2012 in Review: Gary Chaloner

Gary Chaloner

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?

Twenty-twelve started off being a very bad year (continuing on from an even worse 2011, filled with death and mayhem), but over the last six months, things have really turned around with a lot of work being done and cleared off the drawing board that should be seeing the light of day in the new year. I had a blast taking over from Emily Smith on Gestalt's Unmasked, written by Christian Read. By year's end I should be finished that. I've also got the first issue of The Undertaker Morton Stone in the bag for Gestalt as well. Issues two and three of the series are almost finished. On a good productive roll there. I've also been doing a lot of illustration work for a new series of adventure paperbacks featuring Doc Wilde by Tim Byrd. It was a very successful Kickstarter campaign that's now getting into high gear. The first book in the series should be available within the month. 

Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?

Kranburn by Ben Michael Byrne was a nice discovery. Enjoying that a lot. The story and characters have a lot of presence and Byrne's writing in general sucks you in and takes you along for the crazy ride.

Blue by Pat Grant was brilliant and totally deserves all the praise its getting. A well executed project from beginning to end. Utilising both web and print to maximum effect. Nicely designed, nicely drawn, nicely told.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?

Movies? John Carter, Prometheus, Dark Knight Rises (Bane's voice not so much), Avengers (Captain America's modern outfit, not so much). Yes, they're the usual suspects, but I didn't have much time to see too many flicks, so the big ones stood out.

Books? Went through a James Ellroy phase. Read the Underworld USA trilogy: American Tabloid (again), The Cold Six Thousand (again) and Blood's a Rover. I'm so over him now.

TV? The Walking Dead. Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Bored to Death.

Music? Springsteen (The Promise and Wrecking Ball), My Morning Jacket, David Ruffin

Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?

God knows I try. But old habits die hard. Always searching for ways to speed up productivity while maintaining quality, but the older I get, the more comfortable I am with the old ways and the more unsatisfied I am with digital art, disposable pens, non-sable brushes. The big change is working standing up. The body knows no pain now.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

Seeing all the stuff I've been working on recently getting out and about. An Unmasked print collection! More Undertaker!! Doc Wilde!!! I might even get around to finishing my Breckenridge Elkins adaption.

I'm also looking forward to seeing the revamped Ledger Awards (or whatever they'll be called) getting back up and running under the auspices of Supanova.

Now that the Australian Comics Journal website has been bubbling along with baby steps over the last six months, I'd like to see what the next phase for that is.

I've also got a secret graphic novel project for Gestalt to return to (working like a Trojan tin the meantime...) and a The Jackaroo collection to get out this year. So I hope another big, productive year is on the way.

http://garychaloner.com/

http://australiancomicsjournal.com/

2012 in Review: James Davidson

 
What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?

 
Receiving my copies of Moa 2 from the printer and looking at my work in colour for the first time. When I opened the box I was like wow! I’m a comic artist. Also, getting picked up by Pikitia Press really affirmed for me the value in making comics and the work I had been doing.

Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?

I picked up a cheap copy of Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg volume one at the Hamilton Armageddon this year. This is the first opportunity that I have had to actually read some of his work. His layouts and especially his use of text and words as a compositional element have been something I want to develop in my own work.
 
What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012? 

My family and I recently went to see the Mary Poppins show at the Civic in Auckland. The kids loved it and the sets were spectacular. More 3D then a 3D movie!

Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?

Moving to colour has been the most noticeable change for me. After seeing issue one printed in black and white I knew I had to take the plunge and give colour a crack. My first attempts to colour Moa turned out pretty bad, thank goodness for youtube! I can honestly say that everything I know about colouring comics I learnt on youtube.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

Making more comics! I’m aiming to get issues 1, 2 and 3 collected through Pikitia Press early in 2013. I would also like to get issues 4 and 5 released although, getting that many pages finished might be a bit of a stretch.

 http://moascomic.blogspot.com.au/

2012 in Review: Ive Sorocuk

Ive Sorocuk

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?
 

Being a part of Squishface and having it be five minutes away from my home. Having my first solo exhibition in years, using it as an excuse to tighten up and show some process doodles. I brought out two zines made up of sketchbook drawings that I see no reason not to keep doing. Came out with The Diggables Handbook minicomic which got a nice response.

Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?
 

I recently read Sanctuary, a manga by by Sho Fumimura and Ryoichi Ikegami from the early 90's about the yakuza and Japanese politics. The cleanness and consistency in the art plus the over dramatic dialogue makes me want to seek out more by them. Checked out all the Brubaker/Philips crime comics I could find this year and they blew me away and made me really want to do my own noir stuff. Jason, Brandon Graham, DMZ, Fables, Darwyn Cooke's Parker are all things I hadn't read until this year.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?
 

Breaking Bad has never done me wrong. The Walt vs Gus season stressed my guts out every single episode. Adventure Time has always been good but it's really gone up a few notches in the last two seasons as it goes back on itself and creates a continuity rather than being as stagnant as most cartoons. I've been working my way through the original Twilight Zone and it's like a straight version of everything I love about Silver Age comics. I feel not enough people talk about It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The Muppets made me bawl my eyes out both times I saw it. Beasts of the Southern Wild got me drawing horns on everything.

As part of my BrunswickArts duties I attended as many graduation showsas possible and that was pretty inspiring. There were a few stand out things but mainly just seeing young folk busting their butts as creatively as they can got me pumped and made me question why I'm not drawing all day every day.

The food at Squishface's Exhibitchin' will be hard to top.

Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?
 

Being at Squishface allows me to throw around ideas and jokes and get feedback on things in progress rather than just doing a page and hoping for the best. The biggest change I've made is starting to worry about whether my finished art actually looks good or not. I used to be all about visual short-cuts and as long as a reader could tell my drawing of a table is
meant to be a table then that was fine, where as now I try and draw the best darn table I can. I've barely implemented that in my monthly Comics Face strips but it was my main focus in my Diggables minicomic.

Also, I dressed as a cowboy at three separate special comic occasions.
I want to do more of this.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

 

I have a few vague ideas for my next comic and I want to lock one down before next year. Camp Chugnut, another exhibition both group and solo, Squishface 1st Birthday Spectacular, hopefully a con somewhere and a book launch.

http://nonstopive.tumblr.com/

2012 in Review: Simon Hanselmann

 Simon Hanselmann

 
What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?
 
It's been a pretty surreal year for me... the biggest highlight I can't even talk about yet. but yeah, getting asked to be in Smoke Signal was pretty big for me, and the response to Truth Zone has been really awesome (big shout-out to Frankie Santoro). Also: getting asked to pitch shit to frederator was pretty flattering... the whole year's just been one big highlight pretty much.

Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?

Currently i'm really into Dane Martin (superhuman depression gag writer), Aidan Koch (dream weaver), Lala Albert (not human), Royce Icon (sweetheart), Heather Benjamin (disgusting)... that's just the tip of the iceberg... there's so much shit going on right now...

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?

My whole year has pretty much just been about comics, I find it difficult to focus on anything else...

I was reading the new Murakami (1Q84) and digging it a lot but i still haven't finished it. Rupaul's Drag Race is still the best thing on television, nothing else even comes close. my favourite movie I saw was young adult. best music: BROTHERS HAND MIRROR.
 
Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?

Nah. still just set up in the living room, hanging out with my girlfriend, pounding shit out, trying not to have a nervous breakdown.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

I'm working over summer on a new 60ish page Megg and Mogg book that should be out in march from space face books, then HTML flowers and I have a show in Madrid in may, then I'm finishing up my big 200 page Megg and Mogg book and getting it print-ready, then going to NYC in October for Halloween and BCGF... Oh, and i'm putting together an anthology in February called VICTORIA DRUG SCENE. And a million other little things. And more therapy.

http://girlmountain.tumblr.com/

2012 in Review: Richard Fairgray

Terry Jones and Richard Fairgray

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?

Finally being able to release Blastosaurus in print after having no control over the rights to it for so long. Also, launching the book in London was cool, it was strange being at a convention where such a huge percentage of attendees were there specifically to look at comics instead of video games or whatever else.

Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?

I'm embarrassed to say it but until this year I had never read anything by Dave Sim. It's still all new to me (and surprisingly hard to track down) but Cerebus is just incredible. I really admire his dedication to that project and willingness to have it drive him to such a point of insanity to get it finished.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?

Finally got around to reading The Secret History, Slaughterhouse V, The Virgin Suicides and a handful of other books that had been sitting in a pile in my office for a long time taunting me.

In terms of film, I sort of liked Looper but not enough to rant and rave about it. I'd like to go on record here as saying that Dark Knight Rises was literally the worst film I have ever seen in a cinema.

Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?

I've begun a few new projects in 2012 which have been fun to work on. The most interesting for me is the Blastosaurus spin off 'No Added Color.' It's a comic specifically designed to be in black and white (the stories rely on it and the art is driven by shadow). It's been fun for me because usually my scripts are so defined when I begin drawing (a 70 page script for a 24 page comic with full panel by panel breakdowns already figured out) and with these stories I'm not limited by issue format or page numbers or worrying about the main continuity (the stories are all canonical but are set in between the significant events of the color series).

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

Two new volumes of Blastosaurus, 2 new volumes of No Added Color, 4 new issues of Ghost Ghost, the 20th book of I Fight Crime, the first Ghost Ghost picture book...maybe taking a day off. of No Added Color, 4 new issues of Ghost Ghost, the 20th book of I Fight Crime, the first Ghost Ghost picture book...maybe taking a day off.

 http://blastosaurus.com/

2012 in Review: Jase Harper

Jase Harper

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?

I’d have to say collecting and printing my comic strips at this year’s Sticky zine fair, was a lot of fun and I got lots of positive feedback which is always nice. Another highlight was visiting the Small press Expo in the states and getting to see comic Gods, Ware, Burns and Clowes all in the same room.

Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?

Joseph Lambert. I picked up his book ‘I will bite you!’ at SPX this year. His stories are playful, beautiful and surreal. ‘Turtle keep it steady’ from that book is probably my fave thing this year.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?

I saw a retrospective of the Quay brothers at Moma that was amazing.  After pouring over their animations at art college it was mind blowing to see their stop motion sets first hand, So beautiful and creepy.

Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?

I came to a realisation that doing super clean artwork is painful and I just don’t enjoy it anymore, for my personal work at least. Swapping to brush pens was a big step, It gave my line work a bit more of a lively feel, plus I’m able to produce a page much quicker now.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

For those who are members of the Mini Comic of the Month club I’ll be releasing my 16 pg mini in January. I'm a few pages in and really enjoying it. I also have a chapter in Jason Franks next Sixsmiths book, which I’m pretty chuffed about. I’m also looking forward to finishing my long form comic sometime next year as well, it’s well overdue. As for other people’s work. I’m super keen to see Tim Molloy’s next book as well as more of J Stew’s Giants.

 http://www.jaseharper.com/

 http://guhcomics.com/

2012 in Review: Jerome Bihan

Jerome Bihan

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?
 
Most certainly going to the Angouleme festival. I had a stall at a side event  (as in called the Festival Off) with pretty much all the local and international small press. Great time to meet people and check out the HUUUUGE independent scene going in Europe. I actually made a full comic out of it. Also went to some other small press expo such as ELCAF in London (organised by NoBrow) again another overwhelming event.

Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?
 
I could not really isolate one. Firstly there are people I have been in contact with and who I asked to contribute to Radio as Paper such as Ludmilla Bartscht, James Turek, Anna Hailfisch, Sharmila Banerjee, Martin Ernstern, Alexandre de Mote and many more.
 
There is a lot going on in Europe at the moment for independent comics.I don't think there has been as many indie publishers as there is now. There is a lot of books coming out in France every year (I think there is about 5 thousand titles a year) but I guess to name a few 'established artists' I could name Jc Menu, Mattt Konture, Jonathan Larabie, Max de Radiques who's latest comic called Moose is available through Oily . Also Joseph Lambert who I discovered though his website and oh, yeah, I think Simon Hanselmann is pretty rad.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?

Short stories and essays I guess. 'A Dreary story' by Anton Chekhov, Inside the whale by Orwell, Barjavel. I have been watching Treme also by David Simon , the walking dead tv show is also on my list for 2012...what else, hum, Nite Jewel, Bill Callahan, Prinzhorn dance school.That's about it for music. And eating proper French bread again, I fucking missed it man!

Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?

Yeah, I am getting slow (haha). I've been trying to layer pages a different way, I try not to fill them too much. Embracing the greys. If there is a sentence to define my method in 2012 it would be that: embracing the greys.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

Not been turned into a zombie or to ashes, been the end of the world and all. A lady tried to give me a magazine on the street this week end, the front of it said: 'are you scared about the end of the world?'. I later found out she was a Jehovah witness.Even them are cashing out on the Walking Dead. I guess I'll keep 2012 rolling into 2013.Meet more comic folks, make more comics, eat more bread, you know...live the life.

http://awrycomics.blogspot.com.au/

2012 in Review: Karl Wills

Karl Wills

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?

I managed to find enough time to complete the first two Princess Seppuku books, something I haven't done in about 5 years.
 
Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?

I really like the work of Josh Bayer (Raw Power) and Michael Deforge (Lose), Josh's work reminds me of Weirdo, it feels like it really belongs in there, it's dark and funny and the drawing is confident but loose, it looks like it's drawn fast, I'm totally envious of it. Michael Deforges comic is far more controlled but tidy and minimal, also a dark story, his design work is deceptively simple and exquisite, I love that cover Lose #4.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?

I've been enjoying the films of Takashi Miike, I went through a period of watching everything I could get all at once, and while his stuff is almost always very violent, it was films like "The Bird People in China" that I liked the most, a lot of great characters and lot's of heart.

Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?

Just more focus on getting stuff done and out there, I haven't been doing any comic work for a few years and really miss it.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

I'm working on a few animation projects that should be ready sometime in 2013, getting back into writing and directing my own stuff again.

http://www.comicbookfactory.net/