Comic creators take spotlight in OKC art show
Oklahoma comic book creators can see their finished pages hanging in a gallery art show starting this weekend at The Paseo Plunge, 3010 Paseo.
“Comics as Art” opens at 6 p.m. Friday and continues through the month of September. An Awards reception will be at 2 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Literati Press Bookshop in the Paseo Plunge.
Comics artists Jerry Bennett and John Eric Osborn are art directors for Literati Press and judges for the juried show.
“It's hard to really push events in the middle of a pandemic, but I am super proud for people outside of the comic community to see the art that so many talented people have made,” Osborn said in an interview with The Oklahoman.
Four submissions from the show will be featured in a relaunched version of Literati's anthology comics title, Literati Presents. The anthology is
aimed at providing a platform to Oklahoma's emerging and established voices. The submissions chosen for the anthology follow:
• “The Doctors” by Chloé Elimam and Nathan Ashley.
• “Odd Bot Blu” by Justin Stier.
• “Giant Killer” by Zachary Gilbert.
• “Aliengaged” by Greg White and Colin Ingersol.
“The anthology that showcased Oklahoma talent is getting a reboot that will again focus on the talent in our state, but with plans to ramp up the exposure to a nationwide audience as the Literati Comics brand takes off this fall,” Bennett told The Oklahoman.
All chosen submissions for the show are eligible for a Best In Show cash prize announced at 2 p.m. Sept. 13, at which Osborn and Bennett will be available to offer critiques and answer questions about the comic book industry.
Osborn, whose website is jeocreations.com, continues to work on the sci-fi comic “Enigma Machine,” and the all-ages title “Hiro Doggie: Space Corgi.”
“But biggest of all, I have `Rise and Fall of Babylon,'” Osborn said. “It's a speculative fiction book being published by Literati Press, and it is a very exciting concept that I'm really looking forward to sharing with everyone in the near future.”
Bennett, meanwhile, continues with multiple projects, as well.
“I'm currently drawing `Glamorella's Daughter,' with writer Charles Martin, and currently writing several graphic novels focused for middle grade readers and young adult readers that I plan to illustrate.”
Despite the pandemic, the Literati team is excited to bring new art to the public.
“Artists are already locked in a studio by themselves, so many of us have been creating,” Osborn said. “The biggest challenge is getting people excited as a whole because so much of comic book experience is based on how we socialize with one another.”
Bennett agreed the limits of in-person promotion have been challenging in 2020.
“Of course, any social event during COVID-19 has brought challenges, but now that some decent regulations are in place, we have an opportunity to make this event actually happen, and it's exciting,” Bennett said. “Producing comics has always been a beast to conquer, as the competition to find an audience and garner recognition is a constant, but the desire for more independent comics has opened doors for many creators to find a home for their original stories. It's actually a golden time for comics!”
Matthew Price is an awardwinning journalist who has written about the comics industry for more than two decades. He is the co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman.