Cartoonists Charles Burns, Gigi Murakami, Matt Feazell, and distributor Bud Plant were award winners at the eleventh edition of Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC), which took place last weekend.
Since 2015, CXC has bestowed three awards to creators (Master Cartoonist, Emerging Talent, and Transformative Work). Following the passing of comics journalist and CXC cofounder Tom Spurgeon in 2019, a fourth award was introduced in 2021 to recognise the contributions of non-cartoonists to the world of comics. That fourth award was named in his honour.
2025’s Master Cartoonist award went to Charles Burns. First emerging as a cartoonist and illustrator in the 1980s via Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman‘s RAW and music fanzines, Burns’ breakthrough work was the body horror coming-of-age graphic novel Black Hole (Pantheon). First serialised in twelve parts between 1995 and 2005, the completed work earned him Ignatz and Harvey awards. Still very much active, his most recent work was the 2024 graphic novel Final Cut (Pantheon), first serialized in France as the Dédales trilogy (2019-2023) by Éditions Cornélius. That same year, he also released an illustration book Kommix (Fantagraphics), which had the master artist envision the front covers of eighty wholly invented comics inspired by titles released in the ‘50s and ‘60s.
According to CXC,
“Charles has created masterful comics and illustrations for over forty years developing with the evolving media and producing art that has spoken to generations of artists”.
American mangaka Gigi Murakami was 2025’s Emerging Talent. Already a Harvey and Ignatz nominee, she describes her style as the “intersection of horror media, alternative and Japanese nerd culture, and (schlocky) film”. Best known for Viz Originals one-shot Resenter (2004), Murakami has produced a number of short works and was part of the art team on Are You Afraid of the Dark? graphic novel The Sinister Sisters and Other Terrifying Tales (Abrams, 2025).
CXC said,
“Murakami’s work expanding the medium and working within the evolving global manga scene represents the evolution of modern understandings of cartooning and the face of the future”
The Transformative Work award went to Matt Feazell’s ongoing stick-figure superhero series The Amazing Cynicalman. The deliberately simplified style work has impressed many in the world of comics and zines.
CXC,
“The comic has run consistently since 1980 and represents not only a masterful understanding of the craft but also the consistency and dedication that typifies indie cartooning demonstrating a marked impact on Cartoon art”
The Tom Spurgeon Award went to foundational comics distributor Bud Plant who began with circulating underground comix before becoming one of the significant names in the heyday of the direct market (in 1988 he sold up his distro business to Diamond). He remains very much active in comics, through his retail stores, newsletters and popular well-produced catalogs. He recently announced plans to retire from the business in 2026.
CXC said,
“From the earliest days of the undergrounds, Plant has been a purveyor of the cool and interesting defining comics culture for decades with his pioneering comic shop, newsletters, and catalogs that allowed him to constantly engage the best of comics.”
CXC is an annual four-day comics event that takes place in Columbus, Ohio. Inspired by European comics festivals where the medium takes an entire town (e.g. Angoulême, Lucca, LICAF), it was founded by Bone cartoonist Jeff Smith, Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum founder Lucy Shelton Caswell, Cartoon Books publisher Vijaya Iyer, and comics reporter Tom Spurgeon in 2015.
[Updated to correct introduction of Tom Spurgeon Award in 2021, not 2015 as previously indicated]
