“CONnnnnnnnnn…!!!” – News On Upcoming Cons And Events

Well, the San Diego Comic Con may be over, but that doesn’t mean that con season is over. Lots of events still to come…and a big one is returning to our own backyard!

That’s right- the Memphis Comic Expo (AKA “DonnieCon“) is back in the M-Town with over 70,000 square feet of expo space featuring comics, artists & writers, a cosplay contest, panels, vendors, voice actors, food, drinks, and more!

Agricenter International
(Entrance in Wing C)
7777 Walnut Grove Road (near Germantown Pkwy.)
Memphis, TN 38120
FREE PARKING on premise.

Expo Hours:
Saturday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sunday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
VIP Ticket holders will have early entry privileges at 9:30am both days.

Tickets are now on-sale, but VIP tickets have sold out.

2 DAY GENERAL ADMISSION TICKET

  • $45 if purchased by August 31, 2022
  • $50 if purchased on or after September 1, 2022

SATURDAY GENERAL ADMISSION TICKET

  • $35 if purchased by August 31, 2022
  • $40 if purchased on or after September 1, 2022

SUNDAY GENERAL ADMISSION TICKET 

  • $30 if purchased by August 31, 2022
  • $35 if purchased on or after September 1, 2022

CHILD TICKET – age 12 and under – FREE

  • Kids 12 and under get in FREE when supervised by a paying adult.  Unaccompanied children will not be admitted.

This year’s MCX has a HUGE guest list including SCOTT SNYDER, GREG CAPULLO, JIM STARLIN, MARK WAID, JAMES O’BARR, DENYS COWAN, MARC BERNARDIN, KEVIN NOWLAN, RON MARZ, DAN BRERETON, DEXTER VINES, and of course it wouldn’t be a DonnieCon without MIKE NORTON drawin’ dogs at the AggiCenter!!!

Plus there will be lots and lots of local creators including many of our own MSCA members. I’ll post a blog here featuring all of them soon- MEMPHIS REPRESENT!

Speaking of MSCA members, “Sour Grapes” creator Tim Jones will be a featured guest in the Artists Alley at Fan X up in Boston this coming weekend!

AUGUST 12-14 2022
BOSTON CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTER
www.fanexpohq.com/fanexpoboston

 

Also, here are a few other events that will be coming up in the Mid-South area

Memphis Comic and Fantasy Convention
November 18/19/20, 2022
Memphis Marriot East
5795 Poplar Ave.
Memphis, TN 38111

Coming up on November 5th at the Dyersburg Comic Con– Marvel/DC/Archie comic artist Steven Butler, local comic artist Larry Cathey, wrasslin’ historian Mark James, and special guest, Jackson “SHAZAM!” Bostwick. The show is at the The Lannom Center, 2000 Commerce Ave, Dyersburg TN. 38024. Admission is $10, and they offer a $15 early bird special. Find out more at dyersburgcomiccon.comor check out their Facebook page.


Monster Market is an online pop-up shop stocked with this year’s curated collection of maker-made goods open October 3rd – 31st!

The Monster Market 2022 Kick-Off Party will be Saturday October 1st at Marshall Arts Gallery in Memphis, TN (near Sun Studios). They will be selling a small selection of the inventory (not everything!) at this event, as a sort-of exclusive preview night for their Memphis customers.

Dale Martin and I (Lin Workman) will both have art for sale at the Monster Market.

MONSTER MARKET
memphismonstermarket.com
instagram.com/monster.market

DeSoto Arts Council– Hernando, MS.

Special Halloween edition of Midtown Con Sat Oct 29th at Black Lodge!

Vendors interested in selling comics, toys and records please DM them on Facebook for info.

Black Lodge
405 N. Cleveland Ave, Memphis, TN
www.blacklodgememphis.com/

Not Memphis, but within driving distance to Hunstville, AL– home of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

Rocket City Toy and Comic Expo 2022
October 1st 10-5
Jaycee Building at John Hunt Park
2180 Airport Rd SW
Huntsville, AL 35801

Find toys from all your childhood favorites and comics from golden age to modern. There will be over 50 vendor booths with a great mix of toys and comics.
Admission is $5 and kids 12 and under are FREE.

For vendor information email: ROCKETCITYTOYCOMICEXPO@GMAIL.COM

Watertower Festival – Court Square in Hernando, MS (Free admission)

Arkansas Comic Con
September 10, 2022 | 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
September 11, 2022 | 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Statehouse Convention Center
Little Rock, AR

Covington Comic Con
August 20-21, 2022
Covington Civic Center
100 W Washington Ave.
Covington, TN 38019

Elvis Week
August 11-17, 2022
Memphis, TN

Lots to see and do around Memphis and down in Tupelo, MS. Check out the Memphis Tourism  and Graceland/EPE websites for more info.

901 Comics presents Comic Book Trivia at Flip Side on the last Wednesday of each month.
Pool, Pinball & A Pint.. Located across the street from Crosstown Concourse, 16 pinball machines, one foosball table, dart board and pool table.

Flip Side
1349 Autumn Ave, Memphis, TN 38104
#SeeYouOnTheFlipSide

Oh, and don’t forget that this September we will have a month long MSCA 35th Anniversary display in the lobby of the Hernando Public Library in Hernando, MS.

They have one large 2-sided display case and another smaller single case on the opposite wall.

Nicki and I have done several lobby displays for them in the past including Batman ’66, Star Wars, Harry Potter, hockey, comics, and an animation one.

Kevin and I will also be doing a “Ghostbusters” display there in October.

Hope you get to check out these events. If you know of any others happening around our area, or if you’re a member and are going to be a guest and/or setting up at a show please shoot us the info on it and I’ll be happy to share it here, on our MSCA Facebook page, and Drawing Funny podcast.

Lin

New “Drawing Funny” Podcast Episode – “Sour Grapes” By Tim Jones

A new “Drawing Funny” podcast episode is available for downloading/listening. (Click here.)
In this episode I share some local upcoming event news, plus I sit down to talk toons and discuss some “SOUR GRAPES” with cartoonist Tim Jones.
Tim is the creator, artist and writer of the widely popular, self-syndicated comic strip, SOUR GRAPES. He created SOUR GRAPES back in 2013. It’s a weekly strip about ‘Aesop‘, a miserable-flying dog; his pet cloud, ‘Ominous’ and odd family- all living in a problematic and troubled world. In 2014, the strip found its way into print starting in two newspapers in Rhode Island, where he lives with his family.
Soon after, the comic strip continued its success and started to appear in more and more newspapers.
Today, SOUR GRAPES continues to grow in popularity and can now be seen in multiple newspapers across the country.
Tim has been a cartoonist and freelance illustrator for over 25 years and he is a member of the National Cartoonist Society and Mid-South Cartoonists Association. He also teaches cartooning and speaks at local schools and libraries.
Tim has created several compilation SOUR GRAPES books and story-coloring books. He appears at various events, Comic-Cons and book signings. His next upcoming events are in July at Plastic City Comic Con in Fitchburg, MA and Terrificon at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut. I’m looking forward to getting back out to conventions again this summer/fall.
Thanks to Tim for taking time out to come on the show. Hope to run into him in person at some point.
Stay well, stay tooned, and keep drawing funny!
Lin
Run time: 1hr 5min 30sec
SOUR GRAPES” ©2020-2022 Tim Jones

Back To Virtual Until 2022

Hey, gang-

I have a quick few bits of MSCA news for you. First up is some meeting updates from our Prez Kevin L. Williams

Hi, all-

With the latest details on Covid-19/Delta Variant from the Shelby County Health Department, I am going to cancel further in-person gatherings until January 2022. We will still gather digitally (via Z00m).

I look forward to seeing you all in a week at the zoom meeting!!  Have a great week, keep well, and keep safe

Sling that ink!
Push those pencils!
Craft those words!
Doodle those digitals!

Your Prez,
Kev

For the link to join in on the Zoom meeting or to join our mailing list contact Kevin at midsouthcartoonists (at) gmail (dot) com.

Hopefully if all goes well between now and the end of the year we will be back in person in the big room at Garibaldi’s Pizza near the U of M on the first Tuesday of January, 2022.

Here is some MSCA member news…

Member Jim Palmer let us know that he’s acting in “The Secret Garden” starting this month at Theatre Memphis. We all know it’s no secret that Jim and his wife JoLynn are terrific thespians!

Jim says, “I play the “crusty ol’ gardener” BEN WEATHERSTAFF, (a nice, but small role).  Of course, ALL this could change due to Covid, but, for now, this is the plan.”

The Secret Garden                

Next Stage

Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Adapted and Directed by Jason Spitzer

Touching and Sentimental. Foul-tempered, young Mary Lennox is an orphan sent from India to live in her distant family’s gloomy mansion on the desolate English moor. Once there, she discovers a sickly cousin who has never seen the light of day, a magical boy who can talk to the animals, a mysterious uncle haunted by the memory of his dead wife, and a long forgotten, secret garden hidden behind a locked door. This new adaptation of a timeless classic will open the door to the innermost places of your heart.

THE SECRET GARDEN is scheduled to open Fri. September 24 at THEATRE MEMPHIS, & continue Sept. 25, 26, 29, 30, Oct. 1,2,3,6,7,8,9,&10.  All evening performances will now begin at 7:30pm & Sunday afternoon shows at 2:00pm.

For information contact Box-office at 901•682•8323 or email theatrememphis.org .

The MSCA would like to welcome cartoonist Tim Jones to our group!

Tim is a self-syndicated comic strip artist from Rhode Island where he lives with his wife and two daughters. Cartooning for over 20 years, he created his comic strip, Sour Grapes, in 2013, which is currently published in multiple newspapers throughout Rhode Island, Southern Massachusetts, California and Texas. Tim is a member of ARIA (Association of Rhode Island Authors) and a member of The National Cartoonists Society.

You can read his comic at sourgrapescomic.com and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

I (Lin) got laid off this summer from my printing day job. Since most of what we printed was event and school related orders, COVID had caused printing orders to slow to a trickle. I was able to pick up a part time job working at Area 51 Ice Cream a couple weeks ago. The new/larger location is still on Commerce Street in Hernando, MS. It’s within walking distance of our house, so I don’t have to risk my life driving on I-55 and 240 every day- well, unless they need me to fill in any at their Crosstown Concourse location! I’m also working on some new tee designs for them and will post those later.

Nicki and I have known the Cubbage family who run A51 for years now. We stopped in for Nicki’s birthday right after they opened and have been frequent customers ever since. Oh, I’m not the only “Lin” at the shop- their alien mascot shares my name. The ice cream is scratch made in-house and several of the flavors feature produce grown locally. Great seasonal flavors, shakes, drinks, and baked goods are available. Check out their Facebook page for their daily menus, or stop by and sample some.

I recently dropped off my latest sketchcover to The Cellar out in Bartlett. It’s a “Suicide Squad” Polka-Dot Man comic with a wraparound hand-drawn cover. Done in pencil, Copic markers, black Pigma Micron pens, white Gelly Roll pen, and white Prismacolor pencil.

Lonnie Easterling’s two sketchcovers (top left and center) and my three- Polka-Dot Man, Dr. Who, and The Riddler are for sale at the shop.

I also still have several of my sketchcards that are available for sale- both official artist returns from companies like Topps, Crytozoic, and RRParks Cards and personal sketch cards drawn on my own custom blanks. The profits from those sales help fund my comics and art supplies habits..! I recently did sketchcards for an Ultraman card set, and am finishing up a Zorro set this week.

Be sure to check out the MSCA Zine The Good, The Bad, And The Sketchy at The Cellar- issues 1-6 are available for sale.

Don’t forget to snag you some free MSCA, Drawing Funny Podcast, and Memphis Ghostbusters swag while you’re there. It’s near the front door. Lots of stickers and buttons to choose from.

The Cellar: Tabletop Games & Comics

2737 Bartlett Blvd

Bartlett, TN 38134

(901) 382-8623

ComicCellarOnline.com

Hope you all are having a Happy 901 Day!

Lin