Last Stop: Auckland Armageddon Expo 2014!

Above: Ant Sang and his new graphic novel collection of The Dharma Punks.

This is a late breaking announcement due to all the work surrounding the launch of Earth's End Publishing, but if you follow this blog and live in Auckland, chances are you already have your tickets for this long weekend's Auckland Armageddon Expo! It all kicks off with a preview night on Friday 24th (tomorrow) - from 6pm-9pm, and then three full-on days of pop culture madness, from Saturday 25th - Monday 27th of October!

This will be one of the most well attended conventions by local creators in several years, so I wanted to take this opportunity to spotlight the many great local comics releases you can get your hands on this weekend!

As seen above, Ant Sang will be attending Armageddon to sign advance copies of The Dharma Punks collected edition, the first graphic novel offering from Earth's End Publishing! (booth 95).

I'll also be there with copies of From Earth's End: The Best of New Zealand Comics, along with Damon Keen from the Faction Comics Anthology (3 issues available), and the Sheehan Brothers - creators of The Inhabitants, who also happen to have a new mini-comic debuting at the Expo.

Above: The latest Morgan children's book, Morgan Goes To Sleep, by Richard Fairgray, Tara Black and Terry Jones.

Square Planet will once again be attending with a variety of new comics and creators, which you can discover at Mega-booth 100! Richard Fairgray - best known for Blastosaurus, Ghost Ghost, Anoraks & Acolytes and now the Morgan series of children's books, will have new entries available for all of his titles, as well as some more surprises.

Above: Ralphi by Richard Fairgray.

Above: Robyn Kenealy by Richard Fairgray.

Above: Tara Black by Richard Fairgray.

Square Planet will also be launching exclusive cartoonist sketchbooks this year, featuring artwork from some of their upcoming collaborators, including Ralphi - creator of Ricky & Lyle, Robyn Kenealy - creator of American Captain, Tara Black - creator of I Fight Crime.

Above: Nothing Fits by Mary Tamblyn & Alex McCrone.

New this year at the NZCC booth 169, we will have the graphic novel Nothing Fits from Christchurch creators Mary Tamblyn & Alex McCrone, as well as the latest edition of NZ's longest running comics anthology Funtime, edited by Jason Lennie. We'll also have the latest Bristle Annual #2, edited by Brent Willis.

Above: THRUST JUSTICE! by Brent Willis.

Speaking of Brent Willis, he has a new comic launching at Armageddon courtesy of Pikitia Press booth 153, the irreverent THRUST JUSTICE! Get a copy before it gets you!

Above: Moonbeard by Squires.

 Pikitia Press will also be selling Moonbeard by Squires - a 132 page comics collection, as well as titles from Sarah Laing, Barry Linton, James Davidson and more!

Above: The Time Traveling Tourist from Beyond Reality Media.

BRM will have a host of graphic novels and comics available from the Mega-Booth 100, including: Prepocalypse Vol.1, Warden Vol.2, The Time Traveling Tourist, and many more! Artist Alan Robinson will also be in attendance.

Above: Copies of the graphic novel Headlocked: The Last Territory by Michael Kingston & Michel Mulipola.

One of our friends Michel Mulipola has a new graphic novel out, Headlocked: The Last Territory - set in the world of professional wrestling. You can pick up a signed copy from him at the Arkham City Comics booth 95. Darick Robertson - artist of Transmetropolitian, The Boys and many of US titles will also be signing at the Arkham City Comics booth throughout the weekend.

Above: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as illustrated by co-creator Kevin Eastman.

Other international comics guests appearing at the Expo include the legendary co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Kevin Eastman (Sunday only); the writer of Chew - John Layman, and James Tynion IV & Kyle Higgins, co-writers with Layman of the weekly series, Batman Eternal.

So if you love comics, this weekend make sure you get along to Auckland Armageddon Expo, held at the ASB Showgrounds Greenlane, from October 24th - 27th. For more information visit the Armageddon Expo website HERE.

- AK!

EVENT: Comics at Writers Week 2014!

The New Zealand Festival is currently underway in Wellington, with the Writers Week section kicking off tomorrow. 

Above: Let Me Be Frank #1, by Sarah Laing. Copyright Sarah Laing 2014.

This year's event features a variety of comics related panels, starting on Saturday 8th of March with 'Reading For Writers' at 9.30am. This two hour panel features Linley Boniface, Beattie’s Book Blog author Graham Beattie and Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner Emma Martin discussing their reading habits, and Let Me Be Frank cartoonist/writer Sarah Laing provides a confidence-boosting briefing on how best to absorb a comic!

Tickets are $45, and you can find more information on the talk HERE.

Above: The cover of Incomplete Stories by Dylan Horrocks. Copyright Dylan Horrocks 2014.

Later that evening, Dylan Horrocks will be celebrating the launch of his new comics collection, Incomplete Stories, with a release party - along with fellow Victoria University Press author Caoilinn Hughes' new poetry collection, Gathering Evidence. This is a FREE event, taking place Saturday, 8th of March at the Exchange Atrium, 24 Blair St, Wellington Central, from 7.30pm. See the event page HERE for more details.

There are also plans for a Incomplete Stories launch in Auckland later in March, so keep an eye out for that.

Above: American cartoonist Allison Bechdel.

The Festival will also be hosting acclaimed US cartoonist, Allison Bechdel. Creator of the widely published comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, she has also produced two bestselling graphic memoirs, Fun Home (2006) - which chronicles her childhood memories and her difficult relationship with her father, and Are You My Mother? (2012) - an exploration of her relationship with her mother and her time spent in therapy. Bechdel will be discussing her work and more, with community art space director Moira Clunie. The panel will be taking place on Sunday, 9th of March at 1.45pm at the Embassy Theatre.

Tickets are $18, check out the Festival page HERE for more details.

Above: The 'Comicsville' line-up: (from left) Adrian Kinnaird, Robyn E. Kenealy, Dylan Horrocks and Jonathan King.

Next up, From Earth's End: The Best of New Zealand Comics will be spotlighted in the 'Comicsville' panel, on Monday, March 10th at 10.45am at the Hannah Playhouse (formally Downstage Theatre). I'll be joined on stage with three of the featured cartoonists from the book: Dylan Horrocks - author of Hicksville; Robyn E. Kenealy - author of Roddy's Film Companion and the webcomic American Captain; and cartoonist/film director Jonathan King - author of Threat Level. We'll be discussing the exciting developments and growth of the New Zealand comics scene of the last few years, including the publication of From Earth's End and Dylan Horrocks' latest collection, Incomplete Stories.

Tickets are $18, check out the Festival page HERE for more details.

Online ticket sales are available now through the Writers Week events page HERE or Ticketek HERE. Some events are selling fast, so book you tickets now!

- AK!

The Wellington Report: Fleet FM Radio as Paper #2 Launch

Above: Art from 'The Devil's Handshake' by Robyn E. Kenealy, as featured in Fleet FM Radio as Pictures #2.

Hey everyone,

Here's a report on the Wellington Fleet FM Radio as Paper #2 Launch held last Friday, from my Welly correspondent in the field, the lovely and talented Robyn E. Kenealy (who is also a contributer to issue #2 so you have no excuse not to pick it up!).

So enjoy with a pinch of politics and a dash of Battlestar Galactica!

-AK!

Dear 'From Earth's End' and associates,

There’s this debate going round about New Zealand comics and neo-liberalism. Actually, the reason there is a debate is because I keep starting it. Neo-liberalism pisses me off, in case you were wondering. Seriously. If you were planning to invite me to a party with the caveat that I don’t upset your neo-liberal Grandmother, take my advice and don’t.

Anyway, I bring this up because that is mostly what we were all talking about at the Wellington Fleet FM: ‘Radio as Paper’ launch at the DAF 106 Gallery on Friday (for those of you not in the know, DAF stands for Don and Francie, the two wonderful people who run the gallery. They charge to put a show on, but not terribly much, and really, the whole gallery runs on their kindness and dedication. It is at 106 Aro Street,and you can friend them on myspace here).

So it was a small event, mostly due to the weather (which was awful) but reasonably well attended. There were a few people I didn’t even recognise. Everybody drank. Everybody was nice. Nobody got sick. Tim Bollinger even made an appearance. Personally, after a little obligatory circulating, I spent most of my night sitting around with editor Jerome Bihan, DRAW, Brent Willis, Don and M. Emery drinking wine and talking about – as I’ve said – neo-liberalism. For a while we wandered off into ‘Battlestar Galactica’ and then, I think, we talked about Segues, which are those bizarre faux scooters that you see around from time to time. But after that, I'm almost sure, it was back to the politics, and it was heated. Actually, I blame DRAW for making that conversation happen. All I did was engage the usual public argument that my husband and I have about BSG.* Oh yes, and M. Emery and I had a long bitch about the Destiny Church.

But the reason I’m bringing politics up is that Bihan, when faced with all this excitement about business imperatives and comics, has a plan.* Or, kind of a plan, in that his goals and aspirations are not at all scary or confrontational; they are simply personal and ethical, with something of a community focus, and Bihan, I found out, is a smart and remarkably unpretentious fellow, even though he called himself pretentious several times. On none of those occasions was he actually so, and I was pleased about this because recall putting myself forward for ‘Radio as Paper’ sight unseen without having met him, and it was a genuine pleasure to find out he wasn’t a creep, a jerk or a Republican (in the American sense.) At any rate, the goals of Radio As Paper, contiguous with the goals of Fleet FM, are to represent diversity of opinion and to showcase what might otherwise slip under the radar. It is a community thing, not an industry thing, done for public good rather than private gain. These are noble goals, and Bihan appeared optimistic and eerily relaxed about them as he laid them out for me. And I say eerily relaxed because I mean it. He was reclined in his chair, cigarette in hand, talking easily as if it were the most natural thing in the world. His calm demeanour could have been because he was –as he said - very tried from the Auckland launch and so didn’t have the energy to worry, but also, possibly, because he is French. That is, from the land where, as DRAW put it, ‘culture comes from.’

Adrian has already reviewed the magazine here, as you likely well know, and I can’t say I really have a lot to add to his description, because this seems about right. Besides, I am in the magazine (mine is the strip where the two gay guys talk about wanking) and so it feels a bit funny to start picking it apart or puffing it up. However, I had a lovely time at the launch. I really did. I think you should buy the magazine if only because I am in it – and, honestly, M. Emery’s strip is splendid. I’m so impressed by his new work. It is smart and weirdly cute at the same time – and, of course, to reward Jerome for being awesome. Neo-liberalism aside, it’s only $2. Cheapness, I wonder, possibly resolves some of the debate.

Fond regards,

Robyn E. Kenealy

*My husband and I had the same public argument we always have, because, as it turns out, we are geeks. “Put him out the airlock!” my husband inevitably says, referring to Dr. Gaius Baltar, upon whom I have a fictional crush. “They should have put him out the airlock at the beginning. It’s the only way to maintain order.”

“You leave Dr. Baltar alone,” I will then say “he clearly had a hard time growing up on the planet of North Yorkshire. And besides, he has mother issues.”

“Cry me a river,” my husband will reply. “Cry me a fucking river.” And so it goes. People come and go around us, but the argument remains the same. My husband has too much respect for Admiral Adama to suffer a traitor aboard the Galactica. My conjecture is this: you say what you like about cylon collaboration. Baltar makes out like Charlie Sheen.

*like the cylons!! But no, not like that.

Fleet FM Radio As Paper Issue #2 Launch

FLEET FM RADIO AS PAPER ISSUE #2

Price: $2

Edited by Jerome Bihan

Featuring comics by: Cornelius Stone, Vincent Shield, Elliott Stewart, M+S Emery, Robyn E. Kenealy, Jerome Bihan, Tim Kidd, Frank & Becky, Thom Burton and M.F. Joyce.

As the future of slick print comics becomes more uncertain it's refreshing to see a local anthology printed on cheap folded A3 newsprint proving that as a disposable medium for exchanging artwork and ideas, print ain't dead just yet.

Equal parts comic and zine; Radio on Paper features a mix of short comic pieces (one or two pages for each cartoonist) and articles (interviews, comics appreciations and music talk from the FLEET crew). Like any good zine made especially to distribute amongst friends it's a fun print reunion for cartoonist's who's work hasn't been seen in print nearly enough recently.

In the case of Cornelius Stone it's the first work of his I've seen in sometime; while some new names to me were a welcome surprise (Vincent Shield's 'The Mysterious World of Arthur C Clarke' has a nice Eddie Campbell feel to it).

Other creator's featured here like Robyn E. Kenealy, Tim Kidd, and Frank & Becky are well represented online at their respective websites, but it's a pleasure to see there work back on newsprint where it really sings.

Tim Kidd's two page story 'Bernard Can't Sleep' is a real treat to behold (especially after rationing myself on each new single strip at his website!). Given room to breath here there's a lot to like; from the confident pacing to the playful word balloons. And the floating heads flashback on page two is masterful in it's simplicity.

The only criticism I can level at the book as a whole is it feels a little slapped together in places, like some on the articles were quickly re-typed to fit the format before finding it's way to the office photocopier. But that's kind of missing the point; the enthusiasm and sheer effort of Jerome and his contributors to put this out more than makes up for what it lacks in production value. Besides, not all comics are made to last forever. At an extremely affordable $2, Radio on Paper is perfect to pick up and see what your local cartoonists are up to. Read it, share it, love it, recycle it. It's only newsprint after all.

I attended the Auckland launch party at Cross Street Studios on Monday night and if you're down in Wellington there's a launch party happening there at Mighty Mighty this Friday, May 8th (see above Gig poster). I'll hopefully have a report on that from one of my Welly corespondents.

If you're in Auckland and looking to get hold of a copy, I'd recommend getting in touch with Fleet FM at: +64 9 307078 to enquire after copies of issue #2 and #1. If you're interested in contributing to future issues you can contact: Jerome@fleetfm.co.nz.

-AK!