Hey gang- well, this spring has already been busy. Last weekend Nicki and I attended the Earth Day celebration here in Hernando. It was the first Hernando Farmers Market of the year on the Courthouse Square, and the DeSoto Arts Council had their spring art fest going on there as well. The weather was mostly overcast, but mild temps most of the time we were there and a decent breeze blowing, so it was a very pleasant way to spend a Saturday.
We stopped by the DAC’s gift shop to drop off some more Mid-South Cartoonists Association and Drawing Funny podcast stickers, check to see how my art is selling there- I have Scared Silly zines and art prints for sale, plus Nicki bought a couple paintings to take home for our living room. Dale Martin was part of the annual East Buntyn Art Walk that day, which is a festival with local artists, musicians and food trucks with an open-air bazaar of galleries set up in the front yards and porches of the historic east Memphis neighborhood.
The previous Saturday several local creators and authors including some MSCA members participated in the first ever City Of Bartlett Book Bonanza on the 19th. I missed that event. Nicki and I have been busy on the weekends hitting plant sales and working around our yard. We’ve got new raised beds, paved walkways, and more in our yard which has kept us both busy.
Since I don’t have a day job currently, I’ve been trying to take advantage of my quote/unquote free time. I’ve also taken advantage of a lot of free mulch available out at Shelby Farms..!
Here’s some of the upcoming news for the MSCA. I cover them in the latest “Drawing Funny” podcast, which you can listen to on Spotify, Apple or most podcasting platforms- or by going to the show’s website at www.drunnyfunny.com.
Coming this weekend is one of my favorite holidays- Free Comic Book Day. It’s a national holiday where many comic shops around the country participate by having sales, guest comic creator and celebrity signings, cosplay appearances, and of course- free comic books. All of the comic shops in the Memphis and surrounding areas will be celebrating Free Comic Book Day, and each will be doing things differently so be sure to ask what cool things they’ll be offering that day. There are a lot of great free comics to choose from again this year. Now, a couple things to mention- the comics are free for you, but they aren’t free for the comic shops so please be sure to spend at least a few bucks while you’re there. Also, with the future fate of Diamond Comics Distribution still up in the air, the future of Free Comic Book Day is also questionable. Hopefully it will continue for years to come, but you don’t want to miss this year’s event for sure!
And speaking of Free Comic Book Day, on Saturday, May 3rd the very first event of Rogue’s Gallery 2nd year will be happening at Lootz Collectibles in Atoka, TN- and I’ve been that like a TARDIS, the shop is bigger on this inside!
Entitled Rogue’s Gallery: Rising, with poster Artist Guest of Honor and official logo artist matt bowers- creator of the comic book series “Memphis”. You can visit Rogues Gallery on Facebook or www.roguesgallerymemphis.com. Founder Katie Jones says, “Become one of us! Be weird, make weird art, and be awkward. This is a show created by artists for artists and exclusively for artists.”
On Sunday, May the fourth be with you- and at Bricks and Minifigs in Hernando. The local LEGO shop will be celebration Star Wars Day on May 4th from 11AM to 6PM. There will be gifts with Purchase, raffles, Discount for Cosplayers, Scavenger Hunt, Caricatures, and more. Spin the wheel of discounts to save on their massive collection of new, used, retired, and rare Star Wars LEGO. Everything is while supplies last, so get there early. Nicki and I (Well, me as Rorschach) went by for their Superhero Day event this last Sunday and met Captain America there. Got to talk a bit with owners Kevin and Tammy Thorn and ran into the Real Hernando Podcast host Derrick Michaud. The Hernando Bricks and Minifigs store in located off Commerce Street in Hernando, MS. From Memphis, take I-55 south to the Commerce Street exit, turn right and head east past the McDonalds to the R/R tracks and look for the entrance to the shop on the right. Be sure to get in the left lane as you pass the Whataburger, and head west- the right lane will end before the red light after McDonalds. Area 51 Ice Cream is just up the street if you’d like to check them out while you’re in the H-town.
Monday, May 5th is National Cartoonists Day. Be sure you celebrate somehow. YOU’VE EARNED IT!! I’ll have it and other links I talk about in the show notes for this episode and at the bottom of this post.
Recently MSCA and NCS member Greg Cravens attended the Southeast Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society’s annual meeting in Knoxville, TN, on April 25th – 27th. If you’d like to become a member of the NCS, talk to NCS Membership Chairman Greg Cravens, or go to nationalcartoonists.com.
If you’d like to be a member of the MSCA, it’s pretty simple- just come join us. Our next MSCA Monthly DINNER GATHERING is this Tuesday, May 6th from 6 – 8 pm at Garibaldi’s Pizza, 3530 Walker Ave., Memphis, TN. It’s a free event, but you’ll want to bring money for food or a beverage. We also encourage bringing art for showing around, any freebies you’d like to share, and ideas to discuss. We love talkin’ toons, so introduce yourself, grab a space to sit, and have fun. If you’re not old enough to drive yourself to the dinner, then please have a parent attend with you.
Editing of Issue 12 of The Good, The Bad, and the Sketchy – or “snacky” this time, is complete and on its way back to Memphis from our printer. They should be arriving today, so I’ll be bringing them to our next dinner gathering next Tuesday to do a quick assembly of issues for our members. Contributing members for this issue include Dale Martin, Kevin L. Williams, Lee Raggs, Courtney Dunn, Ron Hicks, Jason Negan, Eric McMeans, Jim Palmer, That Katie Jones, and myself. Dale took a sabbatical from editing this issue, so it was put together done by yours truly- with a lot of advice and notes from Dale. I went a bit “nuts” on the cover art, and added one other toon to the issue. If you haven’t paid for your pages and extra copies yet, reach out to Kev and he’ll help you get that handled. Our next issue will be Lucky 13 and it’s $3 a page to play, you get a copy of the issue for each page you submit, and it’s only $1 each for any additional copies. MSCApub@gmail.com is the email if you have further questions about the book, and we’ll have more info about submitting to it coming up soon on the MSCA website and group emails from Kevin. If you need any back issues for your tables or store, let us know. Dale has a good number of the back issues available.
Greg Cravens, the creator of the Con Cards game, has shared that Wednesday, May 7 is another Con Cards gaming event at 901Games on Broad Ave at 6pm on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. Come learn how to play the game from the ringmaster himself and have a shot at winning some PRIZES!! Greg and his Con Cards traveling sideshow can usually be found around town at many of the local cons as well.
That date, Wednesday, May 7, is also our visit to Ave Maria Home starting at 3:30pm. The plan is to talk a little about who the MSCA is as a group and individually, what we do, and about comics. And then about 4pm spend time drawing with the residents until they are ready to break for dinner (which is 5pm). If you can’t be there for the discussion, it is OK if you need to be there at 4pm to draw.
Ave Maria Home
2795 Charles Bryan Road
Bartlett, TN 38134
The first ever Midsouth Mega-Con is coming to Memphis May 24 & 25, 2025 at the Memphis Sports & Event Center, 995 Early Maxwell Boulevard, just off Airways/East Parkway at the Memphis fairgrounds. MidSouth Mega Con is a family-friendly convention celebrating comics, art, gaming, and pop culture. The MSCA will have a table there, as will many of our members and other local artists. Guests include Superman actor Dean Cain, Captain America Reb Brown, legendary voice actor Billy West, WWF wrasslin’ legend Ted Dibiase, and many, many more. Seriously- just go check out their website at midsouthmegacon.com to see for yourself.
The following Saturday, MAY 31st, many of our members and other local creators and vendors will be set up MEMPHIS PUBLIC LIBRARIES COMIC CON. This is a free event at the Benjamin L. Hooks Library on Poplar Avenue. The con is downstairs in the lobby of the main library and will be happening from 10am – 2pm.
Looking ahead for more MSCA events…
MSCA ART SHOW at PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE will be happening in June. This show will be what we call a “Kitchen Sink” show where any themed art can be entered, or you can display art you’ve already created for sale. Katie Jones has secured a space for the MSCA to present an art show at the Playhouse on June 13 – 28, 2025. Again, new or old art. The date to turn in the art is June 3, 2025, at the monthly dinner gathering at Garibaldi’s Pizza. All art must be framed and hangable. There will be a $5/piece hanging fee for the art show. Last weekend Playhouse held their annual art auction which included many MSCA member pieces in the silent and live auctions.
This fall at the GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY THEATER the MSCA will be back for a FRANKENSTEIN ART SHOW. While more details are coming, plan on a fantastically fun art show for GCT’s Season 54 which will run in conjunction with their performance of “Mary Shelly’s: Frankenstein. Our “Drawn Of The Dead” art show will be themed around Frankenstein, monsters, Horror, Halloween and all the other spookily scary stuff..! The show will HANG from October 24 – November 22, 2025, in the GCT Gallery. All art will be due at the October 7, 2025, Dinner Gathering.
Still a bit away, but to be added to your calendars, we will be a part of the JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER’s ART GALLERY SHOWING at the end of this year and beginning of next around the holidays. The JCC’s Cultural Arts Director has invited our members to be a part of their gallery show December 22, 2025 – January 30, 2026. On display will be handmade wooden artwork including pieces such as soda shops and pinball machines. There is no theme set or required for the pieces, but something around gaming and/or soda shops could be a fun addition to what else will be on display.
If you’d like to participate in any upcoming art shows, need more info on how to prep your art for displaying please contact Kevin at midsouthcartoonists@gmail.com. He’s also interested in hosting a portfolio review day and is open to anyone who’d like to teach a class or do a presentation at one of our dinner meetings or events. So if you’d like to help any young’uns get on the right path to art, or teach some of us old dogs new tricks, please let Kev know if you’re interested in participating. You can talk to him at the dinner gatherings, or email him at midsouthcartoonists@gmail.com.
Oh, while I’m posting event news, let me give you a few more event dates to add to your calendar- yeah, I know- lots coming up already!
Anime Blues Con will be June 6th – 8th at the Renasant Convention Center in downtown Memphis. This all-ages annual event will celebrate anima, manga, Japanese culture, gaming and cosplay over three days. Check them out at animeblues.com.
Look- up in Illinois- it’s the annual Superman Celebration in Metropolis. This cross between a comic con, street festival, and carnival is about 3hrs from Memphis on the banks of the Ohio River. This town wide caped festival will be Friday, Saturday, and Sunday- June 13-15th. Metropolis is more like Smallville than its fictional counterpart, but they pack a lot of fun into that town for the tree day event. Celebrity guests, an artists alley, food trucks, street vendors, costume contests, statues, photo ops with the official Superman of Metropolis, and lots, lots more. There’s also a permanent Super-Museum and gift shop in town next to the giant Superman statue, many Metropolis murals around the city, and a casino down by the river. It’s mostly a free event, but the celebs do charge for their autographs, and you may need to purchase a ticket for those meet and greets. More info and some great souvenirs can be found at the Metropolis Chamber Of Commerce on Superman Square in the heart of Metropolis. To see their guest line up and schedule go to supermancelebration.net.
The Memphis Comic Expo has announced its 2025 dates, and location. DonnieCon will be back on September 13th and 14th at the Memphis Sports and Events Center. The show had moved downtown to the newly renovated convention center down by the river after rising costs at the not so renovated AgCenter out east. I really enjoyed the con’s new digs, but unfortunately a lot of Memphians don’t like going downtown, so the event will split the difference and be more in midtown at the former fairgrounds near the Liberty Bowl and Pipkin Building. This is the same location as the Midsouth Mega-Con, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing more events like this happening there. You can find out more MCX info on Facebook or their website- memphiscomicexpo.com
Recently the Memphis Comic and Fantasy Con also released their 2025 dates and location. MCFC will be back at the Holiday Inn near the U of M on November 15th through the 16th for their 15th year celebration. I had a lot of fun attending the con last year, and you can hear the interviews I did there on episode 70 of the Drawing Funny podcast. MCFC features voice acting talent, local creators and vendors, LEGO, cosplay, and more. Their website is memphiscfc.com.
And happy 10th anniversary to the MCFC organizers’ podcast “Geek Tank Radio“!
Last thing I’d like to mention is that former MSCA member and artist and bass player extraordinaire, Bob Kimball is still battling his stage 4 cancer, and he and his wife Stephani could use your positive thoughts and prayers. If you can help them out any financially, you can donate at their GoFundMe by clicking here: https://tinyurl.com/3hma4hss
Bob is one of my longtime friends and one of the first artists and batman collectors I ever met. I’ve gotten a lot of my guano from him over the years- usually during one of his moves. I’ve known Bob since I graduated high school, back when I began painting at the malls. He did the art/design for our “So Funny It’s Scary, So Scary It’s Funny” Halloween art show down on Overton Square, and created the Dr. Lovemonkey cartoon strip for our online Rock 103 Funny Paages years ago. He’s an amazingly talented (and tall) guy and is going through more than I can imagine right now. Take care, Bobby- we’re thinking of ya.
Okay, that’s all the news I have…for now. I’ll try and get some interviews as I travel around on Free Comic Book Day. If you’d like to be a guest on this show or have an event or art project you’d like me to talk about, hit me up at podcast@drawingfunny.com. I’m happy to set up a zoom call, meet you in person if you’re local, or mention it on the show. If you have an art or geeky podcast you’d like me to promote, please send me a promo spot to run. Needs to be a mono MP3 file either 15, 30, or 60 seconds in length. You can hear my latest Drawing Funny promo spot at the end of this latest episode, or visit the DF site HERE. Thanks to Joe Stuber for recently sharing it on his Comic Book Central podcast. If you wanted to share my promo on your podcast I wouldn’t say no… 😉
Take care, stay tooned, and I hope to run into you around Memphis in May!
Lin
Drawing Funny Podcast website – www.drawingfunny.com
Drawing Funny Podcast on Spotify – www.podcasters.spotify.com/
Drawing Funny Podcast on Apple – www.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/drawing-funny/
Mid-South Cartoonists Association/MSCA (Memphis, TN) – www.midsouthcartoonists.org
My art website – www.linworkman.com
National Cartoonists Society – www.nationalcartoonists.com/
National Cartoonists Day (May 5th) – www.nationalcartoonistsday.com/
Garibaldi’s Pizza (U of M) – www.garibaldispizza.com
Lootz Collectibles – www.lootzcollectibles.com/
Rogue’s Gallery Memphis – www.roguesgallerymemphis.com/
Free Comic Book Day – www.freecomicbookday.com/
Germantown Community Theatre (upcoming season) – www.gctcomeplay.org/season-54-announcement/
Playhouse On The Square – www.playhouseonthesquare.org/
DeSoto Arts Council (Hernando, MS) – www.desotoartscouncil.org/
The Real Hernando Podcast – www.therealhernando.com/
The Rythm Section Podcast – www.therhythmsectionpod.com/
Metropolis Superman Celebration – www.supermancelebration.net/
Bricks & Minifigs Hernando – www.bricksandminifigs.com/hernandoms/
Bricks & Minifigs Hernando (Facebook) – www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61562495777800
Bob Kimball GoFundMe – https://tinyurl.com/3hma4hss
Greg Cravens – www.cravenscartoonist.com/
Memphis Comic Expo/MCX – www.memphiscomicexpo.com/
Memphis Comic And Fantasy Con/MCFC – www.memphiscfc.com/
Geek Tank Radio – www.geektankradio.wordpress.com/
MidSouth Mega Con – www.midsouthmegacon.com/
Memphis Library Con – www.memphislibrary.org/events/mpl-comic-con/
#midsouthcartoonistsassociation
#msca
#memphistn
#supportlocal
#staytooned
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