Comics in the City: Sequential Art Is…., a new exhibition showcasing local New York City comic book artists, opens at Flushing Town Hall on September 25th.
Visitors are invited to join Regine L. Sawyer, the curator, for an opening reception on September 27th, which will take place alongside an artist market hosted by Sawyer’s Women in Comics Collective International at Flushing Town Hall.
The exhibition features an exciting lineup of local comic book illustrators, writers, and letterers, who submitted their work to an open call for the exhibition. Comics in the City: Sequential Art Is… also coincides with New York Comic Con, a highly anticipated annual comic convention that takes place from October 9-12 this year. Comics in the City: Sequential Art Is… closes on October 20th, 2025.
Comics in the City: Sequential Art Is… spotlights one of New York’s most iconic art forms, the comic book, and sequential art works by diverse creators from different NYC boroughs, backgrounds, and traditions. Sequential arts is a form of visual storytelling that uses a series of images (also called panels or frames) to convey a narrative. This narrative is mostly commonly displayed in comic books, cartoons, and storyboards.
For the open call, Sawyer encouraged artists to consider sequential art through the eyes of the reader and explore the cherished experience of engaging with comics, which have maintained popularity amongst many generations of fans. Sawyer anchors the comic arts experience, now often encountered by audiences through CGI-laden blockbuster films, in a local, analog spirit, celebrating the pen-to-paper roots of this contemporary art form.
The open call received 45 submissions, from artists, writers, inkers, colorists, editors, and letterers. Their diverse contributions are what makes sequential art storytelling lively and colorful and pop culture icons like Queens’ friendly, neighborhood Spiderman, relevant.
“Comic artists are right at home at Flushing Town Hall, as Queens has long been home to real comic legends like John Romita and fictional ones like Sandman ,”
says Ellen Kodadek, Executive and Artistic Director of Flushing Town Hall.
“This exhibition showcases amazing artists whose work bridges generations and cultures.”
Regine L. Sawyer is a long-time comic book writer, essayist, and editor working for companies such as DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Oni Press, Z2 Comics, Comic Book Resources, Time Magazine and more. She is also the Coordinator and Founder of the Women in Comics Collective International, WinC—an organization that supports women and gender-expansive people of color working in the comic book and multimedia industry. In 2024, Sawyer received an Eisner Award, the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, for her humanitarian work in the comic book industry.
“Comics in the City is about shining a light on comic artists and the incredible range of stories they’re telling,”
says Regine L. Sawyer, curator of Comics in the City: Sequential Art Is… at Flushing Town Hall.
“Growing up in Queens surrounded by creativity shaped my artistry, and the submissions we received for this open call were a powerful reminder of that. These works in this exhibition show how sequential art continues to evolve while staying connected to its roots.”
Comics in the City: Sequential Art Is…. September 25th – October 20th 2025, flushingtownhall.org.
About
Flushing Town Hall (FTH) presents multi-disciplinary global arts that engage and educate the global communities of Queens and New York City in order to foster mutual appreciation. As advocates of arts equity since 1979, we support local, immigrant, national, and international artists, developing partnerships and collaborations that enhance our efforts. As a Smithsonian affiliate and member of New York City’s Cultural Institutions Group (CIG), we serve to restore, manage and program the historic 1862 landmark on behalf of the City of New York. FTH celebrates the history of Queens as the home of Jazz, by presenting the finest in Jazz performance. We are committed to arts education and hands-on learning, for the arts-curious, arts enthusiasts, and professional artists. We serve one of the most diverse communities in the world and strive to uphold the legacy of inclusiveness that has defined our community since the Flushing Remonstrance of 1657.
Flushing Town Hall is a proud member of the Cultural Institutions Group (CIG), a collective of 34 nonprofit museums, performing arts centers, historical societies, zoos, and botanical gardens across all five boroughs with a distinct private-public partnership with the City of New York and a commitment to serving all New Yorkers.
