Holiday Party / Art Show / Fund Raiser / Sale at CNJComics

Here’s all the information on this year’s Holiday Party – Art Show – Charity Fund Raiser for the Greater Cleveland Food Bank! The theme of this year’s art show is “Homage to a Classic Comic Book Cover!”

Let’s dig into the Art Show first! We’ve been hosting out Holiday Art Show since 2012, even moving in temporarily online during the pandemic. We consider it to be one of the most important things we do every year, in great part because we couldn’t do it without you and the help we get from our artistic community. Since its inception, we’ve assisted the Greater Cleveland Food Bank in creating over 159,000 meals for those in need during the holidays and beyond. (159,000!!!) The Food Bank has the uncanny ability to turn one dollar into three full meals. Every dollar you put into the system in the art show has a very direct result you can measure and be a part of. Our art show is where local artists (and quite a few from a distance) create custom comic book covers that we display in the foyer attached to our shop from December 18th to December 21st. These covers can be won in a basket raffle system where one dollar gets you one ticket to a cover of you choice. (you can also buy six tickets for five dollars, and you can buy as many tickets as you want.) Each cover has a number assigned to it, and we have a corresponding basket for each of those numbers. You buy the tickets, write your name and phone number on them, and place them in the basket(s) of the cover(s) you want to win. Yes, it’s a classic basket raffle system, but we find it helps to explain it each year!

As stated above, this year’s theme is “Homage to a Classic Comic Book Cover” and we’ve gotten some great covers in already!

Art by Kenny Peris

Art by Bob Peck

This cover is a digital printout, but Bob is including the original 24 x 36 as an add-on to the winner! Amazing!

Art by CHOD who is also donating the original artwork to his piece.

While we always enjoy seeing everyone come out for the art show in person, we understand that some people just cannot make it out. To help with that we will post a gallery of the covers on our Facebook page the evening of Friday the 20th. You can check the gallery out and then buy tickets remotely by calling in a credit card from noon until 6 pm on Saturday the 21st. (216-252-0606) We will put the tickets towards the covers of your choice, so please have the numbers ready to go. You can also call in a donation and we can spread the tickets out in different baskets. We only do this on Saturday and winners are responsible for local pick up. (Or paying to ship the cover.) Again, this was always meant to be an in-person event, but the pandemic taught us not to leave any charity money on the table.

We love hosting the art show, and the support we get from everyone is inspiring. Whether you’re an artist who creates a cover, or a customer who buys some tickets, it all becomes one big win for the community. Art styles vary greatly, and some of our little creators come up with some really extraordinary ideas. We support the Cleveland Food Bank because they are beyond reproach, doing the work and helping people in a way that we can all get behind. Hungry people need access to good food, especially during the holidays. Food security is a basic need that has to be met before you can work on other parts of your life, and we support that.

From the beginning of the Art Show until Christmas Eve (12-18 to 12-24) we will also be having 50% off all back issues, including the wall. This gives everyone a chance to shop the bins at their leisure at a great discount.

The Art Show will culminate at our yearly Holiday Party from 8 pm to 11 pm on Saturday, December 21st. (we close the shop that day at 7 pm, to reopen at 8 pm for the party.) All are invited and the staff even brewed our own Christmas Ale in the spirit of the theme!

Thanks to Jeff Ritchie for the Beer Label Artwork! All drinks are free and we’ll have non-alcoholic refreshments as well. (bring some singles to tip your bartender though! We love Macklin!)

This event is family-friendly, so feel free to bring the kids.

Everyone attending will be able to get 50% off any one item of their choice!

We’ve had a great year and this is our thank you to you. This coupon can only be used at the party, no exceptions. We recently restocked our Omnibuses so people have something cool to use that coupon on!

Word is Santa will be making an appearance at the party as well, so be sure to wear your holiday finest for photos!

We will pull the winners at 10:30pm sharp, so be sure to purchase your tickets and get them into those baskets before then. You do not need to be present to win, but winners do get to take their cover(s) home that night!

As always, from our family to yours, thank you for your support of our endeavors both here and throughout the year. We try to make ourselves an asset to our community, and we love it when we get to see everyone during the holiday season! I love comics, and I’m grateful to still be at it after 34 years. We look forward to seeing all the hard work people put into their artwork. This is our favorite event of the year, and we hope to see you there!