A long Scrawl through the art of Fane Flaws.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Pikitia Press: 2014 Publishing Season
Taking a break from our 2013 in review surveys, here is a sampling of forthcoming comics from Pikitia Press for our publishing season during the first half of 2014.
Die Popular - Collection of new material and classic material from MVH's wonderful Die Popular.
The Art of Harry Bennett - Collecting the art and story of H. W. Bennett, a professional cartoonist in his teens who went on to create a one man publishing industry in New Zealand. Written and compiled by Tim Bollinger, Geoff Harrison, and Matt Emery.
Barry Linton's Lucky Aki - The first in a series of volumes featuring the stone age adventures of Lucky Aki.
Die Popular - Collection of new material and classic material from MVH's wonderful Die Popular.
The Art of Harry Bennett - Collecting the art and story of H. W. Bennett, a professional cartoonist in his teens who went on to create a one man publishing industry in New Zealand. Written and compiled by Tim Bollinger, Geoff Harrison, and Matt Emery.
Tim Bollinger's Wellington Stories
Bob McMahon's Claire Melody - Bob's second Claire Melody book in the vein of DC Thomson and IPC adventure comics. Read about Bob's background in New Zealand comics here.
New Zealand Reprint Comics - A comprehensive survey and catalogue of comics published in New Zealand reprinting foreign material from the 1940's - 1970's. Written and Compiled by Geoff Harrison.
Friday, December 13, 2013
2013 in Review: Bruce Mutard
What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?
Going on the Caravan of Comics to TCAF, CAKE and Fantagraphics. Making
comics at Ragdale in Lake Forest at the same desk Audrey Niffenegger
wrote The Time Traveller’s Wife. Same comic appearing as a catalogue
essay at Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts exhibition Space Oddity. Adapting Microaviary by Amanda Johnson for Cordite: Pumpkin. Le Silence being
published by Ca et la in August. Meeting a few comics heroes: Art
Spiegelman, Chester Brown, Chris Ware and so many other great comics
artists on the road both overseas and here.
What are some of the comics you've enjoyed in 2013?
I’ve hardly had time. Some of the things I picked up on the road: Bernie Mireault’ To Get Her (swapped with him in Montreal). Elaine Will’ Look Straight Ahead (staggering talent); Judith Vanistendael’ When David Lost His Voice; mini comics by Luke Howard, Alec Longstreth, The Whole Hole
by Anya Davidson… I brought back a bloody bookcase full of stuff and
still haven’t got around to reading even 1/3rd of it. Oh, yes, may as
well mention it: Building Stories by Chris Ware is remarkable in concept and execution. What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?
What are you looking forward to in 2014?
Ideally it should be mostly head down and bum up on making comics. I
need to finish my Masters project by July and get a solid chunk of The
Fight done. It probably won’t be out until 2016. I think I’ll be less
peripatetic, but I always say that. Publishing Art Is A Lie by Carol Wood and Susan Butcher - you ain’t seen nothin’ like this.
2013 in Review: Stuart McMillen
What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?
My personal highlight was definitely publishing Rat Park. Wrapping up that science experiment into a 40 pages comic, and then sharing it with the world was a great feeling.
Bruce Alexander, the psychologist featured in Rat Park has
told me that my comic led to a renewed interest into his 1970s drug
addiction experiments. He was pleased to learn that he was the star of a
comic book!
The audience response to Rat Park was
almost 100% positive. Gratifyingly, many ex-addicts contacted me and
mentioned that they had an emotional reaction to the final page of my
comic. They thanked me for creating a sympathetic story which explained
to others the emotional dead-end which led them to addiction.
What are some of the comics/cartoonists you've enjoyed in 2013?
New stuff:
Pat Grant - Toormina Video
Hyperbole and a Half - Depression Part 2
Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco - Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt (which is half comics and half prose)
Symbolia magazine (a new quarterly electronic comics-journalism publication)
Old stuff:
Chris Guest - Floating Horizon
Drew Weing - Pup Ponders the Heat Death of the Universe
Rick Vodicka - An Illustrated History of Scientology
Marjane Satrapi - The Complete Persepolis
What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?
I'm a huge music fan, so here are some of my favourite albums of 2013:
The Drones - I See Seaweed
Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Daze
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away
TV Colours - Purple Skies, Toxic River
Julia Holter - Loud City Song
My Bloody Valentine - mbv
The best book I read during 2013 was Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding
by George Monbiot. It's about the concept of 'rewilding' nature: what
this means for the ecosystems themselves, as well as what it means for
us as humans living near the ecosystems.
What are you looking forward to in 2014?
Rat Park was my 40-page highlight of 2013. In 2014 I will be drawing a 400 page comic story. That's an extra zero on the end.
In 2014 I will be moving away from the 'drugs' topic I covered with War on Drugs and Rat Park,
and drawing non-fiction comics about ecological and environmental
topics. Things like Peak Oil, energy dependence and post-growth
economics.
Trust me, it will be more interesting than it sounds! Join my email list for updates.
2013 in Review: Joshua Santospirito
What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?
Well ... publishing the feature-length graphic novel/comic/sequential art thing - The Long Weekend in Alice Springs
was the biggest highlight. That was pretty rad. Did a bunch of launches
... and was pleasantly surprised to find that some people actually read
it! And BOUGHT it!! So that was pretty freaking great. You can check it
out at www.sankessto.com
I
had about five launches in different places - the Alice Springs one was
the best! It was in Watch This Space gallery - and the launch was on
the same night as the exhibition opening - there was sooo many people
there - it was slightly insane. Craig San Roque (the bloke who wrote the
original essay) was the MC, and did the catering based on the themes of
the book (he did it quite well actually, I didn’t know he could cook -
man of many talents) and there was guests of honour. It was very
exciting to see the excitement in the town, especially given the content
of the book is so raw and difficult.
The other thing that I'm finding really fun is publishing comics
by other artists here in Tassie that I think are really interesting -
its a curated-type project I've called Down There. A different artist
does a booklet with each issue: I did the first issue in July (Sleuth: there's somethin rotten on the Apple Isle)
to get the ball rolling whilst I asked a few other people to contribute
- the next issue is by Tricky Walsh which (at time of writing) will
launched in the next fortnight - December 2013. It's called Hoppers 1: the 'manias.
It's a totally different experience publishing other people's comics
and I love what she's made. Next year there will DOWN THERE comics by
Tom OHern (a nutter from Hobart, really - google him - he's great), Gary
Chaloner
(who now belongs to Taswegia, hands off) and Lindsay Arnold (old comics
guru, jazz drummer extraordinaire). Watch out for future issues through
San Kessto Publications (my wife and I also started this publishing
venture this year).
What are some of the comics you've enjoyed in 2013?
I just read The Encyclopedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg - it charmed my pants off. I am currently naked from the belt down.
I read Alex: The Years Have Pants by Eddie Campbell - he’s just ... he’s ... I ... oh stuff it - it’s good. Real good stuff.
Myself
and a few other blokes in Hobart have started a Graphic Novels reading
book group where we meet up every two months and eat chips and talk
about a specifically chosen book that we all read - it’s really fun!
Just last time we read Jason’s Athos in America. That guy is really great. Such a strong visual language which has such amazing effect.
I reread Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks ... I read that every year though. It’s important to read that at least once a year. I hope you do too.
What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?
Dark MOFO: The Winter festival in Hobart - was OUTSTANDING!!!
Particularly
Ryoki Ikeda’s Spectra - which was this public art “sculpture” which
involved 49 lights beaming up 15 kilometres into the sky at the Anzac
Memorial in Hobart, allll night long. The whole town came to life at
night-time, there was little kids up way past their bedtime running
between the lights throughout that beautiful sound installation that
made it seem like there was a UFO landing ... and there was hundreds of
people HUNDREDS - just standing there at midnight,
in the pouring rain, staring up into the sky in wonder. Every night for
a whole 10 days!! it was really great! Amazing to see a whole town come
out of its shell. Art can bring people together (aww). But the whole
festival was a bit like that - come down next Winter!
I finally watched the film “Wake In Fright” ... don’t know why it took me so long. Possibly the best film I’ve seen from Australia.
What are you looking forward to in 2014?
I’m
looking forward to getting cracking on my next medium-length project
which I haven’t quite named yet - but it involves some history of my
hometown of Melbourne and my family’s interaction with the city - the
Aeolians who came in the 1890’s. It’s based on my Dad’s research into
his father’s life - which was really fun to read. Hopefully it works
well as a comic. I’ll keep ya’ll up to date as best I can.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
2013 in Review: Frank Candiloro
I published 4 books this year. I branched out a little from just straight ahead horror and explored other themes and genres, which has been taking me out of my comfort zone a little bit more. With the exception of one (Budd & Luu - Part II) I was able to get all my books involved in launches, from Big Arse 3, Ive Sorocuk's Halloween launch and the Over The Moon launch that I organised with Alisha Jade. I made my first all-ages comic - Beyond The Moon, which has been received very well. I was also to be a part of the Cordite Poetry Review organised by Kent McCarter and featuring a lot of great local talent, visually interpreting poems into comic form, a new experience for me. I even got to meet my favourite writer in comics, Grant Morrison at the Graphic Festival in Sydney, and gave him some of my comics! (he commented on the "wood cut" style, which was heartwarming to hear). Seeing Art Spiegelman's talk at the same festival was also very illuminating, revealing a whole heap of german-expressionist and wood-carved comics that I never knew existed. It kind of validated my weird illustrating style!
The biggest highlight was the presentation I did about finding the right attitude and discipline to create comics at the ZICS convention in Brisbane, as part of the Skillz To Pay The Billz workshop, and I found it very humbling and inspiring to write and share with others. Not to mention that I've met some great people this year, who have motivated me to become a better artist. 2013 was quieter compared to 2012, but I still had a few small little victories here and there.
What are some of the comics/cartoonists you've enjoyed in 2013?
My favourite comic this year has been Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarksy, which has only had 3 issues so far but it's been pretty damn good. Another great find has been Thomas Ott and his great book - The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8 (
Of course I checked out a lot of great Australian comics that were released in 2013 as well, such as Mr Unpronouncable by Tim Molloy, Strange Behaviour by Marijka Gooding and My Sister's Voice by Alexis Sugden. Everything else sucked! (Joking, I swear!)
Of course I checked out a lot of great Australian comics that were released in 2013 as well, such as Mr Unpronouncable by Tim Molloy, Strange Behaviour by Marijka Gooding and My Sister's Voice by Alexis Sugden. Everything else sucked! (Joking, I swear!)
What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?
*stares at question*
Non.....comics? What is this?
Non.....comics? What is this?
Um, uhhhh, I had an apple the other day. That was good. I guess.
What are you looking forward to in 2014?
What I'm looking forward to the most is the latest book that I'm working on - Onna-bugeisha. It's a 95 page samurai story which involves treachery, honor, revenge, love, lust, anger, blood, you know, everything that makes a comic good! I'm hoping for it to be finished around late April/ May (if I'm lucky) and although it's a bit early to say at this time I'm hoping to have a launch for it.
I'm also hoping to make 3 more books, continuing the tradition of 4 books per year, and I hope to push them a little bit more at conventions, in stores outside of Melbourne, and digital downloads on the internet. Here's hoping that FrankenComics becomes a bigger and bigger monster with each passing year!
I'm also hoping to make 3 more books, continuing the tradition of 4 books per year, and I hope to push them a little bit more at conventions, in stores outside of Melbourne, and digital downloads on the internet. Here's hoping that FrankenComics becomes a bigger and bigger monster with each passing year!
2013 in Review: Richard Fairgray
What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?
Finally catching up on my work so that I've now averaged a page for every day i've been alive (and currently 47 days ahead), selling thousands of copies of a picture book without anyone realising it's actually a comic, and finally having quality tee shirts for my staff to wear at shows (after ten years of shitty shirt makers letting me down).
What are some of the comics you've enjoyed in 2013?
The obvious ones. Saga, Lock and Key etcetera. Lots of old stuff (as usual).
What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?
That's a hard question.
What are you looking forward to in 2014?
Releasing more books than ever before (including a new project that starts next October that might just kill me...figuratively).2013 in Review: Colin Wilson
What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?
A second highlight for me this year has been watching the career path of my good friend and occasional co-auther Tom Taylor, who has progressed from our comic adaption of his short theatre piece The Example back in 2007 to working as one of DC Comics top writers on series such as Injustice and Earth 2, not to forget the wonderful work he is doing on The Deep (published here in Australia by Gestalt) with James Brouwer. Good stuff....
What are some of the comics/cartoonists you've enjoyed in 2013?
What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?
What are you looking forward to in 2014?
Comic related, I have two books scheduled for publication in Europe next year, via two major French publishers. The first is a one-off single volume for an already well-established and very hi-profile series published by Dargaud, the second is the first book in a new original series for Delcourt. I am working with the same co-authors who wrote the two Jour J books we published with Delcourt over the last couple of years - Fred Duval and Jean-PierrePécau, and everyone has high hopes for this new series - my first for Europe in many years. Currently I am completing the final pages of this first book, and the current plan for 2014 is to get as much work done on the second volume of the series before heading over to Europe mid-year for an extended book signing tour. These things never go completely to plan, but at the moment everything is shaping up for a very interesting year.......
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