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: Paul Mason

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

Being able to travel around the country and meet/catch up with the enthusiastic and genuinely appreciative readers of my nonsense as a comic guest of Oz Comic-Con/Supanova (Perth and Adelaide for the first time, Melbourne, Gold Coast) and locally at ZICS, Brisbane Supanova, and onstage talking comics with Eddie Campbell, Dylan Horrocks and Zac Smith-Cameron at the Brisbane Writer's festival, Free Comic Book Day scribbling for comic fans with Paul Abstruse at Gifts for the Geek at Geelong, being part of 'The New Adventures of The Human Fly #1' anthology released at San Diego Comic-Con (humbly sandwiched in the book between Al Milgrom and Bob Layton), knock-my-socks-off feedback and support from some comic book heroes of mine at SDCC regarding my scribbling, scoring something big at SDCC (to me anyway) to work on with Chris Sequeira next year with a different scope, recruited by GRAPHIC festival to interview Len Wein onstage at the Sydney Opera House...and hopefully knock over my QCA Doctorate before the end of the year.

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

Sadly, I haven't had time to get or read much this year, apart from books and interviews related to the research.But the bursts I did get were great:  I enjoyed the reprint of Will Eisner's 'Last Day in Vietnam', Minor Miracles which I grabbed at a table at SDCC, and a handful of Joe Kubert, Russ Heath and Bob Kanigher's 'Sgt. Rock' reprints. 'Hicksville' by Dylan Horrocks. Oh, and 'Lives', illustrated by the awesome Fillbach Brothers for 1st issue comics: possibly the best 22 page comic story I've ever read.

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

A trip to the UK midyear to represent Australia in the Open World Taekwon-do Championships in Hatfield/London. Good fights, close friends, a lightening bolt, and generally just good to get away from here for a while. Now training for the 2014 Worlds in Korea, as both a competitor and an Assistant/Sparring Coach for Team Australia. Humbled to be onboard at that capacity. Also non-comics, but kind of comics, Lecturing again at the Queensland College of Arts as part of the Griffith Film School. 

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

Squad training for Korea, and Korea itself. Maybe the UK again. More drawing time, more lecturing. A social life. A big chapter of 'The Soldier Legacy', the can't-announce-yet project. Being Happy. Or at least, content.

 http://pm-comic.blogspot.com.au/

Mini Paper Trail

Mat Tait adapts Wagner's The Flying Dutchman for the Goethe-Institut New Zealand.

Mat Tait: 
It's presented a number of interesting challenges, the main one being the question of how to turn a stage production with limited settings and relatively static action into an engaging comic. I decided that rather than do a complete transformation of one form into another, I would try to play on the fact that the original material was made for the stage, and create large comics panels which would act as an analogue for stage sets through which the characters could move, interspersed with panels that work in a way more familiar to comics.
 

A light moment of Dredd from Colin Wilson.

Fikaris art on tumblr.

The Dunedin comic collective Dud are opening a comic shop.

 
Renee Liang interviews Chromacon Organiser Allan Xia. Contribute to the Chromacon Pledgeme campaign here.

Sam Orchard is drawing political cartoons for express magazine.
 

echarta interviews Lee Taylor.

Tim Gibson interviewed on The Comixologist.

Dylan Horrocks on Nga Pakiwaituhi: New Zealand Comics and Graphic Novels.

 Tim Bollinger page exhibited at Nga Pakiwaituhi

I believe the secret behind Steve Rogers prolificy creating his auto-bio comics at American Captain stems from a work ethic cultivated whilst growing up during the Great Depression.

Paul Mason on the resurrection of The Human Fly.

 Paper Trail masthead courtesy of Toby Morris.

Paper Trail

Rory Hewson writes about F.J. Nealie's Rotorua cartoons. Preview here. Further commentary here.

JAMES JAMES!

Bob Temuka writes about focusing on individual panels from comics.

 Kelly Sheehan's idea of a perfect panel: This moment from Tim Kidd's Came The Dawn

Chromacon have Boosted and Pledgeme campaigns running to help finance their festival.

Renowned political cartoonist Malcolm Evans paints a live billboard drawing in central Wellington.

Tim Molloy shares album art for Cash Savage and the Last Drinks.

Sam Orchard shares a page from a submission to the Anything That Loves anthology.

Tyrone Ohia's Te Blog.

 
This is Moonbeard.

Kiwigame's NZ advertising Flickr set.

Another Kiwigame Vintage NZ Advertising set. I used to buy and use these tattoos!

 
It can't hurt to link to more DIE POPULAR.

Tane William's illustrations for Steve Braunias.

Ele Jenkins tumblr.

Grant Buist recently wrote about concluding his twelve year run on strip Jitterati for Wellington paper Capital Times which has ceased publication. A recent post on Buist's site indicates he has found a new home for Jitteratti.

Capital Times' last issue came out this month after 38 years of publication. The issue below featured Mat Tait's illustration from Pictozine #2.

Melbourne Comics festival on in Northcote this weekend. More details here.

Ive Sorocuk shares a detail of the cover created in collaboration with Alex Clark for his forthcoming Comics Face collection.

Kevin Patrick writes about the discovery of  Terry Trowell paintings in Western Australia.

Popeye.com interview Roger Langridge.

Paul Mason writes about an Australian soldier character in Timely/Marvel Comics.

Anthony Woodward offers 4 issues of Sketchbook Comix through a pay what you want model.

Anthony is preparing a third Chugnut Comics free comic book day comic. Read Chugnut #1.

 Simon Hanselmann features in the latest issue of š! #13 'Life Is Live'.

Gavin Aung Than tackles super heroes via Jack London at Zen Pencils.
 

Daniel Best writes about his forthcoming book about Australian comics publisher Newton Comics. Best has also established a Newton Comics facebook group.

Joshua Santospirito features on The Comic Spot.