisa called “Feasome as the Night”. This comic opened up a door for him at Marvel Comics in which he illustrated Marvel Zombies a Christmas Carol for in 2011.
Back at it the collective are bringing a new book out in 2013 called “Seeds of Mourning” which is a prequel to the 2008 title “Fearsome as the Night.”
Jerzy & Anne Drozd - http://comicsaregreat.com
Jerzy Drozd is a cartoonist and teaching artist. He is the author of many comics including The Front: Rebirth and Boulder and Fleet: Adventurers for Hire. Jerzy produces and hosts the Comics Are Great! podcast recorded live at the Ann Arbor District Library. He also serves as the programming director of the Kids Read Comics Celebration held annually in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Jim Towe - www.jimtowe.com
Jim Towe is a Kendall College of Art and Design student working feverishly to complete a degree in illustration. Currently, Jim Towe is writing and drawing a free mini comic entitled “Cyber Courting Love Tactics” and debuting as the artist of a digital comic series entitled “The Art of Guilt” with the first issue due in March. He also likes cats.
Joe Foo - http://desmondscomic.com
Joe Foo is a teaching illustrator that is the creator of the online DESMOND’S COMIC. He was also one of the creators of DRAW SUCKA! DRAW! which was a weekly sketch group that published art books and comics. Foo also a fan of apple pie.
Josh Neufeld - http://www.JoshComix.com
Josh Neufeld is a comics journalist known for his graphic narratives of political and social upheaval, told through the voices of witnesses. He is the writer/artist of the bestselling nonfiction graphic novel A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge (Pantheon). In addition, he is the illustrator of the bestselling graphic nonfiction book The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media (W.W. Norton). He is currently a 2013 Knight-Wallace fellow in journalism at the University of Michigan. Neufeld is a Xeric Award winner, and his work has been nominated for a number of other awards, including the Eisner and the Harvey. His books have been translated into French, Italian, and Dutch. Usually based in Brooklyn, N.Y., he currently lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his wife and daughter.
Joshua Buchanan - joshuadraws.com
Joshua works as a graphic designer by day, but as a comic illustrator and dad by night. He started his current book “The Rocket” back in 2009, and plans to finish at the end of 2012. Since then, he’s begun working with author Rob Worley (Scratch9) for the upcoming Scratch 9 Anthology, “Nine Tails”. He lives in Michigan with his wife and daughter.
Kevin Eckert - http://www.truthdart.com
Kevin Eckert writes and draws the Truth Dart series, a mid-20’s drinking adventure which has parallel storylines in serialized issues and three-panel strips. He also hosts a weekly comics-drawing event in the metro Detroit area with Truth Dart co-creator Mike Burridge, called Royal Oak Comix Party.
Killustration Studios - Tyler and Sara Sowles - www.killustrationstudios.com
Killustration Studios LLC is owned by Tyler and Sara Sowles. Both went to Kendall College of Art and Design, and majored in illustration. Since then, they have gone on to work as freelance illustrators for a variety of clients across the globe. Aside from freelance work, the two also travel to conventions around the Midwest. Tyler typically works on pencilling and inking while Sara designs, colors, and handles text. Currently, Tyler is working on three comics; two personal, self-published pieces, and another for Arcana Publishing.
Kris Moore - kisforkomics.com
The fantastically furry, boisterously bearded K-Mo is a writer from the Metro-Detroit area and the creator of the comic series “Science Girl” and “Saturday Morning Snack Attack!” When he’s not making comics, he’s writing witty pop-culture commentary about Kimmy Gibbler and Steve Urkel for Slacktory.com. K-Mo is also the animator and co-writer for “Magical Battle Princess Natalie” a series for Channel 101 NY and an event writer for “Tales of Illyria” an upcoming RPG for Android devices.
Matt Feazell - www.cynicalman.com
My comics and spot illustrations have appeared in Disney Adventures and Nickleodeon Magazine. My regular weekly series, “The Amazing Cynicalman” appears in two Michigan newspapers (the Hamtramck Review and Flint Comix & Entertainment) as well as at www.cynicalman.com. Winner of the 2010 Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo SPACE Prize for best minicomic (”Board of Superheros™”) and 2005 SPACE prize for Lifetime Achievement. Currently promoting my latest project, a 90-minute, live-action Cynicalman movie
Matt Gross - www.caaats.com
Matt is a Comic Artist, Illustrator and Graphic Designer. He lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana with his wife, Meghan, his daughter, Georgia and his two crazy cats, Olive and Hazel.
Matt worked in the design field for seven years and completed projects for clients such as Vera Bradley, Michaels, Peg Perego, Barnes & Noble and Chronicle Books.
In 2012, Matt opened Boom Tube Studios, LLC, a creative agency specializing in sequential art and illustration. It’s here that Matt writes and draws the weekly webcomic, CAAATS!, which is based on his wacky real life pets. The strip first launched in February of 2011 and has updated every Wednesday since.
Matt is also an artist for Mystery Solved!, the webcomic of skepticism and adventure, written and created by Zack Kruse.
Megan Rose Gedris - rosalarian.com
Megan Rose Gedris has written and illustrated many, many comics, most notably “I was Kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space!!!,” “YU+ME: dream,” and “Meaty Yogurt.” She worked in television for 8 years and won an Emmy in 2011. If being a mermaidologist was a real career, she would be that. She lives in Michigan.
Mike Roll - http://mikeroll.blogspot.com/
Mike Roll is a comic artist and illustrator from the Detroit area. He’s best known for his adorably-gruesome “Apooka” series of comics chronicling the life (death?) of an endearing, cute-as-a-button zombie child.
Nick Bertozzi - http://NickBertozzi.com/
Bertozzi received a Xeric Grant and multiple Harvey Awards and Ignatz Awards for his cartooning. He is the writer and artist of the graphic novel Lewis & Clark (First/Second). He collaborated with Jason Lutes on the graphic novel Houdini: The Handcuff King (Hyperion/CCS) and drew Glenn (The Colbert Report/Daria) Eichler’s STUFFED! (First/Second). Bertozzi is author of The Salon (St. Martin’s Griffin) a graphic novel about Picasso, the discovery of Cubism, and magical absinthe. He is hard at work on a cartoon biography of Lenny Bruce for Houghton-Mifflin, written by Harvey Pekar and you can read his ongoing sci-fi/fantasy cartoon, Persimmon Cup, for free every week at ACT-I-VATE (http://activatecomix.com). For the past several years Bertozzi has been teaching cartooning at NYC’s School of Visual Arts, as well as teaching stints at Rhode Island School of Design and at The Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont. For more information, visit his website: http://NickBertozzi.com/
Raghav Prashant Sundar - www.masalamilk.tumblr.com
I am an international doctoral student (from Madras, India) working towards my PhD in Packaging Technology from the MSU School of Packaging. I love comics and cartoons and am trying to make some of my own and thrust them upon the world through the tumblrs and facebooks.
Robert Hendricks - strangertwostranger.tumblr.com
I am an observer, a photographer, an artist, a journalist and a storyteller. It was only a few years ago that I became consumed with comics and discovered their brilliance and complexity. The concept of telling stories visually is something I have always had a passion for. Up until this point, the tool I used was a camera. Now I have added pen and paper to the toolbox. I am drawn to stories that convey all ranges of human emotions. I have been self-publishing my own comic, “Stranger Two Stranger” my mini comic that illustrates Craigslist’s missed connections from Chicago, Detroit, New York and San Francisco since April 2011.
Ruth Ann Jones for the MSU Student Cartoonist Anthology
Ruth Ann is the marketing & public relations coordinator at the MSU Libraries — not an artist, but a huge fan of Roz Chast, Shaun Tan, Alison Bechdel, Konami Kanata, and others. She’ll be selling copies of the newly published, first-ever MSU Student Cartoonist Anthology, published by the MSU Libraries.
Ryan Claytor - www.elephanteater.com
Elephant Eater Comics is the comic book self-publishing venture of United States comics artist Ryan Claytor. Elephant Eater Comics, established in 2004, is committed to producing intelligent and entertaining comics for an all-ages audience.
Ryan Claytor is a comics artist and professor living in Lansing, Michigan. He currently teaches Comics Studio courses at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan Flint. In 2007, he earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from San Diego State University with an emphasis in multimedia, researching autobiography in comics. Claytor’s achievements have included a Cartoonist in Residence position at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, California, visiting
lecturerships at the Dallas Museum of Art , The Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont, and The Savannah College of Art and Design, an internship with Marvel Comics in New York City, and judging the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailing Award in 2007. In 2009 the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco featured an exhibition of his work and Claytor began teaching the first “Comics and Visual Narrative” class in Michigan State University‘s history. He has also served as the Director of the Michigan State University Comics Forum since 2009.
Ryan Lee - http://ryryleeart.blogspot.com/
Ryan Lee is a Michigan-based comic artist and illustrator whose work is frequently featured on the webcomic, “The Gutters” and in the comic book anthology, “Matinee Eclectica”. Currently, Ryan is working on a creator-owned webcomic, “The Naturals” with writer Chris Meeuwes.
Sherief Abou El Seoud & Mark Tesone - twoforonecomics.com
Sherief and Mark are co-creators of webcomic The Bait and founders of the webcomic site TwoForOneComics.
The Bait, following a hero of the same name through the turmoils of being a superhero. This character driven tour de force explores more than just the adventurers in heroism, but gets into the gritty real life drama surrounding the duality of being no one special while hiding a life of renown.
Believing that community is the key to creative success, Mark and Sherief founded the website TwoForOneComics where they bring together like-minded creators and give them a place to showcase and promote their work.
Tim Baron - www.timbaron.com | www.juliuscomic.com
Tim Baron is the creator and illustrator of the 2011 graphic novel, The Life and Times of Julius Destructus. He’s a contributor to the Parable comic anthology, and regular illustrator for The Complicated World of Charlie Valor. Tim’s work has also appeared in The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles: Jack and Cat Tales. In 2012 he and writer Ben Avery finished the graphic novel, “‘Twas the Night Before Krampus.”
Tim spends his days working as a mild-mannered graphic designer. At night, he stays up past his bedtime drawing monsters and super heroes. In the morning, he caffeinates himself and begins the cycle anew.
Tim lives in Indiana with his wife and four children.
Tony Miello - www.gapotheclown.com
Tony has been working as a freelance cartoonist for over fifteen years. He has worked on projects from spot illustration to full comic book stories. Tony is the creator of the comic strip GAPO the Clown which has been publish both on the web and in print since 2004. He’s worked on comic’s based on the popular cable television shows “Who Wants To Be A Superhero” and “Wolfman Mac’s Chiller Drive-In” and has provided sketch cards for trading card companies Upper Deck, Breygent Marketing, Cryptozoic Entertainment and Topps. Tony is currently illustrating a comic for the pop-punk band Bowling For Soup.
Zack Kruse - http://www.mysterysolvedcomic.com
Zack Kruse is comicbook writer, educator and conventioneer hailing from Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is the writer and creator of the skeptically driven webcomic, Mystery Solved! Each arc of the popular series features the work of a different artist and can be found at: www.MysterySolvedComic.com. Recently, the webcomic has become a regular feature in Skeptical Inquirer—the publication of the Center for Skeptical Inquiry. Zack’s work has also been featured various anthologies, including two volumes of Low Concept: An 11 O’Clock Comics Community Anthology and the Summit City Ink 24 Hour Comics Anthology, for which he also served as editor and art director. In 2009, Zack founded and organized the Summit City Comic Con, which ran annually in Fort Wayne, Indiana until 2012; in 2012 he founded a new convention called Appleseed Comic Con, with it’s inaugural year being in 2013. Zack is also the founder of Summit City Ink, a collective of comic book artists and writers in the Fort Wayne area; additionally, he is the co-host of The Quad and The Distinguished Comic Book Podcast.
You can find out more about Zack zackkruse.com or by following him on Twitter @ZackKruse.