I Met... JEFFY from THE FAMILY CIRCUS!

The National Cartoonists Society's 80th Anniversary Reuben Awards and NCS Conference was held in Columbus this past week.  After the official events concluded, cartoonists were invited to stick around for an NCS Showcase at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum at The Ohio State University.  The showcase was free and open to the public. 

Some of the cartoonists who were present were:

Jeff Keane!  Created in 1960 by Bil Keane, The Family Circus has been written and drawn by his son Jeff Keane since Bil's death in 2011.  Jeff appears in the daily single panel cartoon and Sunday comic strip as young "Jeffy."  I purchased a calendar from Mr. Keane for my brother's birthday and he not only autographed it, but also drew a picture of Jeffy.  The calendar features all of the classic Family Circus devices, including the dotted line cartoons in which characters run around the house or neighborhood, the strips where young Billy fills in for his cartoonist dad, and those mischievous ghosts, "Not Me" and "Ida Know." 

Colleen Doran!  Colleen Doran has a lengthy resume filled with all of the awards, but I know her primarily from her work on DC's Who's Who books, including Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes.  I asked her to sign the Element Lad entry in the Who's Who Omnibus Vol. 1.  She seemed pleased to do so, and referred to him as her "boyfriend."

Joe Staton!   I had met Joe Staton previously, but he has so much artwork in Who's Who that it will take many meetings for him to sign everything.  This time around I had him sign the Kilowog entry from Who's Who Update '87, as he co-created the character with Steve Englehart.  He made a little word balloon above Kilowog's head that reads "Snick you, Poozer!"  

Wes Molebash!  I also got to say hi to my friend Wes Molebash, who recently completed his Travis Daventhorp graphic novel series.  It was fun to see him take his place among so many cartoon legends!           



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