Uploaded September 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Just For Laughs is a panel dedicated to gags in comics, how they work, and why we love them! Ideally, we’ll discuss the structures that make for a successful gag, the role of gags in fan comics, how gags work in the midst of heavier material, the culture surrounding gags, and, of course, the gags in comics that we love the most. Moderator J.A. Micheline will explore the art of the gag with Ben Passmore (BTTM FDRS), Killian Ng (Legend Of Korra, Fiona And Cake), and comics scholar and stand-up comedian Dr. Francesca Lyn.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS:
FRANCESCA LYN is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Lyn is a critical race and gender scholar whose current interdisciplinary research centers on how women of color depict their own lived experiences. Her project “The Fragmentary Body: Traumatic Configurations in Autobiographical Comics by Women of Color” was the recipient of the 2019 John A. Lent Scholarship in Comics Studies, an award presented by the International Comics Art Forum to a substantial research-based writing project about comics. She is the instructor of record for the self-designed courses, “Gender, Race and Comics” and “Gender in Comics.” Her teaching emphasizes the integration of lived experiences in scholarly inquiry. Dr. Lyn helped create Comic Arts Richmond, an independent small press comics show. She is also a member of the Small Press Expo’s executive committee and creates her own comics.
KILLIAN NG is an American comic book artist who worked as a colorist for the Turf Wars graphic novel trilogy and its successor, Ruins of the Empire. They have previously worked on covers for the Adventure Time comics and on backgrounds for the video game The Arcana and the television series Dot. They have also done Fiona And Cake and Legend Of Korra comics.
Buy Killian Ng’s comics here: digital.darkhorse.com/contributors/4266/killian-ng
BEN PASSMORE lives in Philly. His comics are about crime, monsters, anarchism, sexual dysfunction, police brutality, art theory, and his feels. Creator of DAYGLOAYHOLE and Goodbye, his comic Your Black Friend won the 2017 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic, as well as being nominated for an Eisner Award. His illustrations have appeared in publications such as including the New York Times, Irene, Now: The New Comics Anthology,and Believer Magazine. Ben contributes political/social editorial comics to The Nib, and his latest book is Bttm Fdrs with Ezra Claytan Daniels.
Buy Ben Passmore’s comics here: bookshop.org/books?keywords=ben+passmore
Just For Laughs is a panel dedicated to gags in comics, how they work, and why we love them! Ideally, we’ll discuss the structures that make for a successful gag, the role of gags in fan comics, how gags work in the midst of heavier material, the culture surrounding gags, and, of course, the gags in comics that we love the most. Moderator J.A. Micheline will explore the art of the gag with Ben Passmore (BTTM FDRS), Killian Ng (Legend Of Korra, Fiona And Cake), and comics scholar and stand-up comedian Dr. Francesca Lyn.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS:
FRANCESCA LYN is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Lyn is a critical race and gender scholar whose current interdisciplinary research centers on how women of color depict their own lived experiences. Her project “The Fragmentary Body: Traumatic Configurations in Autobiographical Comics by Women of Color” was the recipient of the 2019 John A. Lent Scholarship in Comics Studies, an award presented by the International Comics Art Forum to a substantial research-based writing project about comics. She is the instructor of record for the self-designed courses, “Gender, Race and Comics” and “Gender in Comics.” Her teaching emphasizes the integration of lived experiences in scholarly inquiry. Dr. Lyn helped create Comic Arts Richmond, an independent small press comics show. She is also a member of the Small Press Expo’s executive committee and creates her own comics.
KILLIAN NG is an American comic book artist who worked as a colorist for the Turf Wars graphic novel trilogy and its successor, Ruins of the Empire. They have previously worked on covers for the Adventure Time comics and on backgrounds for the video game The Arcana and the television series Dot. They have also done Fiona And Cake and Legend Of Korra comics.
Buy Killian Ng’s comics here: digital.darkhorse.com/contributors/4266/killian-ng
BEN PASSMORE lives in Philly. His comics are about crime, monsters, anarchism, sexual dysfunction, police brutality, art theory, and his feels. Creator of DAYGLOAYHOLE and Goodbye, his comic Your Black Friend won the 2017 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic, as well as being nominated for an Eisner Award. His illustrations have appeared in publications such as including the New York Times, Irene, Now: The New Comics Anthology,and Believer Magazine. Ben contributes political/social editorial comics to The Nib, and his latest book is Bttm Fdrs with Ezra Claytan Daniels.
Buy Ben Passmore’s comics here: bookshop.org/books?keywords=ben+passmore
