[dc]H[/dc]ey comic fans: the MSU Comics Forum is this weekend on Michigan State University’s campus.

Michigan State University Comics Forum Comic Book Creator Panel

From the 2009 Comics Forum. Photo © MSU Comics Forum. Via its Flickr photostream.

Better still, all the events at the MSU Comics Forum are free. Find the full schedule, and more information, on the MSU Comics Forum site.

MSU Comics Forum – Friday (Today!)

Nick Bertozzi kicks off the MSU Comics Forum weekend with his keynote address tonight at 7PM (again, this is FREE). I hope to make it myself, so say hi if you spot me in the crowd (or hand me any extra cash you don’t want). Here’s some of Bertozzi’s comics on Amazon.

Bertozzi’s keynote address will be held at the ‘Residential College in the Arts & Humanities Theatre, Snyder/Phillips Hall Basement’ on MSU’s campus. Bertozzi is an award-winning comic creator, and a teacher of comics to boot, so his keynote address is a can’t miss.

MSU Comics Forum – Saturday (Tomorrow!)

The second day of the MSU Comics Forum features plenty to do: Artist’s Alley opens at 11AM and panel discussions run until 5PM. Plenty of Michigan comic artists will be on hand in Artist’s Alley—which is free to visit. Seriously, it is a heck of a deal. A day of events like this would probably run you $30-$50 for the day at another convention, if not more (which means more cash to spend on goodies from your favorite artist’s table).

Here’s a full list of Artist Alley attendees. If you buy something at the tables of Ryan Claytor, Jay Jacot, or Dean Stahl, tell ’em I said hi (not responsible if they threw something at you).

Details about the panels are found on the MSU Comics Forum schedule page.

If you live in, or near, Lansing and love comics, this is a must-attend event. The Lansing area is super-fortunate to have this great free event each year. Heck, if you don’t consider yourself a comic book fan, swing on through: visit Artist’s Alley and chat with some of the folks, check out one of the panels, or just learn something about comics you didn’t already know (not every comic is Superman or Garfield).¹

It is free, and what else are you going to do on a Friday or Saturday in March in Michigan? If you said ‘watch college basketball,’ then I don’t even know you any more.

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¹ No offense to Superman and/or Garfield or their respective fans. Those two should team up some time, and, I don’t know, fight a Space Lasagna with Kryptonite cheese or something—on a Monday. The drama!