The Louisville Cartoonist Society was founded in 2009 by local artist Ted Nathanson, with hopes it would bring together like-minded creators focusing on comic books and the communal promotion of their work. Over the last three years, the organization has gained a following of over 400 local artists through various social channels, with a handful of them meeting regularly at local coffee shops and dive bars. For a small annual fee, the group will support booths at events, the production of promotional items, and even the printing cost of some projects.
“I put out the first issue of my superhero comic – “Gumpop!” – and was selling it here and there around town,” said Nathanson. “On the basis of this comic existing, I started meeting people like Bruce Thomas and Rene Blansette who were also working on comics. I knew Carrie Neumayer from way back and remembered her comics. The initial idea was to have a group for critiques and to share resources. Bruce and I originally bonded over the mysteries of the Ames Lettering Guide, used over 70 years in comic creation and utterly mystifying to me. I called a meeting and Preston [Arts Center] hosted us in the back of their shop. We had 12 people at the first meeting.
“Making comics is lonely work for a lot of us,” said Nathanson. “And the best you can do is show your spouse (who humors you) or your buddies (who high five you). The LCS gave us a group of peers to bounce ideas off of and to inspire each other. I respect everyone’s work so much that I want to do my best too.
“A major reason we started the LCS was that, by standing together, we’d be more noticeable,” said Nathanson. “From the beginning, the goal has been to help people connect as a scene, because scenes are interesting and inspiring. The kinds of comics being made in Louisville are diverse, just like the cartoonists themselves. The folks making local comics are doing it because of a love of the medium and a passion for the work, same as local painters, dancers, and musicians. Most all of us have some kind of day job. I know my association with the other artists in the LCS has helped inspire me to keep working on my books when I might have given up otherwise.
“From the beginning, the mandate was to promote and encourage the creation of original comic art here locally,” said Nathanson. “And it’s worked.
“I kept meeting more cartoonists and our numbers grew,” said Nathanson. “We’ve had 30 people or more show up to meetings, our Facebook grew to 400 folks, people started to be aware of us. We capitalized on having folks like Carrie ([of the band] Second Story Man) and Joe Welsh ([of the band] Adventure) in the group and have had several comic/rock shows. I edited our first two anthologies of member work. We’ve given talks at the McConnell Center, the Main Library, and the Derby City Comic Con. On the strength of the press for our first anthology, I talked the LEO into featuring us every week. I keep meeting more people who make comics and more people seem to know who we are. We gained members like Steven Bowman, Zach Allen, and Kyle Hutchings – all talented, prodigious artists. And Phil Back has really taken over a considerable amount of the responsibilities, including creating our website and editing the last anthology.
“The Cartoonist Society is wide open and going strong,” said Nathanson. “It’s a testament to how much creative energy and talent there is in our fair city. And what awesome people cartoonists are, of course.”
For more information on LCS, visit louisvillecartoonistsociety.com.
Stephanie Brothers, Matt Dobson, and Chris Hawkins contributed to this article.
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