Steve Sparke
What have been your personal cartooning/comics highlights of 2012?
The FEC Extravaganza was my personal highlight. I've thrown together a few
comic book launches before but this one was a much bigger effort. It was
much more of an event than just a simple launch as we had sketches,
signings and a Q&A. The books launching were Kranburn #4 (by Ben Michael Byrne) and Seven (by Alisha Jade), which were both fairly
straight forward in their process as it was simply collaborating with
one person on their project. Whereas the third book launching, Fireside
Tales, was an anthology - meaning I collaborated with five people. That
kind of number means a lot more time dedicated to one comic as I try to
spend equal amounts of time on each story. So yeah - it really set a bar
for me.
On
top of all that, I was also organising my wedding at the same time (I
literally returned from my honeymoon the day before the launch). So this
required having most things organised and ready to go a month before
the actual event. I know a few people thought I was nuts to do it this
way...and they're right! It was insane. I didn't get much sleep
throughout the month of August. But holy shit was it rewarding!
Everything went off without a hitch and I was really pleased to see the
Fireside boys get a chance to show off their talents.
Who are some of the comics creators that you've discovered and enjoyed for the first time in 2012?
Cullen
Bunn and Brian Hurtt, creators of The Sixth Gun. It was only just in
the last couple of weeks that I've read this and it's absolutely
outstanding! Great characters and some brilliant art! They've really
struck gold with this story and I can't wait to see where they go next
(after the first TPB).
Also, to keep it local, I got on to Sacha Bryning's work this year. I first saw a couple of his pieces online and was
already impressed, but then he went and floored me with his
self-published comic, Sam & Laz. He initially published it online
here but then did a small print run for the avid fans. He also slipped a story into Velocity #2 (Molly Mac), which was bursting
off the page with energy. I was able to get him on board for the cover
of Fireside Tales and I was blown away by the results (as were the
readers). I honestly can't get enough of his art. Sacha, if you're
reading this - more art please.
What is something non-comics that you have enjoyed in 2012?
I
went to see the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra perform the entire score
of LOTR: Fellowship of the Rings. It was amazing! They had two choirs,
the whole orchestra AND the actual film playing behind them. I'm already
booked in for the MSO performing Two Towers next year and I'd recommend
everybody else do the same.
Have you implemented any significant changes to your working methods this year?
Not particularly. With editing, I'm always changing
my methods to suit the person I'm working with. It's necessary for
getting the best out of your creator. But significant changes? Nope.
What are you looking forward to in 2013?
More
Kranburn and Seven. Having already seen what Ben and Alisha have in
store for their readers, I'm incredibly excited to see the response.
I
think Alisha's second book will give readers a chance to settle into
the world she has created. The first book really threw the reader in the
deep end, which was great as I think the immediacy gave a strong sense
of action. But this next book will ease you in a little bit before it
takes hold.
Ben is going into some
crazy territory with Kranburn. I can't give too much away but it's
certainly going to leave some people a wee bit shocked. And, of course,
we get some more car chases which is always fun!
