Bristle Annual 2021 Launch!

Above: The cover for Bristle Annual 2021 by Sara Riordan.

UPDATE: The launch is cancelled due to uncertainty relating to the current COVID-19 Alert Levels, but keep an eye out for this new issue of Bristle at local zine and comics events.

There's a new Bristle Annual launching this Saturday in Wellington (as long as the COVID-19 Alert Levels are eased by then...). The new issue features stories by: Matt Kelly, Lorenzo, Gus Mitchell, James James, Sanjana Khusal, Indira Neville, Bryce Galloway, Aaron Christiansen, David Tulloch, and Brent C Willis.

- AK!

EVENT: Bristle Annual #3 Launch Party!

Above: Bristle Annual #3, cover by Lorenzo van der Lingen.

If you're in Wellington this weekend, head along to the launch party for Bristle Annual #3! The latest release from the long running anthology edited by Brent Willis, features comics by: David Tulloch, Aaron Christiansen, Indira Neville, Tim Danko, Renee Lyons, Matt Kelly, Sarah Laing, David Piper, and many more. All this and an eye-popping cover by Lorenzo van der Lingen! The launch party is taking place at the Bristol Hotel (upstairs) at 131-133 Cuba St, Wellington on Saturday the 11th from 5pm to 7pm (and maybe later). 

You can also pick up copies of Bristle Annual #3 the following weekend at the Wellington Winter Zine Market on Saturday the 18th at Thistle Hall (293 Cuba St), from 12 - 5pm.

- AK!

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: Auckland Zinefest 2012

Auckland Zinefest returns this year as a part of First Thursdays, taking place this Thursday, 2nd of August on K Road.

First Thursdays is a community-conscious collaboration of artisans and art lovers whose ultimate goal is to showcase new and exciting talent in the fields of visual arts, music and performance. The DIY themed festival taking place from 6pm-9pm, features a variety of free art events taking place at shops, galleries and creative spaces along Karangahape Rd. Some of the activities include: a handmade craft & zine market, zine making and screen printing workshops, light installations, live music, fashion shows and theatre productions. The Zinefest will take place in St Kevin's Arcade with around 30 stallholders, including a great line-up of local comics talent!

Sarah Laing, cartoonist behind the Let Me Be Frank webcomic. She's going to be selling a selection of her autobiographical/fantastical comics, some of which have appeared in her blog. She's also going to be selling some one-off, hand-painted and bound books and her son Otto's book of monsters.

Each of the handcrafted books are 12 pages long and bound with embroidery thread. They are arranged into five groups: eighties pop icons, toys made for my children, significant women, my tea cup collection, and cans in my cupboard. She'll be selling them for a bargain price of $15, so be in quick!

Marc Streeter is the creator of the weekly ActionMan Adam webcomic, which follows the hilarious mis-adventures of a young Canadian looking for love in Christchurch.

He'll be debuting his latest collection at the event, ActionMan Adam: Things Change. Last year Streeter chose to acknowledge the events of the Christchurch earthquakes in the webcomic, and incorporate their effects on the characters in the on-going story. It was a bold creative move which has payed off handsomely for readers. Its sensitively handled, and adds a much greater depth to the characters and proceedings, making the laughs that much more welcome. Highly recommended!

Brent Willis, Wellington cartoonist and editor of the Bristle anthology will be there with his latest creation for the event: Wark! #1. Brent Willis has steadfastly stuck to the DIY ethic and self-published for the last 15 years (because he likes it). Expect to discover a wide range of his other titles at his table: there's just about a comic for every occasion!

Sam Orchard, creator of the Rooster Tails webcomic will be there, representing himself and the Dunedin Comics Collective. Rooster Tails features Sam's charming comics about being a trans and queer dude in Auckland. The Dunedin Comics Collective have so far produced two issues of the comics anthology DUD, featuring comics and a CD of Dunedin music. A third issue is currently due for release soon...

Richard Fairgray, creator of Blastosaurus will be present with a host of new material, including collections of Ghost Ghost and I Fight Crime!

And lastly, the Sheehan Bros creators of The Inhabitants and Into The Woods will be there, along with myself, representing the New Zealand Comics Collective: selling locally produced comics from creators across the country, including newly arrived stock from Toby Morris and the latest issue of Radio As Paper!

The Zinefest market will be taking place Thursday 2nd of August, 6pm-9pm in St Kevin's Arcade on K Road. You can find out more information about Auckland Zinefest HERE and First Thursdays HERE.

-AK!

Photorama: Armageddon Expo Wellington 2011

Above: The New Zealand Comics Creators stall, complete with new stock! Photo by Gijs Priegel. Copyright Gijs Priegel 2011.

Last weekend saw Wellington hosting it's annual Armageddon Expo, a week earlier than usual to fill the gap left by the cancelled Christchurch event. The Expo proved as popular as ever with a huge public showing of 15,000, filling the TSB Arena to capacity and causing the door sales to be closed over lunchtime to accommodate the massive crowd.

Above: The cover of Darkest Day: Comics for Christchurch. Copyright Funtime Comics 2011.

The New Zealand Comics Creators stand was certainly busy this year, boosted by the release of Darkest Day: Comics for Christchurch the Funtime anthology issue created to raise funds for the Christchurch Earthquake, with ALL proceeds going to the Red Cross. Signed copies of Ant Sang's recently released Shaolin Burning were also popular on the day. The final issue of Lee Yan Marquez's The Impostor series was also available and newcomer

Brendon Bennetts' The Tower graphic novel.

Here's some photos of the stand on the day, courtesy of Gijs Priegel:

Above: The set-up: from left to right: Lee Yan Marquez, Isaac Freeman and Brent Willis.

Above: Bristle editor Brent Willis in a pitch perfect cosplay as Tintin's Captain Haddock! (paging Peter Jackson!).

Above: From left to right: Isaac Freeman, Lee Yan Marquez, Brendon Bennetts and Brent Willis.

Remember, if you would like to get hold of a copy of Darkest Day: Comics for Christchurch for yourself, you can order it directly online HERE from the Funtime website.

-AK!

The Auckland Armageddon Expo 2010 Report

Above: The New Zealand Comics booth, manned from the left by Aimee Cairns and Kelly & Darren Sheehan. photo by Karl Wills.

The Armageddon Expo returned to the Auckland ASB Showgrounds this year for another successful Labour Weekend celebration of all things pop culture related, with an estimated 45,000 punters through the door! The global credit crunch and recent tax increases clearly didn't stop fans from turning out in their droves to enjoy a weekend of sci-fi overload; with two Doctors Who in the house, a variety of web and comic guests, the voices of Goofy and Bender, and because no Expo would be complete without a pseudo-celebrity, that washed up kidult from Married With Children.

This year New Zealand Comics had it's strongest showing yet, with a large 'new and improved' NZ Comics booth, the Blastosaurus booth, Drake's Ninjet booth, Coal Powered Press, Drawfest and a variety of solo artist booths.

Above: The cover of Gridley Stones #1, by James & Aimee Cairns. Copyright James & Aimee Cairns 2010.

At the New Zealand Comics booth there was a wide variety of great books on sale for the weekend: including two new novellas from the Sheehan Bros, Into the Dark Woods and Frozen; part two of The Impostor by Lee Yan Marquez, Connie Radar PH D by Karl Wills, the latest issues of NZ comic anthologies Funtime #25 and Bristle #7, the debut issue of Gridley Stones by James & Aimee Cairns, and a great selection of back issue favourites.

Above: A signed sketch from Living with the Dead by artist Ben Stenbeck.

There were also some booth exclusives: the Dylan Horrocks and Emily Perkins collaboration, All Hail Elle: Destroyer of Worlds!, previously only available at the Orcon Great Blends event; and signed and sketched copies of Witchfinder and Living with the Dead by local superstar artist Ben Stenbeck.

Local comics guests appearing at the booth over the weekend included: the Sheehan Bros, Lee Yan Marquez, Karl Wills, James & Aimee Cairns, Isaac Freeman, Brent Willis, Marc Streeter and Jianran Pan.

Above: Kelly Sheehan attracting punters at the NZ Comics booth. Photos by Karl Wills.

Above: Funtime editor Isaac Freeman at the NZ Comics booth. Photo by Karl Wills.

Above: Lee Yan Marquez drawing at the NZ Comics booth. Photo by Karl Wills.

Above from left: Richard Fairgray and Drake drop by with a note....Brent Willis hiding out on the right. Photo by Karl Wills.

Above from left: James Cairns & Lee Yan Marquez still smiling on Day #2. Photo by Gijs Priegel.

Above: Bristle editor Brent Willis on the right, Day #2. Photo by Gijs Priegel.

Above: ActionMan Adam webcomic cartoonist Marc Streeter drawing on Day #2. Photo by Gijs Priegel.

Above: More photos of the NZ Comics team from Day #2. Photos by Gijs Priegel.

Above: Richard Fairgray at the Blastosaurus booth. Photo by Karl Wills.

Meanwhile, over at the Blastosaurus booth Richard Fairgray had a large amount of new material on offer, which virtually sold-out after the first two days. This included a new Blastosaurus Halloween Special, a DVD collection of Chewing Zombies, new volumes of I Fight Crime, and Clip Show a collection of his earlier high school stories.

Above: Drake manning his Ninjet booth.

Drake did brisk business over the weekend at his Ninjet booth, with a new issue of his ninja-cat series to promote.

In pavilion #1 around the corner from the NZ Comics booth, Coal Powered Press made their convention debut, with an impressive line-up of New Zealand web-comics, which you can check out right HERE.

Above: The cover of White Cloud Worlds. Copyright Paul Tobin/Harpercollins 2010.

The Weta Workshop booth provided a hidden treat, with a Expo preview of the new fantasy art anthology collection White Cloud Worlds, featuring among others, fantasy and comic artists Ben Stenbeck and Greg Broadmore, edited by artist Paul Tobin. It will be available at all good booksellers from the 1st of November, and you can also check out the official website HERE.

It was a great convention for NZ Comics, with a noticeable increase in sales across the board. There was a competitive nature in the air after Day #1, which led me to proclaim the NZ Comics booth as the best in show on Facbook, which lead to an ominous note, left at the booth for me on Sunday morning:

Unfortunately I had the day off, so any retaliation, or a Star Trek inspired death duel would have to wait till Monday.

While attendance was healthy with punters ready to part with their cash, retailer and promotional spending appeared to be down, with less 'wow' factor than previous years. The usually elaborate video-game and console area seemed noticeably smaller, with fewer screens and less advertising. In general there seemed to be more blind-spots than usual inside the pavilions, as if the Expo was stretched thin to fill the entire complex to capacity. Unsurprisingly, major sponsor Warner Bros were a late no-show (possibly to avoid public backlash from the ongoing Hobbit controversy?), leaving a gap in pavilion #1 which was quickly filled by an extra artists alley. The presence of a fairly large NZ Army/Navy recruitment stand was a little alarming if you ask me, but I suppose it places them in slightly more interesting company than the usual career expos.

Another cause for concern was the amount of repetitive stores. There were at least six booths selling the same imported novelty T-shirts, caps and other nick-knacks. This lead to a repeated feeling of 'sameness' when walking through the Expo as a whole, making it feel more like Victoria Park Markets than a special event you payed $20 to attend. I think some decisive 'culling of the herd' next year could well improve the Expo's image and make way for some fresh stands and new exhibitors. One big improvement though, was the speedy entry point with multiple ticket booths, which prevented any timely delays, like last year's killer two hour entry line!

Overall, it was a pleasant weekend spend with friends: talking comics, tripping over R2-D2 and watching kids over-dose on mini donuts and candy-floss, while the monolithic Burning Man watched on.

-AK!

Above: R2-D2 and friends. Photo by Karl Wills.