The Denton Comic Art Exposition

Christine Shaal Sanders in her role as Education Coordinator for the Greater Denton Arts Council was tasked with programming events that would raise awareness of GDAC and their gallery spaces at the Patterson-Appleton Arts Center among the Denton population, specifically younger Dentonites. Having a son in that demographic, she asked him what would make him want to visit the Patterson-Appleton Arts Center. His answer was a comic con. Christine decided to give it a try but as she was not very familiar with comics and comic cons, she recruited local cartoonist Bryan Kelly to help design and organize the event. Bryan was able to bring Ashley Villers (a talented young artist and veteran of many artist alleys) and Heather Chamberlin-Smith (a gifted designer of geek couture) on board. These four along with the invaluable Alexis Walther (then a GDAC intern) set out to create, promote, and host the Denton Comic Art Expo, the first-ever, and dare we say the best, Denton-based comic con. Along with their sponsor partners, these five dedicated and overworked people were able to stage a free family-friendly event for the people of Denton that celebrated comics, games, cosplay, and all things nerdy.

Every year The Denton Comic Art Expo publishes 500 copies of a Free Comic Book Day comic that exclusively featured local DFW artists and writers. The book is distributed to comic book stores across the Dentroplex, and through them to the comic-hungry public on National Free Comic Book Day. These comics are made free to the public due to ads purchased by local businesses and sponsors.

Since 2021 the core group of Christine, Bryan, and Ashley along with Jackie Glatz, Shaun Treat, Sean Watson, and a handful of awesome volunteers, have been able to stage a number of comic and art-related events as well as our annual convention, The Denton Comic Art Expo.

Look for a new Halloween comic project this fall!