The event was put on by the Boston Comics Round
Table to raise funds for the fourth edition of Inbound, their biannual
anthology of comics, which features a variety of styles and genres.
Boston Comics Round Table is an artist collective that started in 2006
when its founder, Dave Kender, posted an ad on Craigslist in the hopes
of finding a possible collaboration with comic illustrators. Within a
few months, he found dozens of others who were looking for an
opportunity to share ideas and connect over comics. "Finding ways to
collaborate can be one of the benefits of the group, but the core
purpose is to get people with the same passion together." Today, there
are over 100 members in the Boston Comics Round Table, with nearly 30
members meeting on a regular basis. The group meets each Thursday at
7:30 in the Democracy Center in Harvard Square, and meetings are open
to anyone with an interest in writing, illustrating, and reading
comics.

Members of the Boston Comics Round Table come from
diverse backgrounds. Some have formal training, like Joel Gill, who
received an MFA in Painting from Boston University and now works for
the New Hampshire Institute of Art. Others are self-taught, with most
saying they've been drawing their entire lives. Each member brings
their own expertise to the group, like Dirk, a freelance illustrator,
who says he joined the group as a way to plug in to the comic book
scene after moving to Boston. His experience being published has given
him the role of a mentor and while he enjoys acting as a resource for
the group, he says he gains the most from the exchange of ideas between
artists.

Wild Ink was a great introduction to a thriving comic
book culture in Somerville and throughout greater Boston. No longer
"underground," it's definitely a sub-culture that's rapidly breaching
the boundaries of pop culture. With the rise of the graphic novel and
the recent wave of comic-based movies, comics are entertaining a larger
audience. For those less familiar with comics, the Boston Comics Round
Table is reaching out with their fourth edition of Inbound. The
upcoming collection of comics is Boston-themed, and geared towards an
audience who may not usually read comics. Kender says they hope to
reach a wider audience by offering short-form comics that all connect
to the same thematic element.

Tony Davis, owner of the Harvard
Square comic book store, Millionaire Picnic, says the Boston Comics
Round Table is filling a void in the local art community. "Boston used
to have a vibrant local comic scene 10 years ago. Now with the Round
Table, that vibrancy is coming back and it's richer, because it's more
collaborative than in the past." James Welborn, owner of the
Somerville-based Hub Comics, agrees, and says, "Local artists are what
sets my store apart. Every store can carry the same
nationally-published comics, but books like Inbound give a local
perspective you don't find anywhere else."