"Say, What are you guys all about?"
Well, humble questioner, we are a group of local artists who love to draw, and specifically like to draw comics. Every month we cobble together a small comic zine to hand out free to the public. So come on by and pick one up, cause they go fast!
"That sure is a nifty name you got there, what's it mean?"
James came up with the name COPOUT Artists after the group put several suggestions up to a vote. COPOUT Artists is the acronym of 'Comics Out of Philadelphia Organized and United Through Artists.'
"All right, so I know your name and what you do, but what's the story here?"
Well, COPOUT Artists was first founded in January 2011 as a one shot anthology after Billy Wayne Martin read the comic book-anthology 'I Saw You...' and was inspired to do one. The original group was to consist of eight artists, three of whom dropped the project shortly after its conception. The original five members consisted of: Andy Hood, Billy Wayne Martin, James Kaminski, Jason Piperberg, and Mike Smaczylo. The anthology 'Moments' didn't see the light of day till March 2011 after the artists went through the challenge of making their first comics. Since the anthology, the group decided to make a monthly project out of it. The book changed to a new format and started on a rotating schedule of two artists to work together on a new comic each month. After issue three, the group decided to ask a friend and fellow illustrator Shayna Feinstein to join. She made her first appearance in issue four. Hopefully that answered any questions you may have. If not, you can always shoot us an email at: copoutartists@gmail.com
