Wild Ink: Comics on the rise

Dave Kender, founder of the Boston Comics Round Table, hosts the World's Fastest Artist competition at the Wild Ink fundraiser. ~Photo by Chelsea Whyte By Chelsea Whyte The scene at P.A.'s Lounge in Union Square last Thursday was crowded with people turning out for Wild Ink, a fundraiser for the Boston Comics Round Table, sponsored by Hub Comics, Millionaire Picnic and Artists & Craftsman Supply. Billed as "Live Music, Live Comic Books," Wild Ink lit up the lounge with live drawing by local artists and had music by the Allston-based indie rock band, Rotary. Like any good fundraiser, Wild Ink felt like a party, drawing a crowd of close to 75 people and entertaining them with a drawing competition, an audience-generated comic strip, and local comic illustrators sketching attendees in several styles, including manga, monsters, zombies and 1970s superheroes. The event was put on by the Boston Comics Round Table to raise funds for the fourth edition of Inbound, their biannual anthology of comics, which features a variety of styles and genres. Boston Comics Round Table is an artist collective that started in 2006 when its founder, Dave Kender, posted an ad on Craigslist in the hopes of finding a possible collaboration with comic illustrators. Within a few months, he found dozens of others who were looking for an opportunity to share ideas and connect over comics. "Finding ways to collaborate can be one of the benefits of the group, but the core purpose is to get people with the same passion together." Today, there are over 100 members in the Boston Comics Round Table, with nearly 30 members meeting on a regular basis. The group meets each Thursday at 7:30 in the Democracy Center in Harvard Square, and meetings are open to anyone with an interest in writing, illustrating, and reading comics. Members of the Boston Comics Round Table come from diverse backgrounds. Some have formal training, like Joel Gill, who received an MFA in Painting from Boston University and now works for the New Hampshire Institute of Art. Others are self-taught, with most saying they've been drawing their entire lives. Each member brings their own expertise to the group, like Dirk, a freelance illustrator, who says he joined the group as a way to plug in to the comic book scene after moving to Boston. His experience being published has given him the role of a mentor and while he enjoys acting as a resource for the group, he says he gains the most from the exchange of ideas between artists. Wild Ink was a great introduction to a thriving comic book culture in Somerville and throughout greater Boston. No longer "underground," it's definitely a sub-culture that's rapidly breaching the boundaries of pop culture. With the rise of the graphic novel and the recent wave of comic-based movies, comics are entertaining a larger audience. For those less familiar with comics, the Boston Comics Round Table is reaching out with their fourth edition of Inbound. The upcoming collection of comics is Boston-themed, and geared towards an audience who may not usually read comics. Kender says they hope to reach a wider audience by offering short-form comics that all connect to the same thematic element. Tony Davis, owner of the Harvard Square comic book store, Millionaire Picnic, says the Boston Comics Round Table is filling a void in the local art community. "Boston used to have a vibrant local comic scene 10 years ago. Now with the Round Table, that vibrancy is coming back and it's richer, because it's more collaborative than in the past." James Welborn, owner of the Somerville-based Hub Comics, agrees, and says, "Local artists are what sets my store apart. Every store can carry the same nationally-published comics, but books like Inbound give a local perspective you don't find anywhere else." As the name of Welborn's store would suggest, Boston is becoming a hub for comics. Erik Heumiller, a local artist living in Allston, says, "Boston is climbing the ladder when it comes to cities known for comics." Heumiller, Gill, Lamb and other members, all say that the Boston Comics Round Table is one of the most organized artist collectives, one that generates quite a volume of work with the production of Inbound. Tony Davis agrees, and says, "I give Dave Kender the credit." The creator of this collaborative group seems to have truly created a round table, giving everyone the opportunity for collaboration and shared success. To see more of these artists' work, check out the fourth edition of Inbound, due out this fall, or drop in on the weekly Boston Comics Round Table meetings.