Welcome To Moth City: A Preview

Above: Moth City announcement artwork by Tim Gibson. Copyright Tim Gibson 2012.

Moth City, an ambitious new webcomic by writer/artist Tim Gibson makes its debut this coming Monday 29th of October at mothcity.com.

Set against the backdrop of the 1930s Chinese Civil war when the governing Nationalist Party fought Mao’s Communists, Moth City tells the story of an American weapons tycoon who must solve the bizarre murder of his chief scientist, before his city’s inhabitants are wiped out by the warring factions.

Its a crime/horror series with a highly polished style, reminiscent of the great American adventure artists like Milton Caniff and Alex Toth, with a healthy dash of noir.

Gibson came up with the idea for the graphic novel while traveling across Asia, and upon his return he caught Kim Hill's radio interview with Ant Sang promoting his graphic novel Shaolin Burning, which inspired him to make this project a reality.

Before trying his hand at comics, Gibson worked as a designer for Weta Workshop on such films as: Tintin, District 9, Avatar and George Miller's aborted JLA. You can also see his artwork in the second White Cloud Worlds art book, coming out in early November.

Here are some exclusive sample pages to give you a taste:

Visit the official site HERE, and for updates you can join the Facbook page HERE and follow Moth City on Twitter @MothCityInsider.

-AK!

EVENT: Armageddon Auckland 2012

Above: Iron Man by Bob Layton. Copyright Marvel Comics 2012.

Armageddon Expo is back in Auckland this Labour Weekend, with its usual mix of pop culture madness - celebrating everything from comics to video-games, films, television, wrestling, and everything in between. The event will be taking place at the ASB Showgrounds in Greenlane, Auckland from October 19-22nd: with a special preview night on Friday 19th from 6 - 9pm, and opening hours from 10am - 6pm Saturday to Monday.

Focusing on the comics front, there will be a healthy presence of local and international comics creators at the event.

The international guest list is headed by Bob Layton, best known as one of the definitive Iron Man artist/inkers. His significant runs on the title include: Demon in a Bottle, in which Tony Stark becomes an alcoholic; and the time travel adventure Doom Quest.

Above: Marineman by Ian Churchill. Copyright Ian Churchill 2012.

Artist Ian Churchill came to prominence in the mid-90s illustrating Marvel titles like Cable, and has continued to work on mainstream titles for Marvel and DC Comics like Uncanny X-Men, Supergirl and the Teen Titans. Recently, Churchill has put aside his gritty superhero art style to develop his own more whimsical creator-owned title, Marineman, published through Image Comics.

Above: Green Arrow as illustrated by Harvey Tolibao. Copyright DC Comics 2012.

Auckland comic store Heroes For Sale have brought over Filipino artist Harvey Tolibao for the Expo. A ralative new-comer to comics, Tolibao broke into the US industry with a 2007 Iron Man Annual for Marvel, and is currently the artist on the new 52 version of Green Arrow for DC Comics.

Above: The cover of Funtime Comics #26, cover by Lee Yan Marquez. Copyright Funtime Comics 2012.

New Zealand Comics will be well represented at the event, with the New Zealand Comic Creators booth and several independent booths.

New this year will be the latest issue issue of the Funtime Comics anthology, featuring new work from: Ned Wenlock, Tim Danko, Bob McMahon, Isaac Freeman and others! You can also expect to find a wide range of NZ comics and graphic novels at the NZCC booth, including favourites like Shaolin Burning, The Inhabitants, ActionMan Adam and first looks at upcoming comics like the Faction comics anthology and Moth City!

Above: Moa #3 by James Davidson. Copyright James Davidson 2012.

Issue three of James Davidson's excellent all-ages series Moa is out in time for the convention, and James will be at the NZCC booth on Saturday to sign copies!

Above: Nice Day For a War by Chris Slane and Matt Elliot. Copyright Chris Slane and Matt Elliott 2012.

Fresh back from the Treviso Comics Festival in Italy, Chris Slane will be at the booth on Sunday with copies of the award-winning Nice Day for a War, and the last rare copies of Maui: Legends of the Outcast (grab them while you still can!). He'll also have some of his artwork on display too.

Above: Saurian Era, by Cory Mathis. Copyright Cory Mathis 2012.

Its been a while since we had a new comic from Cory Mathis, but this year Saurian Era makes a welcome return, with more dino action than you can shake a prehistoric stick it!

Above: White Cloud Worlds Vol. 2. Copyright Paul Tobin/White Cloud Worlds 2012.

A new volume of White Cloud Worlds featuring the fantasy art of some of New Zealand's finest artists will be available exclusively at Auckland Armageddon, well ahead of its official release date on November 2nd.

Richard Fairgray will have the first full-colour Blastosaurus Hardcover available at Armageddon, along with new collections of the all-ages series Ghost Ghost and the comic strip I Fight Crime.

Armageddon organiser William Geradts has been cultivating his own line of webcomics very successfully for over a year at www.beyondrealitymedia.com, and now has a classy range of print collections available to buy, featuring the first volumes of the comic series: Attica, The Inspiration Duncans, and The Warden, exclusively at the Beyond Reality Media booth.

Above: Jeremy from Gotham Comics takes a quiet moment out with his stock for the event...

And for all your other comic needs, NZ's leading comics supplier Gotham Comics will be there all weekend with specials galore! For preview night only, if you spend $100+ you'll get a $20 credit! They'll have nearly 5,000 comics priced between $2 - $5 and all blue bin back-issues at $5 each!

This will be plenty more to see, do and buy this weekend at the Auckland Armageddon Expo, so visit the official page HERE for more details!

-AK!

New Zealand Comics World Tour Part 1: Treviso Comic Book Festival 2012

Above: Treviso Comic Book Festival 2012 poster, featuring artwork by Dylan Horrocks.

The Treviso Comic Book Festival took place at the end of September, with a special exhibition dedicated to New Zealand Comics.

A distinguished group of our finest cartoonists winged it to Italy to be on hand for the special occasion. Our 'comics ambassadors' included: Dylan Horrocks (Hicksville), Colin Wilson (Bullet to the Head) Roger Langridge (Fred The Clown), Ben Stenbeck (Baltimore), Chris Slane (Nice Day For a War), Greg Broadmore (Triumph) and Rufus Dayglo (Tank Girl).

Above: Shops in Treviso celebrate the comics festival each year by painting cartoon characters in their store windows. Photos by Chris Slane.

Above: Rufus Dayglo contributes to a window display.

To give you an idea of how big a deal comics are in Europe, retailers in Treviso were happy to collaborate with the festival and arrange for cartoonists to paint characters in their store-front windows! As you can see from the pictures, its pretty magical stuff. 

Chris Slane gave me his impression of the festival: "Treviso is a city which looks forward to it's annual comics festival. It has a high profile here. Young cartoonists go around decorating shop windows with individual designs - over 200 by the end of the festival. Rufus Dayglo was even press-ganged into doing one. 

Exhibitions and events are shared among venues all around town, rather than concentrated in just one place. You could walk everywhere - Treviso is very pedestrian-friendly and a few minutes walk would get you just about anywhere, through a picturesque maze of alley ways, canals and bridges. 

There were two comics market days where we comic artists formed relays drawing flat out and giving away the art free to hordes of kids and collectors."

The photos presented here are courtesy of Chris Slane, Dylan Horrocks, Rufus Dayglo and the TCBF Facebook page.

Above: Roger Langridge and Dylan Horrocks.

Above: NZ cartoonists in Venice! Dylan Horrocks, Greg Broadmore and Ben Stenbeck.

The NZ Comics exhibition took place at the Benetton Foundation Pavilion (above), from the 27th of September-14th of October. There was an official opening on Saturday 27th of September, with all the guests on hand to present and discuss their comics.

Above: Outside the exhibition building Greg Broadmore and Chris Slane exchange creative energy...

Above: Walking into the NZ Comics exhibition, with Greg Bradmore's art on the far left wall.

Above: A display of Chris Slane's artwork in the main room, featuring an awesome standee of Maui!

Above: A display of Dylan Horrocks' work, with lighthouse standee.

Above: Artwork by Toby Morris.

Above: Artwork by Rufus Dayglo.

Above: At the exhibition opening, from left: Roger, Ben, Chris, Dylan and Greg.

Above: Alberto Corradi, one of the festival organisers, gives the introduction speech.

Above: Colin Wilson (left) discusses his artwork.

Above: Crowds enjoying the show.

Above: A wall of Ben Stenbeck's artwork.

Above: Ben Stenbeck and Rufus Dayglo take a closer look at some artwork.

Above: Roger Langridge and Dylan Horrocks check out Rufus Dayglo's work with the artist.

Above: A display of Dylan Horrocks' artwork.

Above: Examples of Barry Linton's artwork.

Above: A display of Frank & Becky's Tiny Kitten Teeth webcomic.

Above: NZ Comics at the United Nations? From left: Roger Langridge, Dylan Horrocks, Ben Stenbeck, Greg Broadmore and Chris Slane (Alberto Corradi at the back).

A discussion panel was also held during the festival, where the NZ creators discussed their work and the New Zealand comics scene in general.

Above: Dylan Horrocks sketching during the panel.

Above: Wide shot of the panel, from left: Rufus, Roger, Dylan, Ben and Greg. Alberto Corradi again acts as MC.

Above: During a break. You can't tell from this angle, but I understand Greg Broadmore (far right) is drawing naughty pictures on his cellphone which Ben Stenbeck is doing his best not to crack-up at!

Above: The NZ contingent of cartoonists checks out one of the italian comics exhibitions, in this case the artwork of Roberto Bonadimani. The framed artwork is actually free-hanging from the wall to protect the historic building.

Above: The main Festival hall for creator signing and sketching. In Europe its expected that artists will provide FREE sketches for fans, so our creators were kept VERY busy!

Above: Dylan Horrocks' pencil is kept busy with sketching...

Above: A fan hold up her Rufus Dayglo sketch.

Above: Fans look on as Roger Langridge sketches in the foreground with Colin Wilson next to him.

Above: The  NZ creators take time out to enjoy some fine Italian dinning (as you do when you're in Italy!).

I understand the exhibition was a huge success, and you can read about some of the comics creators thoughts on the festival over on their blogs: Roger Langridge posts about it HERE, and Rufus Dayglo has posted a bunch of photos over on his blog HERE.

Above: The new guide to New Zealand Comics and Graphic Novels made a star appearance in TV3's coverage of the Frankfurt Book Fair!

The next stop of our traveling NZ comics contingent is the Frankfurt Book Fair, which is under way in Germany this week, with a panel discussion on New Zealand Comics taking place at the NZ pavilion at 12pm on the 14th of October. Dylan Horrocks, Roger Langridge, Colin Wilson, Greg Broadmore and Ben Stenbeck will be in attendance.

There is also a special display of NZ comics at the fair's Comic Centre in Hall 3, along with copies of the new 100-page guide to New Zealand Comics and Graphic Novels (which you can download for free HERE).

Check back here in the next week or two for continued coverage of the NZ Comics world tour!

-AK!