New Ditko Titles in the Pikitia Press Store

Some new Ditko books are up in the Pikitia Press Store. The new Edition of the Ditko Public Service package and Ditko's latest 32 pager Ditko 18 will be available shortly.
 

A new edition of the 1973 Mr. A. #1 comic was published by Snyder and Ditko in late 2009. This edition has all the story contents of the original, though with a different story order, the covers and centerfold printed in black and white and the splash page to "Right to Kill!" restored to Ditko's original intent.
 

Ditko #17 Featuring Miss Eerie, The Cape, The Distorter and other stories and illustrations. Part of Ditko's ongoing series of recent years this issue includes an essay addressing some of Ditko's thoughts on comic fans. Published by Robin Snyder/Steve Ditko 2011, 36 pages including cover.

Collection of essays and illustrations. including work that originally appeared in Robin Snyder's The Comics! newsletter. 10 essays feature in 26 pages of text with 10 pages of illustrations. Ditko examines the work he did with Stan lee and also comments on the modern incarnation of Marvel comics under the stewardship of Joe Quesada. Published by Robin Snyder/Steve Ditko 2007, 36 pages including card cover.

Reprint of the 1975 comic ..WHA..!?, which features five short stories. Most of these haven't been reprinted since THE DITKO COLLECTION #2 (1986). Published by Robin Snyder/Steve Ditko 2011, 36 pages.

Places To Put Your Money

Chromacon, the upcoming New Zealand Illustration and Comic Art Festival are five days out from the end of their crowdfunding campaign on Pledgeme. As of this writing they are about $200 short of their target.
 

Ben Hutchings is primarily known as a musician but he does have a sideline making comics. Ben's publisher Milk Shadow Books have a Hutchings sale on at the MSB store.


A fine cover by Hutchings' band Tootleg Boy of Limahl's sublime classic The Never Ending Story. One time I listened to this for two hours straight and came out a better man for it.

Ive Sorocuk's latest mini comic Everybody Comics Face is available to order online.

Bathwater Books have two recent comics by Scarlette Baccini.

The Silent Army Online Store offer comics by a fine selection of cartoons including Tim Danko, David C. Mahler, Jase Harper, Simon Hanselmann, M P Fikaris and more.

English Comics Daily Diversion: Chick's Own Oct 6th 1951

House of Doom - Phil Belbin & Ray Heath

 

Before illustrating Kath King of Kismet Cove for Cavalcade, Phil Belbin produced the adventures of Private Detective Flash Cain debuting in April 1949 from scripts by Ray Heath. Flash Cain like other stories featured in K G Murray magazines was repackaged as a comic book.

 

Read Kath KIng of Kismet Cove - Men of the Sickle Moon here.

Read Kath King - Memory for Faces here.

Read Kath King - Diamonds of Death here.

Read Belbin's adaption of RKO Movie Out of the Past here.

Samples of Belbin illustration work and cartoons here.

Read a biography of Belbin by Greg Ray here.

  

Flash Cain adventure strip The House of Doom from March 1951 issue of Cavalcade.

 

 

 

 

English Comics Daily Diversion: Tiny Tots

Mini Paper Trail

Mat Tait adapts Wagner's The Flying Dutchman for the Goethe-Institut New Zealand.

Mat Tait: 
It's presented a number of interesting challenges, the main one being the question of how to turn a stage production with limited settings and relatively static action into an engaging comic. I decided that rather than do a complete transformation of one form into another, I would try to play on the fact that the original material was made for the stage, and create large comics panels which would act as an analogue for stage sets through which the characters could move, interspersed with panels that work in a way more familiar to comics.
 

A light moment of Dredd from Colin Wilson.

Fikaris art on tumblr.

The Dunedin comic collective Dud are opening a comic shop.

 
Renee Liang interviews Chromacon Organiser Allan Xia. Contribute to the Chromacon Pledgeme campaign here.

Sam Orchard is drawing political cartoons for express magazine.
 

echarta interviews Lee Taylor.

Tim Gibson interviewed on The Comixologist.

Dylan Horrocks on Nga Pakiwaituhi: New Zealand Comics and Graphic Novels.

 Tim Bollinger page exhibited at Nga Pakiwaituhi

I believe the secret behind Steve Rogers prolificy creating his auto-bio comics at American Captain stems from a work ethic cultivated whilst growing up during the Great Depression.

Paul Mason on the resurrection of The Human Fly.

 Paper Trail masthead courtesy of Toby Morris.

Heiress To Tangurau Part One

Heiress to Tangurau was a twenty part New Zealand based story serialised weekly in English girls comic Princess. Illustrated by English artist Leslie Otway the first installment appeared in the May 12th 1962 issue. Heiress tells the tale of orphaned Tina Rogers who inherits a sheep farm in New Zealand. The story flirts with stereotypes, Tina presumes her new guardian Te Ariki Maru, a 'Maori witch doctor', will be a grass skirt wearing native but Heiress is actually very accurate in its depictions of New Zealand of the time and featured elements of Maori folklore. The story would indicate the writer was very familiar with New Zealand and possibly an ex-pat. My first guess is it may have been the work of Noel Cook, a direct descendant of Te Rauparaha, who was working on Fleet Street at that time.

Click images below for larger view.

English Comics Daily Diversion: Chick's Own and Bubbles September 22 1951