Comics Community Goodbyes
The struggle to keep creative community fresh while losing proven leadership
I feel like I’ve been saying a lot of “goodbyes” lately.
Savannah is a college town and it’s natural that students graduate and move on to their next adventures. But lately we’ve lost some pillars of our comics community and I’ve been curious to see what comes next.
Richard
Richard Mercado is a brilliant designer at Skybound who also makes beautiful comics himself. His self published books like No Boyfriends Since Birth are a delight to hold and experience. It was the right time for him to try out life in NYC and I’m glad that he’s doing taking a chance on himself. On the way out of town he helped plan and launch our Open CoMIC Night series - one last gift to the community. He’d better come back when his Scholastic graphic novel drops next year.
Anya
Anya Driffill (and Turnip) has been a part of our comic shop story almost since day one. First as a SCAD student with an X-Men-heavy pull list, then as a prolific self-published cartoonist and anthology editor. Anya also became a dear confidant, always available to help with the shop. She left Savannah to get more training and experience with a graduate degree.
Maria
Maria Pellegrino (and Wentworth) is also off pursuing higher education and I have loved seeing her art take massive leaps in such a short time. Maria’s infectious laugh at Drink N Draw and her Emo-critter collection are terribly missed. Maria’s coloring work is superb and her own stories like Truth or Dare are shop staples.
Gwen
Now, Gwen Moore is hitting the road for an editorial internship in NYC. Gwen has been the co-runner of Drink N Draw since
left us for his childhood bedroom (or wherever he’s living now). A great road trip driver and maker of some of the most creative comics I’ve ever read, we’re hopeful that Gwen comes back to us after the internship. But who knows? Life is crazy like that.Not only are these folks personal friends and creative inspirations - they’re also community leaders. Community leaders SHOW UP. They plan. They rally. They encourage and participate. And as often as they can, they SHOW UP. Have I mentioned showing up?
How does Savannah’s comic creator community fill this void? We’ll find out. While the downside of living in a college town is the regular goodbyes, the up side is that every year there are new fresh faces, eager and ready to stake their claim.