Artwork for Sale: Own a Piece of Hicksville!

Above: Page 152 of Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen by Dylan Horrocks.

Dylan Horrocks, the acclaimed NZ cartoonist and author of Hicksville and Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen, currently has artwork from both of these books available for sale on his website. To quote one of his initial posts, Horrocks wrote, "I have been reluctant to sell original art from Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen, but more than a year after the book’s release, I think it’s time to tentatively let a few pages go".

You can check his new 'Buying Stuff' page HERE for original artwork from Hicksville, Magic Pen and other works, or his website front page for updates. They are selling fast, so if you want to own a piece of NZ comics history - get in quick!

- AK!

Vote Hicksville for the Whitcoulls Top 100 Books!

Above: The Whitcoulls Top 100 Books and Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks.

This week saw the launch of the latest Whitcoulls Top 100 Books voting campaign, asking local readers to vote for their favourite books. The Top 100 has been around for nearly 20 years, and in that time has been topped by perennial best sellers like Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and more recent literary sensations like A Game of Thrones and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 

In the past it has featured such New Zealand classics as Keri Hulme's The Bone People...and I wanted to list more, but a quick glance at the current Top 100 List reveals there is not a single NZ title on there, which is totally shocking to me! (apparently their place has been usurped by populist drivel like Fifty Shades of Grey...). Now before you go casting your vote for Eleanor Catton's The Luminaries, I'd like you to consider the graphic novel Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks.

Above: Hicksville Author Dylan Horrocks. Photographed by Grant Maiden.

A bona fide New Zealand classic, Hicksville was first published in the US and Canada by Black Eye Press in 1998, and attracted international acclaim from comics and literary critics alike. The Comics Journal wrote, “New Zealand’s recent cultural revival, which has brought us Keri Hulme’s The Bone People in literature and Jane Campion’s The Piano in film, now has a new ambassador in comics: Dylan Horrocks.”

Since 1998 it has been translated into several languages, including French, Spanish, German and Italian. After much demand, it finally received a New Zealand edition from Victoria University Press in 2010. Over the years Horrocks has been selected from a very short list of celebrated local authors to represent our literature internationally at festivals and events in Germany, England, Italy and beyond, largely due to Hicksville's international reputation as a landmark graphic novel.

Given it's international and local standing, I think its well past time Hicksville made the Whitcoulls Top 100 Books!

To make this happen, it's very simple: you can vote at the Whitcoulls website HERE, or fill out an entry form in any Whitcoulls store. And for voting, you go in the draw to WIN 1 of 3 $1000 Whitcoulls Gift Cards! (see their website for full terms and conditions). 

You get to vote for your 3 favourite books and authors, so after voting for Hicksville and Dylan Horrocks, you might want to consider voting for some other very worthy NZ graphic novels currently in print: Shaolin Burning by Ant Sang, Don't Puke of Your Dad by Toby Morris, Incomplete Works by Dylan Horrocks, Kimble Bent: Malcontent by Chris Grosz, The Blastosaurus series by Richard Fairgray & Terry Jones, The Darwin Faeries by William Geradts and Richard Fairgray, Triumph by Greg Broadmore, Mr Unpronounceable Adventures by Tim Molloy, Nice Day For a War by Chris Slane & Matt Elliott, or ((shameless plug)) From Earth's End: The Best of New Zealand Comics by Adrian Kinnaird!

Voting ends Sunday 22nd of June, so lets get voting and make this happen! I'll also be tweeting about it, so join in at #VoteHicksville!

- AK!

EVENT: Auckland Writers & Readers Festival 2011: Graphic Novels, Comics & Cartoons

Above: The panel lineup from the left: Chris Slane, Dylan Horrocks, Ant Sang, Karen Healey and myself.

2011 has already proven itself to be a landmark year in New Zealand Comics publishing, with two graphic novels achieving wide release in bookstores and a growing host of great self-published comics becoming increasingly available through festival and expo distribution. With such a wealth of new material and increasing public interest in the graphic novel medium, it seemed only natural that a discussion on the subject would make a great addition to any literary celebration, and that's exactly what will be taking place next month at the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival 2011!

On Sunday 15th of May, I'll be hosting event #47 of the Festival: Graphic Novels, Comics & Cartoons, in which I'll be moderating a panel featuring some of the best cartoonist and writing minds in New Zealand: Dylan Horrocks, Chris Slane, Ant Sang and Karen Healey. We'll be discussing our love of this special medium, plus an exclusive illustrated look inside the process of comics creation and graphic novel writing, invaluable information for the aspiring cartoonist that you won't find anywhere else!

Tickets for this event are on sale now from THE EDGE Box Office on level 3 of the Aotea Centre in Auckland, or online at www.buytickets.co.nz. It's $20.00* for Earlybird pre-sales, or $25.00* after May 11th (*booking fees may also apply). For more information on this event, you can visit the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival page HERE.

Now for a brief biography of the featured writers:

Dylan Horrocks

He really needs no introduction at this point, Dylan is the author of the seminal graphic novel Hicksville. Universally praised by the international comics community upon it's release in 1998, it has only recently been published locally for the first time last year by Victoria University Press, insuring it's place as a contemporary classic of New Zealand literature.

He also spent several years of the last decade writing for DC Comics, putting the speech bubbles in the mouths of such well recognised characters as Batman, Batgirl, Supergirl, John Constantine, Tim Hunter and more. After his corporate comics experience he was happy to return to creating his own comics, which he currently publishes weekly through his website hicksvillecomics.com. These include the two serials Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen and The American Dream.

Ant Sang

Ant has long been a pillar of the Auckland comics community, producing one the best selling NZ comics series of all time, The Dharma Punks, which was published between 2001-03. It was this series that brought him to the attention of the producers of the animated TV series Bro'Town, who hired Ant as art director and production designer for the show, winning him several awards for his dedicated work. Earlier this year saw the release of his first original graphic novel Shaolin Burning from HarperCollins, a kung-fu infused meditation on revenge and destiny in ancient China. It was an instant hit upon release, making the top ten NZ Bestsellers fiction list four weeks running and the #1 book for it's publisher that month.

Chris Slane

Chris is an award-winning cartoonist whose work has appeared in countless magazines and newspapers including: The Listener, The New Zealand Herald, Metro and many more. His editorial cartoons have won him the prestigious Qantas Cartoonist Of The Year award three times and the Qantas Editorial Graphics Artist Award twice. In the mid-nineties he produced arguably New Zealand's first original graphic novel Maui: Legends of the Outcast, with writer Robert Sullivan. Last month saw the release of his second graphic novel Nice Day For a War: Adventures of a Soldier in World War 1, co-authored with Matt Elliott from HarperCollins.

Karen Healey

Karen is the author of the highly acclaimed novel Guardian of the Dead, a paranormal thriller heavily influenced by Māori mythology, which takes place in Christchurch, New Zealand. Her well received debut novel is a finalist for the American Library Association's prestigious William C. Morris Award. She is also the co-founder of the feminist comics website Girl-Wonder.org, and is currently writing a PhD on american superhero comics. Her next novel The Shattering, is due to be published by Allen & Unwin later this year.

Adrian Kinnaird

Well, if you are reading this, you know who I am ('Nuff said!).

The panel will run for 45 minutes of comics goodness, so don't delay and book your tickets today! It's probably also a good idea to read up on the main books which will be discussed at the panel, which are all available now from bookstores everywhere: Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks, Shaolin Burning by Ant Sang, Nice Day for a War by Chris Slane & Matt Elliott, and Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey. All the authors will be available to sign copies at the conclusion of the panel. I look forward to seeing you all there on the day!

-AK!

Earth's End Presents: The Uncanny X-Mas Gift Guide!

Historically, comics fans aren't the easiest bunch to buy for. Just ask my parents; when I was growing up they had to search high and low for a comics related gift, you couldn't just find something at your local bookstore. They often had to brave the rare local comic shop filled with weird looking teenagers, or at worst a secondhand book exchange that sold comics right next to skin mags (it was the late 80's after all).

Two decades later, things are a little different now. Comics for better or worse, have become so ingrained in our popular culture they have gone from a marginal interest to mainstream acceptance: the basis of blockbuster movies, high rating TV shows and major merchandising empires. Comics related gifts are now everywhere, from hardcover collections at bookstores to t-shirts, fridge magnets and everything in between.

With Christmas a only a week away, I thought I'd take a look at some of the latest comics related gifts on the market for this Xmas season.

Above: A copy of White Cloud Worlds, edited by Paul Tobin.

Recently published by HarperCollins, this anthology edited by artist Paul Tobin contains artwork from 27 of New Zealand's best fantasy talents. From cartoonists Ben Stenbeck and Simon Morse, through to Weta concept artists Greg Broadmore, Warren Mahy and many more. It's a beautifully designed package, certainly one of the best local art books of the year. A great gift for the young aspiring artist in the family, and certainly a book worth supporting, as this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to New Zealand's legion of talented illustrators. Lets hope this is the first of many volumes to come. White Cloud Worlds retails for around $79.99NZ, and it's also available from selected specialty stores in a limited edition hardcover with a signed artist print for $150NZ. For more information check out the book's official website HERE.

Above: The Art of District 9, by Daniel Falconer.

Taking a firm foot-hold in the fantasy art market this year, HarperCollins have also teamed up with Weta Workshop to produce The Art of District 9, based on the concept artwork produced for Neill Blomkamp’s 2009 sleeper-hit movie. Veteran Weta artist/designer Daniel Falconer (yes, that's one cool-ass last name) does the writing chores here, guiding us through the film's creative development. It's an engrossing tour through the film's various art departments, from initial sketches to finished concept art. In many ways it gives you a much greater appreciation for the film's carefully crafted and considered world, details of which flash by all to quickly on screen. One of the highlights would have to be Greg Broadmore's lead concept designs for the Mech Combat Suits. A true achievement of what must have been a dream job finally bringing to life concepts he had been drawing on only eight years before, in one of his earliest local comics Killer Robots Will Smash The World! The Art of District 9 retails for $69.99NZ, and you can find out more about this book over at the Weta Workshop website HERE.

Above: One of my personal favourites from The DC Comics 75th Anniversary Poster Book.

To celebrate 75 years of publishing, DC Comics is putting there best foot forward by coming up with this great concept for a company retrospective: reproductions of 100 classic comics covers ready-to-frame A3 prints. The covers are accompanied by commentary from Robert Schnakenberg, but who cares about that, 'cause we're really just here for the artwork right?

Speaking of which, full credit to DC for digging through their vault for the interesting mix of covers on offer here; ranging from the superhero classics (Action #1, Detective #27, natch!), right through to the odd-ball 50s Sci-Fi adventures, and the often ironic but visually slick romance comics covers. DC also pokes some fun at itself by including some of the more bizarre covers from it's back catalogue: the company's obsession with putting gorillas on covers to spike sales in the 60s, Batman's ill-conceived rainbow costume, and Superboy getting bent over a school Principal's knee for a good 'o spanking(!).

The book isn't without some minor drawbacks however; the selection of some of the more recent covers are less than classic, and do they really have to include all the sales and barcode information? (surely in this digital age there were 'clean' files of the artwork available, right?). Clearly some of the older covers were scanned from original copies of the comics, but the reproduction isn't always spotless and better quality printing and paper stock would have gone a long way to improving the overall production. That said, at just under $1 a page for an A3 print it's certainly value for money and a great gift for the die-hard DC fan. The DC Comics 75th Anniversary Poster Book is published by Quirk Books and retails for around $98.99NZ.

Above: a DC Superhero Crisis blows up in my face (pop-up style!).

For the younger DC fan, you can't really go past DC Super Heroes: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book by Matthew Reinhart. There have been a rash of comics related Pop-Up books in recent years, all of varying quality, but this is easily the most impressive. It's close to nine inches thick, with only six spreads, but is jam-packed with every possible pop-up trick the author can throw at it (hell, there are actually several pop-ups WITHIN pop-ups!). It covers the icons: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman (complete with light-up Bat Signal!), as well as the JLA, the Green Lantern Corp and a fun homage to Jack Kirby's New Gods, featuring Darksaid's stony mug starring out at you. As you can see from the picture above it's pretty immaculate and fairly delicate, so it's not exactly for grabby under five crowd to read themselves, but it should make a killer bed-time story! DC Super Heroes: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book is published by Little Brown and costs around $39.99NZ.

Above: Tintin by Hergé, a tried and true classic.

The upcoming film production between our own Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg is still a year away, but now's as good a time as any to revisit these classics. They are all engrossing reads, but if you're curious about what to brush up on first, the film is said to be a combination of the storylines from The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure. Tintin by Hergé is available in all good bookstores in paperback for around $24.99NZ.

Above: Me and Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks.

Now if you don't already own a copy of Dylan Horrocks' Hicksville, I strongly urge you do your patriotic duty this holiday season and buy yourself and all your friends a copy! It was finally reprinted this year locally by Victoria University Press, so you have absolutely no excuses. Remember, supporting local graphic novels will go a long way to helping establish a market for them here and making it possible for NZ cartoonist to do what they love and make a modest living from it. So spread the holiday cheer! Hicksville retails for $38.00NZ. And of coarse check out Dylan's website HERE for his latest news, views and comics!

So this will probably be my last post for the year; thanks to everyone who came out the other night for a drink in Auckland, it sounds like next year is shaping up to be water-shed year in local comics publishing, so be sure to check in next year for more exclusive coverage.

I'd like to also think everyone who's supported this site with links and visits this year, it's much appreciated. I apologise for disappointing some of my loyal readers with the lack of stories the last few months, I'm busy day-jobbing towards the end of the year so unfortunately it cuts into my writing and free time. But I have plenty of new stories and reviews in the works for 2011, so I'll see you back here in the second week of January with some brand new material.

In the meantime, Marry Xmas everyone and have a great holiday season!

-AK! (off to read Jack Kirby's Forth World Omnibus' at Ohope beach).

Above: Yes, that's Ohope beach, but no I wouldn't take an Omnibus into the water! (ironically, it's actually a copy of Kirby's Super Powers #1).

EVENT: Talking Pictures - The Graphic Novel with Dylan Horrocks & Ant Sang

This coming Monday, as part of the 'Writers on Mondays' lunchtime lecture series being held at Auckland New Gallery Art Lounge, Dylan Horrocks and Ant Sang will be discussing graphic novels (relating to their own work and the form in general) with host Mike Loder.

Above: A page from 'Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen', by Dylan Horrocks.

Dylan Horrocks is of course one of New Zealand's most highly regarded cartoonist, the author of the award-winning graphic novel 'Hicksville', which finally received it's first local printing this year from Victoria University Press (and is required reading here at Earth's End!). He is currently serializing two new graphic novels-in-progress at his website: 'The American Dream' and 'Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen'. The latter story follows a cartoonist through a creative crisis, as he struggles to write corporate superhero comics and retain his personal 'voice' as a creator. A dilemma which is all too familiar to Horrocks, who went through a similar ordeal writing for the 'Bat-family' of titles for DC Comics ('Batgirl', 'Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'). While this is not a straight autobiography of his experiences writing corporate super-heroics, it's certainly informed by them, offering a fascinating and honest account of a writer wrestling to reconnect with his craft, and the potential pitfalls of genre writing.

Above: Ant Sang with a page of his artwork from his up-coming graphic novel, 'Shaolin Burning'.

Ant Sang's artwork has quickly become iconic in New Zealand, as the lead designer of the hugely successful TV series 'Bro' Town'. He's also know for his cult comic series 'The Dharma Punks', one of the top selling NZ comics ever published, at it's peak it was locally outselling such bestselling comics as 'Uncanny X-Men'. Currently working on his first original graphic novel 'Shaolin Burning', which is to be released early next year, it should finally establish Ant as a house-hold name (and rightly so).

The talk is hosted by comedian and occasional comic-book writer Mike Loder, and takes place at the Art Lounge in the New Gallery from 12 noon, so feel free to bring your lunch and friends! You can find more details and information HERE at the Gallery website.

-AK!

NZ Comics Weekend in Review Part Two: Hicksville and the 2010 Eric Awards!

Above: From the left: VUP publisher Fergus Barrowman and Dylan Horrocks celebrate the release of the NZ edition of 'Hicksville'. Photo by James Gilberd.

The second night of NZ Comics Weekend festivities featured the official Wellington release party for the NZ edition of 'Hicksville', followed by the 2010 Black River Digital Eric Awards.

Above: A crowd gathers to hear Dylan speak, including Elisabeth Knox (in yellow) and friends. Photo by James Gilberd.

Published for the first time in New Zealand by Victoria University Press, it was only fitting that Wellington got to celebrate the release of 'Hicksville' in style. VUP publisher Fergus Barrowman was in attendance, along with his wife, acclaimed author Elisabeth Knox (who also served as one of the judges for the Eric Awards).

Above: From left: Robyn E Kenealy, Fergus Barrowman, Dylan Horrocks and Grace C Russell.

Above: The crowd enjoying a drink and checking out some of Dylan's original artwork on display. Photo by James Gilberd.

Above: Cartoonist Darren Sheehan and Matthew Kelly enjoy a drink at the opening.

Above: Robyn E Kenealy and Claire Harris in pre-awards mode.

Above: Once again Dylan Horrocks diligently signed and personalized every copy purchased with an individual sketch on the ideally placed 'This book belongs to...' page (so you won't be seeing these copies on eBay any time soon!).

Above: The crowd gets seated and ready for the 2010 Black River Digital Eric Awards. Top photo by James Gilberd.

After some drinks it was time for the business end of the evening: the 2010 Black River Digital Eric Awards!

Above: The Eric Awards hosts: Nic Sando and Robyn E Kenealy.

The Awards were hosted by cartoonist and comedian Nic Sando, along with NZ Comics Weekend organiser and cartoonist, Robyn E Kenealy.

This year's judging panel consisted of: Roberta Gregory (American author of ‘Bitchy Bitch’), Andrei Molotiu ( editor and publisher at Fantagraphic Comics), New Zealand writer Elizabeth Knox, Ant Sang (of ‘Dharma Punks’ and ‘Bro’ Town’), Cornelius Stone (creator/writer of ‘Knuckles the Malevolent Nun’), Claire Brunette (one of the coordinators of the Wellington City Library Small Press collection), Australian cartoonist and organiser David Blumenstein, and New Zealand’s pre-eminent comics historian, Tim Bollinger. I'll include some of the judges commentary on the winners where available.

Above: Jerome Bihan editor of 'Radio as Paper'.

The first award of the night was BEST ANTHOLOGY, which went to 'Radio as Paper' edited by Jerome Bihan.

“Ultimately, I had to decide based on unified editorial vision and the proportion of good stuff to crap. From that point of view, the winner has to be Radio as Paper.” – Andrei Molotiu (keeping it real or just incredibly dead-pan? Difficult to tell...-AK).

Above: Excepting for BEST WEBCOMIC: Draw and Meredith Van Halen.

Next up was BEST WEBCOMIC, which resulted in a tie between 'Drawing Silence' by Draw and 'How to Understand Everything and Not Hate Yourself' by Meredith Van Halen.

“Striking and emotional. The panels by themselves are great, grouped they are amazing and animated, they are stunning Len Lye-y beauties. I was really impressed by the control and confidence of the artist’s vision. Ultimately, it's just really fricking beautiful.” – Claire Brunette on 'Drawing Silence' by Draw.

“Lots to love about this. Especially the dad jokes and the microsoft paintyness of the comic.” – Claire Brunette

“It is well written and good and I wanted to read all the comics that were available (and had no trouble doing so).”

– David Blumenstein on 'How to Understand Everything and Not Hate Yourself' by Meredith Van Halen.

Above: Darren Sheehan the artist of 'The Inhabitants' accepts the award on behalf of his brother, Kelly.

The Award for BEST WRITER went to Kelly Sheenan for 'The Inhabitants'.

“I’m a bit of a sucker for portal fantasies (the whole ordinary-kid-being-hijacked-by-magic thing never gets old). The Inhabitant’s strength is its confident storytelling (like it shows you the townscape of the Endless City seen from the passing car before it shows you the hero in the car looking out the window). That kind of thing was done very gracefully. This story had a well-developed generalised mood of melancholic suspense. And, at their best, the magical bits felt magical, like the hero’s hand experimentally rolling the black stuff into a ball, and the monster being lured away by Charlotte into an inhospitable other dimension – beautiful! The repeated frames were a good touch too – emphasising the stillness and emptiness of the city. Darren Sheehan just loves angles, doesn’t he?”

– Elizabeth Knox

“Good visual story-telling in the partnership of Kelly and Darren, they've perfected over time. Well considered writing with a story and a purpose. Most deserving. I quite liked the landscape spreads of characters with name labels. I guess these were 'the Inhabitants' of the city - the names rolling off Kelly's pen. They have a diagrammatic stillness not unlike the aerial views of the city, like the whole landscape was being mapped out for the reader - and it’s a form of writing specific to this visual medium, so interesting I thought.” – Tim Bollinger

Above: Margaret Silverwood accepts her award for BEST ARTWORK.

BEST ARTWORK was awarded to Margaret Silverwood for 'Utopia Now Vol.1'.

Above: Robyn accepts for Tim Molloy in his absence.

The award for BEST SHORT PIECE went to Tim Molloy, for 'Under the Bed'.

“It's excellent. I have no choice but to vote for it.” – David Blumenstein

Above: Ned Wenlock towered over the judges to accept his award for BEST DEBUT.

The BEST DEBUT award went to 'Hotpools' by Ned Wenlock.

“Aesthetically mature and restrained. Strong, simple art. Sustained and original narrative voice.” - Claire Brunette “Really nice design/layout concept, great drawings. Funny story ideas.” –Tim Bollinger

Above: Robyn accepts for an absent Mat Tait.

An absent Mat Tait took out the award for BEST COMIC for 'Love Stories'.

Above: NZCC Organisers, Claire Harris and Issac Freeman.

Next was one of the most important awards of the night, BEST DISTRIBUTION, which went to the NZCC. Initiated by Isaac Freeman with Claire Harris and friends, the 'New Zealand Comic Creators' stall organises the selling and distribution of NZ comics at comic conventions around the country. For the past few years it has been the most successful incarnation of a NZ comics distribution network, and is largely responsible for the continued public profile and awareness of NZ comics.

Above: Me, giving a long-winded thank you to all 67 of my dedicated readers! But on a more sincere note: this category was based solely on reader votes, so I really appreciate the community support.

BEST NZ COMICS RELATED WEBSITE went to yours truly, thanks again!

Above: Dylan Horrocks accepts an award on behalf of an absent Timothy Kidd.

The final award of the night, BEST COMIC STRIP, went to 'Western Park' by Timothy Kidd.

“My easiest choice. I was completely floored by the deceptive simplicity of this comic. The beautiful art, the slow-motion tragedy of the narratives. WP is unique amongst many of the comics in that Mr Kidd isn’t afraid of detailing the small, heartbreaking things that make up such a large part of life. The drama feels authentic, the boredom and hopelessness shimmer off the page. Astonishing.” – Claire Brunette

“It is funny, and fanciful, and strange, and evocative ,and beautiful, and strongly and deftly narrative. I like the way that the strips are all separate – Fafisa, Bernard of the Eve, Blues Clues – but you can imagine those characters inhabiting the same city. They certainly inhabit the same sensibility. I loved Bernard’s life of the mind – he’s depressed, he’s in bed because he can’t go anywhere because he hasn’t got his dole for the week, and he’s trying to cheer himself up by imagining how much harder his life would be if he was a cave man, and he keeps dropping off and dreaming that he is – and Ernest the cat and his demands are the only constant. It really got that lackadaisical spaced out early twenties thing. And Fafisa, same, that poor depressed kid on the couch, with his sandwich, grazing channels and missing his vanished brother. I loved way that the story in Fafisa melts from the kid’s present moment, to his memories, to dreams—his own and other people’s—Galactus, Jason in his hockey mask, a zombie .... And I love the way it ended – the pull back to the night time street and the villa. So—Best Strip, Western Park, for its fantastic storytelling— sparse, suggestive, and full of feeling.” – Elizabeth Knox

Above: Tim Bollinger hosts a discussion with NZ cartoonist Burton Silver.

After the awards ceremony there was a brief break for conversation and congratulatory drinks before a discussion with noted NZ cartoonist and satirist Burton Silver, creator of the popular '70s cartoon 'Bogor'.

Above: A book collection of Burton Silver's most well-known creation, 'Bogor'.

Tim Bollinger hosted the lively discussion with Silver, looking at his work on 'Bogor' and numerous other books and projects he's created over the years.

Above: A 'Bogor' comic-strip. Copyright Burton Silver, 2010.

'Bogor' was a comic-strip Silver created for the 'NZ Listener' magazine in 1973, about a lone woodsman who's only companions are the forest animals, particularly a friendly hedgehog. Rather than pushing an environmental message about deforestation, Bogor's humour derived from it's 'man alone' setting, exploring the various things Bogor would get up to starve off boredom and isolation. This was a favourite theme of Silver's, who had previously created a much more philosophical take on humour in isolation with 'OB'. Based on his time in the Australian outback, OB (written under the pseudonym 'Roux') was extremely minimalist, following the humourous (and zen like) interactions of a bird, a snake and a rock.

Bogor is also notable for it's frequent marijuana references, often showing the hedgehogs and Bogor with the plant (and occasionally smoking it).

Above: The cover of a Bogor collection, featuring stoned hedgehogs.

It must have been a hit with the masses, as marijuana made appearances on five collection covers, including the three pictured above: Bogor collections from 1979, 1980, 1983. By the early '90s comic-strips by NZ creators were getting edged out of publication by the cheaper syndicated strips from the US, so Silver moved into publishing.

Above: 'Why Cat's Paint', by Burton Silver & Heather Busch.

Silver had an enormous success with his humourous photography book 'Why Cats Paint' (with Heather Busch), which went on to sell over 700,000 copies worldwide. This was followed by several sequels and other satirical publications, including: 'Kokigami: The Intimate Art of the Little Paper Costume' and the 'The Naughty Victorian Hand Book: The Rediscovered Art of Erotic Hand Manipulation' (with Jeremy Bennett).

Above: An example of 'GolfCross', a game created by Burton Silver.

Never short of an innovative idea, Silver also went on to create the sports game 'GolfCross'.

A combination of Golf and Rugby, it uses a unique Golf ball shaped like a Rugby ball (which Tim Bollinger 'magically' pulled out of Silver ear, in one of the night's more hilarious conversation segues). The aim of the game is to drive the ball into a suspended goal net (much like a field goal in Rugby).

Above: Silver with the unique 'GolfCross' ball.

The game requires a more tactical approach to hitting the ball, as it spins on two axes, so it's nearly impossible to simply hook or slice. The ball has to be angled on a specially designed tee adaptor for the best calculated hit, taking into consideration 'back spinning' and other tactical shots previously associated with Rugby goal kicking. Including New Zealand, there are currently 'GolfCross' courses in England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany and Argentina.

The discussion ended with a series of friendly Q&A questions from the audience, many from surprised twenty-somethings who grew up on Bogor with no memory of the prevalent marijuana references (oh, the innocence of youth!).

Shortly after that the crowd emptied out of onto the street to continue the award celebrations into the night. On the way out, a group of us bumped into Mike and Laura Allred (in town as guests of the Armageddon Expo) who had quietly attended the Eric Awards, interested in discovering more about the local comics scene. Mike was impressed by the enthusiasm of the NZ comics community, and we spoke at length about comics distribution and the growing public awareness of comics. The Allreds could not be more gracious and friendly, living up to their well deserved reputation as 'the nicest couple in comics'.

The last day of NZ Comics Weekend featured talks on comics creation from 2pm.

First up was Travis Lealand-Maplesden on the translation of bande dessinée, followed by Dick Whyte on conceptual comics, and finishing out the weekend, a discussion with Draw, creator of the web-comic 'Drawing Silence'. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend these events as I was working for the NZCC at the Armageddon Expo stall, but I understand they were well received.

Overall, it was another extremely successful Comics Weekend, with the level of quality and awareness of NZ comics growing with each event. While NZ comics are still generally considered something of a sub-culture interest, the potential for success through mainstream publishing and web-comics looks more promising with every passing year. Now with 'Hicksville' on the verge of becoming a cross-over publishing hit, I expect we'll be seeing a lot more events celebrating NZ Comics in the future, possibly sooner than you expect.

In the meantime, be sure to check out some of the Eric award-winning titles. There should be current links in this site's sidebar to the best NZ web-comics out there. For copies of print comics, you can try contacting The High Seas and Gothem Comics in Auckland, or Graphic in the Cuba St Mall in Wellington. 'Hicksville' is currently available from all good booksellers.

NEXT: Stay tuned for coverage and stories from the Wellington Armageddon Expo 2010!

-AK!