Sequence: The State Of Comics In Kansas City

The Kansas City Comic Creators Network sprang up in a coffee shop a year ago. Now it's planning to launch America's answer to the Angoulême festival, with its first step being this year's Sequence exhibition. B Clay Moore tracks the journey to the exhibition's opening night.
26 May 2003

Living in the Kansas City area, there are times I've felt isolated from the comic community at large. Granted, the internet makes keeping in touch with friends and collaborators a snap, but on occasion it's nice to have some actual physical interaction with others struggling to bring comics to life. For some time now, the geography of the city has assured that creators often toil in relative solitude - some scratching away in suburban basements, others in midtown studio apartments, and others working from lofts in the heart of a deserted city.

So when I became aware of a fledgling group of comic creators meeting at a midtown coffee shop, I was more than happy to pop in and see what they were all about.

A year later, the continued efforts of this evolving group have produced SEQUENCE: The Kansas City Independent Sequential Art Exposition. The exhibition, held in the West Bottoms district of Kansas City, kicked off on Friday May 9 and will run through the first week in June. Three galleries have participated in the show, with a fourth providing space for the post-opening party on May 9th.

Sequence features original work from local and national artists, including notables such as Craig Thompson, Farel Dalrymple, Dave Crosland, and Jim Mahfood. Despite a number of last minute distractions the show has been declared a success by all involved, as scores of curious comic fans and art patrons traipsed through the galleries on opening night, providing the West Bottoms galleries with one of their busiest in memory.

The road to Sequence started roughly a year ago, as that group of aspiring comic book creators first gathered in a Westport coffee shop to discuss ways in which the local scene could be invigorated.

Writer and inker Elizabeth Jacobson, along with her husband, writer and artist Dan Jacobson, have been the driving force behind the Kansas City Comic Creators Network (KCCCN) since day one. Elizabeth's initial vision for the group included a small press show designed to rival SPX in Baltimore. Not one to dream small, Elizabeth envisioned the show one day rivaling Angoulême, the French show that annually consumes an entire village for a week of comic-related festivities.

When I entered the group, the idea of a small press show was just gaining strength. A mission statement for the KCCCN was created, noting its focus on bringing creators together, as well as educating the public about the art form. Along with the eventual goal of awarding micro grants to small press and minicomics creators, we saw the mounting of a creators only (no retailers) show as a step toward informing the public about the possibilities of comics.

We also wanted to fill what we perceived to be a void in the Heartland. SPACE in Ohio, SPX in Baltimore, MoCCA in New York, and APE in San Francisco all provided us with working models, and we started taking steps in that direction. And Elizabeth leaned heavily on other show organizers, inclusing SPACE's Bob Corby, for advice and guidance. A vote was taken, and the show as dubbed Sequence.

The problem we faced was mainly one of time. We didn't want the show to infringe on another con's calendar date, which meant the summer months were all but covered. Eventually we decided upon a target date of June 2003, and agreed to make a final decision on the viability of this date by the end of January. An executive board was set up, and most of the board's efforts were geared toward establishing not-for-profit status for the KCCCN.

At the same time, efforts were made to find a location suitable for the show. This is what initially led us to the West Bottoms, a ghost town of an industrial area tucked just inside the city limits, and hidden by vacant buildings. Nonetheless, a handful of art galleries have emerged, including the Fahrenheit, which is owned and operated by artist Peregrine Honig. It was eventually decided that the Fahrenheit was a little too cramped for the show, and our attention moved toward a part-time boxing ring that seemed to feature enough space for what we had in mind. Such are the glorious considerations when operating on a shoestring budget.

In an effort to draw attention to the proposed show, we talked with a local independent bookstore about co-sponsoring a 'big name' guest. The bookstore was willing to help sponsor an appearance by someone with a fairly high public profile. Names like Art Spiegelman and Chip Kidd were tossed around.

Eventually, we began to realize that we'd probably bitten off more than we could chew in such a short amount of time. With the January deadline closing in, enough members of the group were on the fence regarding the idea that we voted to defer the show until 2004.

So what to do for 2003?

While the Fahrenheit had proven too small to host a full small press show, it was plenty big enough to host a comic art gallery show. And there were other galleries in the area, including the Green Door, which was owned and co-operated by Hector Casanova, a graphic illustrator and cartoonist with the Kansas City Star. Hector, who both lives and works in the loft that serves as his gallery space, had opened the Green Door in the hopes that he might one day hold a comic art show. With his and Peregrine's help, two other galleries, the Old Post Office and Panacea, were brought on board.

The stated goal of the show was to display sequential art, which we intentionally refused to limit to comic book artwork. A post office box was set up to receive submissions, and we began to spread the word any way we could. A handful of interested professionals were treated as 'invited guests,' including some with ties to the area, such as Jim Mahfood, a former student at the Kansas City Art Institute.

Despite the limited amount of time we had to collect work, we ended up with over forty artists submitting over 150 pieces for consideration. On a cold Sunday afternoon, I met with the gallery owners at the downtown library in Kansas City, and the group reviewed the submissions in a jury setting.

What we were left with was a truly impressive collection of graphic art, ranging from straight superhero work to confessional autobiographical comics to ultra-violent pulp fiction. Our goal of crossing genres in an effort to demonstrate the possibilities inherent in the form had clearly been met.

Now all that was left was to get the art framed (something we asked the artists to handle themselves), and to hang the art when it arrived.

The hanging was a fun experience, despite the fact that one of our galleries had their lease pulled the week before the opening. The leaseholders finally agreed to let us hang the work for the opening night. This was key, as the Fahrenheit had been forced to drop out when scheduling conflicts with another show developed. A core group of KCCCN volunteers spent long hours hanging art, cleaning galleries, and praying to the weather gods that the recent flurry of tornado activity would pass us by on the night the show kicked off.

Local media focused attention on the show, as well as on the group. The KCCCN was profiled in a cover story in the area's alternative weekly, and the Kansas City Star highlighted KCCCN member and comic strip artist Daniel Spottswood on the day of the opening. In addition, papers from the surrounding communities and throughout Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri devoted space to Sequence. Kansas City writer Matt Fraction wrote a preface of sorts for the show, wherein he noted the only three art forms indigenous to the United States are "baseball, jazz and comic books," and the essay hung in all of the galleries to greet visitors.

On Friday night, KCCCN members stationed themselves in the three spaces, and prepared for the opening. The weather held off, and the crowds began to gather. To everyone's delight, the traffic was steady all night long, and a broad cross-section of people streamed in and out of the galleries. I gauged my opinion based on the reaction of Hector Cassanova, who had much more experience with West Bottoms openings, and had a personal stake in the success of failure of the show. So to see him beaming contentedly at the end of the evening made my night.

The night capped off with an after party/fund raiser down the block, where local bands played as KCCCN members and Sequence visitors blew off some steam and chatted about the evening.

At this point the tentative plan is to expand next year's show into the small weekend convention we'd initially intended to put together. A second gallery show is definitely being considered, but the extra work required of the gallery owners (who are used to simply handing artists the keys and letting them do all the work) means it might be more to their liking if we held the gallery show biannually.

Seeing a show like Sequence develop from a tiny coffee shop gathering into a well publicized, professional art exhibit was inspiring. There are now plans to evolve the KCCCN into a national organization, recognizing that Kansas City can't be the only community with so much talent and dedication lurking in the wings, waiting for a chance to share their love of the medium with like-minded creators.

B Clay Moore is the author of HAWAIIAN DICK, published by Image Comics.

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