2013 in Review: Brendan Halyday

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

Putting out Graphic Narrative no. 1 which features PANIC!, my first (of several planned) comics on having an anxiety disorder. Am drawing issue 2 right now. Wrote a comic called Xtreme Champion Tournament which will be published by Comics2movies. I'm also taking my first stab at publishing someone else's work with 51% issue 1 by Chris Gooch.

 

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

Have enjoyed reading Hanselmanns comics when I decide I can deal with reading comics on screen (never lasts long). Like what Katie Parrish has been doing. Liked M. Emery's Adversaries. That guy needs to produce more.

Loved End of the Fucking World and Charles Foresmans new minis too. Really liked Mind MGMT. Read a couple of Lucy Knisleys self-published books and really enjoyed them. Loved what I read of Jezebel by Elijah Brubaker on study group. 

 

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

TV, definitely. The usual suspects like Game of Thrones, Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, Rectify, The Fall.

 

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

Putting out more comics. PANIC 2 and Xtreme Champion Tournament 0 are both scheduled for release in early-mid 2014, publishing more by Chris Gooch, maybe adding one or two more creators to the publishing lineup.

 

brendanhalyday.com/

Oz Comic Con Melbourne 2013

 
After last years debacle of too many people in too little space this years Oz Comic Con in Melbourne was transported to the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens. I managed to snap a few pics from artist alley before my camera died. Are people getting sick of my holiday snaps? Seemed like a lot of mugging this year.

 Ben Hutchings and Dillon Naylor

 Alisha Jade, Steve Sparke and BMB

Justin Randall, Greg Maclean and Colin Wilson

Brendan Halyday and Frank Candiloro

Wolfgang Bylsma

 Henry Pop and Paul "The Beast" Bedford

 The Space Pyrates, Caitlin Major and Matthew Hoddy

Ryan K Lindsay

Larry, Curley and Moe

 Jin Chan Yum Wai

Queenie Chan

Dean Rankine

 Doug Holgate

Ginny and Darren Koziol

Fil Barlow and Helen Maier

Tom Taylor

Sorab Del Rio

Jon Sommariva

Ross Stewart and Matt Nicholls

Christian Read and Andrew Constant

Paul Mason

The best photo of T-Rex Jones out of the six I took.

 Public Emery Number One

Picked up a few gems from the locals and did a little bargain bin diving.

 I'm a sucker for cheap Mandrake comics

New Zealand editions of Flash Gordon from Feature Productions don't pop up too often. I'm hoping to complete a book on the reprint era of New Zealand comics by September.

This particular issue of the Wally Wood published Heroes INC featuring Cannon seems to turn up often at cons in recent years. A warehouse find of 70,000 uncirculated copies probably accounts for some of them. I know a similar story about an Australian equivalent to that find, I'll have to write it up one of these days.

BA3 Comic Launch Melbourne

 

Now a firm institution in the Melbourne comic calendar, the third Big Arse combined comic launch took place last weekend with fifteen new comics released from primarily Australian and New Zealand artists and writers. Compared to last year's, overcast day of showers, Melbourne provided a warm sunny day for comic folk to gather at the Fitzroy Beer Garden. From my involvement in the three launches to date, I've witnessed the event grow in scale and ambition with a companion launch organised by Bruce Mutard during the Melbourne Writer's Festival last year looking to also become a yearly fixture. A further spin-off has been discussed to accommodate the growth in the local comics community and audience which bodes well for the future.

Nalini Haynes of Dark Matter Fanzine captured video and audio on the day here.

MC Bernard Caleo

 Passionate Bruce Mutard

 

Dillon Naylor and Bobby N

 James Andre

 Frank Candiloro and Steve Sparke

 Colin Wilson and Ian McColl

 Tim Molloy

 Fred Atkins

Darren Close

David Blumenstein and Andrew Fulton

  Jesca Marisa

 Peter Foster

 Brendan Halyday

 Marijka Gooding

BMB

Frank Candiloro and Scarlette Baccini

 Alisha Jade

Troy Varker, Jason Franks and James Andre

Alleyway beside the Fitzroy Beer Garden