Comic book signing in Windsor

by Chris Mailloux

A local upcoming comic book signing is bringing in big name industry writers and artists.

Cartoon Kingdom is hosting a fifteenth anniversary comic book signing Feb 20 from 5 p.m. until 11 p.m. The event will feature Johnny Desjardins (Vampirella Strikes), Jason Fabok (Detective Comics), David Finch (Batman: The Dark Knight), Tony Gray (The Incredible Conduit) and Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth and Green Arrow).

Arlen Mifflin, owner of Cartoon Kingdom, said he tries to hold an event like this at least once a year.

“It’s challenging, getting already busy artists and writers to find time around multiple deadlines to find a free night for a signing,” said Mifflin.

Mifflin says that he tries to focus on getting local talent for signings. All five featured guests of this event grew up in or near Windsor and Essex County. Mifflin said the signing last year drew around 650 people and he expects the numbers to reach 1,000 because of the amount of talent featured this year.

Tony Gray is the co-owner of Legacy Comics Publishing and is known for creating The Incredible Conduit comic strip.

“The last signing that I did there with David and Johnny had hundreds of people lined up to come in and hang out with us,” said Gray.

Gray said that he tries to do a signing at least once a month because he finds them enjoyable. He also said he tries to come up with something special for the Cartoon Kingdom signings because of how much work Mifflin puts into promoting the events.

“This time we’ll be releasing a charity print that has covers from each of our books in it and they will only be available at this event,” said Gray.

The proceeds from the exclusive print will go to the Kiwanis Sunshine Point Camp for underprivileged kids.