ABOUT OUR TEAM
Programming
Dan Mazur
Director
Dan is a cartoonist and comics historian who grew up here in Cambridge. He spent some time working as a screenwriter before returning to his first obsession, comics. He is co-founder of the Boston Comics Roundtable and of MICE. His last two graphic novels are "Lunatic" and "Hannabell Hobb and Her Horrible Heads," and he is co-author of the book "Comics: A Global History, 1969 to the present."
Dirk Tiede
Workshops
Dirk I. Tiede is a comic creator, illustrator and animator, best known for his independent comic series, Paradigm Shift. He works as a professional artist, animator and teacher in Beverly, MA.
Paul Hanna
Programming Coordinator
Paul Hanna is a Programming Coordinator for MICE. He has written about comics for The Harvard Review and is a cartoonist who enjoys spending time drawing and cartooning with his kids. He is also a librarian based in the Boston area and has worked extensively connecting readers with comics.
Allison Ziebka-Viering
Programming Manager
Allison is a publishing professional and artist/photographer based out of Boston, MA. After graduating from Emerson College's Masters Program in Writing, Literature, and Publishing, she moved into the education industry working with copyright and licensing. However, her primary passion is comics and art. You can find her at craft fairs in the Boston area promoting her art and photography under Nine Tailed Arts, or reviewing romance comics on her blog, Bloom Reviews.
Ariel Kohane
Workshops Staff
Ariel is a half-Chinese Jewish cartoonist, filmmaker, and rubber duck enthusiast from Boston. She graduated with an MFA from Boston University's Visual Narrative program in 2024. When she's not stressing over deadlines, she's usually watching cartoons, playing videogames, or stressing over something else.
Saoirse Killion
Portfolio Reviews
Saoirse Killion is a Boston University undergraduate pursuing a Dual Degree in Painting and Comparative Literature. She is a poet featured in The Beacon, a student-run literary magazine at BU, as well as the singer of soon-to-be hit jazz-funk band Swipe Access. When she’s not in the studio painting with oil, making comics, or reading French novels, she can be found in the basement of BU’s College of Fine Arts building trying to learn slap bass (it's really hard).
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Pat Nee
Cartoonarium + Mini Grants
Catalina Rufin
Maker Space
Exhibitor + Guest relations
Amber Owen
Exhibitor Realtions Director
Amber is a cartoonist in both comics and animation. She strongly believes in the mantra “Creators for Creatives” and works in the world of animation and comics as a creative project coordinator and director with the goal to uplift as many indie and underrepresented stories and projects as she can. She also really loves cats, comics about cats, and loves it even more when she gets cat pictures in her email. 🐱
Heather Johnson
Exhibitor Information Manager
Heather (they/she) is a voracious reader of graphic novels and comics. Outside of working on MICE, they can be found studying ASL, watching hockey, making zines, or spending time outside. They work at a bookstore in the Greater Boston area.
Ed Shems
Featured Guest Coordinator
Ed Shems is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and has been illustrating and graphic designing for more than 25 years. Ed works in the education market as well as for middle grade books and early readers. He also writes, storyboards, and designs animated shorts for large and small companies. Ed’s current obsession is with writing and illustrating chapter books, graphic novels and comics. Ed is a member of the Illustration Advisory Council for the Rhode Island School of Design and a long-time member/volunteer of the Graphic Artists Guild.
Gabriel Joy Reid
Preview Party
Caitlin Scannell
Featured Guest Assistant
Caitlin is a Boston-based illustrator and comic artist, currently wrangling a webcomic she hopes to launch later this year. She went to the Rhode Island School of Design for animation (F/A/V '14) but fell in love with comics, and has spent the last ten years self-publishing and sharing her work at conventions around the US. When she's not drawing, she likes to hike, get way too invested in fantasy rpgs, and hang out with her three cats.
Jordan Stillman
Consultant
Jordan Stillman is a Boston-based writer, editor, producer, and voice actor. She's a producer of The Ordinary Epic, The Wanderer, and The Land Whale Murders podcasts, and a writer/project manager for Greater Boston. Jordan has lent her voice to The Land Whale Murders (The Author), Space Ranger 421 (Raven), and Take the Mass Pike (Rose). Learn more at https://linktr.ee/alittlejstillz.
Logistics + Attendee relations
Olivia Li
Logistics Director
Olivia Li is a cartoonist and organizer living in Queens, NY. She gets really hyped up about art community resources, and contributes to that with event organizing! She has been on the MICE staff as Volunteer Coordinator since 2022, and dreams of one day building a similar show in New York City (because MICE is the best and she’s jealous). She co-founded the monthly NYC Cartoonist Meetup in April 2023. Olivia is currently working on her debut graphic novel, "The West Middle Mirror," at Andrews McMeel.
Sadie Saunders
Project Management
Hello! I'm Sadie Saunders, and I'm a designer and cartoonist currently in BU's Visual Narrative MFA. I'm a Boston native and currently working on an auto-bio comic about my many years working as a barista. This is my first time helping out with MICE and it will be my second year selling my work along with my fellow BU colleagues!
Max Foster
Attendee Relations
Max Foster is an animator and sequential artist living close enough to Boston MA. With recently obtaining a BFA in Animation and Interactive Media, Max is beginning their career through comics and indie animations. Max is very excited about learning new perspectives from folks from all walks of life. Outside of his art, Max likes collecting little trinkets, such as bread tags, twist ties, and marbles (donations are always welcome).
Jon Hayes
Hospitality Officers
Sam Roberts
Intern
Design + Communications
Tak Toyoshima
Art + Communications Director
Tak Toyoshima is the creator/illustrator of Secret Asian Man comics, the first nationally syndicated comic strip featuring an Asian American lead character. Tak has also been featured in many collaborative publications such as Artists Against Police Brutality (Rosarium), Secret Identities (The New Press), New Frontiers: The Many Worlds of George Takei (SI Universe Media), Gwan (Forward Comix), Enough About Me by Richard Lui (Zondervan Books), RISE (Mariner), and many more.
Barbara Ayala Rugg Diehl
Campaign Marketing Coordinator
Ayala Diehl is a mixed media artist, SAG actor, live model, and environmental educator. They received their BA in Theater and English and MA in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University. Their art work has been featured in exhibitions in 9 states across the country as well as internationally. Awards include the Speculative Literature Foundation Illustration of the Year and GreenPoint Earth Screens Award.
Bex Kirlew
Graphic + Web Designer
Bex is a designer and illustrator based out of Somerville, with a love for comics, animation, and good web design. They recieved a BFA in Communication Design from MassArt in 2020. They enjoy cartoons, drawing, art meetups, and roller skating. Portfolio: bexkirlew.design
Maria Hahne
Designer
Maria is an illustrator, designer, and writer based in Providence, RI. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Illustration in 2024 and has since spent most of her time running, working on her graphic novel, and scavenging Facebook Marketplace for treasure.
BCAF Team
Shelli Paroline
Executive Director BCAF
Shelli Paroline and her husband Braden Lamb form an Eisner Award-winning art team, collaborating the Adventure Time comics, Midas, and Making Scents. Shelli co-founded the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo and now serves as the Executive Director of the Boston Comic Arts Foundation non-profit organization. She lives and works in Salem, MA.
Jason Viola
Program Director
S.Matt
Development Director
Gina Gagliano
Street Team