PODCAST: Nga Pakiwaituhi: New Zealand Comics and Graphic Novels

Above: The New Zealand Comics Panel, featuring (from left): Dylan Horrocks, Adrian Kinnaird, Sarah Laing and Sam Orchard.

As a part of the Auckland Arts Festival 2013, the St Paul St Gallery at AUT hosted two comics exhibitions: Nga Pakiwaituhi: New Zealand Comics, an exhibition of work by contemporary New Zealand cartoonists, and Comics, Manga & Co. :The New Culture of German Comics, an overview of the current German comics scene.

Nga Pakiwaituhi: New Zealand Comics featured the work of over 30 local cartoonists, which you can revisit in my gallery of the exhibition HERE.

Above: Dylan Horrocks asking the tough questions!

Towards the end of the exhibition in mid-April I took part in a panel discussion on New Zealand Comics. Moderated by Dylan Horrocks, creator of Hicksville, the panel also featured Sarah Laing, novelist and cartoonist of the webcomic Let Me Be Frank, and Sam Orchard, also a webcomic cartoonist, as the creator of Rooster Tails.

You can now listen to a full podcast of the panel HERE.

We discuss how we got into comics, our backgrounds and working process, as well as lots of other fun bits and pieces related to New Zealand comics culture. Enjoy!

-AK!

Moth City joins Thrillbent!

Hot on the heels of its release on ComiXology, Tim Gibson's Moth City will become the latest webcomic to join Thrillbent, an exclusive digital comics platform created by comics writer Mark Waid (Daredevil, Kingdom Come) and screenwriter/producer John Rogers (Transformers, Leverage).

Moth City will debut on the Thrillbent site this Tuesday 14th of May, with new weekly installments following every Tuesday.

Moth City artwork by Tim Gibson. Copyright Tim Gibson 2013.

Following the announcement, Gibson responded, "I am extremely excited to be involved with Thrillbent.com and very lucky to have been passed along to Mark Waid and John Rogers by some very supportive parties. Moth City has been greatly influenced by Thrillbent's work, and other digital comic pioneers like Alex De Campi and Dan Goldman, so this opportunity is akin to buying a Nirvana cassette, starting your own band and then being invited to tour with them". 

"In an attempt to 'out-enthuse' Mark Waid all I can say is holy-s&!t, am I grateful for all the support Moth City has received from it's existing readers, and the comics community as a whole, and I can't wait to get my noir-crime-horror-genre-mash in front of more readers".

You can visit Thrillbent HERE for more information and free comics!

Here's a bonus trailer for Moth City:

- AK!

EVENT: Chromacon 2013

Above: The Chromacon poster, as created by event organiser Allan Xia.

This Sunday, the Aotea Centre in Auckland will be hosting the first (hopefully annual) Chromacon - an arts festival showcase the best of New Zealand illustrators and cartoonists. Featuring over 65 artists, showcasing their work and selling comics, art prints and more. Best of all, the event is completely FREE of charge!

Above: Art from some of the cartoonists in attendance: Top Row: Dylan Horrocks, Ben Stenbeck, Karl Wills. Second Row: Tim Gibson, Ant Sang, James Davidson. Third Row: Toby Morris, Chris Slane and the Sheehan Bros.

The event features a stellar line-up of New Zealand's finest cartoonists including: Dylan Horrocks, Ant Sang, Toby Morris, Karl Wills, Chris Slane, Tim Gibson, the Sheehan Bros, James Davidson, Ben Stenbeck, Richard Fairgray, Czepta Gold, Marc Streeter, Michel Mulipola, Sophie Oiseau, Cory Mathis, Sarah Laing, Matt Emery and Pikitia Press, Gregor Czaykowski, Faction Comics and myself.

Above: Art from some of the illustrators in attendance: Top Row: Allan Xia, Ema Frost, Henry Christian Slane. Second Row: Nick Keller, Stacey Robson, Sanjana Baijnath. Third Row: Rebecca ter Borg, Watermark and White Cloud Worlds.

There will also be an eye-poping range of illustrators at the event, including: Allan Xia, Rachel Smythe, Ema Frost, Stacey Robson, Rebecca ter Borg, Henry Christian Slane, Sanjana Baijnath, Paul Shipper, Nick Keller, Paul Tobin, Svet Mateev, Tom Robinson, White Cloud Worlds, Watermark and many more!

There will also be live art demonstrations and discussion panels throughout the day.

Starting at 9am, Jason Hong will kick-off the first hour of live art demos, followed by Ben Stenbeck (Hellboy, Baltimore), Czepta Gold, Rachel Smythe, Tom Robinson and Sloane Kim.

Above: From Earth's End: The Best of New Zealand Comics announcement image.

I'll be hosting the first panel discussion at 10am on Level 4, with my publishing announcement for From Earth's End: The Best of New Zealand Comics, which promises exactly what it says in the title! This will be an exclusive look inside the first major book to be published on New Zealand Comics - the creators, the unrevealed history, the comics. Its all here waiting to be discovered. With special guests: Sarah Laing, James Davidson and Toby Morris!

This will be followed at 11.15am by Crowd-funding Your Dreams, a discussion on crowd-funding your creative projects, with Faction Comics founders Damon Keen, Anna Guenther and Allan Xia.

After lunch at 1pm the panels will continue with The Art of Visual Storytelling, with White Cloud Worlds editor Paul Tobin, Jim Auckland, and Watermark founder Simon Shaw.

And the final panel of the day, Webcomics and the Future of Publishing. This will feature Tim Gibson, creator of the webcomic Moth City, Dylan Horrocks (Hicksville, Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen), Gregor Czaykowski (Loading Artist) and Li Chen (Extra Ordinary Comics).

Its rare that these kind of events take place for free - other similar event charge huge amounts for panel guests and demos like this ((cough, Semi-Permanent, cough!)). So if you have an interest in illustration or cartooning, come along and meet the creators and purchase some fantastic artwork!

Chromacon takes place this Sunday 12th May, from 9am-5pm at the Air NZ Foyer, Aotea Centre, Auckland. For more details, visit the official website HERE. See below for the event map to find your way around.

-AK!

Moth City now available on ComiXology!

Above the artwork for Moth City Season 1, by Tim Gibson.

I'm taking a brief reprise from my hiatus (I'll be back next week!) to announce that Tim Gibson's fantastic webcomic series Moth City, is now available to buy and download from ComiXology - the world's largest digital retailer for comic books. Check it out HERE for only a crazy 0.99 cents US for the first issue!

Above: a sample page from Moth City by Tim Gibson.

Written and illustrated by Tim Gibson, Moth City is an alternate-history noir. The Nationalist Army of China comes to Moth City to purchase a mysterious new weapon to win the 1930s civil war, and instead steps into shadowy intrigues as a daughter tries to escape her father, a scientist tries to avoid his death sentence and a dictator tries to control a world falling apart.

"F@#king great!" - Mark Waid (writer of Daredevil and Kingdom Come)
"An engrossing and entertaining read... It's sharp and it's brilliantly illustrated..." - Multiversity Comics
"A crime/horror series with a highly polished style... and a healthy dash of noir" - From Earth's End

Here is a link to Moth City on comiXology, and once you are up to date, be sure to visit the Moth City website HERE and register for free weekly updates and more!

-AK!

EVENT: Nga Pakiwaituhi: New Zealand Comics and Graphic Novels Panel

Next Wednesday I'll be taking part in a panel discussion on 'The New Zealand Comics Community' to support the exhibition Nga Pakiwaituhi: New Zealand Comics, currently on at St Paul St Gallery in Auckland.

The panel will be chaired by the exhibition curator, Dylan Horrocks, and will also feature Sarah Laing - writer/artist of Let Me Be Frank, and Sam Orchard writer/artist of Rooster Tails.

The panel kicks off at 6pm and will run for an hour; I'm sure there'll also be a Q&A, so if you have burning questions about NZ comics or how to get involved: come along and ask! The St Paul St Gallery is located at: 40 St Paul Street, Auckland.

See you there!

-AK!

PS: Apologies for the lack of updates this month, l'm currently snowed under with work at the moment, but in May I'll have some big announcements! Plus I'll have the time to return the blog to full-power, at the heart of NZ comics community - so exciting times ahead!

PHOTO-RAMA: Nga Pakiwaituhi: New Zealand Comics and Graphic Novels

The Nga Pakiwaituhi: New Zealand Comics and Graphic Novels exhibition opening took place at the start of this month at the St Paul St Gallery in Auckland. 

The first major New Zealand Comics exhibition in over a decade, it features artwork from 30 local cartoonists, including: Akira Atsushi, Tim Bollinger, Greg Broadmore, Andrew Burdan, Tim Danko, Rufus Dayglo, Draw, Richard Fairgray, Chris Grosz, Dylan Horrocks, Mat Hunkin, Robyn E. Kenealy, Timothy Kidd, Adrian Kinnaird, Sarah Laing, Jared Lane, Roger Langridge, Barry Linton, Tim Molloy, Toby Morris, Stefan Neville & Clayton Noone, Sam Orchard, Ant Sang, Darren & Kelly Sheehan, Chris Slane, Ben Stenbeck, Mat Tait, Karl Wills and Colin Wilson.

It's on till the 12th of ApriI, so I urge you to go check it out while you can!

For those out-of-towners keen for a look, here's some photos from the opening:

Above: Dylan Horrocks with his artwork.

Above: Dylan Horrocks signs his work (as not all the artists were their to sign the walls, there was some signature forgeries involved...see if you can spot the difference!).

Above: Chris Slane.

Above: Ant Sang.

Above: A special appearance by Roger Langridge, who just happened to be in the country!

Above: Toby Morris.

Above: Artwork by Barry Linton.

Above: Artwork by Jared Lane.

Above: Artwork by Draw.

Above: Artwork by Robyn E. Kenealy.

Artwork by Karl Wills.

Artwork by Colin Wilson.

Artwork by Greg Broadmore.

Above: Artwork by Mat Tait.

Above: Some of my artwork.

Above: Artwork by Tim Bollinger.

Above: Artwork by Richard Fairgray.

Above: Artwork by Ben Stenbeck.

Above: Artwork by the Sheehan Bros.

Above: Artwork by Tim Kidd.

Above: Artwork by Sarah Laing.

Above: Artwork by Chris Grosz.

Above: Artwork by Stefan Neville & Clayton Noone.

Above: Artwork by Tim Molloy.

Above: Artwork/Instillation by Tim Danko.

Above: Artwork by Rufus Dayglo.

To highlight the exhibition as a part of the Auckland Arts Festival 2013, former comics writer turned journalist Stephen Jewell (Shards, The Olympians) interviewed Rufus Dayglo for the New Zealand Herald HERE. He discusses his early work featured in Wellington anthology Pistake with Simon Morse and David Tulloch.

Above: Roger Langridge, Cornelius Stone and Knuckles, reunited again!

For more on Roger Langridge's recent New Zealand visit, check out his posts over on his website starting HERE.

-AK!

Remembering Martin Emond 1969-2004

Above: Martin Emond photographed by Bevin Rijaart, copyright 2013.

Today marks the ninth anniversary of the death of New Zealand comic artist and pop culture icon, Martin Emond. 

In 2004 at the height of his career, in tragically took his own life. The following is a brief overview of his life and career. His artwork was one of a kind, and he's greatly missed.

This also serves as a reminder of how important it is to seek help if you suffer from depression. Please take the time to check out: www.depression.org.nz

Above: Switchblade, Martin's most personal creation. Copyright Martin Emond Estate 2013.

At the dawn of the new millennium, Martin Emond was poised to become one of the most important new voices in popular culture on the planet. He was based in Los Angeles, where his artwork was in high demand for posters, clothing, movies and television. Disney and MTV were lining up to turn his creations into household names. In 2004 he signed a deal to turn his favourite comic strip Switchblade into an animated series, and his other series Rolling Red Knuckles was in production. On the outside he appeared to have it all, but inside he was suffering. A week later, he was dead.

Martin F. Emond was born in Scotland, and migrated to New Zealand at an early age, to be raised in South Auckland. Softly spoken and unassuming by nature, it was his artwork that made ‘Marty’ the center of attention in any room he picked up a pencil. At age ten, his Manurewa classroom proudly displayed his renderings of the rock band KISS on their walls. By sixteen he had moved on to British comic serial 2000AD, and discovered his true calling.

After finishing school at 16, he attended ATI (now Auckland University of Technology), studying towards a Graphic Design Diploma. He completed two of course’s three years, before dropping out – his refusal to focus on any assignments other than drawing and painting lead to him not being ‘invited’ back to complete his final year. It was probably for the best, as Emond had other plans.

He moved to Kawarau and spent a summer working at an abattoir, saving up for a trip to the UK where he planned to meet his idol, artist Simon Bisley. In 1991 he made the trip and ended up staying at Bisley house, learning the tools of the trade and quickly found work on the short-lived anthology Toxic!

He spent 18 months in the UK before returning to New Zealand with a contact to produce what would become one of his seminal works, the mini-series White Trash, with writer Gordon Rennie. The comic teams up ‘The King’ (an Elvis analogue) with Dean - a teen slacker with more than a passing resemblance to the lead-singer of Emond’s favourite band Guns ‘N Roses - on a hellish road-trip across Southwest America. Emond’s artwork perfectly captured the mayhem and energy of a rock & roll performance, elevating the comic and his career to the next level. In quick succession he produced artwork for 2000AD, Epic and Heavy Metal magazine.

In 1992 Emond met US Heavy Metal musician Glen Danzig backstage at one of his concerts in Auckland. Danzig was starting up his own line of comics called Verotik, and would commission Emond to produce the covers. This lead to work for Marvel and DC Comics, including a two year run on Lobo, DC’s popular and irreverent intergalactic bounty hunter.

By the late nineties Emond had tired of drawing Danzig’s explicit comics, and moved on to produce artwork for Japanese publisher DDD. He was given an open brief, and developed his first solo creation, Rolling Red Knuckles - a gang of touch-as-nails street girls, which gained a cult following.

Locally, he enjoyed producing gig posters and album covers for rock bands like Shihad and Head Like A Hole. Through his studio mate Simon Morse, he became involved as a designer for Steve Hodge’s Auckland-based street wear label Illicit. Emond’s gift for creating designs with a rock & roll sensibility and healthy dose of ironic humour, were an instant hit. Hoodies and t-shirts were branded with Rolling Red Knuckles, and a new character he had created, a cute street-wise orphan called Switchblade.

In 2000, Switchblade’s origin was revealed in a series of one page comic strips printed in local music magazine Selector. The cute and instantly iconic characters caught the attention of music labels and Hollywood producers, who were soon courting Emond for the rights to turn his ideas into animated TV shows and live-action movies.

In 2002 he moved to Los Angeles, where producers from MTV and Disney were eager to work with him. After many unsuccessful offers, he eventually signed a contract with Interscope Records to turn Switchblade into an animated TV series, but by now his usual enthusiasm and energy was gone. Privately he had confided in friends that throughout his life he wrestled with depression, and the constant meetings and broken Hollywood promises were taking their toll.

On March 5, 2004, a week after signing the contract for Switchblade, he took his own life at his L.A. studio. He was 34 years old.

Survived by his fiancee Liesje, a memorial was held for him at Alleluya Café in St Kevins Arcade, on Karangahape Rd, Auckland, on March 28. The service was attended by his family, friends, and hundreds of devoted fans.

-AK!