It’s a question that’s often asked of comics creators: Why make comics? Why not make some other form of art? It’s a hard question to answer definitively, but on March 2 at the Artist Spotlight panel at the MSU Comics Forum, creators Nick Bertozzi, Josh Neufeld and Jerzy Drozd offered several compelling reasons. Despite the college classroom setting, it was an intimate and warm conversation about the nature of art and inspiration.

Moderator Jay Jacot started out asking each a specific question, but all three mostly amounted to how they initially define their work. Drozd talked about loving kids’ cartoons from the ’70s and ’80s where they were all about “giant monsters and lessons learned.” Neufeld found inspiration in the work of Joe Sacco and found his calling through that.

Bertozzi’s answer was a bit more abstract, as he talked about trying to get to the heart of the stories his students were wanting to tell, throwing out jokey examples like “Astro Battles” and “Earl of the Rings.” He said that having ideas were great, but it was more the formula of storytelling that kept drawing him back to comics, and that those creations were what kept him wanting to be an artist.

There was a lot of discussion of the beauty of lines — all spoke about chasing that perfect line. Bertozzi said that early experiences with Disney and Tintin do things to our brain chemistry — there’s this connection that immediately sucks us in — and attempting to recreate that is what keeps him going.

Likewise, Neufeld said he’s always trying to take lines away when inking, to get closer to his vision. During the years, he’s tried to draw like everyone from Frank Miller to R. Crumb to Charles Schulz and it’s only been recently he’s been “halfway to feeling confident” about having his own style.

Drozd had a little bit of a different approach, though. He said through teaching children about how to make comics, he’s tried to distill his work into a simple description — “really cute things doing awesome action scenes.” He love that comics show movement and energy even though they’re comprised of static images. That’s what he likes to try to achieve in his own work.

Jacot then opened up a line of questioning that concerned about how these creators search for and find their inspiration. Bertozzi said he loves asking people questions when he first meets them, although he had to back off a bit after a while since it often got “a little too deep a little too quick.” Mostly, though, he is always overwhelmed with wanting to know all there is to know and the small details about people’s lives and their environments either directly or indirectly inform his characters’ voice and attitudes.

Neufeld, as a comics journalist, draws more directly from real-life situations. He did say that while he didn’t feel like he did anything brave by volunteering with the Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina, that experience made him want to know more. He said it’s just natural to be interested in the world and the human condition.

Drozd said if people are curious enough, they’ll get the skills they need to do what they want. He said he’s always asking himself what’s next? What else does he need to learn? He’s always following the things he’s interested in and seeing where they take him and what they tell him about people. Ultimately, he said “curiosity trumps talent.”

Both Neufeld and Bertozzi seemed to agree there. All three talked about how even as much as Alex Ross is considered a master with his realistic style, many more of their students relate to Randall Monroe’s XKCD, despite its stick-figure style.

And that seemed to be the point of why each of these creators are making comics. Comics can be an immediate way to tell stories they need to tell. In the end, it’s not about talent or style. It’s about the desire to share and connect with people.

While we’re here, let’s talk about Small Press Expo. It was awesome, right? Because you were there! And if you weren’t there, what was wrong with you?

I do have a few thank yous. I absolutely thank our entire board — Warren, Mike, Kevin, Bill, Charles — and especially Greg Bennett, who managed to keep me sane during these past few weeks. I thank everyone who attended and everyone who voted. I thank all of our guests and exhibitors.

I also have to give many thanks once again to Jerzy Drozd and the amazing job he did hosting the Ignatz Awards ceremony. I knew he was going to do a good job (I would not have asked him otherwise) but I was still impressed and delighted.

I am not going to post everything about SPX and I have some catching up to do, but if you have links, send them along!

News/interviews/reviews:

• Book Review: District Comics: An Unconventional History of Washington, DC, Mike Favila, Comics Online
• Annapolis Comic Book Artists Scribble into Digital Age, Anna Staver, Annapolis Patch
• D.C. History, Comic Book-Style, Washington CityPaper
• Going Graphic! The Pratt Library Receives Graphic Novel Gift, Roswell Encina, Pratt Chat Library Blog
• Panel Patter: SPX 2012/Baltimore Comic-Con Spotlight: Matt Dembicki, Rob McMonigal
• Panel Patter: SPX 2012/Baltimore Comic-Con Spotlight: Rafer Roberts, Rob McMonigal
• Outside the Lines, Shauna Miller, Washington Post Express
• SPX Smashes Sales Records, Heidi McDonald, Publishers Weekly
• Spudd 64 / Matt Kish: SPX 2012
• OMG. SPX. 2012, AdHouse Books

Upcoming releases:

• Remake: 3Xtra, Lamar Abrams, AdHouse Books, December 2012.

Events:

• Sept. 22:Raina Telgemeier signing at Big Planet Comics Vienna (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and Big Planet Comics College Park (3 to 5 p.m.)
• Sept. 22: District Comics signing, 7 p.m., at Locust Moon Comics & Movies, Philadelphia, Pa.
• Sept. 21-23: Intervention 2012, Rockville, Md.
• Sept. 22-23:National Book Festival with Raina Telgemeier, Craig Thompson and Hope Larson (comics-related events are on Sept. 23)

Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me! Submit no later than Monday at 9 p.m. for inclusion each Tuesday, but the earlier, the better! More information is here.

But I also know I’m bringing my adult baggage into this — that comics are somehow separate and special from everything else and that I need to defend them to the world. When I’ve gone to events like Kazu Kibuishi at the National Book Festival or Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman at One More Page Books, the children in attendance don’t see comics as something that’s “other” — they just see them as things they love.

That’s why at Kids Read Comics Celebration, it was impossible for me to not feel hopeful. This event breathed passion and love. It was full of people — creators, parents, children, bloggers, friends — who were there to be excited about comics and to share their excitement.

Kids Read Comics! took over a couple of floors of the Ann Arbor District Library, which was a great, family-friendly space for it. It provided a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere — more like hanging out with friends than being at a con. (The fact that it was inside was also a welcome relief from Saturday’s 100+ degree heat, but at least it was cooler on Sunday.)

And maybe because of that, while the artist alley was often quite busy (it was easy for the space to fill up) I did hear from a few that they weren’t selling too many things. Still, making money didn’t so much seem like the motivation in participating. Rather, here were creators of a diversity of ages and backgrounds just desiring to share their work with kids and their families. If they sold a few books, that was probably a bonus more than anything.

Truly, though, the focus of Kids Read Comics! was on the programming, which was extensive and almost all interactive. There were only a few straightforward panels listed. Instead, most were short classes, workshops or events attendees could participate in. I attended Saturday morning’s Comics Quickfire with my family, which took suggestions from the audience to make a 1-page, 4-panel comic. It was fast, silly fun but also showed how easy it is to make a comic, no matter how ridiculous. Host Dave Roman was a delight and knew how to engage the audience. My (older, I must point out) brother offered two suggestions — that the foot belonged to Shaq (you can kind of see that in the photo — and look, it made sense) and then a “puppy wearing sunglasses” as one of the 10 things the artist needed to draw in the final round.

I also attended Raina Telgemeier’s Turn Your Life into a Comic! workshop. While it was mostly aimed at children (the aim was to make a comic based on the grossest thing that happened to you, and if that doesn’t appeal to kids, I don’t know what does), the way she broke it down was insightful and beneficial even to me. I think too often just knowing where to start is the challenge and she made it easy.

I then went to the live Comics Are Great! talkshow/podcast taping. I enjoyed that Jerzy Drozd figured out who I was based on a few details (mostly that I mentioned Big Planet Comics — Drozd and I do follow each other on Twitter but we hadn’t met until then). I think he thought I was kidding when I said Comics Are Great! is one of the two podcasts I listen to, but it is! I always love listening to it and I always learn something.

It was a fun, casual discussion and definitely what I expected from it — I think Comics Are Great! is always smart and enlightening and I liked the way the discussion grew organically. It was approaching the end of the day, though, and I think everyone was getting tired (Roman tried to get me to go to mic to ask a question and I said I wasn’t going to be able to think of anything). Still, it could’ve continued on much longer than it did and it only ended because there was another event following it.

I didn’t get to go back on Sunday (when the weather was actually nice!), but I’m happy I got to see the people I got to see (especially Roman and Telgemeier, since they won’t be at Small Press Expo this year).

When I got back to my brother’s, I read Sally Carson‘s “Skids” mini and I realized what I loved about comics — it makes me feel like I have friends everywhere, even if it’s just through the connection we have through something that’s printed on a page or posted online. It made me remember that none of that other negative stuff matters. That’s the power of comics — the sense of community and the unabashed joy of creation. I loved seeing people of all ages being excited by this and wanting to share it and be apart of it.

Saturday was my birthday and I can’t think of a better way to have spent it.