Thursday, December 12, 2013

2013 in Review: Frank Candiloro



What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2013?
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 (rolls right off the tongue!) Excellent dark, noir-ish drawings. Punk Rock Jesus by Sean Murphy came out last year but the trade came out in 2013 and it was an incredible read, really electrified me like no other comic. And would you know it, I actually managed to read Hellboy for the first time this year!

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?

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!


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