Auckland Zinefest 2013: Comics Spotlight

Auckland Zinefest is happening this Saturday at St Kevin's Arcade, K'rd from 12 noon - 5pm.
Below is a handy guide to the comics related stall holders you can expect to see this weekend!

Potroast: Potroast, founded in April 2009, is a biannual literary magazine of original short-fiction, poetry, illustration, photography and art. Potroast has a focus on work which is exploratory and experimental. We look for work which is expanding boundaries within the literary concepts of poetry, short prose and dialogue based writing (i.e. short pieces for performance) and art & illustration which explores the boundaries between image and storytelling; narrative drawing, graphic storytelling.

Kakelake: Kakelake is a small zine distro/artist group in Auckland, stocking an indescribably rad selection of really good and recent local zines, small-press books and comix.

Sam Orchard: Sam Orchard is a queer and trans* comic artist who writes comics about the awesomeness of gender and sexual diversity in New Zealand.

Sophie Oiseau: Sophie Oiseau is an Auckland based illustrator who likes to draw weird plants and alligators with pineapples. She is currently working on a zine about annulai on legless squamata (i.e. snakes wearing watches/sweatbands etc).

Buzzferkchurnt: Illustrator, animator and graphic designer who likes melting, timetravel, interdimensional travel and freaks.

Actionman Adam: Marc likes drawing comics. The one he spends all his time on is called ActionMan Adam, a comic about a young Canadian trying to find love in Christchurch. He hopes it makes people smile.



The ComicBook Factory: Karl at the ComicBook Factory makes and self publish comics. Currently working on a Japanese superhero comic called 'Princess Seppuku', when she's not disguised as the toilet cleaning Maid Kyoko she flies about fighting crime.

Blastosaurus: Richard Fairgray self publishes a range of different comics and mini comics including: Blastosaurus, I Fight Crime, Ghost Ghost, Clip Show, The Darwin Faeries, Irrelevamp, Men on the Moon and others.

Adam Tan: Artist/Illustrator located in Auckland, New Zealand. Currently working on a comic anthology zine with other artists including Henry Christian-Slane, Maxi Quy, Nick Blazey and Alexander Martin.

Let Me Be Frank: Let Me Be Frank is a series of autobiographical comics by Sarah Laing. Themes range from writing, reading, parenting and angsting to consuming and being celebrity-obsessed, and are drawn from my every day experiences. Sarah will also have a number of mini-comics, a range of comic books published by Pikitia Press (AU), and will be sharing her stall with her son Otto Lane who draws comics about monsters/robots/lions, and sister Melissa who has published an art book 'Commonly Occurring'.

Richard Richards: The Shared Table is a mish-mash of zines ranging from comics & illustration to intellectual experimental writing by local artists and writers, including a couple of zines by students from Howick College. Artists and writers include Kelly Malone, Eli Lamont, Boris White, Makyla Curtis and Richard Richards.

Henry Christian-Slane: Henry Christian-Slane is an artist and illustrator working in New Zealand. His zine Myriad is a compilation of artwork and short comics by artists Henry Christian Slane, Adam Tan, Maxi Quy, Nick Blazey, Alex Martin and Kyle Boonzaier.

New Zealand Comics Creators: The NZCC represents a wide cross section of self-published New Zealand cartoonists from across the country. The stall will be manned by the Sheehan Bros, creators of The Inhabitants, and NZ Comics blogger/writer Adrian Kinnaird.

BCW Publishing: BCW Publishing have been self-publishing comics and zines since the mid '90s. Current projects include a quarterly zine called Whark which features comics, opinions on various esoteric subjects, travel stories, music and other stuff that feel appropriate at the time. Brent also edits and publishes an annual collection of comics The Bristle Annual which features cartoonists and zine makers from Wellington and further afield.

Marc Conaco: Marc is an Auckland-based graphic designer by day, and a freelance illustrator by night. Marc loves working with his hands; all his creative projects start as scribbles and sketches on scrap paper before finding its way to the computer.

Ducklingmonster: Zine/comic/zine/comic's of kipple crazes.

Seeing With Closed Eyes/Coolguys: Liam has been making comics and zines with my buddies since 2006. For the past 2 years he has been producing "Seeing With Closed Eyes", a comic series based entirely on dreams I've had.

XTOTL: Toby Morris is an illustrator, designer and comic artist who has been making zines for about 15 years (since he has 16!) Just recently he reprinted an old comic that he made in 2001, and has just completed a book of drawings about his first year as a parent.

Be sure to stick around for the after party held at Whammy Bar and The Wine Cellar in St Kevin's Arcade. Featuring the presentation of the 'Zine of The Festival' prize, as well as performances by: H D S P N S, Girls pissing on girls pissing, The Psychs, It Hurts and DAD JOKES. Doors open 8:30, first band at 9pm. See you there!

-AK!

EVENT: Auckland Zinefest 2013

Back for it's fifth year, Auckland Zinefest kicks off a weekend of DIY celebration and activities, as detailed below in their official press release:

The Auckland Zine Collective proudly celebrates Auckland Zinefest's fifth birthday. This 2013 festival features a spectacular line-up of activities planned for Aucklanders of all ages.

The weekend-long festival celebrates zines and self-publishing in all its forms. Often using the photocopier as a means of production, zines come in many formats and styles, and leave design and content completely up to the creator. The format lends itself to experimentation and complete freedom of expression.

Auckland Zinefest weekend opens with a launch party at the Audio Foundation on Friday evening, 26 July, featuring spoken word performances and an exhibition of zine-related works.

On Saturday, 27 July at St Kevin's Arcade on Karangahape Road from Noon until 5pm. At Alleluya Café, fourty stall holders from Auckland, Wellington and beyond will feature their zines, mini-comics and other self-published works. Workshops and speakers will take place at the Wine Cellar and other parts of the Arcade. Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn about screen printing and print their own souvenirs for the day.

As part of the day's festivities, the Zine Collective will be hosting workshops on typography and cartooning, a talk on digital publishing, and a panel discussion about the history of zine culture in New Zealand.

A 'Zine of the Fest' award will be presented to a standout example of self-publishing, with entries open on the day of 27 July. The competition will be judged by a panel consisting from Auckland Libraries zine Librarian Karen Craig, and From Earth's End Kiwi comics blogger Adrian Kinnaird. The winner will be announced at an after party held at the Wine Cellar & Whammy Bar, with live music to follow.

Wrapping up the festival will be a special family event co-hosted by Auckland Libraries. At the Central City Library on Sunday 28 July, children will be given guidance and inspiration to create a collaborative zine together. Every participant will receive a copy of the work and it will also become part of the Auckland Libraries Zine Collection.

Check back here tomorrow, where I'll spotlight the stall holders!

-AK!

Go Read: Over My Dead Body by Ben Stenbeck & Tim Molloy

Above: Over My Dead Body cover by Ben Stenbeck. Copyright Ben Stenbeck & Tim Molloy 2013.

Back in 2001, Ben Stenbeck collaborated with fellow NZ cartoonist Tim Molloy on an atmospheric zombie comic, Over My Dead Body.

Set in a bleak post-apocalyptic setting, a long gun slinger faces down the undead, as the forces of heaven and hell test his resolve. Scripted by Molloy & Stenbeck - with art by Stenbeck, it should also be noted this was a full decade before The Walking Dead cornered the market in zombie drama.

Above: The Cowboy, by Ben Stenbeck. Copyright Ben Stenbeck & Tim Molloy 2013.

It was samples from this 51 page story that first caught the eye of Dark Horse editor Diana Schutz, leading to Stenbeck's first professional art gigs, before graduating to major projects like Living with the Dead (written by Dark Horse publisher Mike Richardson), and Baltimore (written by Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden).

Above: Zombies on the move! Copyright Ben Stenbeck & Tim Molloy 2013.

You can read the entire story for FREE at Ben's website HERE.

For more of Stenbeck's art, there's also his art blog, Monster & Stuff HERE, and you can follow him on Twitter: @BenStenbeck.

- AK!

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!