WATCH: Two Sketches with Toby Morris featuring Michel Mulipola!

Cartoonist Toby Morris has started a new drawing/interview series for The Spinoff website, Two Sketches. The ingenious concept for the show is quite simple: each episode he sits down with an NZ artist and they each produce an artwork while discussing whatever comes to mind.

As Morris described the idea for the show to The Spinoff, "Drawing is a meditative and reflective activity – for me I usually need to be quite relaxed, and my mind wanders while I do it. When I shared a studio with other illustrators I found the conversations we had while we drew were often quite weird but honest and insightful. I think it’s like talking in front of a bonfire, or a killer view – with a big chunk of your mind fixed somewhere else I think you can often be less guarded.”

In this first episode, Morris sits down to sketch with Michel Mulipola, a WWE comics artist, wrestler and gamer - a pop culture triple threat!

Watch the first episode below, and subscribe HERE for more! You can also listen to Toby Morris discuss the new show in a RadioNZ interview HERE.

- AK!

Road to Armageddon Wellington 2018

Armageddon is back for 2018, starting the year in grand style with its biggest event yet - Wellygeddon, headlined by The Avengers superstar Jeremy Renner! Taking place at the Wespac Stadium this Easter Weekend, from March 30th - April 1st, you can expect to see the pop culture crowds descend in force to meet media guests from such popular movies and TV shows as: Harry Potter, What We Do In The Shadows, Constantine, Supernatural, iZombie, Altered Carbon, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, The 100 and more.

Above: Artwork by Ben Stenbeck. Copyright Ben Stenbeck and Dark Horse Comics 2018.

As always though, here at Earth's End we're more focused on the comics guests appearing at the show, and this year there's a great line-up of local comic creators who are already making a mark on the comics industry, both here and overseas. 

Headlining the comic guests this year is Ben Stenbeck, the Dunedin based artist who has firmly established himself in the comics industry as one of Hellboy creator Mike Mignola's closest artistic collaborators. Best known for his artwork on the Eisner nominated series Baltimore, Stenbeck's other works include: Frankenstein Underground, Witchfinder, Hellboy and the BPRD 1953 and Lobster Johnson. His current series is Koshchei the Deathless, written by Mignola and published by Dark Horse Comics.

Above: Artwork by Al Barrionuevo. Copyright  Al Barrionuevo and DC Comics 2018.

Originally hailing from La Plata, Argentina, international comics guest Al Barrionuevo has worked extensively in American comics for a variety of publishers. He got his start drawing Legion for DC Comics, before starting an extended run on Batman: Gotham Knights. Other DC titles he has worked on include: Martian Manhunter, Countdown to Final Crisis, Teen Titans, The War That Time Forgot and The Authority. He has also drawn Loki, X-Men, Avengers: Solo and Storm for Marvel Comics, and several books for Valiant, including Ninjak.

Above: Artwork from The Warden Vol.4, published by Beyond Reality Media. Copyright Beyond Reality Media 2018.

Beyond Reality Media will be in attendance, with a variety of their titles available at the show, including: The Warden Vol.1-3, NowPocalypse, Attica Vol.1-3, One Must Break, The Darwin Faeries, The Inspiration Duncans, The Time Travelling Tourist, Prepocalypse Vol.1-2 and many more! The NZCC will also be at the BRM booth, with all the best graphic novels from local creators, including the latest issues of the anthology Funtime, and copies of NZ favourite titles, The Dharma Punks, Moa, The Heading Dog Who Split in Half, The Crow of Whareatua, Faction Comics and more!

Above: The Adventures of Jack Scratch by Craig Phillips. Copyright Craig Phillips 2018.

Taupo based artist Craig Phillips will be there to launch his latest children's graphic novel, The Adventures of Jack Scratch! Phillips is also the author of last year's Giants, Trolls, Witches, Beasts: Ten Tales from the Deep, Dark Woods. So make sure you check out his books and artwork available at the show.

Above: Artwork from WWE #13 by Michel Mulipola. Copyright WWE Entertainment 2018.

Comic artist and wrestler Michel Mulipola will also be attending. His comics credits include the Headlocked series and WWE for BOOM! Studios! He's always busy drawing amazing commissions, so make sure you check him out near the IPW Wrestling arena!

Above: Artwork by Xephia. Copyright Kirsti Hogan 2018.

Artist/Designer extraordinaire - and Armageddon regular, Xephia aka Kirsti Hogan will be attending, and will no doubt have a great deal of art and prints available for sale over the weekend.

Above: Gunface by Paul Jason Young and Tim Hunger. Copyright Sonny Studios 2018.

Auckland based artist Paul Jason Young, artist of the crime comic series Gunface will attending the show under his Sonny Studios banner. He'll be releasing Gunface #5 at Armageddon, so it will be a good opportunity to catch up on the earlier issues and get a signed copy while you're there.

Above: The White Cloud Worlds logo.

White Cloud Worlds has released three collections of fantasy art from some of New Zealand's most respected artists. This is a great opportunity to pick up these collections of eye-popping artwork if you haven't already, and meet some of the artists in person.

With all these great guests in attendance you'll be hard pressed to find a better entertainment option in Wellington this Easter weekend! Armageddon Expo is open Friday March 30th from noon - 5pm, Saturday March 31st from 9am - 6pm, and Sunday April 1st 9am - 5pm. For more information, visit the official Armageddon website HERE, and advance tickets can be purchased through Ticketek HERE.

- AK!

EVENT: So You Finished Your Comic, Now What?

Above: From left, self-portraits by cartoonists: Michel Mulipola, Li Chen, Sam Orchard and Zak Waipara.

Creating and completing a comic book, graphic novel or comic strip is a huge accomplishment...but what comes next? How do you go about getting it printed or published? How do you find an audience for your comic book?

The panel event, 'So You Finished Your Comic, Now What?', happening at the Auckland Central Library Whare Wananga on Thursday 14th of September at 6pm will attempt to answer these questions and more.

Moderated by cartoonist and educator Zak Waipara (Otea),  the panel will include experienced cartoonists Sam Orchard (Rooster Tails), Li Chen (Extra Ordinary Comics) and Michel Mulipola (Headlocked: The Last Territory), discussing the realities of getting your finished comic in front of an audience.

Here's some background on the participating cartoonists:

Panelists:

Li Chen is the creator of the webcomic Extra Ordinary. She likes drawing and petting cats. You can visit the Extra Ordinary website HERE.

Michel Mulipola is a self-taught comic book artist from Auckland. He has been immersed in the world of comic books from the tender age of five when he first decided he wanted to draw them. He has contributed to various anthologies and is currently working on the U.S comic book, Headlocked: The Last Territory. You can visit his website HERE.

Sam Orchard has been drawing comics since he was a little girl. He is passionate about telling stories that celebrate the rich depth and diversity of our communities. He draws an autobio webcomic about his life as a queer trans man at Rooster Tails, which you can visit HERE.

Moderator:

Zak Waipara (Rongowhakaata, Ngati Ruapani, Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu). Zak has worked in animation, written and illustrated books and comics, including the recently released Otea. He has lectured in Digital Media and Animation at AUT and Animation College. You can visit his Otea website HERE.

The event is FREE, with refreshments from 6:00pm, with the event starting at 6:30pm. For more information and updates, visit the Facebook event page HERE or the Auckland Libraries event page HERE.

- AK!

EVENT: Altered Egos Exhibition

Opening today, Altered Egos! is an interactive exhibition of illustration, featuring two world-class Mangere illustrators, Michel Mulipola (Headlocked) and Ali Cowley.

Showing at Māngere Arts Centre – Ngā Tohu o Uenuku for the first time, Ali Cowley and Michel Mulipola have brought together works by talented emerging illustrators and animators including Nanai Tolovae Jr, Jimmy Vea and Te Iwihoko Te Rangihirawea. Large scale banners, working methods and finished artwork will be on show, including a space for budding illustrators to contribute.

The exhibition runs from 12 November - 14 January, showing Monday: Friday 9am - 5pm, and Saturday from 10am - 4pm. Entry is FREE of charge, so head over to the Māngere Arts Centre this summer to check out some eye-catching artwork! For more information, visit the exhibition facebook page HERE.

- AK!

Roger Langridge Wins an Eisner Award for 'Snarked!'

Above: Roger Langridge at San Diego Comic Con 2012, pictured with Michel Mulipola of Gotham Comics.

Congratulations to Roger Langridge for taking home his first Eisner Award over the weekend for his comic series Snarked!.

This is Roger's first Eisner Award, having been nominated three times previously for his outstanding contributions to comics. This makes him New Zealand's most internationally awarded cartoonist, having previously won three Harvey Awards (‘Best Publication for Younger Readers’ in 2010 for The Muppet Show Comic Book; ‘Special Award for Humor’ and ‘Best Writer’ in 2011 for The Muppet Show Comic Book and Thor: The Mighty Avenger, respectively).

Above: The cover of Snarked! #6. Copyright Roger Langridge 2012.

Snarked! is published in the US by Boom Studios. The children's humour series takes its starting point from the works of Lewis Carroll, but takes the characters off in new and unexpected directions.

The Eisner Awards are America's most prestigious comics award. They are named after cartoonist Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit comic series and originator of the graphic novel format with his landmark 1978 publication A Contract With God. Established in 1987, the Eisner Awards are presented annually at a ceremony as a part of the Comic-Con International Comic Convention held in San Diego, California.

His crowded trophy cabinet may need some extra reinforcing soon, as Snarked! is also nominated for an additional three Harvey Awards, which will be announced in September.

You can view more of Roger's comics at his website HERE and the official Snarked! site HERE.

-AK!

GO READ: Done To Death: The Truth

Above: Page 1 of Done To Death: The Truth by Stevie James & Michel Mulipola. Copyright Stevie James & Michel Mulipola 2012.

Michel Mulipola's artwork has gone from strength to strength in the last few years, and the comics industry is starting to take notice. Last year Michel was one of the few artists attending San Diego Comic Con to be hand-picked for a portfolio review with DC Comics Art Director Mark Chiarello. They've officially invited Michel to submit further art samples, so it won't be long until other publishers start knocking on his door. Until then, you can find some of his impressive artwork over at his deviantART page HERE.

A prime example of his crazy art skills is this new short story, Done To Death: The Truth, illustrated for Wellington writer Stevie James. Completed in a mere two weeks(!), it's a great showcase of Michel's artistic strengths: great character, pacing, and plenty of atmosphere to burn. You can read the full story HERE.

-AK!

Election Day Rogues!

Above: New Zealand politicians reinterpreted as Batman's rogues gallery by Michel Mulipola. Copyright Michel Mulipola 2011.


Hi everyone, and welcome back to New Zealand's 85th most popular blog! (well according to this survey anyway...).
Apologies for the lack of content this month, I've been experiencing broadband difficulties...but now that everything is back up to speed, you can expect plenty of new updates and stories in the coming weeks!
In the meantime, it's Election Day here in NZ, and to celebrate it in comics style, local artist Michel Mulipola has reinterpreted some of our most recognised politicians as Batman villians! I'm particularly taken with Don Brash as Mr. Freeze...nicely played Michel. For a full explanation of his character choices, visit his deviantART page HERE.


Now lastly, if you're a NZ citizen, for the love of god get out there and VOTE!


-AK!

Beyond Reality Media: The House That Bill Built

For the last 15 years, William Geradts (or 'Bill' as he's more commonly known) has been the mastermind behind New Zealand's biggest popular culture convention, the Armageddon Expo.

From a humble beginning as a comics swap meet in a suburban meeting hall, the Armageddon Expo has grown to accommodate a wide variety of popular culture interests over the years, from comics and manga, gaming and sci-fi film and television guests. As it's grown in popularity, it's also increased in size to match; from a floor of Auckland's Aotea Centre to the entire building, it's now so large the ASB Showgrounds is the only venue in Auckland with enough room to contain it. The Expo now hosts up to six events a year, held across New Zealand and Australia in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Melbourne and Adelaide.

Above: William 'Bill' Geradts.

You would think organising this rotating line-up of events would be enough to keep Geradts busy, but over the last year or so he's being dropping curious hints on his Twitter account about plans to broaden his media empire in a more creative direction...and he's now ready to share the results.

From this Friday he'll be making the move from promoter to publisher, with his new online comics company, Beyond Reality Media. Launching with four new comics (and one reprinted), they will be available to read online for FREE with daily updates of two new pages from each title every week. To produce these titles, Geradts has recruited local and international talent to bring these concepts to life.

He's a breakdown of the titles on offer:

Attica: Launching July 1st

Written by William Geradts & Christian Gossett

Art by Darick Robertson & Richard Clark

Synopsis: What if the ancient world’s bloodiest conqueror walked the modern world as its greatest prophet?

Warden: Launching July 4th

Written by William Geradts & Christian Gossett

Art by Alan Robinson, colours by Cristian Gonzalez

Synopsis: What if the world’s greatest superhero is actually something else entirely?

The Inspiration Duncans: Launching July 5th

Written by William Geradts & Richard Fairgray

Art by Michel Mulipola & Gonzalo Mertinez

Synopsis: Patrick discovered the missing link…then killed it. He’s REALLY sorry.

The Red Star: Launching July 6th (previously published by Image Comics)

Created, written & drawn by Christian Gossett, produced with Team Red Star

Synopsis: One of the most celebrated graphic novel series of the decade is an epic mythology inspired by the art and history of the Soviet Union.

Robert Rankin's Empires: Launching July 7th

Written & drawn by Robert Rankin

Colours by Coleen Littleford-Allen

Synopsis: A girl adventurer, a monkey butler, alien invaders and the darkest magic on Earth. The year is 1895 and the world is coming to an end.

It's certainly an interesting and varied line-up of titles, and he's what we know about the creators:

Christian Gossett (co-writer of Attica & Warden, creator of The Red Star): This artist & writer came up through the film industry as a concept artist for Lucas Film, his main claim to fame was his design for Darth Maul's double-sided lightsabre. His comic series The Red Star was originally published through Image Comics in 2001. After several appearances at Armageddon Expo in the early 2000s, I believe he caught the eye of Weta Workshop's Richard Taylor, and was soon providing concept art for King Kong and other film projects for the effects company. The most recent project he contributed to was Alice In Wonderland for Disney.

Robert Rankin (creator of Empires): Is a cult British fantasy/humour author of 33 novels, including Necrophenia (2008) and Retromancer (2009). He originally trained as an illustrator before becoming a full-time writer, so this will be the first project he's fully illustrated himself in over thirty years. The results should prove interesting...

Richard Fairgray (co-writer of The Inspiration Duncans): Richard is best know as the local creator of Blastosaurus, which was published monthly in New Zealand before catching the attention of film producer Jeff Katz, who enlisted Richard and his comic for his American Original publishing company. While Katz has proved to be 'all talk, no walk', Richard has continued to produce his own comics and animation projects, including this new collaboration.

Michel Mulipola (artist of The Inspiration Duncans): Joining Richard on The Inspiration Duncans is Michel Mulipola, a local up and coming Samoan comic book artist. By day he is a comic store clerk at Gotham Comics in Onehunga, and by night he is living the dream as a wrestler AND comic artist (a deadly combination of creativity!).

Alan Robinson (artist of Warden): Alan Robinson is a Chilean artist, responsible for the Weekly World News comic series for IDW. His work can also be found on the Terminator: Salvation Prequel, some Star Wars books, and as co-creator of Lost Squad.

Darick Robertson (artist of Attica issue 1): An A-List talent, Darick is best known for his artwork on such best-selling comics titles as The Boys, Transmetropolitan and Punisher. Taking time out from his busy schedule to provide the artwork for issue one of Attica is a real win for Bill and his team, a move that's guaranteed to turn industry heads.

Richard Clark (artist of Attica issue 3 onwards): Richard Clark has worked for a wide variety of entertainment clients, including: HBO, Playboy, The Wall Street Journal and Marvel & DC Comics. He recently providing finishes over Darick Robertson's breakdowns for The Guild:Vork for Dark Horse.

I think Bill's making a very savvy, smart move here by providing the comics free online before collecting them together as print collections. I've talked about this before, but New Zealand has never had the population to support a print network for comic books they way the US has, despite some noble efforts in the past. As it stands today, it can barely support local magazines and newspapers as the real move towards digital media has truly begun in earnest.

I was curious to see if Bill would attempt a print run, as he does in fact have a very strong and potentially profitable network of distribution set-up through his convention circuit. It would have been an interesting experiment, but the smart money is really online, where his books will be able to reach a much larger audience than our limited print population. Plus his network will still be in place to distribute the online material in collected editions, with the first paperback of Attica due in time for the Auckland Armageddon Expo in October.

So for the first look at these books, visit the Beyond Reality Media website HERE on Friday for the launch of Attica, and witness one of the biggest moves in New Zealand comics for some time. It will be interesting to see how this develops, check back here for creator interviews in the coming months ahead.

-AK!

All images and logos in this story are copyright Beyond Reality Media 2011, except for The Red Star copyright Christian Gossett 2011.

NZ Comics: The 2011 Christchurch Earthquake Response

Above: A Pink Noise art appeal piece by Michel Mulipola featuring Spider-Man.

It's been almost one week since the city of Christchurch was devastated by the largest aftershock yet, following last September's original earthquake. Heartbreakingly, this quake struck in the middle of a busy Tuesday afternoon, destroying highly populated buildings in the city's CBD, taking many lives with it. Today the death toll stands at 155, but sadly that figure is expected to rise. Financial and emotional support for the affected people of Christchurch continues to flood in, from both national and international relief efforts. In these uncertain times it's difficult to register an appropriate response to this scale of devastation, particularly from a distance.

Above: Page one of Roses for Christchurch by Sarah Laing. Copyright Sarah Lieng 2011.

During this past weekend, Auckland writer/designer/cartoonist Sarah Laing produced a touching and beautifully understated 3-page comic strip Roses for Christchurch, which for me (and many others I imagine) perfectly captures that feeling of detached sorrow, watching this tragedy from a distance, and just how very fragile our civilisation really is.

The cartoon image of the Christchurch Cathedral with 'invisible dashes' (a favourite visual shorthand in the language of comics) to complete it's fractured facade, is by itself an incredibly powerful image.

You can read the complete story on Sarah's blog HERE, and please be sure to visit the Roses for Christchurch Facebook page to make a donation HERE.

Above: The Funtime Comics Collective logo ((RAHG!)).

One cartoonist who has experienced the earthquakes firsthand is Isaac Freeman, editor of the Christchurch comics collective Funtime. In response to the latest earthquake, Funtime will be releasing a special Earthquake Relief issue, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross.

They would like to get a really wide selection of New Zealand and international artists on board for this, so if this sounds like you, no matter what your level of experience or how far removed you feel from events, now is the time to get involved!

So now I'll turn thinks over to Issac for the submission guidelines:

• Submissions are due 21 March 2011.
• Comics should in some way address the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, even if peripherally. Original work would be preferred.
• We'd prefer each piece to be 1-4 pages long, so we can fit in plenty of artists. This is flexible if the work demands it, but longer pieces will be harder to fit in.
• Funtime is published in an A5 portrait format (148 mm wide, 210 mm high) format. We can take submissions in other sizes and shapes, but they'll be shrunk to fit this size. Be careful that your lettering will still be readable at this size - people hate having to use a magnifying glass to read their comics.
• Black and white only. We won't have time for close control of tones, so it's best if your artwork have plenty of contrast.
• For digital submissions, make sure the file names include numbers to show their order. Scan to at least 600dpi. We can handle most bitmap formats, and PDF or Adobe Illustrator CS3 or earlier. Email to: funtime@comics.org.nz.
• For paper submissions, write your name on the back of each page as well as a page number if your contribution is longer than one page, so we don't get the order wrong. Post to 15B Lothian Street, Ilam, Christchurch 8041. At the time of writing the postal service isn't operating in Christchurch, but we expect it to be back soon. Please don't use our PO box, as it's inside the security cordon and we can't access it.
• Please try not to send any work that might get us arrested. Nudity and adult themes are acceptable within reason. We usually aim to be suitable for mature teenagers and older.
• Include contact details, and biographical information with your submission. A small self-portrait is also handy.
• Submission of artwork is taken to imply that the contributor gives permission for their work to be published, and that short excerpts may be used for the promotion of the anthology as the editor sees fit. If you have specific requirements for how your work should be used, please let us know.

Context:

Funtime Comics is a loose non-profit collective of artists. We're based in Christchurch, New Zealand, with contributors from around the world. We've been publishing the Funtime Comics Anthology on a semi-regular basis for twenty years. We gather for monthly workshops, where we drink tea, draw comics and make somewhat civilised conversation. We publish work from people of all ages and levels of comics-making experience, and we make lots of shared jam comics.

Ōtautahi/Christchurch in New Zealand's second largest city. On 22 February 2011 it was hit by a devastating earthquake, causing massive damage and many deaths. At the time of writing, large parts of the city are without drinking water, power or sewerage outflow. Military, police and aid agencies from around the world are assisting with relief and rescue efforts.

-Isaac Freeman
Editor, Funtime Comics

For more information, visit the Facebook page HERE.

Above: A Pink Noise art appeal piece by Ant Sang, featuring The Monk Who Doubts.

Auckland non-profit art community Pink Noise have also mounted their own artistic response effort, organising an online art auction on Trade Me. Featuring diverse artworks from the group's members for sale, with all proceeds from the auction will be going to the Christchurch Red Cross. Amongst the great artworks on offer is a print by Michel Mulipola featuring Spider-Man swinging from the Christchurch Cathedral (see the picture at the top of this post), and an inked original of 'The Monk Who Doubts' by Ant Sang from his bestselling graphic novel Shaolin Burning! So check out these auctions and get some great artwork for your wall while donating to a very worthy cause!

These life changing events are never easy to deal with; but perhaps you'll find something in this report that helps you express how you feel about it in a creative way, or inspire you to aid others by purchasing some of that creativity yourself.

-AK!