Get ready for Cartoon Foundry 2026

Casey Parsons is an artist from Stoney Creek, Ontario. He trained as a fine artist and illustrator, graduating in art programs from Sheridan College and McMaster University. In addition to his variant cover artwork for Image Comics, Sourcepoint Press, and other indie titles, Casey recently created artwork for the Marvel cards portolio. He is an artist, writer, co-publisher and co-editor on the ongoing indie magazine Cauldron. More recently, Casey is a contributor to the new anthology Cauldron: Forbidden Appetites.

Born in the Ottawa Valley, and raised in the wilds of Northern Ontario, Scott Brian Woods currently resides in London, Ontario. Scott is working artist with over 20 years of comic book work under his belt. He writes, draws, and works as his life’s passion. which was ignited when, at an early age, Scott’s grandfather bought him an issue of Conan the Barbarian. Finding himself opened to a world of imagination, he soon discovered Star Wars, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and their like, and his future path was set. Scott has been exploring brave new worlds through his comics and art ever since. Scott’s work includes illustrating Equilibrium, for Comic House — a 5-issue series featuring Captain Canuck, Daredevil, Freelance, and many more proud-Canadian legacy characters spanning back to the 1940s. His other work includes the sci-fi series, Daring the Sun, which follows astronaut Crash Daring in the distant future, who finds himself far from Earth struggling to survive on a savage, alien world. Scott self-publishes his swords and sorcery epic, No Rask for the Wicked, inspired by an ongoing Dungeons & Dragons campaign played with his long-time friends, it chronicles the exploits of an unscrupulous rogue, a befuddled wizard, and a mysterious ghost. Along with his comic work, Scott has also written, drawn, and published the children’s book Anywhere can be Everywhere, conceived during the pandemic and based on his daughters, the story follows two young girls who use their imagination to overcome a rainy day.

Based in London, Ontario, Jeff McClinchey is a comic artist and writer, graphic designer, teacher, photographer and illustrator. Jeff has been in the graphic design industry for nearly 30 years. The majority of that time has been working in full-service marketing agencies. At these agencies, he has been able to execute a range of projects, from strategic conceptualization to pre-press work, including a specialization in illustration. Since 2015, he has taught part-time at Fanshawe College, instructing a variety of courses in the Graphic Design Program. Currently, he is developing new creator-owned Canadian comic projects that continue to explore visual worldbuilding, character depth, and story-driven design. Together with Scott, they’ve created the Black Helm Saga series.

Ron Kasman is a comics creator based in Toronto, Ontario. He was one of the four coordinators of Cosmicon, Canada’s first major comic convention. He created William Lyon Mackenzie, the first graphic novel of Canadian history, honoured by the mayor of Toronto, displayed in a major gallery, published in two editions, reviewed by the Toronto Star and distributed by the Lieutenant Governor. He edited Peter Hsu’s Quadrant. He hand lettered comics for publishers DC, Image and Eclipse. He also wrote and drew for Image. His educational comic strip Bruce Barnaby won an award for Educational Journalism. He penciled, inked and lettered Captain Canuck and inked pages featuring Fleur-de-Lys; both characters are on Canadian postage stamps. Parts of his comic collection have been displayed in the Royal Ontario Museum. Ron has been nominated for the Shuster Award as Canada’s Best Cartoonist. His latest graphic novel, that was named one of the 23 Canadian comic books to check out this fall by CBC Books, is called The Cosmic Con.

Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Duane Murray graduated from York University’s Acting Conservatory in 1998 and is an alumnus of the National Screen Institute, and TIFF Studio for writing and producing. He also had a part as the announcer in TV mini-series adaptation of Jeff Lemire’s Essex County. Duane is also the Ringo-nominated author of the Top Shelf graphic novel Better Place illustrated by Shawn Daley. His latest project is Who Are The Power Pals? from Dark Horse Comics.

Sam Noir is a writer, cartoonist, toy maker and editor/publisher based in Toronto. He is best known for his work in RAID Anthology: KLAATU, Cauldron Magazine, Ballyskillen, Cauldron: Forbidden Appetites from RAID press and FANdemonium Webcomic. He is a vintage toy collector and created a Captain Canuck retro action figure.

Emilia Strilchuk is a comic artist and writer, born and raised in Ukraine, and migrated to Canada about 10 years ago. She currently resides in Ontario with her partner and two cats. Emilia takes inspiration from her personal experiences and from the world around her to create artworks that can be relatable and can bring people some joy and comfort. She’s created a zine called Gently — a sketch collection and gentle tips for artists and creators. Last year, Emilia published her autobio graphic novel Be Yourself! Oh, not like that…. Her latest project is a comic book series on Kickstarter entitled Oriana: The Forgotten Deities.

Greg Hyland is a writer, illustrator, designer and storyboard artist for The LEGO Group, who has worked on TV storyboards, illustrations and comics for such LEGO lines as LEGO Movie, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, LEGO DC Universe, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Batman, LEGO Spongebob Squarepants, LEGO Lord of the Rings, LEGO Hobbit, and LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He also writes and draws his own webcomic Lethargic Lad and has illustrated several card games for Steve Jackson Games, including Munchkin Fu, Ninja Burger, Chez Guevara, Burn In Hell, and Munchkin Zombies Artist Edition. His ongoing cartoon is called Frog Crisis and he’s also working on a new volume of his Monster Atlas book series.

Based in Ontario, Keith Grachow is a comic book author-illustrator, graphic designer, and instructor who teaches workshops on illustration. Keith has written for SCI by AH Comics, co-written a story in Cauldron, authored his own comics (Yost the Golem, Bounty Hunter Kai) and co-created many comic books and anthology stories (Strange Case with Mark Bertolini for Scout Comics, Checkmate Blues with Robert Iveniuk and Toronto Comix Anthology 3-Snow Blind with Howard Wong ) and children’s books with his mother Amy (Up-In-The-Sky series). He has also worked in animation, as a digital ink-and-paint artist for the Disney movies ‘Winnie the Pooh’ and ‘Princess and the Frog’, and designed toy packages for products like Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Currently, Keith is co-authoring and illustrating the graphic novel, Summer on The Swing, with his mother Amy Grachow; the semi-autobiographical comic tells the story of her upbringing in a bungalow colony in upstate New York in the 1960s. Keith’s newest project is Reponaut.

Seth is a cartoonist, designer and collector residing in Guelph, Ontario. His books include Wimbledon Green, George Sprott, and Clyde Fans. He is the subject of the award-winning National Film Board documentary Seth’s Dominion and was the winner, in 2011, of the prestigious Harbourfront prize. After twenty years of serialization, Clyde Fans was published in 2019 and went on to be the first graphic novel ever nominated for the Giller Prize. In 2021, his bronze sculpture arrangement Living Room Suite was installed in front of the Art Gallery of Guelph. In 2022, Seth was honoured by the French government as a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His latest book is called Palookaville 25 published by Drawn & Quarterly.

Joe Ollmann lives in Hamilton, the Riviera of Southern Ontario. His third book with Drawn & Quarterly, Fictional Father, was the first graphic novel to be shortlisted in the category of Adult Fiction at the Governor General’s Literary Awards. His newest graphic novel is entitled The Woodchipper published by Drawn & Quarterly.

Based in Kitchener, Ontario, Alfonso Espinos is an award-winning Canadian comic book creator and illustrator. He is the founder of Studiocomix Press where he is the project’s chief editor, publishing the ongoing series The Night Spike. His focus has been on publishing his own original material. He also supports and works alongside a very talented team of new emerging graphic artists and comic enthusiasts to start up in the indie comic book business by developing titles for almost all kinds of genres.

After writing Spider-Man stories for Marvel 30 years ago, Toronto-based writer Adam Santangelo is excited to return to making comics. His latest comic book series is entitled Mantle which he describes as is a passion project inspired by his own experiences and family, shot through the lens of the superhero storytelling he’s enjoyed since he was a boy. Joining Adam on Mantle is artist Gian Fernando and colourist Irma Kniivila.

Based in Vaughan, Ontario, Zach Gross is a cartoonist and illustrator. Zach specializes in illustration, comics and live caricature. Claiming to be cursed with a deep fascination for comics, cartoons and the absurd, Zach has spent countless hours honing his craft to create ground views of a world gone silly. Drawing inspiration from the whimsical and surreal silver age of comics, Zach enjoys playing with archetypes and imagery of bygone eras. His latest project is the comic book Doo Doo The Clown’s Unbelievable Adventure!

Nancy Zhang, a mixed-media artist from Toronto, creates visuals that convey sound and emotions. Nancy’s diverse body of work spans digital and analog mediums and formats. Her artworks have been featured in publications across North America and Asia, as well as alongside musicians and authors worldwide. Nancy is a published author with books like “Farewell” (2021) and “Imagination” (2022), and the comic book series Cursed At Sea (2025).

Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Ivan Kocmarek is a retired teacher while being a comic book collector for over 50 years. He edited Heroes of the Home Front with more 300 pages of the history of Canadian comics in the World War II era from Bell Features artists and over 150 pages of original art. Ivan has been instrumental in many exhibits promoting Canadian wartime comic books including ‘World War II Comics In Canada’ exhibit held at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Mount Hope, Ontario. One of his recent projects was curating a book entitled Trailblazers – A Tribute To Canada’s WWII Comic Creators. Ivan is also the organizer of the comic arts event Cartoon Foundry taking place Sunday, June 28 at Mohawk College, Fennell Campus, Hamilton, Ontario.