2012 in Review: Matt Kyme

Matt Kyme

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

In Sept I launched That Bulletproof Kid where I upload my ongoing superhero web comic; That Bulletproof Kid. It’s a full colour comic illustrated by an awesomely talented friend, Arthur Strickland. In October I began uploading a second web comic which I wrote and illustrated called The Ace. In Nov I also uploaded an 8 page story called Secret History which was illustrated by Gareth Colliton and coloured by Joe Roberts.
 

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

There are sooo many talented people out there! I was totally blown away by Hidden by Mirranda Burton. It was so tender and heartfelt, when you read it you feel as if you are listening to an old friend. I enjoyed the creepy and psychological atmosphere of The List by Paul Bedford. Fred Russell-Atkins had me laughing with his action packed, typo filled Spitfires, McBlack comics by Jason Franks are clever, surprising, genre challenging, 4th wall breaking meta which are a hoot to read. Thomas Tung’s Rent My Seal and Jake Harrison, Relationship Detective are a heap of fun as is High School Romance by Jin Chan Yum Wai. Guzumo by Matt Emery kept me and my high school students entertained and slightly confused.

Endlessly prolific writer, Matt Nicholls delivered 3 amazing comics this year; 2 issues of Collateral and my personal favourite, Our Love Will Never Die But We Will, which has to be the most romantic zombie story ever. Matt also has a wicked web comic called Vesper that is illustrated by Ross Stewart. One of my biggest highlights was discovering work by the amazing Frank Candiloro. His work is something else. His stories are all so different from the last and his artistic style is so original and unmistakable. My favourite of his is Behind The Crooked Cross. It is a harrowing comic which is testing and moving. I should mention the amazing artists and writers that I have been lucky enough to work/collaborate/brainstorm with this year, Franco Pollizzi, Eros Harries, Annerleigh Pappos, Gareth Colliton, Joe Roberts, Simon Wright, Steve Partridge, Andrew Fitzgerald and Arthur Strickland.

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

My wife and two kids are a heap of fun. We have had a heap of laughs together this year and I’m very lucky to have them. Outside of family stuff, I’m really digging the new albums by The Cribs and Cat Power. I finally gave into peer pressure and started watching Breaking Bad. The new series of The Walking Dead has been great. Avengers and Batman movies were really cool. I liked The Artist and Argo too. My kids have discovered The Aquabats Supershow which is super rad. That Kony video was good. The world not ending was pretty good too.

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

Pretty much everything is new this year.  I did all the art for The Ace (my first ever comic) after I finished writing it and it drained my life. I enjoyed writing it far more than illustrating it so I decided that from now on I would avoid doing comic art like it was the plague. The only thing I enjoy as much as writing comics is getting fresh pages of art in my inbox. Working with Arthur of That Bulletproof Kid is a dream. I give him some rough sketches when I send him the scripts. It’s up to him if he wants to use them or not. I have never had any complaints with his pages, the dude knows how to draw and I love his colours! As far as my working methods go, I have sketchbooks with ideas and design/sketches all over the place, I have files with all my random ideas for stories/plots and characters,  a file with the rough story lines and a separate file where I type out the finished scripts. I do a heap of cutting and pasting, tweaking, refining, reading, re-reading etc before I send the scripts off top the artists. Did that put you to sleep?

What are you looking forward to in 2013?
 

I look forward to working with Arthur on That Bulletproof Kid and perhaps some other projects. I look forward to meeting more creators and discovering their work. I hope the new Superman movie is good. I don’t know what else will be on the cards next year, just have to hold on tight and see what happens.

http://thatbulletproofkid.com/wordpress/

2012 in Review: Ben Michael Byrne

Ben Michael Byrne

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

Getting another four (40 page) issues of Kranburn out there, obviously a huge thanks go out to FEC comics/Steve Sparke for that. Starting work on an amazing project titled Job Dun with the very exciting writer Mark Hobby, when I first got the issue #1 script, I was scrolling faster and faster to read it and couldn't wait to get my teeth into it. Having short stories I wrote and illustrated in Terra #1 and Home Made #1 and Velocity #2. Also doing art duties on a short story for Futurequake in the UK. Cover for Spitfires #3. Sorry if I've forgotten anyone. :P

Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?
 
100 Bullets. Over a decade ago I was in Ireland and a friend there urged me to read it, but I was still pretty much sci-fi/anthologies only at that point (2000AD etc) and didn't follow up. But now I'm happily chewing my way through the 100 Bullets trades, got another three or four waiting for me under the Christmas tree, yippee. :-D

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

Reading and re-reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, pure bliss. I can have a pile of unread books waiting, but I'll still end up picking up one of his and opening it for the 50th time.

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

Nothing drastic I think, but I'm always tweaking it here and there, as my child get older (she's approaching three) I have to adapt my schedule etc. The biggest change would probably be streamlining my work a little more and getting more 'German' with my efficiency (are positive racial stereotypes still naughty? Meh :-D ). My wife and I purchased a house about a year ago and I'd always wanted a cork board in my study, so now I have this well laid out timetable, with all current and future projects on it, each page of a job etc represented by a rectangle that I fill in as I go etc so I can at a glance see what needs tending/what's getting a bit close to deadline. I'm in anal heaven. Readers may interpret that however they wish, guffaw!

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

For myself: more Kranburn. Seeing Job Dun in print, its being coloured by Noelle Dreeves and will be longest coloured work I've ever been a part of so far, very exciting.

Outside of comics, owning the new Dredd movie, owning the new Metro: Last Light game (as well as Suvarium, Wasteland 2, Nuclear Union but I'm not sure exactly when those are due).

Birth of our second child and the pooey nappies that brings with it. :-D

And if I grew and extra arm or two maybe starting another of my longer running projects that I've been cooking for a few years. There's a pretty big project I've been writing for a long time now called NSEW and I'm really keen to grow it further.

http://kranburn.thewebcomic.com/

2012 in Review: Alisha Jade

Alisha Jade

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

Definitely publishing the first book of 'Seven'. It's been kicking around for a while now so it's great to finally get it out there.

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

I would have to say getting back into my roots was the best thing this year - I nabbed the set of Nausicaa by Miyazaki, and discovered it was drawn entirely with pencil, no inks. The results are fascinating and the fact that the comic doesn't only feature attractive people is always a plus. Also had a lot of fun with Akiko Higashimura's Kuragehime and some new local groups like Canberra's Beginnings and the emergence of Squishface.

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

Well I've really gotten back into film recently, watching a lot of things I never thought I would. I've also vastly enjoyed my relatively recent obsession with Richard Armitage which I'm SURE will culminate in spectacular form with The Hobbit. Watching the production diaries and getting into the buzz has really been an interesting study in crowd building and lead up.

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

Significant changes - Several - I've switched my pencils officially down to A6, switched my inking up from A5 to A4 (ugh my wrist feels it) and also switched from nib to brush pens, the BEST inking tools ever. If you've never tried a Kuretake you are missing out.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

 

More Seven (book two is part way through inks yay!), more Hobbit, more doing stupid things to my appearance for fun and definitely as much hanging out with my comic fellows as humanly possible.

http://www.ajadeart.com/

2012 in Review: Paul Bedford

Paul Bedford

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

 
Answering these questions.

Oh, and having the films rights for my OGN, The List optioned. The bonus is, I've been commissioned to write the screenplay adaptation. I'm into the second draft and, while proving a tough write, it's giving me the opportunity to have a second chance at my story; to change/improve scenes, dialogue etc. It's also a challenge to adapt my story into a 3 act structure, which the GN certainly isn't.

The other highlight was having the 3 volumes of The List finally printed in a single volume GN. It was great after all these years of envisioning it in this form to finally hold it in my hands. Very rewarding indeed. Sales at the stores, online and at the Cons have certainly improved since it became an all-inclusive read.

Other highlights include: continuing excellent reviews of The List from around the world; amazing - at times, touching - feedback from readers who seem to find a place to put their pain while reading the work; meeting new fans of the work at Cons and watching the local scene grow with great new talent.

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

 
My two fave discoveries of the year (I tend to read only Aussie/NZ stuff) were Zombolette by Scarlette Baccini (Milk Shadow Books) and Kranburn by Ben Michael Byrne (FEC Comics). I suppose if we are talking about artists, we are actually talking about their art.

Zombolette: Many laugh out loud moments. A no-holds-barred, clever and unpredictable work. I've read it three times which has revealed the more subtle humour. I have heard rumour of a sequel, so it’d better be as good as the first, or I’ll burn Scarlette’s house down. I will, ya know.

Kranburn: I'm crap at keeping up with web comics so, as much I loved reading this on the web, I fell away from this series, always wishing it was in print. I'm certainly a print purist. Even comics on a tablet don't really do it for me - I just don't find the experience as engaging or visceral. Anyway, I was rapt when i heard it was to be published. Now, having just read issue 5 (a dark and brutal stand out in an already dark and brutal series), I am thoroughly eating it up. Ben's world building succeeds in drawing the reader into its barren, harsh dystopia. The surface adventure of the first four issues has now taken a deeper turn, and the pace has slowed. Both of these things are a welcome breather and shows Ben's grasp of his character. I believe he is on the 230 odd page mark, which is awesome news. I'd happily sit down as read the whole bloody thing in a massive GN.

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

Battlefield 3. Nuff said.

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

Battlefield 3. It means I get less work done.
 

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

There is some new Battlefield 3 DLC coming out, so that'll be grouse and even more destructive to my artistic pursuits.

Aside from that, the producers who optioned The List screenplay will be shopping it around to various movie houses. That'll be an exciting and terrifying time. Man, the thought that it might get picked up and made into a feature film is almost too exciting to bear.

With the TPB out, I will be submitting it to various companies for possible publication. Let's see if any of these so called publishers of art are gutsy enough to pick it up.

I will finally get my short story anthology finished and get a bunch of artists to draw them up. I’ve had one drawn up so far and released as a mini which has received excellent feedback, so it would be nice to get the entire bunch done released as a collection. It's very different to The List: no violence, horror, drugs etc, so it won't sell.
Thanks for reading my babble. Now go and buy my book: http://www.thelistgraphicnovel.bigcartel.com/

2012 in Review: Jesca Marisa

 Jesca Marisa

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

I moved from Cape Town to Auckland this year to work as illustrator and animator on children's games for the iPad. That was kinda a big change of scene for me and I got to meet a whole heap of new comic book creatives in NZ.  The comic-book scene in Cape Town is passionate, but small, so I enjoyed the opportunity to expand my network and see what people are up to on this side of the world. I had the opportunity to attend my first ever Comic Convention (or I should rather say Pop Culture Convention) this year. Yup, Total Noob. First in Sydney and then later in Auckland and I had a blast selling/pimping books to the unsuspecting public at both events.

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

Up until the beginning of 2012 I was kind of on a break from reading books and comics. Mostly because I had just coughed up the dough to self-publish a graphic novel. And when you have 500 copies of the same book lying around your house there isn't much elbow room for any other reading material. But then 2012 rolled around - I moved into an empty, book-free house and started reading with a vengeance. Mostly books/comics that I had heard about but never got around to reading myself. I read an insane amount of manga - some very delightfully cheesy publications which won't be mentioned here. I am a big fan of D.Grayman by Katsura Hoshino and I finally managed to buy most of the her manga volumes. I also acquired Pluto by Naoki Urasawa - which is a beautiful book and well worth purchasing. (His other books 20th Century Boys and Monster are also amazing.) I love the sales bin at Real Groovy and bought Black Orchid and I kill Giants for myself recently. (I also got the collected Bone and Blacksad -alas not on sale) I finally read all of the Flight anthologies and some more of the Robot artbooks. Another fun read was the Carbon Grey comic - since it reminded me somewhat of my own work.

 

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

 

This year flew by so fast! I enjoyed the New Zealand Film Festival and more recently the Auckland Art Week (because they had some fun life-drawing sessions and a really fun gallery tour on bikes - all free!) I also enjoyed the White Clouds Worlds concept art exhibition at the Lopdell Gallery - since that is the genre of work I would like to exhibit myself.

 

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

 

Yes there has been some changes. I used to concentrate a lot on the art side of comics, but I moved focus to the writing aspect since I felt that there's room for improvement. So I spend what free time I have on writing, which is a nice change of pace since I draw all day for work. I am also doing life drawing and anatomy study again - to freshen up and expand my art style.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?

I look forward to finishing my first draft of a sci-fi book I am working on and I am excited because it seems that there will be a lot of opportunity for travel to comic-book related events next year.

 

http://www.jescamarisa.com

2012 in Review: Sorab Del Rio

Sorab Del Rio

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

The highlight of 2012 for me was the release of my first graphic novel - Zombie Cities! This was a personal and artistic victory. For it was work that challenged and I hope re-defines the zombie genre with its wit, humour and style. But above and beyond that, it’s one question to simply release a new work, as anyone can do that, but it’s another challenge to create a work that draws in the fans. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to see Zombie Cities received so well across the 4 conventions where Silver Fox Comics had a presence in 2012.

What makes this sweeter is that this is the 3rd comic based venture I’ve created. So perhaps the old adage 3rd time lucky is actually real! The first was Skunge NYPD, and then of course our works for Zorro. Both of which are comics I loved, but failed to capture the fans. In 2011, I went to Sydney Supanova and sold 35 copies of Zorro at $5 each – I didn’t even cover the cost of the table. Now I know this is a common tale for creators but to me, if I can’t find an audience there is no point whatsoever, and I will leave a project if this can’t be achieved. My work has to find an audience or why bother. I’m not working a year in semi solitude to make a project no one is interested in. I left 2011 Supanova dis-heartened and beaten sorely, and thinking why do creators put themselves through this and that I need to make a project that connects with the fans.

So moving to 2012, we premiered Zombie Cities at Sydney Supanova not knowing what to expect. Was I going to sit through another 2 days and not sell a thing? No, not at all, we actually got it right selling 130 copies of the Zombie Cities graphic novel at $25 each over 2 days and 40 or so prints. We backed this up again at the Penrith Heroes and Villains convention, Melbourne Armageddon and Brisbane Supanova, and the support of comic stores, we’ve closed the year with 530 copies sold of Zombie Cities and over 250 prints. It was a project as some know came from a personal mission with the Sydney Zombies print and one where I also listened to fans in the making of this book. After the failure of previous years and projects, this was an even sweeter victory in creating a work the fans wanted and enjoy. I loved the conventions getting to talk about my work and making people laugh with what we produced. That’s what it’s all about for me – make a comic people enjoy and get immediately. At a con, you got 5 to 10 seconds to sell. When I was writing I wondered, this is really different to the regular zombie stuff – are they going to get it? Sure they did, so I’m personally pleased I went against the standard formulas to make Zombie Cities. Let me also take this time to say a thank you to everyone who bought anything from our Zombie Cities project, the artists from pencilers, inkers and colourists. Special thanks to Don Ticchio who has helped me across each of my comic book ventures. I do feel this is only the start with this project. 
 
Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?

Wow, so many to name, in fact too many to name. I have met many of the Australian comic creators through the conventions and now also discovering through your blog many more I am yet to discover.

We have a very talented independent scene in Australia that doesn’t get the limelight it deserves so thank you Matt for profiling us all here with your blog.

I think my biggest influence is Jason Brubaker with his online comic Remind and his associated blog and podcast Making Comics. I’m very passionate about marketing comics and he is achieving the independent self-publishing success I aspire to. He is one guy who has put as much time into marketing his comic as he has creating and it’s paid off with a $100,000 project on Kickstarter. 
 
What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?

Non comics – what on earth do you mean?? Kidding!
Music: As some of you know, I love my old school rnb and salsa. I’d have to mention the Prince concerts which were amazing – I saw Prince in concert twice in Sydney, and also Janele Monae live – love her!
Movies: I went through a phase where I decided not to watch any English films as I’ve just gotten tired of the same regurgitated crap. During this time I watched 20 foreign films in a row. My favourite was The Skin I Live in by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar – this is macabre thriller of which I had no idea where this was leading to. The City of Men Movies which are set in the favellas of Rio, and Amores Perros – are more foreign films I discovered this year.
Books: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Saffon. In regards to English releases – Breaking Bad is phenomenal!
Home: Seeing my dogs – my gals - Rio and Ria talk for the first time was incredible. I’d never believed this was possible. I also enjoyed meeting an Italian girl at salsa last week, lets see where this leads ;)

Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?
 
Right now I’m working on Zombie Cities Violence Vs Compassion. This time I’m writing with the strait jacket off and my muzzle is unleashed. There’s a real wild abandon happening with this project – a real crazy spirit happening with this project. I don’t know how it’s happening but I almost feel that these new stories are happening unconsciously and just flowing. It’s not something I implemented, it is just happening naturally.

What are you looking forward to in 2013?
 
The release of Zombie Cities Violence Vs Compassion! This will be a tour de force! I hope get to more conventions across Australia in 2013. I may need to do a crowd sourcing campaign to assist with financing. And figuring out how to release this internationally – whether its digitally, a free online comic to build a worldwide audience, a Kickstarter or similar campaign, but I am now starting to think internationally is where projects need to be. There are 3 other projects in my head knocking on my forehead every day asking to be let out so this will also happen – projects totally unrelated to anything I’ve done before.

www.silverfoxcomics.com.au

2012 in Review: Darren Koziol

 Darren Koziol

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

Personal comic highlights of 2012 for me have been putting out 3 great issues of DECAY, including the very popular "CTHULHU" and "END OF THE WORLD" issues, now with 40% colour in every issue. Attending comic book conventions around Australia, including the new Oz Comic Con, and meeting and networking with more and more creators and fans has made the year rewarding. Seeing other Aussie creators putting out their own comic books and my all time favourite comic book 2000AD reaching 1800 issues has been great to see. And Judge Dredd being made into an awesome movie with the best 3-D so far of any movie I've seen: brilliant. Dave Follett winning the Australian Stanley Award for 'best comic book artist' for his work on the short story "Strange Appetite" in DECAY (issue #9). Meeting Stan Lee in Melbourne was awesome. And I've really been enjoying the new Crossed comic books.
 
Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?

There's been heaps of new creators coming on board to DECAY, mostly from within Australia but also a few overseas people too. Charith Wijewardane, Lachlan Creagh, Paul Briske, Kurt Stone, Jake Rundle, Danos Philopoulos, Rayaan Cassiem, Riyahd Cassiem, and many many others have all come to work on DECAY in just this last year, bringing the total number of creators so far, in 14 issues from 3 years, to over 90.

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

There's been heaps of great movies coming out this year. Almost every week there's an average of 2 to 3 new movies that I want to see. I've seen a lot but missed others. It seems to be the year of great entertaining films. I've been to several art exhibitions by friends and people who've worked for DECAY. I've also been doing a graphic design course at Tafe which has been extremely enjoyable, along with meeting all of the other people on the course and building new friendships.

Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?
 
I've learnt a lot about art, illustration, typography, computers and design on a graphic design course. These are all valuable things for me to learn towards producing DECAY. I've also been learning more about becoming a better writer and feel that some of my stories have benefited from that. My time management is still poor, and I still procrastinate too much, and the long hours spent at Tafe have taken away from some of the time I've been able to spend on DECAY.
 
What are you looking forward to in 2013?

Next year I look forward to finishing my graphic design course. I also look forward to continuing to produce new issues of DECAY. There's also the possibility of one or two other comics coming out from DARK OZ. There's also a lot more conventions planned around Australia for 2013, including William Shatner at Oz Comic Con, and it all starts off in January with Oz Horror Con in Melbourne. I hope to see you all there.

 www.darkoz.com.au

Faction Comics - Damon Keen

Recently formed New Zealand comics publisher Faction Comics released their first anthology this week with a 72 page volume in print via a successful crowd-funding campaign earlier this year. A mixture of veteran and younger cartoonists fill the pages with a free digital version of the comic available from Faction. Faction anthology editor Damon Keen answered a few questions via email on Nov 28 about Faction's first comic.

Was using crowdfunding always a part of faction's publishing strategy?

Only in a distant way - it was always in the mix, but I didn't really consider it seriously at first. For one thing, Kickstarter was off limits, and I wasn't sure how effective PledgeMe was, so I had to do a bit of investigation.

Originally we went for funding from Creative NZ, but after our application was declined we had to look at other options - and economically it's not a great time to be looking for any kind of corporate sponsorship, so crowd funding started to look more and more attractive. 

In the end it worked out beautifully for us, because with PledgeMe funding we're not constrained in any way by the commitments or compromises that can come with external funding. 

What format will the physical copies of Faction be?

Perfect bound, 72 page graphic novel style book - offset printed.

It was important to Amie and I that the first issue looked great! Future issues will be saddle stitched and shorter. 

How will the Faction anthology be distributed?

First and foremost the main reason for Faction's existence is building up a readership base - so we will be giving the digital version away free if you subscribe on our website. We'll make it available as a pdf and cbr - for reading on tablets - and I'm also investigating other ways of making it available online. There's quite a few options these days, which is awesome.

We always saw the hard copy as a kind of marketing tool first and foremost - as a way to get people to subscribe online (and hence build up our database of readers!), so we haven't thought as hard about how we'll distribute the physical version. We'll be sending out review copies and getting it into the comic shops around NZ (and libraries), and also making it available to buy via our website. But this is a big experiment on our part, so we're still open to suggestions to be honest.

Is their a pre-existing anthology that you would compare Faction to in terms of tone?

That's a tricky one! My inspiration comes from Strips originally, which I loved back when I was 10 or 11 - and also Heavy Metal back in the 70s and 80s. Those were both in mind when we started thinking about creating Faction, but in terms of tone - and something more 21st century! - Best American Comics comes to mind - except shorter and in full colour!

Was there much editorial work undertaken with receiving open submissions?

From the beginning I wanted this to be an edited anthology. Some of my own money going into it, so I don't see any reason why I should print anything I don't feel comfortable with!

Having said that I'm not aware of any NZ anthologies that have been as editorially focused (if that's the right way of putting it!) as we have been on Faction. Most of the NZ anthologies I've seen seem to have a pretty open door policy on submissions - which is great by the way! But as a creative myself I knew I only wanted to include work by people who had significant experience with the craft of comic writing, who were proven, I guess - and were operating at a pretty high level. 

So, yes, we have had to turn away some artists - including some really promising ones - especially towards the end, after the competition became a bit more intense. I hope they keep at it though, there's a lot of talent out there.

Did you encounter any particular difficulties in launching Faction Comics?

Financing is the biggest issue - and nothing else that major; just niggling stuff, like worrying about hurting people's feelings and booking gallery spaces and so on! I was really concerned about standing on people's toes and blundering into the NZ comic scene and being a dick about it, but everyone has been really welcoming and friendly, so overall it's been a terrific experience.

Do you have another project lined up after this anthology is released?

I've got another comic I want to start drawing - it's longer and more complex than the one I included in Faction - which was actually a kind of practice run for it. But other than that, I just need to start thinking about the next issue of Faction, as well as planning the now belated launch exhibition, and other marketing strategies for promoting the anthology. 

It's really annoying to have to do my (paying) day job on top of this fun stuff actually!

More info at the Faction website here. 

 Faction People Amie Maxwell and Damon Keen