Sun 12/1 @ 2pm
Now in its 5th year, Genghis Con is an annual celebration of local and regional underground comic and small print creators. Northeast Ohio has a rich history of comic and cartoon creators — including Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes), American Splendor’s Harvey Pekar and Gary Dumm, Zap Comics’ Robert Crumb (who also contributed with Pekar on American Splendor during his time in Cleveland), Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Marvel Comics writer Brian Michael Bendis (credits include Ultimate Spiderman and New Avengers) and many more — some of whom will be part of this year’s Genghis Con.
Over the past 5 years, Genghis Con has established itself as the premiere small press and underground comics convention in the region. Taking place each Thanksgiving weekend in Cleveland, the event showcases talented creators from all over NEO.
Genghis Con is an intimate opportunity for creators and fans to interact and connect on a very personal level. Everyone in attendance is united by their mutual love of the genre. After all, every creator started as a really big fan (and most still are).
This year’s all-star lineup includes Derf, creator of the long-running Derf City; Lake Erie Monster creators Jake Kelly (creator of the hypnotic black & white murals at every Melt restaurant) & John Greiner (aka John G – also well known for his concert posters and Melt ads); the previously mentioned Gary Dumm; local artist and curator Angela Oster; the Oberlin Comics Collective; Ohio City Writers; CIA Comics (students from Cleveland Institute of Art); and many, many more creative and talented people.
Perhaps the most recognizable name on the participants list is Derf due to the national syndication of The City, as well as his runs with The Plain Dealer, Scene Magazine and The Free Times. He has also completed graphic novels, including Trashed about his time as a garbage man and My Friend Dahmer chronicling his time with serial killer Jeffery Dahmer at Revere High School.
“Hopefully, we’re building something here with Genghis Con. That’s why I’ve been part of it since the first year,” says Derf. “For years the Cleveland comix community consisted of me running into Harvey Pekar at the grocery store. It’s frustrated me since I moved here in 1986.
“There is NO reason the comix scene in Cleveland shouldn’t be huge. But it’s not,” he continues. “We don’t have a big mainstream con. Our comix shops are few and scattered to the far corners. A good indy con would go a long way toward rectifying that. There are currently some comix creators in these parts doing really interesting work. A lot of the creators from Columbus, which has a more established scene, are coming up, too. This is a great opportunity for fans to see what’s out there.”
Angela Oster, local artist and recent curator of Waterloo Arts’ Crunchy: Sugary Cartoon Art for Big Kids, will be exhibiting this year. “I’m proud to participate in the show,” she says. “I think the spirit of it is about independence — it’s about putting yourself out there — finding your people, your readers, and making art for and with them.”
Gary Dumm will be promoting two new collaborative projects. BB Bluesbird #2 is a 28-page comic about a blues guitar phenom, haunted by ghosts, and hoping to become a star. Dumm did the story and layout while fellow local artist Ron Hill created the final art.
His other project is a 40+ page center section of the 128-page Radical Jesus trade paperback, published by a Mennonite publisher. This effort was a collaboration with his wife Laura — an accomplished and skilled painter. This combination of his linework and her intuitive knowledge of color can also be seen in their collaborative mural, A Love Letter to Cleveland, recently completed and installed outside the Orange Blossom Press building near the West Side Market. It is something they will be exploring together in more upcoming collaborative work.
He offers his insight: “Genghis Con is a beautiful thing, drawing together independent comics makers from Cleveland like Derf and myself to John G. and Jake Kelly, with plenty of room for other established, as well as up-and-coming, regional artists. GC is a yearly meet and greet where the creative comics spirit of Harvey Pekar and Siegel & Shuster permeates the Beachland Ballroom for a day.”
If you’re familiar with their work, Genghis Con is an opportunity to meet your favorite underground artists and writers, pick up their latest work and have it signed – maybe even talk them into drawing something for you. However, if you’re new to underground comics, you’ll experience the thrill of wandering from booth to booth discovering exciting new artists, stories and characters.
Best of all, you’ll be directly supporting the people bringing these things to life. There’s something really rewarding about buying work directly from the person who creates it. We don’t do it nearly enough in contemporary society – especially on Thanksgiving weekend.
Changes to this year’s convention include an earlier start time (doors at 2pm), live panel discussions hosted by local podcast Comics Are Go! and live music following the convention from Two Hand Fools, Uno Lady and Smoke Noises (Smoke Screen & Ghost Noises).
Admission is $5 per person. Doors to the convention open at 2pm. However the Beachland will be serving their weekly Sunday Brunch from 11am-3pm, so come early (and hungry). Post-convention concert begins at 8pm, with drinks and regular menu items being served until 11pm.
[Pictured, from top: Genghis Con poster by John G.; Derfcity Comics; BB Bluesbird by Ron Hill & Gary Dumm]
Josh Usmani is a 27 year old local artist, curator and writer. Since 2008, his work has been featured in over 50 local and regional exhibitions.