New Zealand Cartoonists Respond to the Christchurch Terror Attacks

Above: A cartoon by Shaun Yeo. Copyright Shaun Yeo 2019.

A week ago on the 15th of March, Christchurch, New Zealand was shocked by a senseless, violent gun attack on two mosques in the city that left 50 people dead.

The media was quick to respond, with live televised updates as the tragic events unfolded. Within 30 minutes of listening to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addressing the nation on live television, Invercargill cartoonist Shaun Yeo produced a cartoon to express the sorrow he felt in the immediate aftermath. "I had a blank sheet of paper on my desk. It took me 20 minutes to draw the Kiwi...I was trying to convey the sadness", Yeo told the Stuff News website. The Cartoon was soon shared on social media and within hours it had gone viral, shared and viewed millions of times around the world. Currently it has 42 thousand shares on Facebook and reached more than 3.4 million people. You can read Yeo's full interview with Stuff HERE.

Above: Artwork from This is Us by Toby Morris. Copyright Toby Morris 2019.

On March 18th, The Spinoff contributing writer/cartoonist Toby Morris (The Pencilsword and The Side-Eye) expressed his feelings regarding New Zealand's complicated history of race relations and intolerance in the cartoon, This is Us. You can read the full comic at The Spinoff HERE. The cartoon was widely circulated - both local and internationally, and Morris was subsequently interviewed by the BBC, which you can view HERE.

Rod Emmerson produced the following cartoons for the NZ Herald March 15th, 18th (cover and cartoon), 19th, 20th and 22nd edition. Copyright Rod Emmerson 2019.

Sharon Murdoch produced the following cartoons for the Sunday Star Times March 17th edition and the Dominion Post March 20th and 22nd edition. Copyright Sharon Murdoch 2019.

Chris Slane produced the following cartoon for the NZ Listener. Copyright Chris Slane 2019.

An illustration by Wellington artist Ruby Jones was shared internationally in the wake of Christchurch attack, and she has since been commissioned by Time magazine to illustrate its international April 1 cover. "This cover image symbolises the strength that I am seeing and feeling right now in the world. And how tragedies like the terrorist attack in Christchurch do nothing but bring us closer together as a society," Jones told Time Magazine of her new piece. You can read her interview with Time magazine HERE.

Copyright Ruby Jones 2019.

Artwork from Jem Yoshioka via Twitter: she also has a hi-res version available for people to share HERE.

A cartoon by Fu Fighter Arts via Facebook (inspired by this cartoon by Cathy Wilcox):

Artwork by Miriama Grace-Smith via Facebook:

Bill and Adele Geradts, the Christchurch organisers of the Armageddon Expo have sensibly responded to the events by banning military attire cosplay from all future events. Armageddon spokeswoman Courtney Collins informed Stuff News,"as a Christchurch-based business and being Christchurch residents ourselves, this felt like an appropriate response to ensure the peace of mind of the general public, as well as our event attendees." You can read the full article on this HERE.

If you would like to offer your support for New Zealand's Muslim communities, The Spinoff have produced this helpful list of events, places you can donate and volunteer HERE.

My thoughts are with the Muslim community and my comics friends and family in Christchurch - look after each other.

- AK xx

EVENT: Splitting Image Cartoon Exhibition

Above: An editorial cartoon by Chris Slane.

New Zealand has a rich tradition of political cartoons and artistic social commentary, and this Friday you can see the original artwork from seven of our current leading political/editorial cartoonists at the Splitting Image cartoon exhibition.

The featured cartoonists include: Sharon Murdoch (The Sunday Star Times, The Christchurch Press), Chris Slane (The NZ Listener), Sarah Laing (RNZ/Metro), Rod Emmerson (The NZ Herald), Anna Crichton (The NZ Herald/Metro), Peter Bromhead (The NZ Herald), and Daron Paton (Metro).

Above: The Personal is Political by Sarah Laing, originally published in Metro magazine. You can read more of Sarah's comics and cartoons at her website HERE.

The exhibition will be taking place at LOT23, 23 Minnie St, Eden Terrace, from September 19th - October 13th, with a Party Preview this Friday 18th of September, from 6pm. For more information you can visit the exhibition's Facebook event page HERE.

- AK!

First Look: Faction Presents: High Water

Above: The cover for Faction Presents: High Water by Tim Gibson. Artwork copyright Tim Gibson 2015.

Since launching Faction in 2012, editors Damon Keen & Amie Maxwell have been raising the bar for local comics anthologies, attracting top talent creators and presenting beautiful collections with high quality production values. After three successful collections, Keen is spearheading Faction's first spin-off special edition, High Water.

Above: A final printed copy of Faction Presents: High Water. Copyright Faction Comics 2015.

Keen has been teasing photos of the recently arrived advance copies at the Faction Comics Facebook page, so I checked in with him to find out what the scoop is on the soon to be released High Water and what surprises we can expect from this collection!

Above: Artwork by Chris Slane. Copyright Chris Slane 2015.

AK: So what is High Water, and can you explain the overall theme of the collection?

Damon Keen: High Water is a Faction Special - so not part of our usual run on Faction - kind of like a Marvel Annual I guess! I hope to do one of these every couple of years, depending on our budget. Faction Specials are going to be themed issues, so a little different than the normal Faction free-for-all, and with higher production values to make them really stand out.

High Water is themed around climate change - largely because it's an issue that I think is in urgent need of discussion - but also because I noticed that no one else had done anything like this before. Cli-fi is starting to 'heat up' (yuk yuk yuk) as a genre in novels recently, so I thought now was the perfect time to put something like this together. I also got a lot of enthusiasm from the artists for this issue, including some creators that I'd wanted to get in Faction for a while - like Sarah, Dylan and Chris - so in a lot of ways, the comic came together quite organically.

Above: Artwork by Sarah Laing. Copyright Sarah Laing 2015.

AK: And tell us a bit about your design/production specs that you went overboard on to make this collection awesome?

DK: Because I wanted this to be a really stand-out comic - with an issue dear to my heart - I wanted it to leap off the shelves; so I went a little nuts on the production values! This comic is a hardback, with cloth binding AND built in bookmark - because why not?

Also the creators produced some wonderful artwork and I really wanted to try to do their vision justice. I went with a heavy matt stock for the pages - quite a different look from the glossy sheets of Faction. On top of the creators, Tim Gibson did us a knockout cover - and Ant Sang supplied us with some beautiful artwork for the interior pages, so frankly, as a graphic designer, working with this material is just a joy.

I can't wait to get this out there!

Above: Artwork by Cory Mathis. Copyright Cory Mathis 2015.

Faction Presents: High Water is a full colour hardcover, weighing in at 96 pages.

The contributor's include: Chris Slane, Christian Pearce, Cory Mathis, Damon Keen, Dylan Horrocks, Jonathan King, Katie O’Neill, Ned Wenlock, Ross Murray, Sarah Laing and Toby Morris. With additional artwork by Lei Wen, Ant Sang, and a cover by Tim Gibson. All this and an introduction by Lucy Lawless.

Look for the High Water collection launch announcement soon!

- AK!

Above: Back cover of High Water. Copyright Faction Comics 2015.

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!