Ngā Atua Māori: Illustrating Māori mythology with Munro Te Whata

Above: Munro Te Whata drawing live at the KIWA Ngā Atua Māori Graphic Novella Launch. Copyright Kiwa Digital 2015.

Earlier this week I reported on the launch and creation of KIWA's Ngā Atua Māori Graphic Novella e-books, today I'm talking to Munro Te Whata, the artist behind these ground-breaking adaptations.

Munro Te Whata was born and raised in Auckland, his iwi are Nga Puhi, Ngati Porou, and also has Niuean heritage. He has a background in animation and a Bachelor of Creative Arts majoring in Creative Writing, and was one of the animators who brought the animated series Bro' Town to our screens during its successful five season run. Long time readers of this blog may also recall some of Te Whata's early comics work, when he collaborated with Czepta Gold on a kids manga/hip hop infused comic, Wulfpak back in 2009.

With KIWA's four graphic novellas competed and more comics work on the way, I caught up with Munro to find out more about the creative process of collaborating on these e-books and some of his artistic influences.

Above: Illustration by Munro Te Whata. Copyright Kiwa Digital/Munro Te Whata 2015.

AK: We've seen different takes on illustrating Māori mythology over the years - from Peter Gossage's children's books to Chris Slane's edger take on Maui; what was your particular approach to the material in terms of style and storytelling?

Munro Te Whata: I was actually the second illustrator to come on board - I was hired because the first illustrator was pumping out some really awesome artwork, but she was way too slow. So there was a style already developed before I even came on. It was meant to look like something an international audience would like, basically something Marvel or DC [comics] readers would buy. Because the stories I was working on were different to the ones the first illustrator worked on, I was able to put my own spin on the artwork, however I was given a lot less time to do it. So my approach was to do everything digital because it was a lot faster. I never really looked at other illustrators of the Māori myths for inspiration, although I do love their work. I looked more at animated TV shows like Avatar and Dragon Ball Z or video games like Street Fighter and Marvel vs Capcom. These were all really influential to me growing up and are therefore part of my style as an artist.

Above: Storyboards be Munro Te Whata. Copyright Munro Te Whata 2015.

AK: How closely do you work with the writers to insure that the stories are entertaining but still retain all the key information and cultural significance of the original myths? I was talking to someone at the launch party and it sounded like there were a few 'false starts' before the series found the right balance between retelling the original stories and adapting them as comics for a contemporary audience?

MTW: During the storyboard stage I would meet up with the writer and try to match how he saw the story in his head, to how I drew it. Each page had it's own text so for example: 'Page 1: this happens.. Page 2: that happens..', so I just had to choose what part of the text would be best to show to make the whole story flow and sometimes when there was more than one bit of action on the page I'd split the page into two or more pictures/panels.

It wasn't actually a false start. We had done four different Myths each around 40 pages which were fully completed. The first illustrator worked on two books and when she couldn't finish all four, I was brought on to do the other two. The big problem with these books was that they were written in English first and then translated to Māori. First and foremost the books are a language and cultural resource for anyone wanting to learn Māori. But by telling the story in English first the translation to Māori wasn't very good. The second problem was that the story was retold in a way that a lot of Māori didn't like. Basically defeating the purpose of why the stories were created in the first place.

Above: Illustration by Munro Te Whata. Copyright Kiwa Digital/Munro Te Whata 2015.

AK: Did you have any personal favourites from the stories/sequences you enjoyed illustrating for the series?

MTW: I think the third book, during the first half I felt like I was getting in a groove but due to having to pump them out quite fast - like 3 pages a day - I have to say that took a bit of the fun out of it! (laughs).

Above: Character designs by Munro Te Whata. Copyright Kiwa Digital/Munro Te Whata 2015.

AK: What's your drawing process from script to finished artwork? And what are your preferred art tools of choice?

MTW: I usually start by doing a whole lot of scribbling on paper. Just concepts of characters and then when I have the script I start going through the whole story and doing thumbnails of different ideas for the layouts of the page. Working in thumbnails helps the overall flow of the story, so I try to get it to a point where someone can read the thumbnails without the script and still get the story.

My experience is in traditional animation and I've never really learnt how to paint, so when I started getting work as an illustrator I bought a wacom tablet and now everything I do that needs colour is done digitally. For me nothing beats drawing with just a pencil, pen and permanent marker.

Above: Illustration by Munro Te Whata. Copyright Kiwa Digital/Munro Te Whata 2015.

AK: And what are some of your art influences?

MTW: I find inspiration from everywhere. I love old spaghetti westerns, old samurai and martial arts movies. Comics like Saga, 100 bullets and Lone Wolf and Cub are real inspiring to me and great reads. I follow quite a lot of TV shows. I tend to gravitate toward stories of wandering types maybe because I moved around a lot as a kid. I also like video games and usually the long free roaming types. I tend to listen to a lot of music while I work as well which can be anything depending on my mood. I also find a lot of inspiration reading about world mythologies/religions, New Zealand history and I'm constantly looking for imagery from old cultures. Some favourite artists would be Bengus, Le Sean Thomas, Banksy, Mike Mignola, Tarantino, Fiona Apple, Goseki Kojima, Miyazaki, Joe Madureira, Moebius and so much more I can't think of right now.

Above: Rough art layout by Munro Te Whata. Copyright Kiwa Digital/Munro Te Whata 2015.

AK: At the launch we talked a bit about some of your future projects in the pipeline, and it sounds like you might have a potential long-form comics project in the works?

MTW: With the Ngā Atua Māori comics Kiwa will be pushing to get more of those done in the future. I also have an ongoing comic series which I'm working on with a friend. It's just a passion project at the moment and we both have kids and full-time jobs so not too much time to work on it but we are hoping to eventually submit to Image Comics. Basically it's an historical fiction comic set in and around New Zealand leading up to the Treaty of Waitangi. There's not much else to say about it other than it's going to show a lot of crazy shit that went down in that time. So it probably won't be for kids...

Above: Illustration by Munro Te Whata. Copyright Kiwa Digital/Munro Te Whata 2015.

You can view more of Munro's artwork over at his art blog HERE, and for more information on KIWA and their Ngā Atua Māori graphic novellas you can visit their website HERE.

- AK!

Above: Munro Te Whata drawing live at the KIWA Ngā Atua Māori Graphic Novella Launch.

KIWA launches Ngā Atua Māori Graphic Novellas

Above: Artwork from KIWA's Ngā Atua Māori Graphic Novella series, by Munro Te Whata. Copyright Kiwa Digital 2015.

Earlier this year I was privileged to attend the launch of KIWA's Ngā Atua Māori Graphic Novellas - digital e-books re-tellings of traditional Māori myths and stories, accompanied by Te Reo Māori and English text and audio narration, with easy to use language learning features - created to be read on tablets, phones and other digital devices. The series of e-books are designed to share these stories in an innovative and contemporary format, and to promote reading engagement in youth and the use of Te Reo Māori in New Zealand.

KIWA Digital was originally formed in 2003 as a post-production company by award-winning film and television producer Rhonda Kite. Initially the company focused on creating innovative software for foreign-language dubbing for film, before moving into digital e-books and applying some of those same skills - language translation, along with interactive features and animation to enhance the reading experience.

Above: The cover of book #1: Te Orokotīmatanga o te Ao, by Munro Te Whata. Copyright Kiwa Digital 2015.

There are currently four books in the Ngā Atua Māori Graphic Novella series:

Book #1: Te Orokotīmatanga o te Ao: This story is about the creation of the universe. It begins with Io (The Acme or Supreme Being) and the infinite state of nothingness before you are transported through the ages and aeons to the time of Ranginui (Sky Father) and Papatūānuku (Earth Mother).

Book #2: Te Wehenga o Ranginui rāua ko Papatūānuku: which tells the story of the separation of Sky Father (Ranginui) and Earth Mother (Papatūānuku).

Book #3: Te Pakanga i Te Paerangi: The battle between Tūmatauenga and Whiro, sons of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, that stemmed from long-held grudges between the two brothers and each of their factions.

Book #4: Tāne me ngā Kete o Te Wānanga: The story of Tāne and his journey to Tikitiki-o-Rangi to fetch the Three Baskets of Knowledge and the Two Sacred Stones, Rehutai and Hukatai.

All four novellas are illustrated by artist & animator Munro Te Whata, and are available now on the iTunes App Store and Google Play, with the first book in the series available for FREE (search for: Ngā Atua Māori on the app stores).

Above: Artwork from Book #2: Te Wehenga o Ranginui rāua ko Papatūānuku, by Munro Te Whata. Copyright Kiwa Digital 2015.

To find out more I talked to Jill Tattersall - chair and CEO of KIWA Digital, about the creation of the Ngā Atua Māori series and their future plans for more Te Reo Māori graphic novellas.

AK: After working in film, was it a natural progression for Kiwa to move into children's e-books and bring something new to that market?

Jill Tattersall: The move into digital publishing was to grab an opportunity as content consumption shifted to digital with the arrival of the iPAD.  We realized that the same technology that synchronized audio with text for film (our proprietary software VoiceQ®) could also be used in digital books. We digitized content, synchronized narration, added language options and interactivity … and experiential digital books were born. Some of our earliest titles created 5 years ago, like Barnaby Bennett, still lead the world in their functionality.

AK: With KIWA's understanding on how to integrate language translation into the e-book reading experience, the Ngā Atua Māori graphic novellas are an ideal application for this technology to teach te reo Māori and entertain. How important has this project been to Kiwa, and how long did it take to develop?

JT: The project has taken more than a year, it was commissioned by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission) and has been a catalyst for KIWA having much closer relationships with iwi and other Māori organisations in Aotearoa I New Zealand.

Above: A presentation video of KIWA's Ngā Atua Māori Graphic Novellas.

AK: Unlike some of Kiwa's previous children's e-books which have been presented in a more traditional picture book style, the Ngā Atua Māori series are graphic novellas, illustrated by Munro Te Whata. What was the appeal of using the language of comics to bring these particular stories to life, as opposed to a more traditional approach?

JT: The graphic novella style was used to engage with the targeted youth audience. Ant Sang expresses it well: “Vibrant, evocative artwork combined with sound and animation bring these traditional Māori stories to vivid life for today's youth. This is an exciting development for the comic book medium, and an innovative way to bring these important stories into the modern age.”

AK: Were there particular challenges in the process of adapting the stories into the e-book form - staying true to the stories and mythology while presenting them in a way that would be accessible to a contemporary audience?

JT: There was a great temptation to begin the graphic novella series with stories about Māui and his ilk. But, it was important to talk about the origins of such characters first, for the sake of those who did not already have an understanding of the Māori worldview. Now, having provided that missing piece of the jigsaw, we hope that readers will have a better insight of Māori and their connection to things natural and for some, things supernatural.

Rereata Mākiha and Waihoroi Shortland have done a wonderful job of unraveling some of the mysticism around our stories, by retelling them in simple, but engaging language. With Munro’s stunning imagery and animations, the Māori cultural storytelling experience becomes accessible to young and old audiences alike.

Above: A photo from the crowded launch for KIWA's Ngā Atua Māori Graphic Novellas. 

AK: What has the public response and feedback been like for these titles over at iTunes and Google Play?

JT: We have had a tremendous response to the series from politicians, community leaders, educational organizations, teachers and readers. You can read some of our testimonials HERE  and HERE.

There have been downloads from as far away as USA, Japan, and France in this initial phase, and we are about to launch strategies to deliver directly into schools that will significantly increase this response.

Above: At the Ngā Atua Māori Graphic Novellas launch, KIWA previewed animation from an upcoming adaptation of the graphic novella - Ngārimu: Te Tohu Toa.

AK: With the success of these titles, I understand there are more Te Reo Māori titles in development, including adaptations of Huia Publishing's historical World War II graphic novels illustrated by Andrew Burdan?

JT: Kiwa Digital in collaboration with Huia Publishers and supported by a number of interested parties will produce a new graphic novella - Ngārimu: Te Tohu Toa. This graphic novel was originally published by Huia in 2012. It tells the outstanding story of the first Māori Victoria Cross won in Tunisia, in March 1943 by 2nd Lieutenant Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu, C Company, 28 Māori Battalion. The publication was unique in that the script was published in English and in the dialect of Ngāti Porou from the East Coast.

A growing concern for many iwi in their engagement with males aged between 15-25 years old. Ngāti Porou’s tribal representatives in Auckland believe that publishing this story as an app or graphic novella will provide an innovative digital approach to engagement with this demographic. 

This is an exciting new project leveraging Kiwa’s knowledge, skill and experience developed in the Ngā Atua Māori series. The [e-book] release of the graphic novella Ngārimu: Te Tohu Toa will be announced later in the year.

Many thanks to Jill Tattersall for taking the time to discuss KIWA's great work on these stories, which I urge you to check out for yourself by downloading them from the iTunes App Store and Google Play - the first book is FREE! (search for: Ngā Atua Māori on the app stores).

And stay tuned, as my KIWA coverage continues with an upcoming interview with artist Munro Te Whata!

Above: KIWA's Ngā Atua Māori Graphic Novellas featured on a segment of Te Karere.

- AK!

Graphic Voices at Auckland Writers Festival 2015

Above: The four cartoonists taking part in A Graphics Affair; from top left: Rachel Fenton, Damon Keen, below left: Sam Orchard and Ant Sang.

The Auckland Writers Festival returns for 2015, and continues its love affair with graphic literature - boasting events featuring several well known local cartoonists.

A Graphic Affair, taking place on Sunday May 17th, from 4.30pm - 5.20pm, is a FREE event featuring four NZ cartoonists taking to the Aotea Centre Limelight Stage to present stories from one of their works. 

The line-up features: Rachel Fenton, a former winner of AUT's Graphic Fiction Prize and recent participant in the NZ Book Council's Graphic Novelist Exchange Residency in Taiwan; Damon Keen, editor of the NZ comics anthology Faction, and the upcoming High Water collection; Sam Orchard, author of the autobio webcomic Rooster Tails, and the comic series Family Portraits; and Ant Sang, author of Shaolin Burning, The Dharma Punks, and designer of the TV series Bro' Town.

For more information, visit the Auckland Writers Festival event page HERE.

Above: Ant Sang.

Ant Sang will also be leading a special workshop entitled, Comics 101.

Limited to 40 participants, join Ant to discuss, draw, and explore the creative process behind creating a graphic novel. Tickets are $45, with the workshop taking place on Friday May 15th, from 9am - 10.30am, at the Goodman Fielder Room, level 4, Aotea Centre. For more information, visit the Auckland Writers Festival event page HERE.

Above: Zak Waipara.

As a part of the Family Day Events on Sunday May 18th, Zak Waipara will be sharing Maori Myths - Maori mythology and legends with a modern twist. An animator and cartoonist, readers may remember Waipara's work from the late 90s comic Children of a Dying Nation, he has also worked as a designer on Maori Television's children's show Miharo, and a wide variety of children's books.

This event will be taking place at the Herald Theatre from 1.15pm - 1.45pm, and is suitable for ages 5-10. This is a free event, but tickets are required for booking. For more information, visit the Auckland Writers Festival event page HERE.

The Auckland Writers Festival will be held at the Aotea Centre from the 13th - 17th of May. Tickets are on sale now, so get in quick for the best seats in the house, and visit their website for a full list of events HERE.

- AK!

UPCOMING EVENTS: Family Portraits Book Launch & Everything and Everyone Market!

After a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign and tour of the USA, Sam Orchard is officially launching his comic series, Family Portraits this coming Wednesday, February 18th at The Woman's Bookstop at 105 Ponsonby Road, from 6pm.

Family Portraits tells the stories of a group of unique individuals, and explores the awesomeness of their sexual orientations and/or gender identities. These stories celebrate the differences and diversity in our communities. They look at how our ages, histories, genders, beliefs and ethnicities shape our experiences of ourselves, and how we live in the world.

Sam Orchard has created these stories based on real New Zealanders, exploring a range of topics including; what it was like to be in a gay relationship before Homosexual law reform in New Zealand, and what it’s like to be a first-generation queer from a migrant background. The comics can be used as a way to educate, breakdown barriers, and help people to understand more about our communities.

Above: The cover of Family Portraits #1 by Sam Orchard. Copyright Sam Orchard 2015.

The event kicks off at The Woman's Bookshop at 6pm, with entry via gold coin donation. You can also RSVP for the event on Facebook HERE. So if you are in Auckland next week, come out and support the launch of this important landmark comic series! 

For more information on Sam you can check out his website HERE, along with his regular webcomic Rooster Tails - an autobiographical series about his life and relationship as a queer transgender guy.

It's actually a very busy week for Sam, as well as launching Family Portraits, he's also the organiser of the Everything and Everyone Market, taking place on Saturday 21st of February, from 12 - 3pm at Alleluya Cafe in St Kevin's Arcade, 183 Karangahape Rd.

Now in its second year, Everything and Everyone celebrates diversity in our community during the Auckland Pride Festival with an art and craft market that has a particularly queer flavour - featuring: DIY arts, crafts, comics and self-publishing. This is an event for people wanting to buy or sell goods exploring queerness, transness, sexuality, gender, poly, kink, leather, feminism, geekery, and everything in between. In short, it is an art and craft market for Everything and Everyone!

Stallholders exhibiting and selling goods at the event include: Rooster Tails, Fight X Back, Zigtoons, Tricia, Square Planet, Jack Remiel Cottrell, Table of Temptation: Book Crossing, Rainbow T-Towel Love, with more to be announced.

For more information and updates on this great upcoming event, you can visit the Everything and Everyone website 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.

Lost NZ Comics: Martin Emond's 657

Above: The cover of 657 by Martin Emond. Copyright the Martin Emond Estate 2015.

While researching my book From Earth's End in 2012, I interviewed several friends and colleagues of the late great Martin F Emond (1969-2004), to help build a picture of his life and work for a spotlight chapter in my book. Emond was one of the few local cartoonists to successfully find comics work internationally in the 90's, first in the UK at publications like 2000AD and Toxic, and later in the US - working for DC Comics and a variety of others. I've written about his life and career in a previous retrospective blog, that you can read HERE.

One of the people I interviewed was Paul Rogers, a cartoonist and artist who was studying graphic design at the Auckland Institute of Technology (now A.U.T.) at the same time as Emond. During his tenure at A.I.T. it was clear how talented Emond was, but his sole focus on producing comics art and paintings at the expense of other assignments did create friction with the institute. When he wasn't invited back to complete the final year of his diploma, Emond set his sights on breaking into the UK comics instead, and on advice from Rogers set about producing a sample comic he could send out to comics editors to get their attention. The result was 657, a comic about a group of misfit superheroes (Ash, Ignition and Carmine) on a road trip.

Above: A pin-up of 657 by Martin Emond. Copyright the Martin Emond Estate 2015.

As Rogers recalls, '657 was produced by Martin in the NZ summer of late 1989 - early 1990, as a portfolio piece which he sent to (UK comics writer/editor) Pat Mills c/o 2000AD to try and get work in the English comic market. These samples got Martin his first commissioned work (Accident Man for the UK publication Toxic), which then led to White Trash and other things'.

The comic included a ten-page story and a series of character pin-ups. The results are a bit rough, but you can clearly see Martin's knack for stylised anatomy and decorative design developing here, and his interest in outsider characters living on the fringes of society, forming their own dysfunctional family to survive - a theme he would return to and refine in his most personal strip, Switch Blade.

The following artwork scans for the entirety of 657 were provided by Paul Rogers, with special thanks to the Martin Emond Estate. Enjoy!

- AK!

Above: All 657 artwork and contents is copyright the Martin Emond Estate 2015.

NZ Cartoonists and Community Respond to the Charlie Hebdo Attack

Above: UK/NZ cartoonist Rufus Dayglo photographed attending a silent vigil in Trafalgar Square, London.

On January 7th, twelve people were killed in an armed attack by two masked gunmen on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. The victims of this horrific act of violence included five cartoonists: Stéphane Charbonnier, also known as 'Charb', the magazine's editor and chief cartoonist; Jean Cabut, aka 'Cabu'; Georges Wolinski, one of the founders of Charlie Hebdo; Bernard Verlhac, aka 'Tignous', and Philippe Honoré, a staff cartoonist.

The attack was believed to be in response to the satirical magazine's use of Muhammad-related cartoons and material. Police officers were stationed at the offices of Charlie Hebdo after previous death threats and a fire-bombing incident in 2011, and sadly two officers were killed during the initial attack and the armed exchanges that followed.

Above: Photo from the Auckland vigil held at Aotea Square on Friday evening. Photo by Amy Baker.

Following the tragedy, there have been vigils held worldwide to morn and remember the victims of this attack, taking place in Paris, London, and many other cities around the world, including here in Wellington and Auckland. Signs bearing the phrase "Je suis Charlie" (I am Charlie) were created and held aloft along with pens and pencils in a tribute of solidarity with the staff of Charlie Hebdo to champion their right (and others) to express themselves through art without having to live in fear of reprisal. Over 300 people filled Auckland's Aotea Square yesterday evening, leaving their signs and messages of support with candles that continued to burn long into the night.

Above: "Je suis Charlie" by Dylan Horrocks.

Dylan Horrocks, Rod Emmerson and others responded to the news of the attack in an interview with the NZ Herald that you can read HERE.

UPDATE: On the 13th of January, Horrocks was also interviewed on 95b-FM's The Wire, you can hear the full interview HERE.

Above: "Je suis Charlie" by Toby Morris.

Local political cartoonist Tom Scott, whose cartoons have previously been featured in French newspaper Le Monde, was interviewed by Radio NZ HERE.

Above: "Je suis Charlie" by Tim Molloy.

Saturday morning the news broke that the two wanted gunmen were located hiding in a printing plant north of Paris in Dammartin-en-Goele, and were later killed in a shoot out with police, bringing this tragic series of events to an unsettling end.

The surviving staff of Charlie Hebdo have moved to the offices of Liberation magazine, where they will continue to publish, with the print run for next week's issue expected to be one million copies.

- AK!

Above: Photos from the Auckland vigil held at Aotea Square on Friday evening. Photos by Amy Baker.