The Cartoonists and Characters We Met at the Pittsburgh Comic Arts Festival (Part 1)

Dashburst caricature by John Stevens

Caricatoonist John Stevens draws boy at Pittsburgh Comic Arts

This weekend hundreds of cartoonists swarmed DashBurst’s home, Pittsburgh, to attend the National Cartoonists Society Conference. In conjunction with the Conference, Pittsburgh’s own comics museum, ToonSeum, hosted the city’s first ever Comic Arts Festival. There, comic artists from around the country set up booths to talk about their work and hand out autographed swag and signed, impromptu drawings. Daniel and I met some skilled artists at the Festival we have a feeling you’ll be just as excited about their work as we are. Meet our friends from the Pittsburgh Comic Arts Fest:

John Rose, Barney Google & Snuffy Smith

John Rose, Barney Google and Snuffy Smith

John Rose has been illustrating the Barney Google & Snuffy Smith comic strip since 1998. The third illustrator to give life to this this 93-year-old strip, John says just about the only things that have changed in Barney Google & Snuffy Smith are the characters’ shoes (they now wear tennis shoes) and what they drink (they no longer drink moonshine).

Carolyn Belefski, Curls

Carolyn Belefski Curls

Carolyn Belefski started the Curls comic strip for her university newspaper. When she graduated Carolyn moved Curls online, where she publishes every Monday and Thursday. You can also find Curls “in one newspaper in Cape Cod,” Carolyn said.

Rob Rogers, editorial cartoonist, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Rob Rogers political cartoonist

Rob Rogers is an editorial cartoonist who’s been drawing for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette since 1993. Syndicated by United Feature, Roy’s work also appears in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and Newsweek. When he’s not drawing Roy also serves as the board president of ToonSeum.

Laurie Triefeldt, World of Wonder

Laurie Triefeldt World of Wonder

Since 1997 Laurie Triefeldt has written and drawn the weekly education page World of Wonder. Educators love to use Laurie’s posters to teach children about history, science, nature, and technology and often hang her posters in their classrooms. What makes Laurie’s posters so fun? In addition to covering interesting scientific topics, Laurie’s posters also include information on mythological creatures.

Virginia Shields, ShieldsInk Comics

Virginia Shields of Shields Ink

Virgina Shields describes her comics as “quirky, funny, and down-to-earth.” We certainly agree. Our favorite of her works is Words and Phrases for Getting Around Pittsburgh, a hand-painted collection of the words and phrases you need to interact with people in the City of Bridges. Take it from me, a non-native resident here in Pittsburgh: the translations in this book are essential to understanding anyone in town, from your bus driver to your doctor’s receptionist. A self-taught comic artist, Virginia sells her self-printed comic books in local Pittsburgh venues as well as on Etsy. You can also find her work on deviantART.

Mark Labbett, Our Friend with the Cool T-Shirt

Our friend Mark Labett in a "Zombie: Eat Fresh" shirt

We found Mark Labbett while browsing through some merchandise from House of the Dead. Unfortunately Mark wouldn’t lend me his cool t-shirt so I took a picture instead.

John Stevens, Caricatoonist

John Stevens, Caricatoonist

John Stevens is a caricatoonist who’s dabbled in all sorts of artistic endeavors. He illustrated his own feature in Marvel’s Crazy magazine and published strips in nationally distributed magazines, including his “Tyrannosaurus Sex” Cartoon in Playboy and “The Grass is Greener,” syndicated by Kings Features. He wrote the books 101 Uses for a Dead Cube and Video Madness and co-authored the play A Ghost of a Chance. He also invented that handy bracelet you see in the picture, which olds his sketch markers while John is working. When we met John he was nice enough to draw a caricature of Daniel and me. Check it out!

Dashburst caricature by John Stevens

Want to meet more characters? Check out Part Two of our Pittsburgh Comic Arts Festival coverage.

Lauren Mobertz

By Lauren Mobertz

Lauren is the former managing editor for DashBurst. One part geek, one part urban nomad, she is constantly scouting for the latest tech and world news. In the evenings you'll find Lauren running in strange places or attempting to dance salsa.

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