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).

blastosaurus.com/

2013 in Review: Colin Wilson

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?

In a year where I've had no original work published - a first for me in probably 15 years - I guess my personal highlight was seeing my name in the opening credits for the film Bullet to the Head, based on Matz and my series Du Plomb Dans La Tete first published in France ten years ago. The fact that the film never made it to the big screens in Australia, and in reality bore no relationship whatsoever to our original source material might seem like a little churlish to mention at this late stage. But what the hell...... one of my books made it to the big screen! Thanks Sly......

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?

Spending so much of my time working on producing my own stories, I actually read very few comics these days. But one of the series that really caught my eye is Stuart Immonen and Wade Von Grawbadger's (hey, great name!) current run on All-New X-Men. Not ever being a superhero fan I find the story completely impenetrable, but the art those guys are turning in (along with Marte Gracia and Rain Beredo's impressive colour) continues to amaze me month after month.
 

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?  

For a variety of non-comic related reasons 2013 has been a very difficult year around here, and so these days I prefer to put this year into the bottom drawer and work towards improving the prospects for the next one....

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.......

colinwilsonart.com/

2013 in Review: Jason Franks

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?

I got to work with some brilliant artists this year on the new Sixsmiths book. A lot of new collaborators, like Dean Rankine, Sarah Howell, Tim McEwen, Gregory MacKay, Trev Wood, Jase Harper, Sacha Bryning, and Anton McKay, as well as a crew of my old mates: Bruce Mutard, Bobby N., Luke Pickett, Jan Scherpenhuizen, Greg Gates, and Ed Siemienkowicz. It's been incredible.

The other highlight, of course, was going to SPX with Matt Hoddy, Caitlin Major, and Keith McDougall and that crazy freak who does Guzumo. I haven't been to SPX since 2006 and it's grown, but it stills feels like the same show. It was a pleasure to reconnect with some old acquaintances ( and to make so many new ones. What a blast! Massive thanks to Warren and Bruce for organizing it.

What are some of the comics/cartoonists you've enjoyed in 2013?

2013, for me, was the year of genre comics. Fatale, Locke and Key, Luther Strode, Saga, Amala's Blade, Chew and Witch Doctor remain my favourites. Most of these books started running in prior years, but in 2013 my intake of alternative books and manga was diminished. Not sure why that is; it wasn't a conscious decision. As far as local works go, Tim Molloy's collection Mr Unpronounceable Adventures was the stand out for me.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?  

In 2013 I found a lot of new opportunities in the medium of prose on the back of my first novel and that gave me a lot of validation. Prose can be a grind, because every word has to be perfect, but it's been really good to be able to just focus on the writing and not have to project manage and produce every aspect of the work. That has been a nice change. 

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

I'm looking forward to a more relaxed 2014. 2013 was nuts: book launches, honeymoons, hospitals, mortgages, the con circuit, on top of some brutal deadlines at my day job have really worn me down. Next year I'm looking to simplify things. I want to ramp up some new projects, in prose and comics, and I want to have a more evenly productive year.

jasonfranks.com/

2013 in Review: David Follett

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?

Biggest highlight for me is my nearing the completion of my first draft of Uncle Silas 2: Earth, sequel to Uncle Silas: Genetis. Thankfully this adventure is mostly out of the forest from book 1 so when it comes to inking and colouring stages, things should move along quickly. The tripled page count might negate that advantage somewhat, but the illusion of productivity will sustain me. I've ditched the sunday newspaper comic format entirely so the pages flow along like runny butter in comparison to the staggered doubled-up page design Dark Horse edition of book 1.

Which was a decision not of my making, by the way- when I eventually re-release it I'll publish it how I originally intended- large and landscape. Yet again this has been a massive undertaking for me as it's pretty well happened in my own spare time and this year's been packed with plenty of distracting incidents. Ah, the romantic life of a cartoonist/comic creator… sitting at a desk for hours on end neglecting food, sunlight, personal hygiene and going slightly insane… It's blindingly obvious why we get the girls.

Getting my Sunday comic strip Harry the Dog, NewsHound nominated for a Stanley this year, and a Highly Commended from the Illustrators Australia Awards was also pretty nifty.

Also being involved with the [imi] creativity research project put on by the QUT, ARC and Australia Council has been a big highlight. This led to artist's placements with Halfbrick Studios for a week working on generating app concepts, and then with Mod Productions for my own app idea. Stay tuned on that one...

What are some of the comics/cartoonists you've enjoyed in 2013?

Pat Grant's Blue, Anzac Tale by Holfeld and Starke, collected books of Paulos' Hairbutt the Hippo, Franquin's Spirou, Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse run, E.C. Segar's Popeye, Eddie Campbell's Alec the Years Have Pants, the Blake and Mortimer reprints… Oglaf is a joy that never ceases to entertain.

I'm sure there's more that I can't remember off the top of my head right now.

And a bunch of stuff earmarked for reading but not gotten around to yet.

Enjoying the revamped Comic Spot Podcast as well. Two clinks from me.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013? 

Read Shogun for the first time- brilliant and epic. A terrific matching of narrative/plot and emotional depth. A page turner! Colin Cotterill's Jim Juree stories- a great companion series to his Dr Siri books. Douglas Adams/Gareth Evans Dr Who story SHADA was a fun ride. Tim Flannery's Here on Earth was compelling. Doc Wilde and the Frogs of Doom is mighty fine escapism for the young at heart. Writing Irresistible KidLit by Mary Kole is awesome and highly recommended. Snowboarding in the Spanish Pyrenees was utterly brilliant, too. That last one's not a book, by the way.

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

Keeping up what I've done in 2013, pretty much. And winning the lottery so I can focus all my time on my comics and I don't have to freelance. I hope no one else steals that idea.

unclesilas.com.au

davidfollett.com/

2013 in Review: Scarlette Baccini

 

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?

The highlight for me was undoubtedly visiting TCAF with the Caravan of Comics, and the rest of the North American tour. I met so many incredible artists (including David B!), and it motivated me to work harder and aim higher. I'm slightly less crap at public speaking now too, I think.

I had heaps of fun and also learned a whole lot organising The Naked Launch in April - I launched my first self-published efforts, Jesus Reloadeth'd and Zombolette's Floppy #1.

What are some of the comics/cartoonists you've enjoyed in 2013?

Tim Molloy fried my brain in the best possible way with Mr Unpronounceable Adventures. I'm a big fan. I also really enjoyed Roman Dirge's latest issues of Lenore.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?

I play in a band, and we're just wrapping up an album that we've worked on all year - so much hard work, but very rewarding. Launching our first single in October was great fun.

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

Getting back to my Zombolette comics - I haven't drawn her since March and I miss her! I'm also working on a couple of kids books, which is a whole new area for me, and I'm really excited to see how it goes.

scarlettebaccini.com/

2013 in Review: Sarah Laing

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?

Having my Let Me Be Frank comics published by Pikitia Press! And getting paid to work on my Katherine Mansfield graphic novel. Also having my novel The Fall of Light published, with sequential art running between the chapters. 

 
What are some of the comics you've enjoyed in 2013?

The comic that I most recently loved is Anders Nilsen's The End - very affecting and his grief was brilliantly rendered. I went on a memoir binge and enjoyed Lucy Kinsey's Relish, Nicole George's Calling Dr Laura, Ellen Forney's Marbles and Uli Lust's Today is the last day of the Rest of your Life. I've been reading lots of kids' comics because I'm always getting them out for my son, and I was particularly excited to discover Luke Pearson. We both just read Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller, which was pretty awesome. Locally, I loved Toby Morris'  Don't Puke on Your Dad (so touching! So familiar!) and I'm really enjoying Dylan Horrocks' frequent updates of his Sam Zabel and the Magic Pen story.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?  

Novels are my weakness. I loved Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowlands and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah. I also discovered Patrick Ness, and was thoroughly disturbed by Sally Gardner's Maggot Moon. I've also been reading all of Jennifer Egan's back catalogue because I loved A Visit from the Goon Squad so much.

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

I am looking forward to getting some stuff finished! I want to send off issue 5 of Let Me Be Frank, and also I'd love to get my Katherine Mansfield project done. But everything takes longer than I hope it will...

 sarahelaing.wordpress.com/

2013 in Review: Sam Orchard

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?

Getting to be on panel discussions with some of my comic heroes like Dylan Horrocks, Sarah Laing, Ant Sang and Adrian Kinnaird. Plus I got to meet the great Robyn Kenealy this year!

 What are some of the comics/cartoonists you've enjoyed in 2013?

I became obsessed with Strip Search's first series - a reality comic artist show? Addictive.

Erika Moen's new 'Oh Joy Sex Toy' is amazing. Getting to pledge and get a copy of Jem Yoshioka's Sunshine Comic was excellent also.And I haven't managed to get my hands on Adrian's "From Earth's End" yet, but I am hoping I will get copy for xmas (*wink wink* xmas present gift givers) and so I am sure I will enjoy that as 2013 draws to a close.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?  

There are non-comics things? I got an awesome job this year following Philip Patston around, that is something I really enjoy.

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

Busting out some more comics, and finally kickstarting my queer comics books 'Family Portraits.

roostertailscomic.com

2013 in Review: Gavin Aung Than

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?

Zen Pencils has continued to build a fantastic, international community of readers which makes me extremely happy. Hearing from teachers, students, office workers, parents and retirees and how they all enjoy my comics is really the highlight for me - I never thought my work would have such an impact. Zen Pencils has been featured by big mainstream websites such as Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, Gawker, The AV Club and Slate - which is kind of cool, since I'm just a dude working out of my spare bedroom in suburban Melbourne.

 

What are some of the comics/cartoonists you've enjoyed in 2013?

Thanks to my iPad, I've started reading comics regularly again - I've enjoyed Hawkeye, Daredevil, Fury: Max and Prophet.

 

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?

Well, I'm a TV junkie, so ... Breaking Bad, House of Cards, The Newsroom and Game of Thrones.   

 

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

Continuing on improving my work at Zen Pencils and reaching a bigger audience. I've got a big project that will hopefully happen in 2014 that I can't talk about right now. I also hope to do a bit more travelling, with the US on the agenda and possibly San Diego Comic Con!

 

zenpencils.com

2013 in Review: Caitlin Major

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?

This year myself and Matthew Hoddy ran a successful Pozible campaign to get Space Pyrates collected edition printed! We got 200 books printed and have already sold out and got it reprinted as two smaller volumes. We took Space Pyrates to almost every state (all except WA, but we'll get there one day!) and we also travelled to America for the Small Press Expo and it was very well received all over! I also contributed a comic to the Brisbane comic collective 'Ashcan.' The comic I submitted was a short prelude to my next big project which should see the light of day next year. I also participated in the 24 hour comic challenge, which was... challenging. I didn't finish my 24 pages but it gave me some good perspective on my workflow and how much I can achieve in a day.

What are some of the comics you've enjoyed in 2013?

I have been enjoying 'The Deep' by Tom Taylor and James Brouwer, and can't wait for the next instalment. I picked up a copy of 'Relish' by Lucy Knisely at the Melbourne Writers Festival which opened me up to the world of beautiful journal comics. Tim Molloy's 'It Shines and Shakes and Laughs' was brilliant! Becky and Franks 'Capture Creatures' made me want to pick up my paint brushes and give it another go. I'm excited to see where Sam Calcraft and Lex Rosek take 'Escape Velocity.' There are so many more that I can't possibly list, I've spent more money on comics this year than anything else I swear! 

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?  

There's something other than comics!? Not in my life! Oh there was that one time I went to the beach... that was nice. I guess.

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

Moving to Canada and going to Toronto Comic Arts Festival and other conventions in North America. Also releasing my solo comic project!

 

caitlindmajor.tumblr.com/

2013 in Review: Matt Kyme

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?

This is a cinch. Working with author extraordinaire, Andrez Bergen, to produce Tales To Admonish. The three stories that Andrez concocted were all so varied and original. All three of them stem from his novels; The Condimental Op and Who Is Killing The Great Capes Of Heropa?.  Andrez is a breeze to work with and he is a brilliant wordsmith.

I’d be remiss to mention the fine work that Arthur Strickland has been doing on our ‘That Bulletproof Kid’ webcomic. Arthurs pages just get stronger and stronger

Being invited to participate in Darker Forces: Degeneration by the good folks at Gaining Velocity was a huge honour. My single page in this project will sit alongside work by an amazing group of artists from Australia and South Africa. I can’t wait to see that comic.

I’ve recently worked on a project with the awe inspiring Katie Houghton-Ward, which I’m hoping to be able to announce more details on soon. Her art is off the scale.

I drew a really fun project called Mercenary Dreams written by Fred Atkins. We hope to get it on shelves at some stage. Fred has a very unique, zany style. It was a lot of fun to collaborate with him.

Lastly, I recently finished a quirky little three pager for an upcoming issue of Darren Koziol’s DECAY. The story that Darren sent me is honestly my favourite story from any issue of DECAY I’ve seen.

 
What are some of the comics/cartoonists you've enjoyed in 2013?

Discovering (thanks to Andrez) Lone Wolf and Cub. It’s so addictive. The story is so beautiful in its simplicity, but each new test the protagonists face is so well crafted by Koike, he never repeats himself, each new challenge is so different from the last. It’s a very endearing tale of fatherly love in the most perilous circumstances. And don’t get me started on Kojima’s art.

Locally, I really dug new stuff from Matt Nicholls. His third issue of Collateral was as consistently excellent as its predecessors. His pace is perfect and the tension is really foreboding and palpable. Craig Bruyn exploded onto the scene with the debut issue of From Above which showcases his strengths in writing and art. I thought it was very impressive.

Marvel/DC/Image/etc offered up some treats: FF, Daredevil, Savage Wolverine, Superior Spiderman, Thanos Rising, Infinity, Batman, Batman Black and White, Batman/Superman, Batman Incorporated, Batman and Robin (THAT’S A LOT OF BATMAN), Injustice: Gods Among Men, Superman/Wonderwoman, The Walking Dead, Invincible, Saga, Jupiter’s Legacy, Mind MGMT, Hinterkind, X-O Manowar. A lot of these were hit and miss but all deserved a mention.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013? 

Huh? 

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

Darker Forces: Degeneration and my story in DECAY will be published early in 2014. Andrez and I will have Tales To Admonish 2 landing on shelves sometime. The way we work, you may expect a few issues. That Bulletproof Kid will also be making his first appearance in print early next year. Depending on Arthur’s wrists, we could very well have That Bulletproof Kid 2 out by the end of the year

Mid-year should see the launch of a big fat project I’ve half-jokingly/half seriously dubbed ‘That All Star Bulletproof Kid’. This will feature no fewer than 13 short stories featuring That Bulletproof Kid and his supporting cast buy some of the most amazing creators you could imagine. More details on this soon.

thatbulletproofkid.com

2013 in Review: Anthony Woodward

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?

I undertook a project to complete a 12 page mini comic. I wrote, scripted and inked the whole thing and will be ready to print up some copies hopefully soon. I have also been getting back into my sketchbook practice a lot this year, playing around with new techniques, tools and materials. I hate most of the results until I look back in a few weeks and look at the drawings a bit objectively and my thoughts aren't so harsh.  

What are some of the comics/cartoonists you've enjoyed in 2013?

I've been getting into Tumblr a bit more this year and discovering a whole bunch of new artists, it drives me crazy sometimes, it's hard not to be overwhelmed with the variety and quality of comics being produced. Ben juers is putting together a psychiatry comics anthology and I've been enjoying seeing some of the sketches and panel previews. 

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?  

I've always been a fan of audiobooks and this year I've been getting into some great fiction adaptions like, 'do androids dream of electric sheep', 'world war z', the 'Harry Potter' series read by Stephen Fry and more recently 'I am Legend'

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

Hoping to keep up my level of drawing I've been able to do this year and then some more. I would like to start some new comic projects but I had probably better finish off the ones I started  this year, especially my 12 page mini comic. 

 awcomix.tumblr.com/

2013 in Review: Simon Hanselmann

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?

"My Floating World broadsheet "ST OWL'S BAY" got nominated for an Ignatz, That was pretty nice. Had an art show in Madrid with HTML Flowers that went pretty well. Fantagraphics officially announced the book of mine they're releasing next year ("MEGAHEX") and i was able to brag about it on tumblr. Comic Arts Brooklyn was amazing, I launched my new book from Space Face Books ("LIFE ZONE") there. I had a very good time...

And a bunch of other stuff... It's been a very good year for Megg, Mogg & Owl.

Closing out the year with some work for Pitchfork, the Believer and Mould Map.

#youngprofessionals #2013"

What are some of the comics you've enjoyed in 2013?

"Oh, God... This would be the longest list of names.... 

Some of my current favourite things are Lala Albert's new stuff for Mould Map 3.

John Pham's Epoxy 4. anything by JMKE.

Spiders Pee Paw. Michiel Budel. Weird 4. White Cube.

Breakdown Press. Corbera. ZHV. Leon Sadler. HB. Negron. Estrada.

Pompeii was really good. 

Susceptible was really good.

I really liked Strawberries by Mia Schwartz.

PK. MDF.

Michael Hawkins.... a million other people and things."

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013? 

"Blaise Larmee's Nudes. Top of the Lake was a good TV series. Traveling again was cool. The new Drake album. Karaoke." 

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

"Releasing MEGAHEX with Fanta' in July or so and doing a book tour. Fulgencio Pimentel's also releasing a gigantic Spanish Megg & Mogg collection. There's a few new little books I want to make with some cool small press publishers. Doing another art show with HTML Flowers. Working on some secret stuff...

There's a ton of stuff I want to see completed next year.

Hopefully TRUTH ZONE will return early in the year...

I can't wait to see what all of my friends do next year too.

2014 should be a good year for comics."

girlmountain.tumblr.com/

Peeper Trail

Victory University Press have announced Incomplete Works, a forthcoming collection of Dylan Horrocks shorter comics.

"Daydreams, fantasy, true love and procrastination feature strongly in this marvellous selection of Dylan Horrocks’s shorter comics. Running from 1986 to 2012, Incomplete Works is both the chronicle of an age and a portrait of one man’s heroic struggle to get some work done."

Maralinga by Jen Breach and Doug Holgate.

"Maralinga spins an alternative history from the 1956 British nuclear tests in the Woomera. Three hundred years later a ruined, irradiated, post-apocalyptic Australia is a place where monsters are real and one girl, the last of an isolated and dying community in Melbourne's south, launches a desperate journey to find sanctuary and a mythical inland sea."
 

Pat Grant talks to Dan Berry on Make It and Tell Somebody.

Happy Together Forever by Katie Parrish

Sarah Laing's Helmet Lady.

Canberra Times Obituary for Australian science fiction, librarian and bibliographer Graham Stone.

Comics workshops in January 2014 at the State Library of Queensland with Paul Mason. Details here.

Hannah Lee Writes about the New Zealand Cartoon Archive.

I like the cut of Jason Chatfield's jib on television.

Beardy and the Geek talk to Gary Chaloner.

Meet the Makers: Katie Parrish

 Three Thousand profile Simon Hanselmann.

Paper Trail masthead courtesy of Toby Morris.

2013 in Review: Li Chen

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013? Reaching 300 comics on Extra Ordinary, and making my first long format comic to celebrate! You can see it here. It was so much fun, I really want to make more long comics.

What are some of the comics/cartoonists you've enjoyed in 2013?

I've been reading some Japanese comics, I've especially enjoyed Kiyohiko Azuma's comics: Azumanga Daioh, and Yotsuba&! They are both slice-of-life comics, my favourite genre.

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?  

Drinking lots of tea, going on long walks.

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

Hopefully publishing volume three of Extra Ordinary!

exocomics.com

2013 in Review: Michel Mulipola

What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?

I have a couple of personal comics highlights:

The first is definitely helping my good pal, Jeremy, open up the comic book store, Arkham City Comics in Auckland, NZ. It's a place we've created as an 'asylum' for freaks and geeks to be who they are and celebrate what they love.And the second would be the very successful Headlocked Kickstarter campaign. Due to the amazing support from our backers, we were able to get this motion comic made as a Stretch Goal:

Also, being a finalist in the inaugral Secret Walls X Aotearoa Live Art Battles was choice! I went out to represent comic book art taking out graffiti artists in the process.I lost out to my friend, Paul Walsh, but am proud to have drawn the first ever full comic book page in a Secret Walls battle!

What are some of the comics you've enjoyed in 2013?

There are so many comics and creators whose work I've enjoyed in 2013. Working at Arkham City Comics, I get spoilt for choice. I enjoy Greg Capullo's stuff on Batman. Also enjoying Thor: God of Thunder. SAGA is fantastic as well as anything by Sean Murphy. Oh, and Tom Taylor's stuff on Injustice and Earth 2. Pretty much anything he touches is gold!

What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2013?

There's not much non-comics related stuff that happens in my life. Even my pro wrestling career is rooted in comic books. But one non-comics related highlight would be my nephew successfully battling a brain tumour with minimal side effects from radiation therapy. He's a little battler and inspires me every damned day.

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

2014 is shaping up to be a big year for me if 2013 is anything to go by.

I'm currently working on the Headlocked Kickstarter stuff, got a few side projects in other media going, a possible collab with a writer I admire and I'm hoping to make it to SDCC next year to do signings and maybe a panel. But yeah - who knows what 2014 holds for me, I'll just keep chugging along and before I know it, it's 2015 and Avengers 2: Age of Ultron time!

kid-liger.deviantart.com/